Tazria | The Purification of the Metzora

The Metzora and Others in States of Impurity

At the beginning of Sefer Bamidbar, the Torah instructs that those who are in a state of tum’a (ritual impurity) must be removed from the camp:[1]

Command Bnei Yisrael that they put out of the camp every metzora and every zav [one who experiences a discharge], and whoever is tamei (impure) by [contact with] the dead. (Bamidbar 5:2)

The parashot of Tazria and Metzora describe the processes by which a metzora and a zav contract their impurity and later undergo purification, but the obligation of distancing from the camp is mentioned only in connection with the metzora, not the zav. Similarly, in Parashat Chukat, which sets forth the conditions under which one contracts tum’a from a dead body and the processes for purification, there is no mention that teme’im of this category are distanced from the camp. Why does the Torah mention this distancing only in relation to the metzora?

We might suggest two reasons for the obligation to remove teme’im from the camp. On one hand, this law may arise because of the status of the camp: if someone who is tamei enters the camp, the entire camp becomes tamei; to avoid this possibility, the person who is tamei is distanced. On the other hand, this law may be part of the system of laws pertaining to those who are in a state of tum’a, in that those who are impure are not fit to be part of the holy camp. From this perspective, the obligation of distancing the impure individual arises not from the risk of him causing the camp to become tamei, but rather from his very status of impurity.

It seems that these two reasons embody the difference between the metzora and other categories of impurity. At the beginning of Sefer Bamidbar, the Torah describes the formation of the camp of Israel. As part of the laws for this camp, teme’im must be distanced so as not to cause the camp to become tamei. It is impossible to establish a camp that is ritually pure (tahor) while impure individuals are within it.[2] In the parashot of Tazria and Metzora, however, the Torah is not discussing the law of the camp, but rather the law pertaining to the teme’im themselves – and within this context, it is only the metzora who is unfit in himself to be included within the camp. The metzora must remain alone, with his hair disheveled, owing to his tzara’at, and he must also leave the camp.

Why is there such an essential difference between the metzora and the other categories? Why is someone who is tameimet (impure because of contact with a dead body) or a zav entitled, in principle, to appear before God, while a metzora is not?

Purification Procedures

The regular procedure for purification in the Torah includes two actions: immersion in a mikveh and washing one’s clothes. There are four categories of impurity that require an additional action to complete purification: the yoledet (woman who has given birth), the metzora, the zav/zava, and the tamei met.[3] The manner of purification for each of these categories is different:

1. Metzora – Two-stage purification process. The metzora brings two birds, then waits seven days (during which time he may enter the camp), and then brings other sacrifices.

2. Zav/zava, yoledet – All wait seven days outside the camp after being purified of their tum’a; they may not enter the camp during this time. Afterwards, they bring a sacrifice.

3. Tamei met – Waits seven days outside the camp, during which time he is sprinkled with the “waters of chatat” (water mixed with ashes of the para aduma). Following this, he may enter the camp and is not required to bring a sacrifice.

Preparing for Entry into the Camp

The camp of Israel is holy, because God is in its midst. This is how the Torah explains the need to remove teme’im from the camp:

Both male and female [of the previously mentioned categories of teme’im] shall you put out [of the camp]; outside of the camp you shall put them, that they not defile the camp in the midst of which I dwell. (Bamidbar 5:3)

Why must teme’im wait seven days outside of the camp? It seems that a seven-day wait is required for anyone whose status of ritual purity changes. In a similar way, during the inauguration of the Mishkan, the kohanim had to spend all seven days inside the Mishkan, as part of their process of sanctification.[4] Thus, a person who is tamei must wait seven days before regaining his status of ritual purity, which explains the Torah’s instruction concerning purification of the zav:

And when a zav is purified from his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days of his purification, and wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in living waters, and shall be purified. (Vayikra 15:13)

Even after the zav is purified, his status does not change; the process is completed only after seven days have passed.

Since the camp of Israel is holy, those who are impure may not reside within it until they undertake certain actions which render them fit to re-enter the camp.[5] However, this preparation is needed only when the individual has become ritually impure on account of himself. When he contracts impurity from an outside source – for instance, by touching a creature that is tamei – his personal status does not change, and therefore he is not required to undertake special actions in order to regain a status of ritual purity. This person immediately re-attains a state of purity after seven days, without having to do anything else.

The actions that teme’im must undertake as part of their purification consist of two types: there are actions that render them fit to re-enter the camp, and actions that render them fit to enter the Mishkan. Bringing sacrifices, for example, is an action that prepares the person for entering the Mishkan, since it is an action that is intimately connected with the Mishkan.

The Unique Nature of the Tum’a of the Metzora

Chazal describe the zav and zava as having “their impurity emerge from their bodies” (Nidda 32a and elsewhere). The significance of this is that they themselves are a source of impurity in the world: they emit an discharge that is impure, thus they themselves are ritually impure.

Although the tum’a of the metzora is more severe than that of the zav, the metzora is not considered as having “impurity emerge from his body.”[6] The impurity of the metzora is impurity of the body, not impurity that issues from the body. As proof of this, let us consider the similarity between the laws of the metzora and the laws of the mourner (since Chazal teach that “a metzora is considered as someone who is dead”[7]): the metzora leaves his hair disheveled, like a mourner, as he is mourning for himself. He therefore remains alone, outside the camp, like the living dead. Indeed, tzara’at is not a disease like any other human illness: it renders even clothing and houses ritually impure; it does not affect the person, but the outer body – not the “gavra” but the “cheftza.” As such, the metzora is different from other teme’im: the zav is rendered impure by tum’a that issues from his body and the tamei met is rendered impure because he came into contact with a dead body,[8] while in the case of a metzora, his own body has become “dead.”

The metzora must first of all repair the body that has turned, as it were, into a corpse. Without such repair, he cannot rejoin the camp and cannot begin the process of purification. The zav, in contrast, may start the process of purification immediately upon the cessation of the discharge, since his tum’a arises from it; the tamei met may likewise commence the process of purification immediately. Before starting on his own process of purification, the metzora must bring two birds (which are not a sacrifice, and therefore they are not turtledoves or doves, and a kohen is not needed to prepare them), in order to remove the definition of “death” from his body. After he has brought the birds, the body of the metzora is purified and his status changes. From that moment, he is no longer defined as a metzora, and he may enter the camp.[9] The process of purification is complete after seven days, when the metzora brings his sacrifices, which permit him to enter the Mishkan.

The Purification of the Tamei Met

The system set forth above encounters a problem when it comes to the tamei met. So long as he is tamei, he may not enter the camp, but in order to undergo purification he needs to bring a sacrifice – and the sacrifice must be brought to the Sanctuary. To solve this problem, the Torah commands the tameimet to bring an “external sacrifice” – the ashes of the para aduma, which is a sacrifice that is offered outside of the camp.[10] The Torah defines the para aduma as a sacrifice: it is called a “chatat” (sin offering), it is performed only by a kohen, and its blood is sprinkled towards the Tent of Meeting. Since the para aduma is a sacrifice, someone who is tamei cannot offer it; therefore, the purification is not effected through the sacrifice of the para aduma but rather by the sprinkling of the water mixed with its ashes on the person requiring purification.

In summary, the tamei met brings an external sacrifice since he moves all at once from outside the camp to inside the Mishkan. The zav moves in two stages, and therefore he is entitled to enter the camp after the first stage; he then brings a sacrifice, which permits him to enter the Mishkan. The purification of the metzora consists of three stages: first he must remove his definition as a “dead person” by means of the two birds; then he waits seven days; and eventually, he brings his sacrifices. The metzora is unique in that his own body is defined as “dead,” and therefore his is the only category of tum’a prohibited from entering the camp on account of himself. Only after his definition as “dead” is removed may he rejoin the camp of Israel.

(Translated by Kaeren Fish; edited by Sarah Rudolph)

[1] Halakha defines three concentric “camps” around the Sanctuary, and different levels of tum’a (as per the different categories of teme’im) are removed from one, two, or all three camps. However, it seems that in the wilderness, anyone who was tamei was removed from all three camps because of the Divine Presence in their midst, as the Netziv explains (ad loc.).

[2] It is also for this reason that a sota is removed from the camp.

[3] The purification of the yoledet is very similar to that of the zava, but there are some differences. The Torah does not set forth the law of the yoledet immediately after that of the zava, but rather as a law on its own. In addition, the yoledet brings a sheep as a burnt offering, while the zava brings a bird. However, below we shall treat the impurity of the yoledet and of the zava as a single category.

[4] Similarly, while the korban pesach is sacrificed only on one day, the Torah commands eating matza for seven days: “You shall not eat chametz with it; for seven days you shall eat matzot with it” (Devarim 16:3). In another example, Moshe’s personal status also changes in the wake of the giving of the Torah, and God calls to him only on the seventh day.

[5] In fact, the inverse is also true: when someone is distanced from the camp, he is ritually impure because of being outside of the camp of Israel. I hope to address this point in a different shiur.

[6] Next week’s shiur will deal with these definitions in greater detail. See also my article in Ma’alin ba-Kodesh regarding levels of purity.

[7] Shemot Rabba 1:34. As proof, Chazal cite Moshe’s words to Miriam, who is struck with tzara’at: “Do not [let her] be like one who is dead…” (Bamidbar 12:12). In view of the above, it is possible that Chazal deduce the principle from the striking similarity between the law of the metzora and the law concerning contact with the dead.

[8] It can be shown that the tum’a of a dead body is not transferred from the corpse to the person who touches it, but rather is created as a result of the contact itself. I hope to discuss this subject in a different shiur.

[9] The status of the zav changes only after seven days, and therefore he may not enter the camp throughout the seven days of his purification. I shall not elaborate at length here on the difference between the metzora and the zav that explains why the status of the metzora changes immediately while that of the zav changes only after seven days. Suffice it for the moment to say briefly that it depends on the manner in which the tum’a was contracted: whether the person experienced a discharge or came into contact with a dead body, or whether by some other circumstance. It must also be remembered that the metzora, too, does not fully rejoin the camp during the seven days, since he may not enter his tent during this time.

[10] The tum’a of those who handle the para aduma is caused by the fact that it is an external sacrifice; any sacrifice that is brought outside of the camp causes tum’a.