Berakhot 25

The dialog on impurities continues, with consideration of distancing oneself from excrement and foul odors when one prays. This includes an encounter with a “biblical leper” who is sadly quarantined away from the “ritually pure.” The text says “He shall dwell alone; outside the camp shall be his dwelling.” There is so much loneliness and cruelty contained in this passage. 

The discussion in the Koren Talmud Bavli states that the guiding principle is: “The Torah was not given to ministering angels.” All this discussion about bodily emissions reminds us that the Rabbis understood that although we are impure at times, the Torah was given to us despite our imperfections. It reminds us that we are who we are: imperfect human beings.