4/24 - Parshot Tazriah & Metzorah, Vayikra (Leviticus) 12:1-15:33

[iitb]

Leviticus Chapter 12

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2. Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives, and bears a male child; then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her menstruation, shall she be unclean.
3. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
4. And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying for thirty three days; she shall touch no consecrated thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.
5. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying sixty six days.
6. And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest;
7. Who shall offer it before the Lord, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the Torah for her who has given birth to a male or a female.
8. And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.

Leviticus Chapter 13

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2. When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a swelling, a scab, or bright spot, and it is on the skin of his flesh like the disease of leprosy; then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests;
3. And the priest shall look on the disease in the skin of the flesh; and if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the disease looks deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a disease of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.
4. If the bright spot is white in the skin of his flesh, and it looks not deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him who has the disease for seven days;
5. And the priest shall look on him the seventh day; and, behold, if the disease appears to have stayed in place, and the disease has not spread over the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more;
6. And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day; and, behold, if the disease is somewhat dark, and the disease did not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is a scab; and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
7. But if the scab spreads out in the skin, after that he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again;
8. And if the priest sees that, behold, the scab spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprosy.
9. When the disease of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought to the priest;
10. And the priest shall see him; and, behold, if the swelling is white in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is quick raw flesh in the swelling,
11. It is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up; for he is unclean.
12. And if a leprosy breaks out in the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of him who has the disease from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks;
13. Then the priest shall consider; and, behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce clean him who has the disease; it is all turned white; he is clean.
14. But if raw flesh appears in him, he shall be unclean.
15. And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean; for the raw flesh is unclean; it is a leprosy.
16. Or if the raw flesh turns again, and is changed to white, he shall come to the priest;
17. And the priest shall see him; and, behold, if the disease has turned white; then the priest shall pronounce clean him who has the plague; he is clean.
18. The flesh also, in which a boil was in its skin, and is healed,
19. And in the place of the boil there is a white swelling, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish, and it is shown to the priest;
20. And if, when the priest sees it, behold, it looks lower than the skin, and the hair on it has turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease of leprosy broken out from the boil.
21. But if the priest looks on it, and, behold, there are no white hairs in it, and if it is not lower than the skin, but is somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days;
22. And if it spreads much over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease.
23. But if the bright spot stays in its place, and spreads not, it is a burning boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
24. Or if there is any flesh, in the skin where there is a burn caused by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn has a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white;
25. Then the priest shall look upon it; and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and it looks deeper than the skin; it is a leprosy broken out of the burning; therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy.
26. But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it is not lower than the other skin, but is somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days;
27. And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day; and if it has spread out in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy.
28. And if the bright spot stays in its place, and spreads not in the skin, but it is somewhat dark; it is a swelling of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is a scar of the burn.
29. If a man or a woman has a disease on the head or the beard;
30. Then the priest shall see the disease; and, behold, if it looks deeper than the skin; and there is in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a dry patch, a leprosy on the head or beard.
31. And if the priest looks on the disease of the patch, and, behold, it does not look deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him who has the disease of the patch seven days;
32. And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the disease; and, behold, if the patch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the patch does not look deeper than the skin;
33. He shall be shaven, but the patch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up him who has the patch seven days more;
34. And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the patch; and, behold, if the patch has not spread in the skin, nor looks deeper than the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean; and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
35. But if the patch did spread much over the skin after his cleansing;
36. Then the priest shall look on him; and, behold, if the patch has spread over the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is unclean.
37. But if the patch looks as it has stayed, and there is black hair grown up in it; the patch is healed, he is clean; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
38. If a man or a woman has in the skin of the flesh bright spots, white bright spots;
39. Then the priest shall look; and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of the flesh are dull white, it is a tetter that grows in the skin; he is clean.
40. And the man whose hair has fallen off his head, he is bald; yet he is clean.
41. And he who has his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, his forehead is bald; yet is he clean.
42. And if there is in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead.
43. Then the priest shall look upon it; and, behold, if the swelling of the sore is white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appears in the skin of the flesh;
44. He is a leprous man, he is unclean; the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his disease is in his head.
45. And the leper in whom the disease is, his clothes shall be torn, and his head bare, and he shall put a cover upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.
46. All the days when the disease shall be in him he shall be unclean; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone; outside the camp shall his habitation be.
47. The garment also where the disease of leprosy is, whether it is a woollen garment, or a linen garment;
48. Whether it is in the warp, or woof; of linen, or of woollen; whether in a skin, or in any thing made of skin;
49. And if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a disease of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest;
50. And the priest shall look upon the disease, and shut up it that has the disease seven days;
51. And he shall look on the disease on the seventh day; if the disease has spread over the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin; the disease is a malignant leprosy; it is unclean.
52. He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen or in linen, or any thing of skin, where the disease is; for it is a malignant leprosy; it shall be burned in the fire.
53. And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the disease has not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin;
54. Then the priest shall command them to wash the thing where the disease is, and he shall shut it up seven days more;
55. And the priest shall look on the disease, after it is washed; and, behold, if the disease has not changed its color, and the disease has not spread; it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire; it is a decay on the inner or outer surface.
56. And if the priest looks, and, behold, the disease is somewhat dark after being washed; then he shall tear it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof;
57. And if it appears still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a spreading disease; you shall burn where the disease is with fire.
58. And the garment, either warp, or woof, or whatever thing of skin it is, which you shall wash, if the disease has departed from it, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean.
59. This is the Torah of the disease of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.

Leviticus Chapter 14

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2. This shall be the Torah of the leper in the day of his cleansing; He shall be brought to the priest;
3. And the priest shall go out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the disease of leprosy is healed in the leper;
4. Then shall the priest command to take for him who is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop;
5. And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen utensil over running water;
6. As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water;
7. And he shall sprinkle upon him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field.
8. And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean; and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall stay out of his tent seven days.
9. But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, all his hair he shall shave off; and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.
10. And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and one log of oil.
11. And the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the Tent of Meeting;
12. And the priest shall take one male lamb, and offer him for a guilt offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord;
13. And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the guilt offering; it is most holy;
14. And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot;
15. And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand;
16. And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord;
17. And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the guilt offering;
18. And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him who is to be cleansed; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord.
19. And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering;
20. And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering upon the altar; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
21. And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil;
22. And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.
23. And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before the Lord.
24. And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord;
25. And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot;
26. And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand;
27. And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord;
28. And the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering;
29. And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put upon the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the Lord.
30. And he shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get;
31. Such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the Lord.
32. This is the Torah of him in whom is the disease of leprosy, whose means do not permit much for his cleansing.
33. And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
34. When you come to the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the disease of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;
35. And he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seems to me there is a disease in the house;
36. Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to see the disease, that all that is in the house be not made unclean; and afterwards the priest shall go in to see the house;
37. And he shall look on the disease, and, behold, if the disease is in the walls of the house with depressions, greenish or reddish, which in look lower than the wall;
38. Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days;
39. And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look; and, behold, if the disease has spread over the walls of the house;
40. Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the disease is, and they shall throw them into an unclean place outside the city;
41. And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside around, and they shall pour out the dust that they scraped outside the city into an unclean place;
42. And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house.
43. And if the disease comes again, and break out in the house, after he has taken away the stones, and after he has scraped the house, and after it is plastered;
44. Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the disease has spread in the house, it is a malignant leprosy in the house; it is unclean.
45. And he shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the mortar of the house; and he shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place.
46. Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening.
47. And he who lies in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
48. And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the disease has not spread in the house, after the house was plastered; then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the disease is healed.
49. And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop;
50. And he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen utensil over running water;
51. And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times;
52. And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet;
53. But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house; and it shall be clean.
54. This is the Torah for all kinds of disease of leprosy, and patch,
55. And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house,
56. And for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot;
57. To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean; this is the Torah of leprosy.

Leviticus Chapter 15

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
2. Speak to the people of Israel, and say to them, When any man has a discharge out of his flesh, because of his discharge he is unclean.
3. And this shall be his uncleanness in his discharge; whether his flesh runs with his discharge, or his flesh is stopped from his discharge, it is his uncleanness.
4. Every bed, on which he, who has the discharge, lies, is unclean; and everything, on which he sits, shall be unclean.
5. And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
6. And he who sits on any thing on which he, who has the discharge, sat, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
7. And he who touches the flesh of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
8. And if he who has the discharge spits upon him who is clean; then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
9. And whatever saddle he, who has the discharge, rides upon, shall be unclean.
10. And whoever touches any thing that was under him shall be unclean until the evening; and he who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
11. And whoever he, who has the discharge, touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
12. And the utensil of earth, that he, who has the discharge, touches, shall be broken; and every utensil of wood shall be rinsed in water.
13. And when he, who has a discharge, is cleansed of his discharge; then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
14. And on the eighth day he shall take to him two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest;
15. And the priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.
16. And if any man’s semen goes out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
17. And every garment, and every skin, on which the semen is, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.
18. The woman also with whom the man, with discharge of semen, shall lie, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening.
19. And if a woman has a discharge, and the discharge of her flesh is blood, she shall be put apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.
20. And every thing that she lies upon in her separation shall be unclean; every thing also that she sits upon shall be unclean.
21. And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
22. And whoever touches any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
23. And if it is on her bed, or on any thing on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening.
24. And if any man lies with her at all, and her menstrual discharge is upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and the bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
25. And if a woman has a bloody discharge many days not during the time of her menstruation, or if it runs beyond the time of her menstruation; all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her menstruation; she shall be unclean.
26. Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her menstruation; and whatever she sits upon shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her menstruation.
27. And whoever touches those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
28. But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
29. And on the eighth day she shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.
30. And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her before the Lord for the discharge of her uncleanness.
31. Thus shall you separate the people of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my Tabernacle that is among them.
32. This is the Torah of him who has a discharge, and of him whose semen goes from him, and is defiled with it;
33. And of her who is sick with her menstrual discharge, and of him who has a discharge; of the man, and of the woman, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.

[iitb]

3. And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said one to another, Why should we sit here until we die?
4. If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. And therefore come, and let us go over to the camp of the Arameans; if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
5. And they rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Arameans; and when they came to the outer edge of the camp of Aram, behold, there was no man there.
6. For the Lord had made the camp of the Arameans hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, the noise of a great army; and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
7. Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
8. And when these lepers came to the outer edge of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried from there silver, and gold, and garments, and went and hid it; and returned, and entered into another tent, and carried there also, and went and hid it.
9. Then they said one to another, We do not well; this day is a day of good news, and we hold our peace; if we remain till the morning light, punishment will come upon us; now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.
10. And they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city; and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Arameans, and, behold, there was no man there, nor voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.
11. And he called the gatekeepers; and they told it to the king’s house inside.
12. (K) And the king arose in the night, and said to his servants, I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they are gone from the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come from the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.
13. (K) And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I beg you, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that have perished; and let us send and see.
14. They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the camp of the Arameans, saying, Go and see.
15. (K) And they went after them to the Jordan; and, lo, all the way was full of garments and utensils, which the Arameans had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.
16. And the people went out, and plundered the tents of the Arameans. And a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
17. And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate; and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.
18. And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria;
19. And that lord answered the man of God, and said, And, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.
20. And so it happened to him; for the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died.

[iitb]

Since this is far too much copying and pasting, I'm just going to provide links:

Tazriah:
Matthew 8:1-4, 11:2-6 (http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&passage=Matthew+8%3A1-4%2C+11%3A2-6&version=NASB)
Mark 1:40-45 (http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?passage=MARK%2B1%3A40-45&showfn=on&showxref=on&language=english&version=NASB&x=8&y=10)
Luke 2:22-24; 5:12-16; 7:18-23 (http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NASB&passage=Luke+2%3A22-24%3B+5%3A12-16%3B+7%3A18-23&x=10&y=9)

Metzorah:
Matthew 9:20-26 (http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NASB&passage=Matthew+9%3A20-26&x=16&y=4)
Mark 5:24b-34 (http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NASB&passage=Mark+5%3A24b-34&x=18&y=9)
Luke 8:42b-48 (http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NASB&passage=Luke+8%3A42b-48&x=15&y=14)
Hebrews 13:4 (http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NASB&passage=Hebrews+13%3A4&x=8&y=11)

[Henaynei]

this is quite an interesting section :) For one thing it seems pretty clear that the term "leporsy" was a rather broad term that included many diseases and even certain "diseases" of the house .....

this is also the foundation section for the Torah Taharat HaMishpokha/Laws of Faily Purity...

[debi b]

I was thinking about tzaraat (tzaraas/leprosy). One of the outcomes is that you were to live out side the camp during the affliction (a cut-off state).

With the physical condition identified today as leprosy from what I understand a big problem is with secondary infections because the person so afflicted looses sensation in the limbs (hands, feet). So you could step on a piece of glass and not know it, become infected and not know it...

I can see parallels

[WildCelt]

My forthcoming question(s) probably won't get much notice because the parashot topics seem to be "ho-hum" for many ;) , but I'll post anyway.

On Monday evenings, I attend a chavurah that gets together to discuss the parasha for the last Shabbat. One of the questions raised on parashat Tazria was: Can believers in Yeshua be tamei? Obviously, the idea is tamei on a spiritual level rather than simply physical. When HaShem sees a believer in Yeshua, he sees Yeshua atonement rather than the individual's sin, so the idea is that a believer cannot be "tamei" in the eyes of HaShem. The question was raised that if this is so, why even bother observing kashrut?

I don't have the answer--just throwing it out there. :)

[Henaynei]

My forthcoming question(s) probably won't get much notice because the parashot topics seem to be "ho-hum" for many ;) , but I'll post anyway.

On Monday evenings, I attend a chavurah that gets together to discuss the parasha for the last Shabbat. One of the questions raised on parashat Tazria was: Can believers in Yeshua be tamei? Obviously, the idea is tamei on a spiritual level rather than simply physical. When HaShem sees a believer in Yeshua, he sees Yeshua atonement rather than the individual's sin, so the idea is that a believer cannot be "tamei" in the eyes of HaShem. The question was raised that if this is so, why even bother observing kashrut?

I don't have the answer--just throwing it out there. :)Tamei, being neither physical nor spiritual uncleanness but rather ritual uncleanness, yes we can certainly be tamei.

Soap and water deals with physical uncleanness;http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/7/7_3_110.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001)
Yeshua's sacrifice deals with spiritual uncleanness;http://www.domini.org/tabern/gif/arkch2.gif
Obedience and mikveh deal with ritual uncleanness....http://www.mikvah.org/directory/img/mikvah/10385_t_1421.jpg (http://www.mikvah.org/directory/mikvahPhotos.asp?pageNumber=41#)

In the Torah the Jews who kept the Law were "covered" by the Yom Kippur sacrifice from one year to the other - numerous are the persons that are said to be "righteous" before Yeshua's time, yet the instructions about tamei v'tahor never changed. The instructions G-d gave about tamei were coupled with phrases like "shall be forever" the commandment. G-d never changed this.

If what your group postulated is true then why keep any of the commanemnts and why be Messianic Jewish? In fact, Messianic Judaism would have no validity at all ;)

[WildCelt]

Yay! A reply!! :clap:


If what your group postulated is true then why keep any of the commanemnts and why be Messianic Jewish? In fact, Messianic Judaism would have no validity at all ;)

I think that was exactly the point. Please know that we, our group, are all pretty new on this path, so many questions arise.

One thing that our group did not consider is the distinction you made between being spiritually unclean vs. ritually unclean. We are spiritually clean in Yeshua HaMashiach, but at times may be ritually unclean.

Which I guess leads to: What does being ritually unclean mean in modern terms? There is no Mishkan/Temple, so what does it really mean to be ritually unclean? What would one who is ritually unclean be prohibited from doing? Praying? Going to shul/church?

[Henaynei]

Yay! A reply!! :clap: LOL

One thing that our group did not consider is the distinction you made between being spiritually unclean vs. ritually unclean. We are spiritually clean in Yeshua HaMashiach, but at times may be ritually unclean.
That is not unusual and comes with further study ;)

Which I guess leads to: What does being ritually unclean mean in modern terms? There is no Mishkan/Temple, so what does it really mean to be ritually unclean? What would one who is ritually unclean be prohibited from doing? Praying? Going to shul/church?
For the man it would mean (if such is the custom of your community, it is something you often have to grow into) that he woudl not be called up to aliyah, would not touch the Torah and it's implements, or the Ark and it's implements.

For a woman it means she would not use her book (of course never should one use their hand) to touch the Torah as it goes by. It would also mean she would not touch any of the things associated with the Ark.

We've recently had a similar discussion here:
http://www.christianforums.com/t157303

[WildCelt]

LOL

That is not unusual and comes with further study ;)

I have no doubts about that. Sometimes I feel like I'm 30 years late for class and am trying to catch up!


For the man it would mean (if such is the custom of your community, it is something you often have to grow into) that he woudl not be called up to aliyah, would not touch the Torah and it's implements, or the Ark and it's implements.

For a woman it means she would not use her book (of course never should one use their hand) to touch the Torah as it goes by. It would also mean she would not touch any of the things associated with the Ark.

That makes perfect sense, toda raba.

[Henaynei]

I have no doubts about that. Sometimes I feel like I'm 30 years late for class and am trying to catch up! At this rate you'll catch up quite quickly :)

That makes perfect sense, toda raba. B'vakshah!! You have no idea what a pure delight it is to hear someone here say that!!! Barukh atah!!

[Henaynei]

I like this pix of the Ark better

[WildCelt]

:)