Parshas Metsora deals with the
purification of tuma טומא, generally understood
as spiritual defilement. Examples of it in this week’s Torah reading come from
leprosy, venereal disease, semen, and menstruation. Leprosy or צרעת can
strike a person, garment, house, or object. Semen defiles through physical
contact and masturbation. Similarly ordinary physical relations מטמא defile both the man and the woman.
Other sources of ritual impurity include contact with a human corpse, eating the
flesh of unkosher creatures, contact with the carcass of a kosher animal that
was not properly slaughtered, and the carcass of other animals specifically
mentioned in the Chumash such as lizards and rodents.
Tahara טהרה
or purity is the opposite of tuma טומא
or defilement. It is conceptually related to the idea of physical cleanliness. The
word clean נקי is primarily an expression of physical
cleanliness but is often used to denote purity as well as it says “Who will
ascend upon the Lord's mount and who will stand in His Holy place? He who has
clean (נקי) hands and a wholesome
(בר) heart”, (Psalm 24:3-4).

Concerning
seeing a person with matted hair the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (60:13) rules that
one should make the blessing for strange sights in nature (משנה
הבריות). The Rambam in Guide for the Perplexed (3:33) states, “Cleanliness
in dress and body by washing and removing sweat is included in the various objects
of the Law, but only if connected with purity of action and a heart free from
low principles and bad habits”. The Gemara brings an opinion in the name of
Rabbi Yochanan that a talmid chacham that has a stain on his clothes should
die. Ravina says that he means a stain from semen (Shabbos 114a).
The Or
HaChaim brings the Zohar’s analysis of the purification of the leper as a
metaphor for the kingdom of heaven on earth. “The one undergoing purification
will launder” (VaYikra 14:8), refers to Israel. The clothing refers to the
filthy clothing worn by their soul as it says, “I will remove the filthy
clothes”, (Zacharia 3:4). The shaving of the hair is an aspect of the sprouting
(compare צמח Sprout, ibid 8) of putrid material.
“Washing in water” refers to Torah in which he will purify his thoughts. The
purified leper must also count seven clean days and on the final one, will be
fitting to receive a ray of sanctity.
The
Talmud brings the advice of Rabbi Ishmael to his son that if he bumps into this
degenerate he should draw him into the beis midrash. If he’s like a stone, melt
him, and if he is like iron, shatter him, (Kidushin 30b). In fact purification
of the leper is similar to the ordination of the Cohen Gadol. Both are required
to bring a sacrifice whose blood is to be placed on the lobe of the ear, the
thumb, and the big toe. With the leper the priest performs this ritual a second
time using oil instead of blood. The oil remaining in his hand is placed on the
head of the leper. This hints that if the leper not only repents but has a head
burning to learn Torah, he can be as high as the High Priest.
לע"נ, האמה ,מלכה בת חיים ז"ל
נלב"ע ט"ז ניסן תשנ"ח
Acknowledgements to websites:
תורת אמת, וויקיטקסט, http://dictionary.reference.com/, http://hebrewbooks.org/,
וגם בדואר אלקטרוני
ניתן באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il
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