Torah : Leviticus 12:1-15:33 Haftarah : 2 Ki 4:42-5:19 & 7:3-20

Tazria - תזריע : "She Conceived" Metzorah - מצרע : "Leper" Torah:Leviticus 12:1-15:33Haftarah:2 Ki 4:42-5:19 & 7:3-20 Brit Chadesha:Mt 8:1-4; Lu 2:4-7, 21-40; 4:27, 17:11-19; Eph 5:26-27; Jn 15:13; Ro 6:9-23 Psalms:27-28,81-82, 123-124 Gospels:Mark 7-8

. Fun Facts about Tazria-Metzora • 27th and 28th of 54 portions • 4th and 5th of 10 in Vayikra • Written on 287 lines in a Torah • These combined portions make it a good sized reading, they are 8th and 5th in Vayikra • Combined they contain 20 of the 613 mitzvot; 18 positive and 2 prohibitions

. How is the Haftarah like Tazria? • 2 Kings 5:12-13 “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?”

. How is the Haftarah like Metzora? • 2 Kings 7:19-20 “19And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 20And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.”

. What does Tzaria mean? • Leviticus 12:1-2 “1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean (tamei).”

. What does blood purification mean? • Leviticus 12:4 “And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.”

. What are they saying when they say clean or unclean? • Leviticus 12:7 “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 law for her that hath born a male or a female.”

. Definition of Hebrew Terms • Tumah: state of “ritual impurity” • Tahrah: state of “ritual purity” • Tamei: “ritually unclean" or “ritually unfit to enter the Tabernacle". • Tahor: “ritually clean” or “ritually fit to enter the Tabernacle”

. What does Biblical leprosy mean and what caused it? • Leviticus 13:1-2 “1And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, 2When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:”

. What is important to remember about Biblical leprosy? • Leviticus 13:3 “And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.”

. How is tzaraat different than medical leprosy today? • Leviticus 13:4 “If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days.”

. Why did they need to know one rash from another? • Leviticus 14:2 “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest:”

. What was the cure? • Colossians 3:8 “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.” • Ephesians 4:31-32 “31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”

. What is and what isn’t evil speech? • James 3:10-11 “10Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

. When do the rules of evil speech apply? • Leviticus 19:16-18 “16Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the Lord. 17Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 18Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

. If Biblical leprosy starts in our spirit, how does a house get leprosy? • Leviticus 14:35 “35And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house: 36Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house:”

. There is no temple, why should I care about ritual fitness? • Leviticus 15:31 “Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.”

. Summary • More laws regarding ritual purity and impurity: • A Mikvah for mother’s after child birth. • Males are circumcised on the 8th day. • A Supra-natural plague effects people, clothes and homes for selfish and anti-social behavior (murder by words): • 7 day quarantine just to determine • Put out of the camp until healed • Cleansing instructions for this plague

. Summary • Only the Kohen may diagnose leprosy or healing. • Purification involves two Kosher birds, spring water in an earthen jar, a piece of cedar wood, a scarlet thread and hyssop. • Homes can also be afflicted by leprosy.

Torah : Leviticus 12:1-15:33 Haftarah : 2 Ki 4:42-5:19 & 7:3-20