Torah Stories By Hannah Parasha Tazria Metzorah

Tazria:

This week’s Parasha deals with family purity, and skin diseases. The first laws of this week’s Parasha deals with women in childbirth: When a woman gives birth to a boy, she shall be unclean or impure for seven days. On the eighth day the boy shall be circumcised. Then the woman should remain in this state of purification for thirty-three days: She must not touch anything that is holy, and she should also not go into the sanctuary, which is a holy place, until this time of purification is over. If the baby she gives birth to is a girl, she shall remain in a state of purification for sixty-six days.

When her time of purification is over, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. He shall offer it before HaShem and make atonement for her on her behalf; she shall then be clean. This is the rituals for a woman who bears a child. However, if she is poor and cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering.

The next laws deal with skin diseases: If a person has a swelling, a rash or a discoloration on his skin and it develops into a scaly affection on his skin, it shall be reported to Aharon the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. The priest shall examine the affection of the skin on his body. If hair on the affected patch has turned white and the affection appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a leprous affection; when the priest sees it, he shall pronounce the person unclean. But if it is a white discoloration of the body that does not appear to be deeper than the skin and the hair has not turned white, the priest shall isolate the affected person for seven days. (Make him stay all by himself) On the seventh day the priest shall examine him, and if the affection has remained unchanged, in colour and the disease has not spread on the skin, the priest shall isolate him for another seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall examine him again. If the affection has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a rash. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall be clean. But if the rash should spread on the skin after he has presented himself to the priest and has been pronounced clean he shall again present himself to the priest. And if the priest sees that the rash has spread, he shall pronounce him unclean: It is Leprosy. If the priest finds on the skin a white swelling which has turned some hair white, with a patch of undiscoloured flesh in the swelling, it is chronic leprosy on his body and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. If the eruption spreads out over the skin so that it covers all the skin of the affected person from head to foot, he should pronounce the person clean. But as soon as undiscoloured flesh appears in it, he shall be unclean. It is Leprosy. But if the undiscoloured bit again turns white, he shall come to the priest, and the priest shall pronounce the affected person clean.

When an inflammation appears on the skin of one’s body and it heals, and a white swelling or a white discoloration streaked with red develops where the inflammation was, he shall present himself to the priest. If the priest finds that it appears lower than the rest of the skin and that the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous affection that has broken out in the inflammation. But if the priest finds that there is no white hair, and it is not lower than the rest of the skin, and it is faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days. If it should spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an affection. But if the discoloration remains stationary, not having spread, it is the scar of the inflammation; the priest shall pronounce him clean.

When the skin of one’s body has been burnt by fire, and the patch from the burn is a discoloration, either white streaked with red or white, the priest shall examine it. If the hair on the burn has turned white and the discoloration appears to be deeper than the skin, it is leprosy that has broken out in the burn. The priest shall pronounce him unclean. But if there is no white hair, and it is not lower than the rest of the skin, and it is faded, the priest shall isolate the person for seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall examine him. If it has spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a leprous affection. But if the discoloration has remained stationary, not having spread on the skin, and it has faded, it is a swelling from the burn. The priest shall pronounce him clean for it is the scar of the burn.

If a man or a woman has an affection on the head or in the beard, the priest shall examine the affection. If it appears to go deeper than the skin and there is thin yellow hair in it, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a scall, a scaly eruption on the head or beard. But if the priest finds that the scall affection does not appear to go deeper than the skin, yet there is no black hair in it, the priest shall isolate the person with the scall affection for seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall examine the affection. If the scall has not spread and no yellow hair has appeared in it, and the scall does not appear to go deeper than the skin, the person with the scall shall shave himself, but without shaving the scall, the priest shall isolate him for another seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scall. If the scall has not spread on the skin, and does not appear to go deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; he shall wash his clothes and he shall be clean. If, however, the scall should spread on the skin after he is pronounced clean, the priest shall examine him. If the scall has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for yellow hair: he is unclean. But if the scall has remained unchanged in colour, and black hair has grown in it, the scall has healed, he is clean.

If a man or woman has the skin of the body streaked with white discolorations, and the priest sees that the discolorations on the skin of the body are a dull white, it is a tetter broken out on the skin; he is clean.

If a man loses hair on his head and become bald, he is clean. If he loses hair on the front part of his head and becomes bald at the forehead, he is clean. But if a white affection streaked with red appears on the bald spot in the front or back of the head, it is a scaly eruption that is spreading over the bald part of the head. The priest shall examine him: if the swollen affection on the bald part in the front or back of his head is white streaked with red, like the leprosy of body skin appearance, he is leprous, he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean.

As for the person with the leprous affection, his clothes shall be torn, his head shall be left bare, and he shall cover over his upper lip; and he shall call out: “Unclean! Unclean!” He shall be unclean as long as the disease is on him. Being unclean, he shall live away from everyone, and his home shall be outside the camp.

When an eruptive affection occurs in a cloth of wool or linen fabric, or in a skin or anything made of skin; if the affection in the cloth is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be taken to the priest: And the priest shall look at the skin or cloth, and isolate it for seven days: On the seventh day he shall look at it: if the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin; it is a malignant eruption; it is unclean. He shall burn that garment, whether warp or woof, wool or linen, or any thing of skin where the leprosy is found; it shall be burnt in the fire.

And if the priest shall look and the disease has not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; then the priest shall order that they wash the garment or cloth or skin, and it shall be isolated for another seven days. The priest shall then examine it after it is washed: and if the affection have not changed his colour, and it hasn’t spread; it is unclean; you shall burn it with fire; And if the priest examines it and the affected part is a bit dark after washing it; then he shall tear it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof: If it is still present in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a wild growth. The article shall be consumed with fire. If the affection fades from the cloth or skin, after it is washed then it shall be washed a second time, and shall be clean. This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.

Metzorah:

This shall be the ritual of the leper at the time of his cleansing: When it is reported to the priest that he is clean, the priest shall go outside and the priest shall examine him. If the leper is healed, the priest shall take two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And the priest shall order one of the birds slaughtered in an earthen vessel over running water: An he shall take the live bird, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle it upon the person that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

The one to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, but he shall remain outside his tent seven days. On the seventh day, that he shall shave off all his hair and he shall wash his clothes, and he shall wash his body in water, and he shall be clean. On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in, and one log of oil. The priest shall present these with the one to be cleansed, to HaShem at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. And the priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer it with the log of oil as a guilt offering. And he shall elevate them as an elevation offering before HaShem: The lamb shall be slaughtered at the spot in the sacred area where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered in the holy place: for the guilt offering and the sin offering goes to the priest: it is most holy. The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him who is being cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. The priest shall then take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in the palm of his left hand and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before HaShem. Some of the oil left in his palm shall be put by the priest on the ridge of the right ear of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot – over the blood of the guilt offering. The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one being cleansed. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him before HaShem.

The priest shall then offer the sin offering and make atonement for him. Last the burnt offering shall be slaughtered. And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. Then the priest shall make atonement for him. Then he shall be clean.

If however, he is poor, and his means are insufficient, he shall take one male lamb, for a guilt offering to be elevated in atonement for him. One tenth of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering, and a log of oil; and two turtle doves or two pigeons, depending on his means; the one to be the sin offering, and the other the burnt offering. On the eighth day of his cleansing, he shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before HaShem. The priest shall take the lamb of guilt offering and the log of oil, and elevate them as an elevation offering before HaShem. When the lamb of guilt offering has been slaughtered, the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and put it on the ridge of the right ear of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. The priest shall then pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand and with the finger of his right hand the priest shall sprinkle some of the oil that is in the palm of his left hand seven times before HaShem. Some of the oil in his palm shall be put by the priest on the lobe of the right ear of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, over the same places as the blood of the guilt offering; and what is left of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one being cleansed to make atonement on his behalf before HaShem. He shall then offer one of the turtle doves or pigeons depending on his means – whichever he can afford – the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the meal offering, thus the priest shall make atonement before HaShem for the one being cleansed. Such is the ritual for him who has a scaly affection and whose means for his cleansing are limited.

When you enter the Land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I inflict an eruptive plague upon a house in the land you possess, the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest saying: Something like a plague has appeared upon my house. The priest shall order the house cleared before the priest enters to examine the plague, so that nothing in the house may become unclean; after that the priest shall enter to examine the house. If when he examines the plague, the plague in the walls of the house is found to consist of greenish or reddish streaks that appear to go deep into the wall, the priest shall come out of the house to the entrance of the house and close up the house for seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall return. If he sees that the plague has spread on the walls of the house, the priest shall order the stones with the plague in them to be pulled out and cast outside the city in an unclean place. They shall take other stones, and replace those stones with them and take other coating and plaster the house. If the plague again breaks out in the house after the stones have been pulled out and after the house has been scraped and re-plastered, the priest shall come to examine: If the plague has spread in the house, it is a malignant eruption in the house; it is unclean. The house shall be torn down – its stones and timber and all the coating on the house – and taken to an unclean place outside the city. Whoever enters the house while it is closed up shall be unclean until evening whoever sleeps in the house must wash his clothes and whoever eats in the house must wash his clothes. If, however, the priest comes and sees that the plague has not spread in the house after the house was re-plastered, the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the plague has healed. To purge the house he shall take two birds, cedar wood, red stuff and hyssop, he shall slaughter the one bird over fresh water, in an earthen vessel. He shall take these things and the live bird and dip it in the blood of the slaughtered bird, and the fresh water and sprinkle on the house seven times, having purged the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the red stuff. He shall set the live bird free outside the city in the open country. Thus he shall make atonement for the house and it shall be clean. Such is the ritual for every eruptive affection – for scalls, for an eruption on a cloth and a house, for swellings, for rashes or discolorations – to determine when they are unclean and when they are clean. Such is the ritual concerning eruptions.

Speak to the Yisraelite people and say to them: when any man has a discharge he is unclean. The uncleanness from his discharge shall mean the following: Any bedding on which he lies shall be unclean. And every object on which he sits shall be unclean. Any one who touches his bedding shall wash his clothes, bathe in water and remain unclean until evening. Whoever sits on an object on which he sat shall wash his clothes and will remain unclean until evening. Whoever touches the body of the one with a discharge shall wash his clothes, bathe in water and remain unclean until evening. If one with a discharge spits on one who is clean the latter shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. Any means for riding that one with a discharge has mounted shall be unclean. Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes, bathe in water and remain unclean until evening. If one with a discharge, without having rinsed his hands in water, touches another person, that person shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. And earthen vessel that one with a discharge touches shall be broken. And any wooden implement shall be rinsed with water. When one with a discharge becomes clean of his discharge he shall count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in fresh water, then he shall be clean. On the eighth day he shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons and come before HaShem at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. The priest shall offer them the one as a sin offering, and the other as a burnt offering. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his discharge before HaShem. When a man has an emission of semen he shall bathe his whole body in water and remain unclean until evening. All cloth or leather on which semen falls shall be washed in water and remain unclean until evening.

And if a man has marriage relations with a woman they shall bathe in water and remain unclean until evening.

When a woman has a discharge, her discharge being blood from her body, she shall remain in her impurity seven days. Whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. Anything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean, and anything that she sits on shall be unclean. Anyone who touches her bedding shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. And anyone who touches any object on which she has sat shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. Be it the bedding or be it the object on which she has sat. on touching it, he shall be unclean until evening. And if a man lies with her, her impurity is communicated to him. He shall be unclean seven days and any bedding on which he lies shall become unclean

When a woman has had a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her impurity or when she has a discharge beyond her period of impurity, she shall be unclean as though the time of her impurity. As long as her discharge lasts; any bedding on which she lies while her discharge lasts shall be for her like bedding during her impurity. And any object on which she sits shall become unclean. As it does during her impurity. Whoever touches them shall be unclean. He shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening.

When she becomes clean of her discharge, she shall count off seven days and after that she shall be clean. On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons; and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering and the priest shall make expiation on her behalf. For her unclean discharge before HaShem.

You shall put the Yisraelites on guard against their uncleanness, lest they die through their uncleanness by defiling My tabernacle which is among them.

Such is the ritual concerning him who has a discharge concerning him who has an emission of semen, and becomes unclean thereby and concerning her who is in menstrual infirmity and concerning anyone, male or female, who has a discharge and concerning a man who lies with an unclean woman.

PS – The pictures are of leprosy patients today. Just to give children an idea – obviously Tsaarat looked different.