Parashat Tazria-Metzora Part Six

Tazria-Metzora |  תצריע - מצורע 

“She conceives” - “Diseased One”

Part 6

A daily Torah study by Loren Abraham
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Torah: Leviticus 12:1 - 15:33

Haftarah: II Kings 4:42 - 5:19; II Kings 7:3 - 7:20 

Suggested: Matt 11:2-6; Luke 7:18-19; Luke 17:11-19

In each day of this study we will focus on a theme or themes from the corresponding reading or aliyah. Here is the full list of aliyot for this portion:

Daily Readings

     1: Lev. 12:1-13:23 Childbirth and Tzara'at 
2: Lev. 13:24-39 Tzara'at on scalp or beard
3: Lev. 13:40-54 Tzara'at in fabric
4: Lev. 13:55-14:20 Purification of the metzora
5: Lev. 14:21-32 The needy metzora 
6: Lev. 14:33-15:15 Buildings with tzara'at
7: Lev. 15:16-33 Normal discharges

Introduction

In parts one and two we learned that leprosy - Tzara'at – in some sense, collectively, represents all human disease and deterioration because it visually displays the process of corruption and decay in our mortal flesh. Every illness and disease can in that sense therefore be understood as biblical leprosy - Tzara'at. In part three we learned that... In part four we learned about the purification process after Tzara'at. In part five we learned about the mystery of the Messiah and the Metzora and how Parashat Tazria-Metzora is a clear foreshadowing of the true leper Messiah, Yeshua who took our uncleanness on Himself as prophesied 700 years beforehand by the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 53:4), who was never unwilling to touch the unclean metzora, but willingly accepted their contaminating uncleanness and healed them in the bargain. 

Summary of the sixth and seventh aliyot  

Day 6: Lev 14:33-15:15          Buildings with tzara'at 
In the sixth reading we learn that Homes, too, can be afflicted with tzara'at. If stones on a home become discolored - a priest is summoned. If indeed the discoloration seems to be tzara'at, the priest quarantines the home for up to three weeks. Depending on the spread of the discoloration, the home is either declared to be pure, or the specific stones are removed from the house, or, in the most extreme situations, the house is demolished. The Torah then describes the purification process for such a home which is very similar to the initial stage of the purification of the human afflicted with tzara'at (described in the First Reading). After concluding the subject of tzara'at, the Torah discusses the ritual impurity of a man who issues a sickly and unnatural seminal discharge, as well as the method by which this person attains purity when the condition passes.

Day 7: Lev 15:16-33   Discharges related to procreation and the eighth day
In the seventh reading, we learn about the ritual impurity contracted by a man who issues a (normal) seminal discharge, the ritual impurity of a menstruating woman, and of a man who is intimate with her. All such people must immerse in a mikveh (ritual pool) in order to be purified. On the eighth day, the woman was to give two turtle doves or two pigeons to the priest, who was to offer them to make expiation. God told Moses and Aaron to put the Israelites on guard against uncleanness, lest they die by defiling God's Tabernacle.

Discussion on the themes of Tazria-Metzorah

Lev 14:1-7 Buildings with tzara'at – Leprosy in the home

       Here we learn that not only can tzara'at infect one's body and one's garments, but it can also attack one's house. This is astonishing. The process for diagnosing this is similar to other cases, but the remedy is decidedly more severe. It ranges from scraping the affected plaster to demolishing the entire house. If we are looking for modern day equivalents, there are several very promising candidates. Dry rot in buildings is a common problem in humid zones and it can be very destructive to foundations and lower portions of the building close to damp ground but is can also affect wooden structures that repeatedly become exposed to moisture. Another possible condition common to buildings that sounds similar to the leprosy described in the text, because of the red and green color of the affected walls, is mold or a variety of fungus infestations which although not usually destructive to structural components, causes occupants in the buildings to suffer from a range of respiratory ailments and allergies which can become quite severe and lead to protracted debilitating disease. It is not uncommon for such buildings, sometimes referred to as "sick building syndrome" to be completely gutted or even destroyed in particularly severe cases. 

      An interesting thing to note is that as with a person recovered from tzara'at, when a building is declared free from it, the cleansing process involves the ritual of the two birds, cedar wood , hyssop and running water. In the ritual to recap, one bird is sacrificed with its blood draining into the running water water. The other bird is bound to a board and dipped with hyssop into the blood and water mixture, which is then sprinkled seven times on the building being cleansed, then the living bird is released outside the camp and allowed to fly away.  The correlation to the Messiah is addressed in the book on Day 273: The Tzipparim: the mystery of the birds. In the case of the tzipparim, the atoning death of the first bird speaks of the sacrifice of Messiah on the cross, but the defilement of the leprous building is transferred to the living bird dipped in the running water (Yeshua was dipped in the Jordan River) and allowed to fly away. In plain terms this as a foreshadowing of Messiah who dies as an atoning sacrifice, but also takes our uncleanness onto Himself. (Isaiah 53.)  

Lev 15             All those messy discharges – the human condition

      In the final reading of our text for this portion we learn about all of the messy bodily discharges that cause us to become ritually unclean and therefore unable to participate in temple service – worship, fellowship meals, etc. In some cases the condition rendered is both unclean and contaminating (see comments on Lev 12:1-5 Unclean vs. contaminating mentioned earlier)  while in others the condition rendered is merely unclean. A male discharge that is not normal (i.e. venereal disease) and a women's menstrual condition are cause the person to become contaminating, while normal seminal discharge as a result of engaging in normal sexual relations with one's wife does not and so the one defiled only has to immerse and wait til evening to be clean and fit for temple service again. 

      While in the case of venereal disease one might make a case for the consequences discussed here, why does engaging in normal everyday life such as sexual relations, and a women's normal monthly bodily flow, render us unclean? It would seem that we are learning that just going about our normal lives in this world causes defilement that makes us unfit to come close to the almighty. And so we may look forward to our future home in the world tocome, when we are no longer exposed to the vagaries of this world, but fully able to enter into the purified state and eternal bliss that is our hope in Messiah Yeshua. In the meantime, we should not be too concerned about the struggles and resulting uncleanness caused not only by unintentional sins but by normal daily life, knowing that our Lord and savior has already redeemed us and taken all of our uncleanness away.

Other web resources for further study         

Niddah and Childbirth
http://www.kvetchingeditor.com/2013/11/niddah-and-childbirth.html

Hebrew4Christians: Parashat Tazria
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Parashah/Summaries/Tazria/tazria.html

Tazria: The Bizarre Purification of the Metzora

https://www.alephbeta.org/course/lecture/tazria-the-bizarre-purification-of-the-metzora

Nishmat's Women's Health and Halacha
http://www.yoatzot.org/life-cycle/?id=628

Leprosy of House and Garments, by H. Macmillan, D. D.
https://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/macmillan/leprosy_of_house_and_garments.htm

Torah Club: The Leper Messiah
https://torahportions.ffoz.org/portions-library/core/tazria-metzora/the-leper-messiah.html

Hebrew4Christians: Parashat Metzora
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Parashah/Summaries/Metzora/metzora.html

Pearls of the Torah: Parashat Metzorah -From G'olah to Ge'ulah

https://youtu.be/tW4UGQBD5XU                       Warning! This video is an hour long.

Some questions that you might consider in recapping your study include:

There are so many questions that we cannot escape as we continue to explore this difficult section of Torah. Here are just a few of the questions to consider:

1. In the Parashat readings, why is a woman rendered unclean by giving birth? Why is she allowed to resume normal contact with others after her initial waiting period plus immersion in a mikveh but still considered ritually unclean? Why is she required to bring a sin offering in order to be fully restored to ritual purity? Why are the periods of isolation and impurity longer for a girl baby than for a boy?  What is the connection between the consequence of Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden and the conditions of childbearing since? (See Genesis 3:16, Lev 12:1-8 and I Tim 2: 13-15)
2. What is the difference between being in a state of Contaminating vs. simply being ritually unclean? (Leviticus 12:1-5)
3. Since we no longer have a temple or a priesthood to serve in the temple, why should we be concerned about the laws of ritual purity? 
4. What were the symptoms of biblical leprosy (Tzara'at) and who determined whether someone had this condition? Why is it unlikely that what is referred to as leprosy in most English translations is not what we consider to be leprosy today? Why was someone whose body was completely covered with leprosy, so that they were entirely white, declared clean? Why if the condition receded and some normal skin became visible, were they to be declared unclean again? (see Leviticus 13:1-17)
5. Why was a person declared to be afflicted with biblical leprosy required to tear their clothing and uncover (shave?) their head?  (see Leviticus 13:45-46)
6. What was the relationship between Adam and Eve and God like before and after the tragic events in Genesis 3:1-7? How is the state of ritual impurity or uncleanness, a reflection of the change that resulted from the sin and judgment of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? What were the punishments and consequences to each of the characters in the Edenic story? (See Genesis 3:1-19 and compare to Leviticus 11-13)
7. How is the bird of the leper's purification similar to the sin offerings for other purification? How is it different? Is there a connection between the practice of releasing the second bird alive and the scapegoat rite included in the Yom Kippur service? (Leviticus 14:1-7)
8. What is the significance of the scarlet wool, cedar, hyssop and living water required for the purification rituals of the metzorah? (Leviticus 14:4, 6)
9. Why does the metzorah have to be completely shaved before immersion in the mikveh? (Lev 14:8-9)
10. Why does the blood and water smeared on the right ear, right thumb and right big toe of the person being purified? What other ritual did we learn about earlier that involved this procedure? What is the connection? (Lev 14:14-15)
11. How do the regulations in Tazria and Metzorah compare to the gospel message? How does the purification of the metzorah teach us about redemption and about being born again? 
12. Why is the Messiah sometimes referred to as the Leper Messiah? How do the sages see the person of Messiah in the suffering servant spoken of in Isaiah 53 and how is this connected to the Metzorah? (See Isaiah 53:4-5)
13. Why do normal sexual relations between a husband and wife render both ceremonially unclean? Why are all discharges that relate to procreation associated with purity? 
14. Why are the laws of Niddah still practiced in orthodox Judaism today? What are the practical advantages of observing these regulations? What is the connection between a woman's menstrual cycle and the lunar cycle? (See Lev 15:19-24)

End of Study for Parashat Tazria-Metzora

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