Metzora (parashah)

It addresses cleansing from skin disease (צָּרַעַת‎, tzara'at), houses with an eruptive plague, male genital discharges, and menstruation.

[34] In the seventh reading, 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.

In Deuteronomy 24:8–9, Moses warned the Israelites in the case of skin disease (צָּרַעַת‎, tzara'at) diligently to observe all that the priests would teach them, remembering what God did to Miriam.

In 2 Kings 7:3–20, part of the haftarah for parashah Metzora, the story is told of four "leprous men" (מְצֹרָעִים‎, m'tzora'im) at the gate during the Arameans' siege of Samaria.

And then in Leviticus 14:17, God instructed the priest to put oil on the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot of the one to be cleansed, on top of the blood of the guilt-offering.

And finally, in Leviticus 14:25 and 28, God instructed the priest to repeat the procedure on the eighth day to complete the person's cleansing.

The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:[39] Philo taught that the skin disease in Leviticus 14 signified voluntary depravity.

The Gemara cited scriptural bases for each of the associations: For slander, Psalm 101:5; for bloodshed, 2 Samuel 3:29; for a vain oath, 2 Kings 5:23–27; for incest, Genesis 12:17; for arrogance, 2 Chronicles 26:16–19; for robbery, Leviticus 14:36 (as a Tanna taught that those who collect money that does not belong to them will see a priest come and scatter their money around the street); and for envy, Leviticus 14:35.

The Midrash cited as proofs: (1) for idol-worship, the experience of the Israelites who said of the Golden Calf, "This is your god, O Israel," in Exodus 32:4 and then were smitten with leprosy, as reported in Exodus 32:25, where "Moses saw that the people had broken out (parua, פָרֻעַ‎)," indicating that leprosy had "broken out" (parah) among them; (2) for unchastity, from the experience of the daughters of Zion of whom Isaiah 3:16 says, "the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and ogling eyes," and then Isaiah 3:17 says, "Therefore will the Lord smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion"; (3) for bloodshed, from the experience of Joab, of whom 2 Samuel 3:29 says, "Let it fall upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper," (4) for the profanation of the Divine Name, from the experience of Gehazi, of whom 2 Kings 5:20 says, "But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said: ‘Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; as the Lord lives, I will surely run after him, and take of him somewhat (me'umah, מְאוּמָה‎)," and "somewhat" (me'umah, מְאוּמָה‎) means "of the blemish" (mum, מוּם‎) that Naaman had, and thus Gehazi was smitten with leprosy, as 2 Kings 5:20 reports Elisha said to Gehazi, "The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave to you"; (5) for blaspheming the Divine Name, from the experience of Goliath, of whom 1 Samuel 17:43 says, "And the Philistine cursed David by his God," and the 1 Samuel 17:46 says, "This day will the Lord deliver (sagar, סַגֶּרְ‎) you," and the term "deliver" (סַגֶּרְ‎, sagar) is used here in the same sense as Leviticus 13:5 uses it with regard to leprosy, when it is says, "And the priest shall shut him up (סַגֶּרְ‎, sagar)"; (6) for robbing the public, from the experience of Shebna, who derived illicit personal benefit from property of the Sanctuary, and of whom Isaiah 22:17 says, "the Lord .

[48] Similarly, Rabbi Judah the Levite, son of Rabbi Shalom, inferred that skin disease comes because of eleven sins: (1) for cursing the Divine Name, (2) for immorality, (3) for bloodshed, (4) for ascribing to another a fault that is not in him, (5) for haughtiness, (6) for encroaching upon other people's domains, (7) for a lying tongue, (8) for theft, (9) for swearing falsely, (10) for profanation of the name of Heaven, and (11) for idolatry.

A person affected by skin disease (מְּצֹרָע‎, metzora) is accounted as dead, for Numbers 12:10–12 says, "And Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous (מְצֹרָעַת‎, metzora'at).

[67] Rabbi Zera taught that Ecclesiastes 5:11 provided a Scriptural proof for this when it says, "Sweet is the sleep of a serving man, whether he eat little or much."

Rabbi Simeon ben Azzai thus taught that Scripture uses the same expression each time to teach that it is the same whether people offered much or little, so long as they directed their hearts to Heaven.

Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai answered that when the Canaanites heard that the Israelites were approaching, they hid their valuables in their houses.

[75] Reading Leviticus 14:33 and 15:1, a Midrash taught that in 18 verses, Scripture places Moses and Aaron (the instruments of Israel's deliverance) on an equal footing (reporting that God spoke to both of them alike),[76] and thus there are 18 benedictions in the Amidah.

The Sifra thus read the words "which I give to you" in Leviticus 14:34 to exclude the lands of Ammon and Moab east of the Jordan River.

The only thing that the Torah spared was the homeowner's earthenware, even his cruse and his ewer (which, if the house proved unclean, Leviticus 15:12 indicates would have to be broken).

The Midrash read the words, "and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession," in Leviticus 14:34 to allude to the Temple, about which in Ezekiel 24:21 God says, "I will defile My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the longing of your soul."

The Midrash read the words, "and he shall break down the house," in Leviticus 14:45 to allude to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who Ezra 5:12 reports destroyed the Temple.

The Midrash read the words, "and they shall pour out the dust that they have scraped off outside the city," in Leviticus 14:41 to allude to the Israelites taken away to the Babylonian Captivity, whom Ezra 5:12 reports Nebuchadnezzar "carried ... away into Babylon."

Rabbi Judah taught that the discharge would not render him unclean if he had watched animals having intercourse or even if he merely saw a woman's dyed garments.

[106] Tractate Mikvaot in the Mishnah and Tosefta interpreted the laws of the ritual bath (מִקְוֶה‎, mikveh) prescribed for the cleansing of menstruants in Leviticus 15:19–33.

[109] The parashah is discussed in these medieval Jewish sources:[110] Rashi reported an interpretation by Rabbi Moshe ha-Darshan (the preacher) that since the Levites were submitted in atonement for the firstborn who had practiced idolatry when they worshipped the Golden Calf (in Exodus 32), and Psalm 106:28 calls idol worship "sacrifices to the dead," and in Numbers 12:12 Moses called one afflicted with skin disease (צָּרַעַת‎, tzara'at) "as one dead," and Leviticus 14:8 required those afflicted with skin disease to shave, therefore God required the Levites too to shave.

[111] The parashah is discussed in these modern sources: Ephraim Speiser wrote that the word “Torah” (תּוֹרָה‎) is based on a verbal stem signifying “to teach, guide,” and the like, and the derived noun can carry a variety of meanings, including in Leviticus 13:59, 14:2, 54, and 57, specific rituals for what is sometimes called leprosy.

[112] Jacob Milgrom said that reddish substances, surrogates for blood, were among the ingredients of the purificatory rites for scale-diseased and corpse-contaminated persons, symbolizing the victory of the forces of life over death.

[131] The king arose in the night, and told his servants that he suspected that the Arameans had hidden in the field, thinking that when the Samaritans came out, they would be able to get into the city.

[134] So the people went out and looted Arameans' camp, so that the market price of; a measure (seah) of fine flour (about six dry qt., six lb.

[135] And the king appointed the captain on whom he leaned to take charge of the gate, and the people trampled him and killed him before he could taste of the flour, just as the man of God Elisha had said.

[138] Rabbi Johanan taught that the four leprous men at the gate in 2 Kings 7:3 were none other than Elisha's former servant Gehazi (whom the Midrash, above, cited as having been stricken with leprosy for profanation of the Divine Name) and his three sons.

"[142] Professor Choon-Leong Seow of Vanderbilt University said that lepers, outcasts of society, discovered that the Arameans had deserted their camp, and it was through them that the news came to the Israelites, while those in power doubted divine deliverance.