TAZRIA-METZORA, Leviticus 12:1- 15:33

TAZRIA-METZORA

Leviticus 12:1-15:33

In Parshat Tazria the question is raised as to why additional time is required when a mother has given birth to a girl.

Parshat Tazria begins by setting out the rules which govern a woman upon giving birth. In order to regain a status of ritual purity and what I would call “normalcy”.  She must undergo a time-related sanctification process. This process varies in length depending on whether she has given birth to a boy or a girl. It is 41 days for a male child and 81 days for a baby girl.

The question for me is why is additional time required when the mother has given birth to a girl?

I think it goes like this: During the period of gestation there is a presumption that the mother knows or thinks she knows that she is carrying a girl. At that point the mother realizes that it is incumbent upon her to pass on the superior wisdom and understanding, spirituality, sensitivity and teaching skills inherent in a woman to her unborn daughter.

She does this having in mind that one day the unborn daughter will have children of her own and likewise have the responsibility to educate them. Passing on this bounty to her unborn daughter depletes the mother of her natural gifts, and she needs more time to spiritually recover and resume her maternal responsibilities.
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The four lepers bring the news to the guards at the gate of Samaria (illumination from Petrus Comestor's 1372 Bible Historiale)

This week we have a double Parshah reading: Tazria-Metzora.

Tazaria,  תַזְרִיעַ means sow a seed or inseminated.  מְּצֹרָע means "one who is diseased", literally “a leper”. .

The Parshah Tazaria and Metzora concern a person punished with a spiritual disorder called צָּרַעַת, tzara'at.  It manifests itself on a person’s skin, something akin to psoriasis.  A Kohen is called upon to diagnose the disease.  

The only treatment offered for a person with tzara’at is quarantine for a period of time outside of the camp and shaving of the body.  After a period of time, if the treatment is effective as determined by the Kohen, the person undergoes a purification process.  Firstly the person immerses in a Mikveh, a sort of spiritual repair and cleansing.  The person must wait until the end of the day, for nightfall, and the beginning of a new day before entering back into the camp.  He is now permitted to partake in, to eat sacred food, the Korban, a part of the holy offering.  By consuming some of the Korban, the person has been fully restored to spiritual health

Tzara'at may also affect one’s clothing and even one’s home.  We don't have this type of disease currently and we do not understand how all the details are relevant to our practical lives.  But we do know that there are times when our spiritual being has been diseased and requires repair and purification.

The Tazria-Metzora and one of the haftarah for Metzora when read alone deal with people stricken with skin disease.  In Parashah Tazria at 13:46 provides that the person with skin disease "shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be,".  It is not difficult to connect the Torah readings with the situation that we are facing today with the Covid 19 virus.  I’ll leave it to you to make your own conclusions.
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The Haftarah for parasha Metzora when read alone is from 2 Kings 7:3–20: Four “leprous” men are living outside the gate of the city of Samaria which is the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.  The city is under siege by the nearby country of Aram-Damascus. 

Historically we know for sure that the King of Israel is Jehoram or Joram.  He was the son of the wicked Ahab and Jezebel. There is a war going on between the Kingdom of Aram-Damascus led by Hazael, חֲזָהאֵל  and the Kingdom of Israel.  The year is about 840 BCE.  About a hundred years earlier, the united kingdom of Judea split, Israel to the North with it capital of Samaria, and Judea to the South with its capital of Jerusalem.

 Today, Samaria is the city of Nablus, and is controlled by the Palestinian Authority.  Would you consider today’s inhabitant (probably hailing from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan) to be “occupiers”? 

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With a little work you can connect Tazria-Metzora to Psalm 91:

In Psalm 91, verses 3 and 6 there are references to pestilence or to plague and to lesions, all of which are mentioned in this week’s double parsha Tazria-Metzora, and which unfortunately the entire world is coping with today.

כִּי הוּא יַצִּילְךָ, מִפַּח יָקוּשׁ;    מִדֶּבֶר הַוּוֹת

3 For He will save you from the snare that traps from the devastating pestilence.

 מִדֶּבֶר, בָּאֹפֶל יַהֲלֹךְ;  מִקֶּטֶב, יָשׁוּד צָהֳרָיִם

6 Pestilence that prowls in darkness, destruction that ravages at noon

דֶּבֶר = pestilence or plague

 לֹא-תְאֻנֶּה אֵלֶיךָ רָעָה;  וְנֶגַע, לֹא-יִקְרַב בְּאָהֳלֶךָ

10 No harm will befall you, nor will a lesion draw near to your tent.

נֶגַע = lesion, leprosy or plague

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As an aside, I have a personal connection to Psalm 91.  Years ago, working as a geological consultant, I was engaged in doing some field work.  It was one of those beautiful late autumn days in a West Virginia forest.  The morning air was crisp and cool.  

As I walked, I heard a buzzing sound that I took for the last chirps of some sought of insect. As I stepped forward over what appeared to be a fallen log, the buzzing noise stopped, and I paused.  My field partner yelled at me: “Mike, Run!!”  And I did.  When I looked back, the fallen log, at least four feet long and thick as your leg, was moving and disappearing down a hole.  It was a huge diamond back rattler and I had walked over it.  I think one of the lessons for this Jew was to be a little more “observant”.

 עַל-שַׁחַל וָפֶתֶן, תִּדְרֹךְ;    תִּרְמֹס כְּפִיר וְתַנִּין.

13 On a lion and a viper you will tread; you will trample a young lion and a serpent.

14 For he yearns for Me, and I shall rescue him; I shall fortify him because he knows My name.

And just in case I needed a little more persuasion, the point was brought home a few months later. Doing some more fieldwork I had reason to climb up to the top of a very steep and tall ridge. The climb was difficult for me and when I reached the top, I rested and looked around in order to catch my breath and get my bearings.

 It had snowed earlier in the morning and there in front of me on a patch of newly fallen snow was the largest paw prints that I had ever seen. And there just ahead of me along the ridge line was a cave which I guessed housed the creature that made those prints. I didn’t hang around to ask its name or check whether it was an old or young lion, but when I had a chance to gather my wits I thought back to Psalm 91, Verse 13 and 14 regarding lions and such, and the prerequisites for obtaining Divine Protection.