Blessing of Torah.
Hebrew:
Baruch atah YHVH eloheinu melech
ha-olam, asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah.
V'ha'arev na YHVH eloheinu et divrei toratecha befinu uvfi amecha beit Yisrael.
V'niyeh anachnu v'tze'etze'einu v'tze'etza'ei amecha beit Yisrael kullanu yodei
sh'mecha v'lomdei toratecha lishmah. Baruch atah YHVH hamelamed Torah le'amo
Yisrael. Baruch atah YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bachar banu mikol
ha'amim venatan lanu et torato. Baruch atah YHVH, notein haTorah.
English
translation: Blessed art Thou, YHVH
our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His
commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim,
sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your
people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the
House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for
the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to
His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, Who
chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH,
Giver of the Torah.
“Tazria” “when she conceives” &
“Metzorah” “the one who has tzaraat”
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 this Torah portion and the next (metzora) 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 be 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.
Haftarah (when part of the One
year cycle): 2 Kings 4:42 – 5:19
Aliyah Rishon 12:1-13:23
Lev 12:1 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, saying,
Lev
12:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl,
saying, ‘When a woman has conceived, and has given birth to a male child, then
she shall be unclean seven days, as in the days of her monthly separation she is
unclean.
‘When
a woman has conceived” “Tazria” is a hiphil feminine
imperfect verb and therefore more accurately translates as “when a seed will be
caused to come forth from within her body which results in the birth of a
child” this implies ovulation and conception and birth have taken place.
It is
probable that there were sages in the past that knew very well that this verse
was referring to the most unique and most important conception that would ever
take place – the miraculous conception and birth of the Messiah.
It is
also possible that YHVH communicated this truth to Adam and Chawa in the garden
and they knew then that this promised seed would be Messiah.
Gen 3:15 “And I put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her Seed1. He shall crush your head, and
you shall crush His heel.” Footnote: 1First promise of the Messiah.
She is “nidat dotah”
or she is “separated to infirmity” for seven days. “Niddah” is not some
defiling act that a woman must endure it can also be seen as a prophetic
reminder that we the bride of Messiah have also being “separated to infirmity”
for seven millennia before complete and perfect restoration occurs in the
eighth millennium.
We
need to also consider the miracle of conception. Every time a man and a woman
have intercourse the man releases millions (up to 400 million) of sperm cells
into her body. There are acids and a
unique DNA (mitochondrial DNA) that
only woman have that kill off all the “weak” sperm cells. Of all these sperm
cells usually only ONE makes it to the female egg to fertilize it.
This
reminds us of only a small remnant who are enabled to receive the Word – Torah
of YHVH and bear the fruit of righteousness.
Luk 8:8 “And other fell on the good soil, and grew
up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” Having said this He cried, “He who has
ears to hear, let him hear!”
Joh 6:44 “No one is able to come to Me unless the
Father who sent Me draws him. And I shall raise him up in the last day.
Mat 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Lev
12:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl,
saying, ‘When a woman has conceived, and has given birth to a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days, as in the days of her
monthly separation she is unclean.
Lev
12:3 ‘And on the eighth day the flesh of
his foreskin is circumcised. (Covenant
confirmed)
Lev
12:4 ‘And she remains in the blood of
her cleansing thirty-three days. She
does not touch whatever is set-apart, and she does not come into the set-apart
place until the days of her cleansing are completed.
(Forty
days al together)
Lev
12:5 ‘But if she gives birth to a female
child, then she shall be unclean for two
weeks, as in her monthly separation, and she remains in the blood of her
cleansing for sixty-six days.
(Eighty
days altogether)
“In Hebrew thinking every child is seen as a gift
of YHVH. In Hebrew thinking the task of raising children is taken very
seriously and great devotion and care is taken to raise children according to
the instructions of Torah to help bring about the restoration of all things in
coming generations. Childbirth is wondrous. To be a parent is the closest any
of us come to YHVH Himself. That, incidentally, according to the sages is why
women are closer to YHVH than men, because they, unlike men, know what it is to
bring forth new life out of themselves, as YHVH brings life out of Himself. The
idea is beautifully captured in the verse in which, leaving Eden, Adam turns to
his wife and calls her Chavah “for she is the mother of all life.” Ber/Gen 3:20
We see that in the case of the girl that her time
of separation and dedication are twice as long as that of the male because she
(the girl), Yah willing will in later years become a source of life herself.’
As one rabbi eloquently stated the reason why a
mother is separated is as if YHVH Himself is saying: “I exempt you from coming before Me in the
place of set apartness because you are fully engaged in one of the most set
apart acts of all, nurturing and caring for your child. Unlike others you do
not need to visit the Temple to be attached to life in all its set apart
splendour. You are experiencing it yourself, directly and with every fibre of
your being. Days, weeks, from now you will come and give thanks before Me
(together with offerings for having come through a moment of danger). “But for
now, look upon your child with wonder, for you have been given a glimpse of the
great secret otherwise known only to YHVH”. Childbirth exempts the new mother
from attendance at the Temple because her bedside replicates the experience of
the Temple. She now knows what it is for love to beget life and in the midst of
mortality to be touched by an intimation of immortality.”
Lev
12:6 ‘And when the days of her cleansing
are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she brings to the priest a lamb a
year old, as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin
offering, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.
Lev
12:7 ‘And he shall bring it before יהוה, and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the
flow of her blood. This is the Torah for
her who has given birth to a male or a female.
Lev
12:8 ‘And if she is not able to bring a
lamb, then she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one as a burnt
offering and the other as a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement
for her, and she shall be clean.’ ”
Luk 2:21 And when eight days were completed for Him to
be circumcised, His Name was called יהושע, the Name given by the messenger before He
was conceived in the womb.
Luk 2:22 And when
the days of her cleansing according to the Torah of Mosheh were completed, they
brought Him to Yerushalayim to present Him to יהוה –
Luk 2:23 as it has
been written in the Torah of יהוה, “Every male who opens the womb shall be
called set-apart to יהוה” –
Luk 2:24 and to give an
offering according to what is said in the Torah of יהוה, “A pair of
turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Midrash on Messiah:
We believe that there were devout men and prophets
throughout our redemptive history that knew and understood that Yahshua also
revealed as the Nazarene or” Righteous Branch” would be born of a virgin in
Beit –Lechaim (Bethlehem).
Isa 11:1 And a Rod shall come forth from the stump of
Yishai, and a Sprout (Netzer) from his roots shall bear fruit.
Isa 11:2 The Spirit of יהוה shall rest
upon Him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and
might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of יהוה, -
“Nazareth", may be derived from either na·tsar,
נָצַר, meaning "to watch or from ne·tser”, נֵ֫צֶר,
meaning branch.
Mat 2:23 and came and dwelt in a city called Natsareth
– thus to fill what was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a
Natsarene.”
The prophets stated that the Messiah would be born of a virgin.
Isa 7:14 “Therefore יהוה Himself gives
you a sign: Look, the maiden conceives and gives birth to a Son, and shall call
His Name Immanu’ĕl1. Footnote: Ěl with us. See also Matt. 1:23.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of His rule and peace there
is no end,
ו לם רבה (לְמַרְבֵּה)
הַמִּשְׂרָה וּלְשָׁלוֹם אֵין-קֵץ
There is a closed mem or mem sophiet contained in a word
instead of the last letter of the word – “le arbe” means “ to or for increase” ….
There is dispute over whether Yahshua was conceived
(Tazriah) in a virgin or just a young woman who was not a virgin. Yeshayahu 9:7
with its “mem sophiet” or “closed womb” as the sages referred to this letter
causes us to consider the probability of a virgin birth.
This Torah portion causes us to believe that some of the
sages who were serious students of the Torah and the prophets knew in the
context of this parashah (portion) there was an unmistakable reference to the
perfect conception of a perfect seed that would be Messiah. These sages must
have also known that the Messiah would himself become contaminated with our sin
(metzora) so that he could take our uncleanness upon himself and bring us into
a state of righteousness before YHVH.
“ Metzora” - The Torah now gives instruction concerning “tzarat” A
certain teacher rather eloquently summed up this disease in the following
words: : “Biography Becomes Biology”
In other words the story of our lives, hidden and seen will manifest
itself in our physical condition.
“Miriam, Moshe’s sister, received leprosy for speaking ill of Moshe.
From this the midrash derives that tsoraat, termed leprosy, is a punishment for
the sin of lashon hara, speaking ill of others.
The meaning of this punishment is that the evil in one’s soul is
physically manifested. This punishment is therapeutic as it forces the sinner
to come to grips with his misdeeds and change himself from the inside.
By being made repulsive to others, one feels what his victims have
experienced. The obligation that the Metzora, the person with tsoraat, will
experience isolation and will be aware that something deep inside their beings
is not right this causes them to face their own true self and they focus on
their own shortcomings instead of those of others.”
Caroline Myss’s work “The Anatomy of Spirit” argues that “biography
becomes biology”. Who we are, our thoughts, feelings and the way we live our
life, impact on our physiology.
We participate in the creation of our diseases; we have the
responsibility to take part of the process of healing. This approach gives
insight on the Torah’s approach to Metzora, on the interplay between body and
soul.
From the spirit the physical problems emerge, from the spirit the
physical problem will be overcome.”
Lev 13:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying,
Lev
13:2 “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright
spot, and it shall become on the skin of his body like a leprous infection,
then he shall be brought to Aharon the priest or to one of his sons the
priests.
Lev
13:3 “And the priest shall look at the
infection on the skin of the body. And if the hair on the infection has turned
white, and the infection appears to be
deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous infection. And the priest
shall look at him, and pronounce him
unclean. (tamei)
Lev
13:4 “But (ve im = and if) if the bright spot is white on the skin of his
body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not
turned white, then the priest shall shut up the infected one seven days.
Lev
13:5 “And the priest shall look at him
on the seventh day and see, if the infection appears to be as it was, and the
infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall shut him up another
seven days.
Lev
13:6 “And the priest shall look at him
again on the seventh day and see, if the infection has darkened, and the
infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
clean. It is a scab, and he shall wash his garments and be clean.
Lev
13:7 “But if the scab spreads further
over the skin, after he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall
be seen by the priest again.
Lev
13:8 “And the priest shall look and see,
if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
unclean, it is leprosy.
Lev
13:9 “When the infection of leprosy is
on a man, then he shall be brought to the priest.
Lev
13:10 “And the priest shall look and
see, if the swelling on the skin is white, and it has turned the hair white,
and there is a spot of raw flesh in the swelling,
Lev
13:11 it is an old leprosy on the skin
of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He does not shut him
up, for he is unclean.
Lev
13:12 “And if leprosy breaks out all
over the skin, and the leprosy shall cover all the skin of the infected one,
from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks,
Lev
13:13 then the priest shall look and
see, if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce the infected
one clean. It has all turned white, he is clean.
Lev
13:14 “But the day raw flesh appears on
him, he is unclean.
Lev
13:15 “And the priest shall look at the
raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean – the raw flesh is unclean, it is
leprosy.
Lev
13:16 “Or when the raw flesh changes and
turns white again, he shall come to the priest.
Lev
13:17 “And the priest shall look at him
and see, if the infection has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the
infected one clean, he is clean.
Lev
13:18 “And when the body has a boil in
the skin, and it is healed,
Lev
13:19 and in the place of the boil there
comes a white swelling or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be seen
by the priest.
Lev
13:20 “And the priest shall look and
see, if it appears deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned white, the
priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a leprous infection which has broken
out of the boil.
Lev
13:21 “But if the priest looks at it and
sees no white hairs in it, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded,
then the priest shall shut him up seven days;
Lev
13:22 and if it has spread further over
the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a leprous
infection.
Lev
13:23 “But if the bright spot stays in
its place, it has not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall
pronounce him clean.
The
Great Mystery Concerning Tzarat.
The first
aliyah introduces both major themes of this Torah portion viz. Instructions
concerning childbirth as well as the skin disease called “tzarat” or psoriasis.
This must not be confused with Hansens disease or leprosy. “Leprosy” is just
the word that was used to translate ‘TZARAT’ but because we have another
connotation to what “leprosy” means (which is actually the disease called “Hansen’s
disease”, it will be better if a newer version of for instance “The Scriptures
Version” or the “New King James Version” can correct the word “leprosy” in
these verses to “infectious
skin diseases” where it is on a person’s body. (These are not
infectious). The real meaning of the word “Leprosy” is better classified,
however, as a disease of the nervous system because the leprosy bacterium
attacks the nerves and can be transmitted. This is not the disease that is
described in this portion of Vayiqra/Lev 13. The Hebrew word “Nehgeh” which
means plague is used mostly in relation to the mildew on clothes and walls of a
house but 2 or 3 times the word “Tzaraat” is also used to speak about the “plague
of tzaraat”. Most probably it could be translated with “infectious plague” but
for now it is translated once or twice with “Plague of leprosy”.
Some
Hebrew Terms Relating to This Passage:
tzaraas: skin disease
(improperly translated as “leprosy” in some Translations)
niddah: someone who is
separated or menstruous
tumah: spiritual impurity
metzora: one with a skin
disease; a contraction of the Hebrew word motzi and ra meaning
“one who speaks slander” ie you want to give the idea that a person is unclean
and should be avoided.
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 sage 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 (Rabbi Ginsberg)
