Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
In This Week’s Parashah: מָה בַּפָּרָשָׁה
If you lived in the time of the Torah, and you had the skin disease צָרַעַת (tzara’at), you’d become טָמֵא (tamei, impure). After you healed, there’s a two-part process to become טָהוֹר (tahor, pure):
Part One
The כֹּהֵן (kohen, priest) would take two birds and slaughter one of them. He would sprinkle the blood on you and on the other bird. That bird would be released. It would fly off, as if it were taking your טֻמְאָה (tum’ah, impurity) far away.
You would bathe in a מִקְוֶה (mikveh, ritual bath). Then, one week later…
Part Two
You’d bathe again. You would bring a bunch of korbanot: אָשָׁם (asham), חַטָּאת (hattat), עֹלָה (olah), and מִנְחָה (minhah).
You’d be dabbed with the asham blood and with oil. Finally, your tzara’at would be a thing of the past.
House Tzara’at
In Eretz Yisrael, if your home had something greenish or reddish growing on it, it might be tzara’at. Sometimes, the house would have to be taken apart, or a blood sprinkling ritual might make it tahor again, like a person who had tzara’at.
Full Parashah Reading: Vayikra 14:1-15:33
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