Priesthood Loses Glamour With Announcement of Their Role in Monitoring Infectious Disease

reported by BNP via Leviticus Today
The whole tribe of Levi was subdued after more information was released about their job duties. It seems the perks of high-end uniforms and food donations from other tribes will be off-set by some rather repulsive responsibilities. The priests will be having regular contact with those inflicted with infectious diseases because of the requirement that they help control these conditions in the nation. Young Levites who were previously swaggering in the streets are now conspicuously absent from the local scene. There appears to be no excitement about being on the leprosy squad.
The exact protocol for evaluating the compromised skin, clothing, or building materials has been published in detail for the entire Hebrew nation. Each person will need to promptly visit a priest if certain symptoms are noticed. The priests on duty will have to get close enough to the potentially contaminated person to determine such things as the color of the hairs in the affected area, and whether the sores are more than skin deep.
The priests will also have to visit any leper outside the camp who thinks he has recuperated. Then, not only do they have to examine him closely, they have to touch him to perform various cleansing and symbolic rituals. Most community elders are of the opinion that this system will bring balance to the priests approach. The priests will be careful about declaring wellness if they have to touch those deemed disease free. On the other hand, they won’t carelessly diagnose people as infected because they themselves will have to go out to the leper camps to follow up.
All of this will obviously affect potential marriage contracts for the tribe of Levi. Parents may want to observe how these responsibilities impact the health of the Levite families before letting their daughters marry young priests. Still, the long term job security has its advantages for the Levites. Also, if they do their job well, it may be that infectious diseases will be much less prevalent than they have been.

(for further information see Leviticus 13)
previous article: The Diet of the Future for Clean Living
next article: Turtle Dove Capture Businesses Take Flight