(א) אֱלֹהַי נְשָׁמָה שֶׁנָּתַֽתָּ בִּי טְהוֹרָה הִיא אַתָּה בְרָאתָהּ אַתָּה יְצַרְתָּהּ אַתָּה נְפַחְתָּהּ בִּי וְאַתָּה מְשַׁמְּ֒רָהּ בְּקִרְבִּי וְאַתָּה עָתִיד לִטְּ֒לָהּ מִמֶּֽנִּי וּלְהַחֲזִירָהּ בִּי לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא, כָּל זְמַן שֶׁהַנְּ֒שָׁמָה בְקִרְבִּי מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶֽיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהַי וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתַי רִבּוֹן כָּל הַמַּעֲשִׂים אֲדוֹן כָּל הַנְּ֒שָׁמוֹת: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה הַמַּחֲזִיר נְשָׁמוֹת לִפְגָרִים מֵתִים:
(1) My God! the soul which You bestowed in me is pure; You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me and You preserve it within me. You will eventually take it from me, and restore it in me in the time to come. So long as the soul is within me I give thanks to You, Eternal my God, and God of my ancestors, Ruler of all creatures, Master of all souls. Blessed are You, Eternal, Who restores souls to dead bodies.
(ד) אֱלהֵינוּ וֵאלהֵי אֲבותֵינוּ רְצֵה בִמְנוּחָתֵנוּ. קַדְּשֵׁנוּ בְּמִצְותֶיךָ וְתֵן חֶלְקֵנוּ בְּתורָתֶךָ. שבְּעֵנוּ מִטּוּבֶךָ וְשמְּחֵנוּ בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ וְטַהֵר לִבֵּנוּ לְעָבְדְּךָ בֶּאֱמֶת. וְהַנְחִילֵנוּ ה' אֱלהֵינוּ בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצון שַׁבַּת קָדְשֶׁךָ. וְיָנוּחוּ בו יִשרָאֵל מְקַדְּשֵׁי שְׁמֶךָ: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' מְקַדֵּשׁ הַשַּׁבָּת:
Our God and God of our ancestors, may You find favour in our rest. Make us holy through Your commandments and grant us our share in Your Torah. Satisfy us with Your goodness, grant us joy in Your salvation, and purify our hearts to serve You in truth. In love and favour, O Eternal our God, grant us our heritage Your holy Shabbat, so that Israel, who sanctify Your name, may find rest on it. Blessed are You Eternal, who sanctifies the Sabbath.
(1) The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the Israelite people thus: When a woman at childbirth bears a male, she shall be unclean seven days; she shall be unclean as at the time of her menstrual infirmity.— (3) On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.— (4) She shall remain in a state of blood purification for thirty-three days: she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until her period of purification is completed. (5) If she bears a female, she shall be unclean two weeks as during her menstruation, and she shall remain in a state of blood purification for sixty-six days. (6) On the completion of her period of purification, for either son or daughter, she shall bring to the priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. (7) He shall offer it before the Eternal and make expiation on her behalf; she shall then be clean from her flow of blood. Such are the rituals concerning her who bears a child, male or female. (8) If, however, her means do not suffice for a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make expiation on her behalf, and she shall be clean.
(יט) וְאִשָּׁה֙ כִּֽי־תִהְיֶ֣ה זָבָ֔ה דָּ֛ם יִהְיֶ֥ה זֹבָ֖הּ בִּבְשָׂרָ֑הּ שִׁבְעַ֤ת יָמִים֙ תִּהְיֶ֣ה בְנִדָּתָ֔הּ וְכׇל־הַנֹּגֵ֥עַ בָּ֖הּ יִטְמָ֥א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃ (כ) וְכֹל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּשְׁכַּ֥ב עָלָ֛יו בְּנִדָּתָ֖הּ יִטְמָ֑א וְכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־תֵּשֵׁ֥ב עָלָ֖יו יִטְמָֽא׃ (כא) וְכׇל־הַנֹּגֵ֖עַ בְּמִשְׁכָּבָ֑הּ יְכַבֵּ֧ס בְּגָדָ֛יו וְרָחַ֥ץ בַּמַּ֖יִם וְטָמֵ֥א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃ (כב) וְכׇ֨ל־הַנֹּגֵ֔עַ בְּכׇל־כְּלִ֖י אֲשֶׁר־תֵּשֵׁ֣ב עָלָ֑יו יְכַבֵּ֧ס בְּגָדָ֛יו וְרָחַ֥ץ בַּמַּ֖יִם וְטָמֵ֥א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃ (כג) וְאִ֨ם עַֽל־הַמִּשְׁכָּ֜ב ה֗וּא א֧וֹ עַֽל־הַכְּלִ֛י אֲשֶׁר־הִ֥וא יֹשֶֽׁבֶת־עָלָ֖יו בְּנׇגְעוֹ־ב֑וֹ יִטְמָ֖א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃ (כד) וְאִ֡ם שָׁכֹב֩ יִשְׁכַּ֨ב אִ֜ישׁ אֹתָ֗הּ וּתְהִ֤י נִדָּתָהּ֙ עָלָ֔יו וְטָמֵ֖א שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים וְכׇל־הַמִּשְׁכָּ֛ב אֲשֶׁר־יִשְׁכַּ֥ב עָלָ֖יו יִטְמָֽא׃ {ס} (כה) וְאִשָּׁ֡ה כִּֽי־יָזוּב֩ ז֨וֹב דָּמָ֜הּ יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים בְּלֹא֙ עֶת־נִדָּתָ֔הּ א֥וֹ כִֽי־תָז֖וּב עַל־נִדָּתָ֑הּ כׇּל־יְמֵ֞י ז֣וֹב טֻמְאָתָ֗הּ כִּימֵ֧י נִדָּתָ֛הּ תִּהְיֶ֖ה טְמֵאָ֥ה הִֽוא׃ (כו) כׇּל־הַמִּשְׁכָּ֞ב אֲשֶׁר־תִּשְׁכַּ֤ב עָלָיו֙ כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י זוֹבָ֔הּ כְּמִשְׁכַּ֥ב נִדָּתָ֖הּ יִֽהְיֶה־לָּ֑הּ וְכׇֽל־הַכְּלִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תֵּשֵׁ֣ב עָלָ֔יו טָמֵ֣א יִהְיֶ֔ה כְּטֻמְאַ֖ת נִדָּתָֽהּ׃ (כז) וְכׇל־הַנּוֹגֵ֥עַ בָּ֖ם יִטְמָ֑א וְכִבֶּ֧ס בְּגָדָ֛יו וְרָחַ֥ץ בַּמַּ֖יִם וְטָמֵ֥א עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃ (כח) וְאִֽם־טָהֲרָ֖ה מִזּוֹבָ֑הּ וְסָ֥פְרָה לָּ֛הּ שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים וְאַחַ֥ר תִּטְהָֽר׃ (כט) וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁמִינִ֗י תִּֽקַּֽח־לָהּ֙ שְׁתֵּ֣י תֹרִ֔ים א֥וֹ שְׁנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יוֹנָ֑ה וְהֵבִיאָ֤ה אוֹתָם֙ אֶל־הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֶל־פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃ (ל) וְעָשָׂ֤ה הַכֹּהֵן֙ אֶת־הָאֶחָ֣ד חַטָּ֔את וְאֶת־הָאֶחָ֖ד עֹלָ֑ה וְכִפֶּ֨ר עָלֶ֤יהָ הַכֹּהֵן֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה מִזּ֖וֹב טֻמְאָתָֽהּ׃ (לא) וְהִזַּרְתֶּ֥ם אֶת־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִטֻּמְאָתָ֑ם וְלֹ֤א יָמֻ֙תוּ֙ בְּטֻמְאָתָ֔ם בְּטַמְּאָ֥ם אֶת־מִשְׁכָּנִ֖י אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ (לב) זֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הַזָּ֑ב וַאֲשֶׁ֨ר תֵּצֵ֥א מִמֶּ֛נּוּ שִׁכְבַת־זֶ֖רַע לְטׇמְאָה־בָֽהּ׃ (לג) וְהַדָּוָה֙ בְּנִדָּתָ֔הּ וְהַזָּב֙ אֶת־זוֹב֔וֹ לַזָּכָ֖ר וְלַנְּקֵבָ֑ה וּלְאִ֕ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִשְׁכַּ֖ב עִם־טְמֵאָֽה׃ {פ}
(1) The Eternal spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (2) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:
When any man has a discharge issuing from his member, he is unclean. (3) The uncleanness from his discharge shall mean the following—whether his member runs with the discharge or is stopped up so that there is no discharge, his uncleanness means this: (4) Any bedding on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and every object on which he sits shall be unclean. (5) Anyone who touches his bedding shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. (6) Whoever sits on an object on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. (7) Whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. (8) If one with a discharge spits on one who is clean, the latter shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. (9) Any means for riding that one with a discharge has mounted shall be unclean; (10) whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening; and whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. (11) If one with a discharge, without having rinsed his hands in water, touches another person, that person shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. (12) An earthen vessel that one with a discharge touches shall be broken; and any wooden implement shall be rinsed with water. (13) When one with a discharge becomes clean of his discharge, he shall count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in fresh water; then he shall be clean. (14) On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the LORD at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. (15) The priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. Thus the priest shall make expiation on his behalf, for his discharge, before the Eternal. (16) When a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and remain unclean until evening. (17) All cloth or leather on which semen falls shall be washed in water and remain unclean until evening. (18) And if a man has carnal relations with a woman, they shall bathe in water and remain unclean until evening. (19) When a woman has a discharge, her discharge being blood from her body, she shall remain in her impurity seven days; whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. (20) Anything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; and anything that she sits on shall be unclean. (21) Anyone who touches her bedding shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; (22) and anyone who touches any object on which she has sat shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. (23) Be it the bedding or be it the object on which she has sat, on touching it he shall be unclean until evening. (24) And if a man lies with her, her impurity is communicated to him; he shall be unclean seven days, and any bedding on which he lies shall become unclean. (25) When a woman has had a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her impurity, or when she has a discharge beyond her period of impurity, she shall be unclean, as though at the time of her impurity, as long as her discharge lasts. (26) Any bedding on which she lies while her discharge lasts shall be for her like bedding during her impurity; and any object on which she sits shall become unclean, as it does during her impurity: (27) whoever touches them shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. (28) When she becomes clean of her discharge, she shall count off seven days, and after that she shall be clean. (29) On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. (30) The priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; and the priest shall make expiation on her behalf, for her unclean discharge, before the Eternal. (31) You shall put the Israelites on guard against their uncleanness, lest they die through their uncleanness by defiling My Tabernacle which is among them. (32) Such is the ritual concerning him who has a discharge: concerning him who has an emission of semen and becomes unclean thereby, (33) and concerning her who is in menstrual infirmity, and concerning anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and concerning a man who lies with an unclean woman.
(11) One who touches the corpse of any human being shall be unclean for seven days... (13) Whoever touches a corpse, the body of a person who has died, and does not cleanse themselves, defiles the Eternal's Tabernacle; that person shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water of lustration was not dashed on them, they remain unclean; their uncleanness is still upon them. (14) This is the ritual: When a person dies in a tent, whoever enters the tent and whoever is in the tent shall be unclean seven days; (15) and every open vessel, with no lid fastened down, shall be unclean. (16) And in the open, anyone who touches a person who was killed or who died naturally, or human bone, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
(46) They shall be unclean as long as the disease is on them. Being unclean, they shall dwell apart; their dwelling shall be outside the camp.
(20) If anyone who has become unclean fails to cleanse themselves, that person shall be cut off from the congregation, for they have defiled the Eternal's sanctuary. The water of lustration was not dashed on them: they are unclean.
(יב) דָּבָר בָּרוּר וְגָלוּי שֶׁהַטֻּמְאוֹת וְהַטָּהֳרוֹת גְּזֵרוֹת הַכָּתוּב הֵן. וְאֵינָן מִדְּבָרִים שֶׁדַּעְתּוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם מַכְרָעָתוֹ. וַהֲרֵי הֵן מִכְּלַל הַחֻקִּים. וְכֵן הַטְּבִילָה מִן הַטֻּמְאוֹת מִכְּלַל הַחֻקִּים הוּא שֶׁאֵין הַטֻּמְאָה טִיט אוֹ צוֹאָה שֶׁתַּעֲבֹר בְּמַיִם אֶלָּא גְּזֵרַת הַכָּתוּב הִיא וְהַדָּבָר תָּלוּי בְּכַוָּנַת הַלֵּב. וּלְפִיכָךְ אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים טָבַל וְלֹא הֻחְזַק כְּאִלּוּ לֹא טָבַל. וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן רֶמֶז יֵשׁ בַּדָּבָר כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהַמְכַוֵּן לִבּוֹ לְטַהֵר כֵּיוָן שֶׁטָּבַל טָהוֹר וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁלֹּא נִתְחַדֵּשׁ בְּגוּפוֹ דָּבָר כָּךְ הַמְכַוֵּן לִבּוֹ לְטַהֵר נַפְשׁוֹ מִטֻּמְאוֹת הַנְּפָשׁוֹת שֶׁהֵן מַחְשְׁבוֹת הָאָוֶן וְדֵעוֹת הָרָעוֹת. כֵּיוָן שֶׁהִסְכִּים בְּלִבּוֹ לִפְרשׁ מֵאוֹתָן הָעֵצוֹת וְהֵבִיא נַפְשׁוֹ בְּמֵי הַדַּעַת טָהוֹר. הֲרֵי הוּא אוֹמֵר (יחזקאל לו כה) "וְזָרַקְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם מַיִם טְהוֹרִים וּטְהַרְתֶּם מִכּל טֻמְאוֹתֵיכֶם וּמִכָּל גִּלּוּלֵיכֶם אֲטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם". הַשֵּׁם בְּרַחֲמָיו הָרַבִּים מִכָּל חֵטְא עָוֹן וְאַשְׁמָה יְטַהֲרֵנוּ אָמֵן:
(12) It is obviously clear that the laws concerning defilements and purities are biblical decrees, and not things which the human mind can determine; they are classified as divine statutes. So too, immersion as a means of ridding oneself from defilement is included among the divine statutes. Defilement is not mud or filth to be removed with water, but is a matter of biblical decree; it depends on the heart's intent. Accordingly, the sages have declared: If a man immersed himself, but without a definite purpose in view, it is as though he had not immersed himself at all. Nevertheless, there is some ethical allusion to this: just as one who sets his mind on becoming clean becomes clean as soon as he has immersed himself, even though nothing new is produced in his physical being, so one who sets his mind on purifying himself from all the spiritual defilements, namely wrongful thoughts and evil traits, becomes clean as soon as he made up his mind to abstain from those notions, and brought his soul into the waters of reason. Indeed, Scripture declares: "I will pour clean water over you, and you shall be clean; from all your impurities and idolatries I will cleanse you" (Ezekiel 36:25).
Tumah is the result of our confrontation with the fact of our own mortality. It is the going down into darkness. Taharah is the result of our reaffirmation of our own immortality. It is the reentry into light. Tumah is evil or frightening only when there is no further life. Otherwise, tumah is simply part of the human cycle. To be tameh is not wrong or bad. Often it is necessary and sometimes it is mandatory.. . .
How, then, does one contract tumah? Its most powerful source is a human corpse. Touching this inanimate shell, we recall that a person inhabited it, willing it to sing, to make love, to pray. Whoever touches a human corpse sees in its face his own. Whoever is in the presence of death is in the presence of his own death. For that reason, whoever comes into contact with a corpse or is in the same [building] with one himself becomes a source of tumah and imparts tumah to others upon contact. An animal carcass also is a source of tumah, although its tumah is less powerful than that of the corpse. Nevertheless, it breathed, it moved upon the earth, and now it is still. We recognize its stillness as our own. Tumah is also caused by the biblical disease tzaraat, usually (inaccurately) translated “leprosy.” The person who had tzaraat had to withdraw from society until he was cured, and that, perhaps, is why the sages compared him to a dead man.
“In my beginning is my end,” writes T. S. Eliot. In all creation is the seed of destruction. All that is born dies, and all that begets. Begetting and birth are the nexus points at which life and death are coupled. They are the beginnings which point to an end. Menstruation, too, is a nexus point. It is an end which points to a beginning. At the nexus points, the begetter becomes tameh. The fluids on which new life depends – the semen, the rich uteral lining which sustains embryonic life – the departure of these from the body leaves the giver tameh. The menstrual blood, which inside the womb was a potential nutriment, is a token of dying when it is shed. Menstruation is an autumn within, the dying which makes room for new birth. Semen has always symbolized man’s vital force. . . .
The nexus points are those in which there appears to be a departure or a transfer of vital force. One of the most powerful nexus points, therefore, is childbirth. The infant who passes from the womb into the world undergoes a transition from potential life into life itself.<14> The womb of woman is associated with the womb of earth. Living things grow out of the earth, dead things return to it and are buried in it. Seeds must be buried to bring them to life. The womb is the dark warm place in which we do not live, but live in potentia. We think of death as a return to the womb because the womb is the place of birth.
What were the practical consequences of tumah? When one became tameh, he acted out his own death by withdrawing from the great life-affirming Jewish symbols. A niddah, a menstruating woman, could not engage in sexual intercourse; a person with tzaraat was isolated from human society; and no person in any category of tumah could enter the Great Temple at Jerusalem. It is easy to see why the Great Temple would have been interdicted [prohibited -- U.C.] for the tameh. There was the dwelling of the Master of time, the God whose dread and unarticulated Name meant “was-is-will be.” Who but the deathless can stand in the presence of the undying King? The laws of taharah teach [us] to impersonate immortality. It is a mask we assume, this taharah, just as tumah is a mask of death. Even after the Israelites and the sanctuary have been readied for the Shekhinah by means of the rites of taharah, the Torah still speaks of the Tent of Meeting – the earthly resting place of the Shekhinah – as abiding “with them in the midst of their uncleanness [tumah]” (Leviticus 16:16). Ultimately, our taharah is but a mime of taharah, a shadow of the taharah of God, a semblance of our own taharah which is to be.. . .
The mikveh simulates the original living water, the primal sea from which all life comes, the womb of the world, the amniotic tide on which the unborn child is rocked. To be reborn, one must reenter this womb and “drown” in living water. We enter the mikveh naked as an infant enters the world. . . . We emerge from the mikveh tahor, having confronted and experienced our own death and resurrection. Taharah is the end beyond the end, which constitutes a beginning, just as the messianic “end of days” is in actuality the beginning of days.<15>
“Twenty years later, as a feminist Reform theologian I continue to be faced with an essay I wrote, an essay that continues to be quoted, cited, and reproduced, promulgating opinions and prescribing actions that I now cannot in good conscience endorse. […]
The only rationale the sources did not offer was the rationale that motivates all sincere piety, the one held out to men: that observing the commandments would make one holier and bring one closer to God. [...]
When Jewish women who were not Orthodox appropriated my reframing of immersion in the mikveh to mark occurrences for which no ritual expression had existed, they taught me an important lesson about the possibility of salvage. They began using the mikveh to purify themselves of events that had threatened their lives or left them feeling wounded or bereft or sullied as sexual beings: ovarian tumors, hysterectomies, mastectomies, miscarriages, incest, rape. In waters whose meaning they had transformed and made their own, they blessed God for renewed life. The makers have imbued these rituals with a different understanding of what purity means”.
(Adler, Rachel 1993 “In Your Blood, Live: Revisions of a Theology of Purity “ pp.38-41 in Tikkun Vol. 8, no.1; pp. 38-9)
Wellspring will be a place where people will find ways to heal and rejuvenate their mind, bodyand soul.
We will offer a preventative and therapeutic approach to good mental health, promoting resilience, building and incorporating Jewish rituals such as immersion into active wellbeing and recovery.
We will welcome people of all genders and all faiths and people of non religious beliefs. Wellspring will offer talking and complementary therapies, and pools for the powerful Jewish ritual of mikveh (immersion).
It will be a space to create new rituals and for people to experience immersion on their own terms.
You might say that the pandemic is turning back the clock on the way we think about contamination—a long way back, since tumah hasn’t played a major role in Judaism for almost 2,000 years. That’s because the concept of ritual purity was completely bound up with the Temple: Impure priests couldn’t enter the Temple to perform their duties, and only Temple offerings could purge certain kinds of impurity. Since the Temple was destroyed in the year 70 CE, later halachic authorities ruled that over the generations all Jews became tamei, impure, and will remain so until the Temple is miraculously rebuilt. As with the coronavirus, there is no cure or vaccine for tumah...
The word “unclean” has moral overtones, and as this passage suggests, being tamei was no abstraction. It could result in ostracism, excommunication, and even eternal punishment: The Hebrew verb translated here as “cut off” is karet, which the Talmud uses to describe the severing of the soul from God after death, the worst punishment known to Jewish law.
What’s most puzzling about tumah is that such dire consequences could result from a condition that has nothing to do with conscious choice. Like a virus, impurity isn’t something you do but something you catch. The chief sources of tumah in Jewish law are lepers, corpses, semen, and menstrual blood, and the carcasses of certain animals; a person who comes into contact with these is called an av hatumah, literally a “father of impurity,” who can transmit the condition to others.
And the methods of transmission aren’t always obvious. For instance, you don’t have to actually touch a corpse to become tamei; just being under the same roof as a dead body is enough. Metal instruments like spoons can become tamei, but earthenware vessels can’t. This may sound arbitrary and illogical, but then, until the discovery of germ theory by Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch in the late 19th century, “scientific” theories about the spread of disease weren’t much better. Our word “flu” comes from the Italian influenza, referring to the malign influence of the stars, which was supposed to cause the disease. As late as the 1850s, most doctors believed that cholera and other infectious diseases were caused by “miasmas,” vapors generated by decomposing matter.
Now that we have accurate scientific knowledge about viruses and how they spread, we are much better off than our ancestors in terms of our ability to combat infectious diseases. But psychologically, we are in pretty much the same boat as Hanina Segan HaKohanim, 2,000 years ago—trying to keep track of what’s clean and what’s unclean, what item touched which surface and when. A few weeks ago, thinking this way would have been considered a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Thanks to COVID-19, it now feels sadly like common sense.