Tazria-Metzora – Once Upon a Week

Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Yehuda Bachana.

At first glance, this Torah portion talks about different skin deceases. Most of these visible health problems do not exist anymore today. We also read about purification ceremonies, such as the one after birth, or the one after being healed from leprosy or other bodily discharges.

The most common idea is that this double Torah Portion mostly deal with hygiene, the protection of the public health, and the distancing from the impurity and from the sick. This Torah portion joins in with the prior one, and commands us to keep distance from impurity. Let’s delve into the question of what it means to be impure.

Usually, being impure does not bear any moral implications. A person can be good and honest, and similarly be defiled. Defiled means dirty or impure. This person’s impurity is caused, because he touched something that defiled him. The impure person is not a bad person, but rather someone who has to be purified, to be cleansed.

In the Bible we find a long list of defiled things. Death is the greatest of them. In the previous Torah Portion, we saw a list of impure animals, and the Bible warns us not to touch their carcasses.

The Bible repeatedly warns us that if we have become impure, we should act carefully. By not touching anything around us, we won’t pass the impurity on to other people or objects. We are asked to bathe well and wash our clothes, as soon as possible:

This portion commands to separate those sick with contagious skin deceases from the rest of the population, in order to stop - or at least to minimize - the possible spread of the plague.

Some people point out to the different deadly plagues that spread in Europe and hurt many nations in a fatal way; while, the Jews, however, were struck relatively less. Some commentators conclude that this difference was a result of the commanded personal hygiene measurements, which include: washing clothes, keeping distance from dead people and animals, immersion, and washing hands on a regular basis: all protective measurements that safe-guarded the public health, even in the darkest times in human history.

Yet, which part of this Torah Portion still affect us today?This question is relevant for most of our portion, with the exception of the commandment to circumcise, because Jews and Messianic Jews still circumcise until today. And, even here we have to ask, do we circumcise, because it appears in this Torah Portion, or because of God’s covenant with Abraham?

The common view is that circumcision became an obligation only from the moment it was commanded to Israel in the Torah (and not before). This means that circumcision was not mandatory as a symbol of the Abrahamic covenant; however, we are obligated to observe circumcision from the moment it was commanded in the Torah:

The idea of ‘Gid Hanashe’ contradicts this view point, yet, we are still very careful about it. ‘Gid Hanashe’ is the sciatic nerve, near the animal’s thighbone. We are forbidden to eat this part, and it is always removed from kosher meat. This prohibition comes from Jacob’s struggle with the Angel of God at the Jabok-crossing. Jacob prevailed in the struggle, but remained limping after the Angel crippled his tendon:

In this case, the Torah has no commandment about the Gid Hanashe; nevertheless, we keep it.

So, what is the answer then? Why do we circumcise? Is it because of the Abrahamic covenant, or because of the clear commandment from our Torah portion?

I assume, it is the combination of tradition, the covenant of God with Abraham plus the Torah commandment that makes circumcision so essential to the Jewish culture. Circumcision is kept by the absolute majority of our nation, even by the most secular. It is the combination of these reasons that make this commandment so relevant, even until today.

The commandment to circumcise is only a small part of our Torah Portion. What about the rest of it?How are the purification from leprosy or explanations about ancient skin deceases, that even the oldest and most experienced modern doctor has not seen in his life relevant for our everyday life and to our faith as messianic believers?

According to the spirit of this portion, we have a responsibility to keep others from being infected. If someone is sick with a contagious decease, we must take every precaution, not to infect others. This includes taking proper medication and following hygiene requirements for himself and his environment.

In addition, this Torah portion is especially interesting for us, as Messianic believers, because the New Testament speaks about lepers and Yeshua healed lepers on several occasions. What does this mean?

The New Testament sees the healing of lepers as a true miracle, pointing directly at Yeshua as Savior. The disciples of John the Baptist came to ask Yeshua:

The disciples of John ask Yeshua outright: “Are you the Messiah?”

Are you the One who will bring us hope and redemption, or shall we wait for someone else?

“So he replied to the messengers,

Yeshua answered them with a question: what do you see?Miracles and wonders, people are healed and lepers are cleansed. The New Testament gives a clear answer – yes! There is hope and Yeshua is the Messiah, promised to Israel and the world.

Let’s look at another example from the Gospel of Mark where Yeshua heals lepers:

What is so special in healing the leper, and why does it happen several times in the New Testament?

The uniqueness comes from the fact that there was no healing nor medicine for leprosy in those days, making this a miracle. However, I think that Yeshua’s ability to heal a person’s soul and inner being is even more important here than the miracle of physical healing. Especially, because leprosy was believed to be an external expression of internal corruption. According to traditional Jewish interpretation, the lepers are equal to slanderers.

The word ‘tsara’at’ (leprosy) can be seen as a play on words between ‘metzora’ (leper) and ‘motzi shem ra’ (one who slanders), stating that leprosy equals gossiping. Leprosy was not seen as a medical issue, but rather as a punishment from Above.

For example, Moses’ sister Miriam, spoke negatively about Moses in Numbers 12. As she gossips, she immediately is punished with leprosy. From the Jewish viewpoint, leprosy is the result of negative behavior, especially gossip or slander, where we hurt, slander or publicly humiliate others behind their back.

It is easy to enjoy slander, as it makes us look better and more successful. We enjoy listening to hurtful and negative stories about others. Again, they cause us to feel better about ourselves. However, leprosy is viewed as the result of inner corruption. The idea is that what comes out of a person’s mouth reveals his personality. Last week we read the verse where Yeshua says:

The explanation of this saying has nothing to do with food. Yeshua explains that what really defiles us comes from within, from the heart.

If we watch what we put into our mouth, and if we keep kosher, then how much more do we have to watch what comes out of it… slander and gossip that hurt others!

Yeshua is actually asking more from us. We must not only abstain from gossiping, but deal with the real problem - the inner corruption. And, who can fix a person’s internal issues? Here we point at Yeshua, saying that He can heal a man’s inner self.

Leprosy or even a speaking style is often an outward expression that can be hidden from others. We can cover up with clothes or keep quiet. Yet, Yeshua asks His disciples to keep internal purity.

If there is a negative quality as slander, there is also the opposite – praise and a good word. Instead of looking for failures in others, let’s chose to look for where they succeed. Let’s encourage and praise them. We have the power to strengthen those around us.

That’s exactly what Yeshua asks us to do. It is not enough to abstain from damaging others with our words. We are called to build others up, to praise and encourage them.

Yeshua came to purify people from the inside. The reason that the New Testament often speaks about cleansing lepers, is to prove that the person’s inner being was healed, rather than telling us of the great miracle. In a different event, a paralyzed man was brought to Yeshua, and Yeshua declares:

People around them where horrified. They thought (quietly, in their hearts): who can forgive sins, only God has the power to forgive sins. People thought that such a saying was a blasphemous.

Yeshua knew what people are thinking and turned to them, saying: “What is easier to say? ‘Son your sins are forgiven.’ Or to say: ‘Be healed from your decease, be healed from being paralyzed, get up and walk!” The obvious answer is that talking is easy. It is easy to say that someone’s sins are forgiven. A person’s soul is an inner matter, we cannot know or check if it is pure or defiled.

It is much harder to say to the paralyzed man “Get up and walk”, because this will be a real miracle that can be witnessed by all. Yeshua says that our soul is the really important matter, and its cleansing and forgiveness of sins. And this most essential part is what Yeshua gives to the world.

Yeshua address our doubt to whether He has the right to forgive sins, as He continues to heal this paralyzed man:

By doing this, Yeshua proves that He has the authority to forgive sins.

I think, this story highlights the foundations of faith. Sin is present in all people: in some more and in some less. Sometimes sin breaks through in all kinds of symptoms.

In the Biblical days, it resulted in different skin deceases. Nowadays, it can result in anger, sadness, despair or depression. There are many different symptoms that point at inner corruption, or an inner problem.

In the past, a leper would live outside the camp, far from others. There, outside, he would start the process of soul-healing and purification. Eventually, at the end of this process, if there would be healing from the decease, the leper had to shave and immerse in water, in order to start a new life.

This is a good illustration of being ‘born again’.Being ‘born again’ means that a person is aware of the sin within. He asks for forgiveness of sins and purification of the heart, turns to Yeshua as his personal Savior, and proclaims with full intention that he will dedicate his life to God.

Similar to a healed leper, this person and disciple of Yeshua, goes under water and comes out as a new man. This symbolizes the death of the old man and of his sin, the rebirth and a new beginning.

As individuals, as a nation and as the State of Israel, God gives us a second chance and another opportunity to start over. God purifies us again and again, and gives us an additional chance. All of it for the reason, stated many times in the Torah: That we will be His people and He will be our God.

This new beginning must honor God, honor people and honor our surroundings. When we speak praise and encouragement, as Yeshua commands us, it leads to inner healing.