#339: The Hot Zone

Ibn Ezra on Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilekh, Devarim/Deuteronomy 29:17

A scanning electron micrograph image of an Ebola virus. Photo credit: NIAID, CCA-SA 2.0

Gimme Some Torah #339

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Devarim/Deuteronomy 29:17

פֶּן־יֵ֣שׁ בָּ֠כֶ֠ם אִ֣ישׁ אוֹ־אִשָּׁ֞ה א֧וֹ מִשְׁפָּחָ֣ה אוֹ־שֵׁ֗בֶט אֲשֶׁר֩ לְבָב֨וֹ פֹנֶ֤ה הַיּוֹם֙ מֵעִם֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ לָלֶ֣כֶת לַעֲבֹ֔ד אֶת־אֱלֹהֵ֖י הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָהֵ֑ם פֶּן־יֵ֣שׁ בָּכֶ֗ם שֹׁ֛רֶשׁ פֹּרֶ֥ה רֹ֖אשׁ וְלַעֲנָֽה׃

Perchance there is among you some man or woman, or some clan or tribe, whose heart is even now turning away from our God יהוה to go and worship the gods of those nations—perchance there is among you a root sprouting poison weed and wormwood.

Ebola. Marburg. West Nile. COVID-19. We assume that contagions are viral, bacterial, or fungal. But can sin itself be considered a contagious disease? A commentary on this week’s Torah portion answers this intriguing question.

First, some vocabulary background. You may be familiar with the Hebrew word רֹאשׁ (rosh), which means head or beginning, as in רֹאשׁ הַשָׁנָה (Rosh Hashanah), the New Year. But this word has a rarely used alternative meaning: a bitter, poisonous herb. It can also refer to poison or venom itself as in Deut. 32:33:

חֲמַ֥ת תַּנִּינִ֖ם יֵינָ֑ם וְרֹ֥אשׁ פְּתָנִ֖ים אַכְזָֽר׃

Their wine is the venom of asps,
The pitiless poison of vipers.

Ibn Ezra (bio) offers another interpretation of רֹאשׁ (rosh) that I find compelling:

A ROOT SPROUTING POISON WEED—This is a poison weed that damages the healthy. It is a disease that is infectious.

I already knew that רֹאשׁ (rosh) was some kind of poisonous weed. One example from Israel is cocklebur and there are many other toxic Israeli flora listed here. But Ibn Ezra’s interpretation adds an interesting possibility, that what the Torah is talking about is not a poison weed per se, but rather a contagious mold that spreads to healthy plants.

This would make a lot of sense, especially since Moses is clearly using poisonous plants as a metaphor for human sin. The problem was not that any one person would break the covenant. Rather, the problem was that one person’s sinful behavior could spread like a virus.

We are a highly imitative species. We have cells in our brains known as mirror neurons that fire when we see a physical action; these cells help us learn to do something merely by seeing someone else do it.

There’s a catch, however. The catch is that mirror neurons do not distinguish between moral and immoral actions. If we see people behaving badly around us, we are more likely to start imitating them. That’s definitely true in the workplace and it stands to reason that negative forms of imitation can crop up anywhere. The phenomenon of transmissible behavior is known as a social contagion or, in extreme cases, a mass psychogenic illness.

Fortunately, there’s good news: Helpful, positive behavior is also contagious! We have the ability to cultivate the kind of society that we want. We can grow a society based on love, tolerance, and compassion. We can also grow a society based on greed and cruelty.

The choice is ours.

Discussion Questions:

1. What behaviors, good or bad, do you think are contagious?

2. How do we stop the spread of bad behavior? How do we promote the spread of good behavior?

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Rabbi Eli Garfinkel is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth El in Somerset, New Jersey. He is the author of The JPS Jewish Heritage Torah Commentary.