Lev 13:29 “And when a man, or a woman, has an infection
on the head or in the beard,
Lev 13:30 then the priest shall look at the infection
and see, if it appears deeper than the skin, and there is thin yellow hair in
it, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is an eruption, a leprosy
of the head or beard.
Lev 13:31 “But when the priest looks at the infection
of the eruption and sees that it does not appear deeper than the skin, and
there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the one with
the infection of the eruption seven days.
Lev 13:32 “And on the seventh day the priest shall look
at the infection and see, if the eruption has not spread, and there is no
yellow hair in it, and the eruption does not appear deeper than the skin,
Lev 13:33 then he shall shave himself, but the eruption
he does not shave. And the priest shall shut up the one with the
eruption another seven days.
Lev 13:34 “And on the seventh day the priest shall look
at the eruption and see, if the eruption has not spread over the skin, and does
not appear deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And
he shall wash his garments, and he shall be clean.
Lev 13:35 “But if the eruption spreads further over the
skin after his cleansing,
Lev 13:36 then the priest shall look at him and see, if
the eruption has spread over the skin, the priest need not seek for yellow
hair, he is unclean.
Lev 13:37 “But if the eruption appears to have stayed,
and there is black hair grown up in it, the eruption has healed. He is clean,
and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
Lev 13:38 “And when a man or a woman has bright spots
on the skin of the body, white bright spots,
Lev 13:39 then the priest shall look and see, if the
bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is a white spot that
grows on the skin, he is clean.
Lev 13:40 “And when a man loses the hair of his head,
he is bald, he is clean.
Lev 13:41 “And if the hair has fallen from his
forehead, he is bald on the forehead, he is clean.
Lev 13:42 “And when there is on the bald head or bald
forehead a reddish-white infection, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head
or his bald forehead.
Lev 13:43 “And the priest shall look at it and see, if
the swelling of the infection is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald
forehead, as the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body,
Lev 13:44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The
priest shall pronounce him unclean, without fail, his infection is on his head.
Lev 13:45 “As for the leper who has the infection, his
garments are torn, and his head is uncovered, and he has to cover his upper lip
and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’
Lev 13:46 “He is unclean – all the days he has the
infection he is unclean. He is unclean, and he dwells alone, his dwelling place
is outside the camp.
Lev 13:47 “And when a garment has an infection of
leprosy in it, in a woollen garment or in a linen garment,
Lev 13:48 or in the warp or in the weft of linen or
wool, or in leather or in any leather-work,
Lev 13:49 and the infection shall be greenish or
reddish in the garment or in the leather, or in the warp or in the weft, or in
any leather object, it is an infection of leprosy and shall be shown to the
priest.
Lev 13:50 “And the priest shall look at the infection
and shut up the infected one seven days.
Lev 13:51 “And he shall look at the infection on the
seventh day. And when the infection has spread in the garment, or in the warp
or in the weft, or in the leather or any leather-work, the infection is an
active leprosy, it is unclean.
Lev 13:52 “And he shall burn that garment, or the warp
or the weft, in wool or in linen, or any leather object in which the infection
is, for it is an active leprosy. It is burned with fire.
Lev 13:53 “But if the priest looks and sees that the
infection has not spread in the garment, or in the warp or in the weft, or in
any leather object,
Lev 13:54 then the priest shall give command, and they
shall wash that in which the infection is. And he shall shut it up another
seven days.
Lev 13:55 “And the priest shall look at the infection
after it has been washed and see, if the infection has not changed its
appearance, though the infection has not spread, it is unclean, and burn it in
the fire – it is eaten away, in its inside or outside.
Lev 13:56 “And if the priest shall look and see that
the infection has faded after washing it, then he shall tear it out of the
garment, or out of the warp, or out of the weft, or out of the leather.
Lev 13:57 “And if it is still seen in the garment, or
in the warp or in the weft, or in any leather object, it is a spreading
infection. Burn it with fire, that in which the infection is.
Lev 13:58 “And if you wash the garment, or the warp or
the weft, or any leather object, if the infection has disappeared from it, then
it shall be washed a second time, and shall be clean.
Lev 13:59 “This is the Torah of the infection of
leprosy in a garment of wool or linen, or in the warp or in the weft, or in any
leather object, to pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean.”
According to the sages these two Torah portions “tazria
and metzorah” reveal great mysteries of the Messiah.
The ancient sages had no
doubt in their minds that these two Torah portions had more to say about the
Messiah than any other Torah portions in the Torah.
The Sages believe that
the one true evidence that the Messiah had come is that he would the one to
heal “leprosy” or “tzarat”.
Thus
the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b) describes Moshiach as a metzora, signifying
that the messianic age is a time in which evils that have infested the world
and mankind rise to the surface, so that they can be decisively overcome and
cured.
This
week’s Torah portion is about the “torah”when one is touched or marked by the
appearance of “tzra at” – “zot torat nega tzra at” – vs 59. The torah explains
the instructions concerning the appearance of “tzra at” on someones head or
beard – “be naga o berosh o bezakan” “Zakan” or beard is similar in meaning to
“zaken” or elder in Hebrew.
Here
we become aware that this contagion could manifest in older and wiser members
(male or female) of the Hebrew community.
Vs 48
introduces us to when certain objects are infected with this contagion – “the infection of leprosy in a garment of wool or
linen, or in the warp or in the weft, or in any leather object…”
These are all objects that cover our skin.
In the beginning of creation we believe Adam was covered in the light of YHVH’s
esteem – Hebrew for light is “or” (aleph resh). When Adam sinned YHVH made an
atoning cover for his skin – Hebrew “or” (ayin resh). Is there a connection?
Let us once again look at the different
permutations of the Hebrew word for “tzra at” with the view of looking for
possible reasons for the appearance of this contagion.
The only disease discussed in the Torah that includes
laws pertaining to its manifestation and cure is tzara'at. This renders tzara'at
the archetypical, all-inclusive disease.
The sages go on to say that Tzaraat, is
derived from a lack of humility, from the failure to yield one's own will to
the will of one's Creator.
Each 3-letter root in the
Hebrew language has six possible permutations. In all the Hebrew language there
are only seven 3-letter roots whose six permutations all have meaning.
The Six
Permutations of Tzara
Let us
now explore the cycle of images created by the root of tzara'at--tzara
(tzadik, reish, ayin):
|
Root
|
Word
|
Meaning
|
|
tzadik, reish, ayin
|
tzara
|
leprosy
|
|
tzadik, ayin, reish
|
tza'ar
|
hardship, pain sadness regret remorse
|
|
reish, ayin, tzadik
|
ra'atz
|
to smash
|
|
reish, tzadik, ayin
|
ratza
|
To pierce - inflict stripes (by whipping with a
strap)
|
|
ayin, tzadik, reish
|
atzar
|
to halt or rule to prevent anarchic expansion
|
|
ayin, reish, tzadik
|
aratz
|
to respect (a tyrant) because of his power
|
We
learn from the haftarah portion that it requires great humility to be healed
from this contagion. We also learn from the apostolic portion that only a touch
from Messiah can heal us of this contagion.
Only
the true Messiah as revealed in all of scripture will be able to heal us from
this archetypical disease.