Tazria / Metsorah - Weirdo

The double parsha Tazria / Metsorah deals with what is colloquially called the disease of leprosy. One who is struck with it gets a sore which can take the form of a swelling, scab, or inflammation, where the hair on it has turned white. The mark can also show up on a garment or a building. In all cases a person must undergo a period of quarantine and ostricision until the sore goes into remission after which he is required to launder his clothes.

If the sore initially has a deep appearance or spreads while under observation then the one afflicted must additionally undergo an unusual elaborate purification ritual. He is required to provide two live kosher birds. One is slaughtered so that its blood flows into a pot of water into which the second bird along with a few other items is dunked. The bloody water is then sprinkled on the leper. A week later he must shave all of the hair including his head off the body, bathe, and launder his clothes. The final step is to bring a guilt offering and a sin offering with about a cup and a half of oil. Some of the blood of the sin offering is placed on the repentant leper’s ear, thumb, and big toe. The oil is applied in a similar fashion and a portion of it is poured on his head. If leprosy strikes a garment it is burnt in whole or in part. A building is basically demolished.

This is not a disease in the conventional sense because it is not debilitating nor does it cause pain. Something is clearly wrong even though the Chumash does not explicitly say so. The commentaries see a hint in the name of the malady in lashon hakodesh which is מְצֹרָע (metsorah). They say is a variant מוֹצִיא רָע which means to bring out evil. In other words the leper has done something bad and it is showing up through this sore. The Gemara (Tractate Arakhim 16a) lists the following seven reasons: slander, the shedding of blood, vain oath, obscenity, arrogance, robbery, and miserliness. These tend to be transgressions that are done secretly. Also a person can do these things and even get away with it although others do know about it.

The Torah is teaching that the bad that a person does can come out. There may be something strange about their home, clothes, body, behavior, something else. Sometimes the reason is obvious. Other times it can be figured out or guessed. Sometimes you don't know why, except something is wrong. It can be that the best approach is to distance yourself from the situation and hope that the rabbi can find a solution in his own way.

 

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