“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” We know this isn’t true. Words can wound deeply—and also heal. In this week’s double portion, Tazria-Metzora, the Torah offers a layered exploration of both the power of words and the potential for healing, inviting us to reflect on speech, gratitude, and the journeys—physical and spiritual—we take toward wholeness.
Parshat Tazria opens with a woman’s recovery after childbirth, detailing a ritual of purification and offerings. In ancient times, childbirth was not only spiritually significant, but perilous. The Torah’s acknowledgment of that danger—followed by the mother’s eventual reintegration into communal and spiritual life—echoes a profound truth: survival itself is sacred. Today, when a parent safely delivers a child, we still carry this awareness. It’s reflected in the blessing of Birkat HaGomel, recited by those who emerge from danger: “Blessed are you . . . who bestows goodness upon the undeserving and has granted me all good.” It’s a powerful reminder that recovery calls not only for relief, but for gratitude.
Later, the parshah transitions into a discussion of tzara’at, a skin affliction often interpreted by the rabbis as a spiritual consequence of lashon hara—harmful speech. This theme continues into Parshat Metzora, where the afflicted person undergoes not only physical inspection and quarantine, but ultimately, a ritual of release and renewal. A live bird is set free, symbolizing reintegration and new beginnings. Like the mother after childbirth, the metzora is welcomed back into community—restored, renewed.
Though tzara’at may no longer appear on our skin, its lessons linger. Harmful speech still isolates. Gossip still wounds. But just as the body can heal, so too can relationships, when we take responsibility and seek repair. And just as we recite Birkat HaGomel for physical healing, perhaps we might imagine a blessing for the restoration of our words—when our speech turns from tearing down to building up.
Our siddur offers us such a model. Each morning, we begin Pesukei d’Zimra with Baruch She’amar—“Blessed is the One who spoke, and the world came into being.” God’s speech is not destructive, but creative. It builds worlds. If we are made in the divine image, then our words, too, can create. They can comfort, connect, and bless.
So this week, what if we treated our words and our health as equally sacred? What if we offered gratitude not only for physical healing, but for the chance to speak kindly, to start fresh, to repair what was broken? In doing so, we echo both Birkat HaGomel and Baruch She’amar—giving thanks for survival, and honoring the creative holiness within every word.
May our speech be life-giving, our gratitude expansive, and our healing—physical and spiritual—a source of blessing for ourselves and others.
