Parashat Tazria-Metzorah Part 1

Tazria-Metzora |  תצריע - מצורע 

“She conceives” - “Diseased One”

Part 1

A daily Torah study by Loren Abraham
Download Parashat Tazria-Metzora Study Guide

Torah: Leviticus 12:1 - 15:33

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

Suggested: Luke 2:22-24; Luke 4:27-28; 5:12-16; 1 Tim 2:14-15

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

This week Torah portion is a double portion and therefore so, too, is the Haftorah from II Kings. You will recall that last week’s portion Shemini concerned the sacrificial offerings and course of worship that was to be observed in the Tabernacle by the priests beginning on the eighth day after the Tabernacle was set up.  In that portion we were introduced to the terms tamei (טמא) and tahor (טהר) - 'unclean' versus 'clean,' respectively.  And so there follows various regulations associated with these conditions, including what causes one to be unclean and how this uncleaness may be transferred and how it should be dealt with…i.e., how one can become ceremonially 'clean' once again. As a reminder, what we are talking about is a condition which renders one unfit to participate in tabernacle (temple) worship and therefore unable to “draw near” to God when in that state. The Torah here functions as both a guide and a teacher. Once we are given to understand the difference between a state of ritual purity and of ritual impurity, we are given several examples of the application of this principal in the context of normal human existence. This brings us to the double portion we are studying this week. The title of the first portion, Tazria, “She conceives,” reveals the subject of the opening example. When a woman gives birth she is rendered ritually unclean. Of course we will automatically want to ask, “Why would following the ordinary course of being a woman and participating in the honorable and God designed process of procreation, would a woman be rendered unclean?” The idea seems ludicrous at best, and even superstitious. 


Video: Parsha in 60 Seconds - Tazria

As we proceed with this particular regulation we find that there are actually two states of 'impurity' involved and therefore two stages involved in the process of returning the woman to a state of ritual purity after her ordeal. To make matters worse the timeframes involved differ depending on the gender of the child. For some apparently unidentified reason, giving birth to a girl requires twice the length of time for the purification process to be completed, than giving birth to a boy. Before we simply throw up our hands and declare this whole section irrelevant because we no longer need concern ourselves with temple worship, we must remind ourselves that regardless of whether the regulations are relevant in our lives today and whether they are still “in effect” as it were, there are principals that can be discovered that help to reveal more about God’s character and the nature of the relationship He wants to have with us.  So perhaps it behooves us to spend some time and effort in better understanding these laws regarding ritual purity and the difference between simply being in an unclean condition versus in a condition where we can contaminate others as well. This is the difference between the state of the woman immediately after giving birth when she can actually contaminate anything or anyone she comes in contact with, versus after the required seven or fourteen days – seven in the case of giving birth to a boy but 14 days in the case of a girl baby.  This latter period persists until the full term of her unclean state – an additional 33 days or 66 days (depending on whether she gave birth to a boy or girl, respectively.) And so we see that there are actually two kinds of states or levels of ritual impurity to be concerned with. Contaminating (Av HaTumah,  אב הטמאה ) not only unclean but able to transmit ritual uncleanness to anything or anyone through contact and Unclean: (tamei, טמא) ritually unclean and unable to enter the temple, but not able to transmit that condition to others.
Furthermore we see that these states involve different kinds of measures to be taken during the course of returning to a state of ritual purity. E.g. the woman will immerse in a mikveh after her seven (fourteen for a girl baby) days have been fulfilled but after the full period of 40 days of purification (80 days for a girl baby) are completed she will return to the temple but she must bring a Sin/Purification offering. Are you confused yet? Let's see if we can make sense of all of it.

In the case of a male child the woman would be in a state of contaminating uncleanness, in Hebrew terms, Av HaTumah (אב הטמאה) for 7 days. On the eighth day the child was to be circumcised – known as brit milah  (ברית מילה) – covenant of circumcision. She will continue in a state of being unclean - tamei (טמא) but not able to contaminate other people or things for an additional 33 days after which she may bring offerings to the priest and be declared clean – able to enter the tabernacle and rejoin fellowship in tabernacle worship. The process for a baby girl is the same, only twice the number of days in each phase.  
The next subject to be addressed in this series of regulations is the condition which is usually translated as “Leprosy” but is probably something very different from what we call “leprosy” today. The condition in the Hebrew is tzara'at צרעת   and the sages typically consider this disease to be a type of divine punishment, the result of certain sins (e.g., evil speech.) However, as we look at the diagnosis for this disease and subsequent examination in Leviticus 13:1-7, we see that there are actually numerous manifestations or symptoms of this condition which can be observed and from this we can see that there is an obvious difference from this condition and what we commonly know of as Leprosy today. If upon examination, the person exhibited any of these symptoms, he was to be isolated for a period of seven days, examined again, and in some cases, isolated for another seven days, before either being declared by the priest to be clean or, worst case scenario, a metzorah  מצרע  - one with tzara'at – a leper, and sent outside the community until his condition was cured and reexamination by a priest found him to be clean once again.  

First, we have to accept that what we have up until now thought to be modern-day leprosy, is very likely something else entirely. For example, what we call leprosy today is an incurable disease whereas Tzara'at is definitely not. One possibility that is widely considered a valid interpretation is that Tzara'at is really a metaphor for all disease and death. To some extent this holds up to scrutiny especially once we consider the wide range of disease and illness, including 1st century leprosy, that Yeshua confronted and cured during His ministry. Whether valid or not, there is no doubt that there is a strong connection between the state of ritual uncleanness (טמא tamei), tzara'at and death. 

Secondly, we are confronted with an apparent paradox that we find in Leviticus 13:9-17 that once a person is completely consumed by this condition, so that his entire body turns white, he is declared clean. From this we can surmise two things: 

1. That the quarantining of someone suspected of having Tzara'at is not intended as a safeguard against a communicable disease, because if that were the case a man whose body was completely covered by leprosy would not be declared clean and readmitted to the community.
2. That the aspect of this disease that renders one unclean is really only its ability to spread, not the actual condition itself. Hence when the disease has advanced fully it no longer renders the person unclean and he can no longer contaminate someone else. 

Finally, we find out in Leviticus 13:47-59, that this condition can infect inanimate objects such as leather and fabric as well as people. If upon examination by a priest a garment or other item of fabric or animal skin is found to be contaminated, it is burned. But if the priest is uncertain, the item is washed and isolated for seven days. If the spot has not spread, it may be cut from the item and the item washed again and declared clean. If the spot has spread, it is burned. Again what is at issue is the spread of decay and decomposition, not simply its presence. There is in all of this a veiled connection to the fallen state that immediately followed the first sin in the Garden of Eden – the uncleanness and therefore the necessary separation from God that results from sin and the inevitable decay and death that follows.
Whereas, Parashat Tazria, begins with the purification stages of a woman who had given birth to a child and then proceeds to describe the different manifestations and process of diagnosing the condition known as Tzara'at, in Parashat Metzora we learn how a person who is afflicted with this disease, a metzorah, can become healed and subsequently declared clean and be restored to the community. 
We must again consider the conditions of being clean and unclean - tahor (טהר) and tamei (טמא) and how this determines one's fitness to participate in tabernacle (temple) worship. The question of relevance to our modern day situation must be addressed since:
A. We have no temple today.
B. There are no priests who can examine and diagnose tzara'at

As we already explained, although Tzara'at is commonly translated into English as Leprosy, it is very unlikely that what is referred to in the biblical text is the same as modern day leprosy. Can it be that the condition of Tzara'at is symbolic of a much broader spectrum of disease and sickness – i.e. the fallen condition of man? After all when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, their condition went from being immortal to mortal, from being in perfect health to being in a state of perpetual declining health, sickness and disease. It is also this condition that might explain the seemingly arcane purity regulations regarding normal seminal and menstrual discharges, which are not really sinful in and of themselves, but are associated with the cycle of life and death which resulted from the sin in the garden. The healing and purification of the diseased person, the metzorah, then becomes symbolic of redemption but the process is inextricably associated with the offerings that must be brought once the healing has taken place and only on the eighth day, the day of rebirth, of new beginnings, is the redemption fully actualized. There are two important things we learn from the many Gospel accounts of Yeshua's healing of the metzorah:

1. He was never unwilling to become unclean through contact with the metzorah even though it was not necessary for contact to be made. He willingly took up their uncleanness and their infirmities.
2. He willingly became contaminated by contact with a corpse in order to raise someone back to life from death. 

The entire story related in these two parashot encapsulates the gospel message.  The male child circumcised on the eighth day signifies man created in God's image, who falls into sin and disease, must be healed and undergo a rebirth by immersion. But ultimately purification can only be achieved by the shedding of innocent blood, the blood of Messiah, who became sin so that we might be purified, died so that we might live, bore our infirmities so that by his stripes we might be healed. He became unclean so that we might be clean, became mortal that we might be made immortal. 

Summary of the first aliyah

Day 1 Lev 12:1-13:23   Purification for childbirth and diagnosing Tzara'at -  skin disease   

In the first reading, God told Moses to tell the Israelites that when a woman gave birth to a boy a boy, she was to be unclean 7 days and then remain in a state of purification for 33 days, while if she bore a girl, she was to be unclean 14 days and then remain in a state of blood purification for 66 days. A male child is to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth. Upon completing her period of purification, the woman was to bring a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering, and the priest was to offer them as sacrifices to make expiation on her behalf. If she could not afford a sheep, she was to take two turtle doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering.


The Torah next relates the laws of tzara'at, a skin disease - often inaccurately translated as "leprosy" - which renders a person ritually impure. This text discusses various forms of white skin discolorations. A person who has the symptoms of tzara'at must be seen by a priest. If the discoloration is deemed "suspicious," the priest will immediately declare the individual impure or quarantine him for up to two weeks. At the conclusion of the quarantine period, the priest either declares the individual pure or impure. The Torah then discusses what is done in the event that the tzara'atspreads after the individual was declared pure, or if there is raw skin within the tzara'at, or if the tzara'at has spread over the entire body. We learn the laws of tzara'at which appears following an inflammation on the skin.

Themes of this parashat for study

        1. Childbirth and the consequences of the sin in the Garden of Eden 
2. Girls take longer than boys because… 
3. Unclean vs. contaminating
4. Two degrees of impurity require two stages of purification
5. Without a temple, is there any relevance to ritual purity?
6. The Priest and the Metzorah - diagnosing Tzara'at
7. Skin disease – what is it really? 
8. The paradox: partially diseased is totally unclean but totally diseased is totally clean

Lev 12:1-5  Childbirth and the consequences of the sin in the Garden of Eden Gen 3:16, 1 Tim 2:13-15

“Why would following the ordinary course of being a woman and participating in the honorable and God designed process of procreation, would a woman be rendered unclean?” The idea seems ludicrous at best, and even superstitious. It goes without saying that she has not committed a sin in giving birth to a child, therefore there is something else going on here and we need to explore this line if we are to be true in our dedication as students of Torah. In order to explore this let's look at the following texts: 

Gen. 3:16   To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearingiin pain you shall bring forth children.  Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

Can there be a link between the birth of a child and the original fall in Eden after Adam and Eve sin? Why is the woman (Chava or Eve) singled out with respect to the consequence of bringing forth children in pain and sorrow?

 1Tim. 2:13   For Adam was created first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed. 15 But she will be saved through childbearing, if she continues in faith, love, and holiness, with good judgment .

In the Greek text there exists a definite article that is not usually included in English translations. Perhaps a better rendition would be: "the childbearing" or alternatively, "the bearing of children." Paul seems to be indicating that atoning for Eve’s sin is accomplished in some way through the natural role of women in bearing children. Daniel Lancaster writes in Torah Club volume 5:

"The pain in childbirth is an experience of unequaled suffering which engenders uncleanness and fear. Yeah it results in boundless joy when the baby is born man can only wonder about such an experience. They are not privileged to pass through such deep trial and achieve such great reward. …It is a great mitzvah to bring life into the world. To bring life into the world is a small reversal of Eve's sin in the garden. The sin in the garden brought death into the world. The process of childbirth begets life."

Lev 12:1-2       Girls take longer than boys because… 

The timeframes involved in the process of returning the woman to a state of ritual purity differ depending on the gender of the child. For some apparently unidentified reason, giving birth to a girl requires twice the length of time for the purification process to be completed, than giving birth to a boy. One possible explanation that has been offered that follows directly from the Genesis 3:16 narrative, is that giving birth to a girl requires longer purification directly because that girl will herself be able to bring forth more children whereas a boy will not directly participate in this process. However, another more likely reason is that, boys are commanded to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth, and it would be decidedly inconvenient if the mother were still considered to be in a contaminating state when she brings him to the priest to be circumcised. 

Although this may seem an unsatisfactory explanation since there is still a difference of 33 days after the circumcision, we must acknowledge that the reasons for many of the commandments are never given. This does not mean that we should not endeavor to understand the reasons. As the author of Proverbs declares:

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out. _ Proverbs 25:2

Lev 12:1-5       Unclean vs. contaminating

As we proceed with this particular regulation we find that there are actually two states of 'impurity' involved and therefore two stages involved in the process of returning the woman to a state of ritual purity after her ordeal. Therefore a better understanding of these laws is required regarding ritual purity and the difference between simply being in an unclean condition versus in a condition where we can contaminate others as well. This is the difference between the state of the woman immediately after giving birth when she can actually contaminate anything or anyone she comes in contact with, versus after the required seven days (in the case of giving birth to a boy) or 14 days (in the case of a girl baby) up until the full term of her unclean state – an additional 33 days or 66 days (depending on whether she gave birth to a boy or girl, respectively.) And so we see that there are actually two kinds of states or levels of ritual impurity to be concerned with:

1. Contaminating: One who is not only unclean but transmits ritual uncleanness to anything or anyone they come in contact with. In Talmudic language this is Av HaTumah  (אב הטמאה)
2. Unclean: One who has been rendered unclean but does not transmit that condition to others. In Hebrew tamei (טמא)

Lev 12:1-5       Two degrees of impurity require two stages of purification

Here we see that these states involve different kinds of measures to be taken during the course of returning to a state of ritual purity. E.g. the woman will immerse in a mikveh after her seven (or fourteen days for a girl baby) have been fulfilled but after the full period of 40 days of purification (or 80 days for a girl baby) are completed she will return to the temple but she must bring a Sin/Purification offering.

Lev 12:1-2       Without a temple, is there any relevance to ritual purity?

From this text, that the woman "shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed." (Lev 12:4)  the law is extrapolated to include all people who are in a state of ritual impurity - Mitzvah N129 of the 613 mitzvot.  Some orthodox communities in modern times some have misunderstood this commandment to mean that new mothers who are still in a state of ritual uncleanness may not enter or participate in synagogue worship, but if that were the case, then in light of the broad interpretation of the commandment, no one would be able to enter into the assembly, since virtually everyone is in a state of ritual uncleanness. But it is clear that this statute is only applicable to the Tabernacle and therefore the Holy Temple and only when it is standing.  So what are we to do with these laws today when there is no Temple? It is common in Jewish practice today for the new mother to immerse in a mikveh after her 7 (or 14) days of purification are complete, thus remembering the time when immersions were necessary for her participation in the Temple. After her  40 (or 80) days are fulfilled her husband is given an aliyah from the weekly Torah Portion to read from the bimah. This reading is a ritual remembrance of the time when her sin/purification offering would be brought to the Temple, marking her ability to rejoin the assembly of worship.  This sin offering may possibly be understood not to atone for her sin but for the sin of Eve in the garden and the uncleanness which as a result befell all men.

Still the more reasonable understanding of the application of these principals today, is that just as ritual uncleanness prevented one from joining the assembly and participating in Temple worship, so the uncleanness resulting from sin separates us from God and prevents us from drawing near to Him without the atoning sacrifice of Messiah which fulfills the sin/purification offering required for our re-entry into the community of believers and participation in the salvation available. 

Lev 13        Tzara'at - Skin disease – what is it really?  Eden and the fall from immortality

As we already explained, although Tzara'at is commonly translated into English as Leprosy, it is very unlikely that what is referred to in the biblical text is the same as modern day leprosy. Can it be that the condition of Tzara'at is symbolic of a much broader spectrum of disease and sickness – i.e. the fallen condition of man? After all when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, their condition went from being immortal to mortal, from being in perfect health to being in a state of perpetual declining health, sickness and disease. It is also this condition that might explain the seemingly arcane purity regulations regarding normal seminal and menstrual discharges, which are not really sinful in and of themselves, but are associated with the cycle of life and death which resulted from the sin in the garden. The healing and purification of the diseased person, the metzorah, then becomes symbolic of redemption but the process is inextricably associated with the offerings that must be brought once the healing has taken place and only on the eighth day, the day of rebirth, of new beginnings, is the redemption fully actualized. There are two important things we learn from the many Gospel accounts of Yeshua's healing of the metzorah. 

1.     He was never unwilling to become unclean through contact with the metzorah even though it was not necessary for contact to be made. He willingly took up their uncleanness and their infirmities.
2.      He willingly became contaminated by contact with a corpse in order to raise someone back to life from death.

Lev 13:1-8       The Priest and the Metzorah - diagnosing Tzara'at  

According to Torah, only a priest (Cohen) is able to diagnose biblical leprosy. Even if a person had all the symptoms their affliction could not be called Tzara'at until a qualified priest who knew the law declared it to be so. Leviticus 13 gives the details but how that diagnosis is to be made. The priests were meticulous in their examination and were reluctant to declare a disease Tzara'at because of the great sorrow that would cause the person and their family. They would be forced to leave the community until such time as they could be found to be healed and declared clean and begin the process to rejoining the community. The mishna records in m.Negaim 5:1, that in cases where there was doubt, leniency was preferred. However if the symptoms were clearly leprous the priest had no choice. Here the Torah provides guidance for when there is doubt. When ensure the priest could quarantine the individual for seven days and see if the disease progressed. If not that would be declared clean and allowed to immerse, otherwise they would be diagnosed with the disease. In some cases the priest would continue the quarantine for another seven days. Opinions vary as to whether the patient during this quarantine was allowed to go out of their house or even out of the city. It is important to note that one of the requirements for the diagnosing tzara'at is that it was spreading. If the symptoms were observed to be receding or unchanged then it was not tzara'at.

Lev 13:9-17    The paradox: partially diseased is totally unclean but totally diseased is totally clean 

The paradox of the leprosy laws is that a person completely covered with leprosy, so that his entire body is turned white is declared clean. Therefore we can see that the quarantining of lepers was not intended as a safeguard against communicating the disease. Today we assume that lepers were quarantined to minimize the possibility of transmitting a contagious condition. But if this were so, the one entirely covered with leprosy so as to be completely white, would be quarantined. Instead, the Torah declares this person to be clean. If, on the other hand, some inflamed or open sore returns, then he is to be declared leprous and unclean again.

Considering this apparent paradox, our understanding of disease is shaken to the core. In the case of tzara'at, the symptoms themselves are less important then whether they are in fact spreading, when diagnosing the disease. And once the disease has fully advanced, it is no longer regarded as tzara'at because it can no longer spread. This further supports the concept that in the Torah, tzara'at  or leprosy is emblematic of all human disease in that it represents the process of corruption and decay in the mortal flesh.

Tomorrow we will examine the condition of disease in the injured flesh of a burn, in the scalp and the beard and comparison to a simple rash. And as we continue our study day by day, we will continue to examine the application of these rules and statutes with the understanding of tzara'at as a metaphor for all disease and decay leading to death - the human condition that resulted from the fall in Genesis 3. 

Go to Parashat Tazria-Metzora Part Two
Download Parashat Tazria-Metzora Study Guide