The Parshahs of Tazria and Metzora continue the discussion of the laws of tumah v’taharah,
ritual impurity and purity.
A
woman giving
birth should undergo a process of purification, which includes immersing in a mikvah (a naturally gathered
pool of water) and bringing offerings to the Holy Temple. All male infants are to be circumcised on the
eighth day of life.
Tzaraat (often mistranslated as “leprosy”) is a supra-natural plague, which can afflict people as well as
garments or
homes. If white or pink patches appear on a person’s skin (dark pink or dark green in garments or homes), a kohen is summoned.
Judging by various signs, such as an increase in size of the afflicted area after a seven-day quarantine, the kohen
pronounces it tamei (impure) or tahor (pure).
A person afflicted with tzaraat must dwell alone outside of the camp (or city) until he is healed. The afflicted area in a garment or home must be removed; if the tzaraat recurs, the entire garment or home must be
destroyed.
When the metzora (“leper”) heals, he or she is purified by the kohen with a special procedure involving two birds,
spring water in an earthen vessel, a piece of
cedar wood, a scarlet thread and a bundle of
hyssop.
Ritual impurity is also engendered through a seminal or other discharge in a man, and menstruation or other discharge of
blood in a woman, necessitating purification through
immersion in a mikvah.
