Sarah Krinsky

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the case Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics. This case has received national attention in large part due to the extremely personal issues being addressed by the court. In particular, this case attempts to grapple with the question “can one patent a part of the human body?” WRJ policy is not clear on this issue – which is why we’d love to fill you in and hear your thoughts!

This week’s parashah is Parashat Kedoshim, known as the “Holiness Code.” In it, we are instructed to ourselves be holy, for God is holy. We’re not left, though, with just this vague command – the rest of the parashah contains many specific ways in which we can fulfill this important yet seemingly impossible demand. While some of the elements of this “Holiness Code” might seem fairly removed from our typical ideas of “holiness” (not wearing cloth from a mixture of two kinds of material, for example, or not eating the fruit of newly planted trees for the first four years), many of the mitzvot we read about in this parashah concern interpersonal relationships, and how we as a community look out for one another. “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap the corner of your field…you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger,” we read. We are taught to judge our neighbors fairly, to pay laborers prompt wages, to not insult the deaf nor place stumbling blocks before the blind. In short, we are taught to treat others in our society – regardless of our relationship to them, regardless of who they are or what they do – with the utmost dignity and respect.

The themes of Passover have broad resonance with many of the most critical social justice causes of the day: reading about Israelite slavery reminds us of those who are not free today, focusing on our food calls our attention to those who are hungry and hearing about forced labor in Egypt brings our attention to contemporary labor issues.

It seems as if everywhere we look this week (within the Jewish world at least), we’re reminded over and over again that Passover is coming. Time to start selling our chametz, buying our matzah, cleaning our kitchens. This Passover prep can get pretty overwhelming, and it is easy to get consumed by the details. But what about our mental preparation? What is the mental shift we must make as we enter into Passover season? We’re told during the seder: “in every generation, a person must imagine themselves as if they came out of Egypt.” We must put ourselves in the shoes of our ancestors escaping slavery in order to feel the true meaning of the holiday. This is a lesson we can apply elsewhere – in particular, to today’s “International Women’s Day.” As we celebrate the gains we’ve made thus far in achieving women’s equality, we must also look at our present challenges – our modern-day Pharohs – and act as though we ourselves are experiencing these issues first-hand.