A few weeks ago, we encountered in Parshat Metzorah the notion of the house that has tzara'at, a house that is in some way toxic, uninhabitable, and needs to be emptied out, have those toxins removed, or worst case scenario, have the house demolished and rebuilt.
Then last Shabbat, we encountered Parshat Kedoshim, where we encountered a particular concept of holiness, kedushah, where the ritual, ethical, social, and judicial are all intertwined into an overarching notion of kedushah, holiness, where all of them are on the same level. To put it succinctly, when we act in a holy fashion, we become holier.
This morning, I am pleased to have with us Paul Ciavarri, and our own Howard Weinberger to share with us their work and struggles in ending lead poisoning in Onondaga County.
Like the house with tzara'at, lead can make homes uninhabitable, toxic and require extensive rehabilitation. And because kedushah extends into the realm of the ethical and moral, this issue is one that I see the Torah demanding that we pay attention to.
The Torah does mention lead, and the classic Torah commentators understood several aspects of what lead is and how is behaves.
Like lead: which moves quickly because of its weight to sink and to become hidden from the eye.
(א) צללו כעופרת. אלו הרשעים שבהם:
Sank like lead: These are the wicked among them.
Paul Ciavarri works as the community organizer for Legal Services of Central New York, where he began working in January 2017. He grew up in nearby Rochester, and attended Colgate University. He is a student of Latin American political and economic history, and has a Master’s degree in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. He has previously organized for the United Farm Workers of America, and New York State United Teachers. In 2015, he spent a year abroad teaching English in Guatemala City, living daily life as close to what a typical resident experiences as he could get.
Howard Weinberger, M.D., is a professor emeritus of pediatrics at SUNY Upstate and the Medical Director of the Central/Eastern NY State Regional Lead Poisoning Resource Center, providing educational material and medical consultation to health providers across the eastern half of NY State.
This morning, Paul is going to briefly introduce us to his and Howards work in ending lead poisoning in our county, and then, following services, we will have more time for a lunch and learn from Paul and Howard on the topic, with time for discussion and questions and answers.