תזריע

God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the Israelite people.” When a woman gave birth, there was a special time set aside for rest and for returning to everyday life.

If she had a baby boy, she was considered impure for seven days, like during menstrual separation. On the eighth day, the baby boy was circumcised.

After that first week, she stayed in a time called “blood purification” for thirty-three more days. During those days she did not touch consecrated things or enter the sanctuary until the time was complete. If she had a baby girl, the first part lasted two weeks, and then the blood purification lasted sixty-six days.

When the days were finished, whether for a son or a daughter, she came to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting with offerings for the priest: a year-old lamb for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or turtledove for a purgation offering. If she could not afford a lamb, she brought two turtledoves or two pigeons. The priest offered them before God and made expiation for her, and she was pure again.

God spoke to Moses and Aaron about what to do when someone noticed a strange mark on their skin, like a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration. This condition was called tzara’at, meaning a scaly affliction that could appear on skin.

The person did not decide alone. They went to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons. The priest examined the spot carefully. If the hair in the patch had turned white and the mark looked deeper than the skin, the priest declared the person impure.

If the spot was white but not deeper, and the hair had not turned white, the priest isolated the person for seven days. On the seventh day he checked again. If it had not spread, the person was isolated for another seven days. If the mark faded and did not spread, the priest said it was only a rash. The person washed their clothes and was pure.

But if the rash spread after the person had been declared pure, they returned to the priest, who examined again and could declare them impure.

The same careful watching was used for cloth and leather. If a wool or linen fabric, its warp or woof, or a leather item showed a streaky green or red patch, it was brought to the priest. He examined the article and isolated it for seven days.

On the seventh day, if the patch had spread, it was called a malignant eruption. The cloth or leather was burned and consumed in fire. If it had not spread, the priest ordered it washed and isolated for another seven days. After washing, if the mark had not changed color and had not spread, it was still impure and had to be burned. If it had faded, the priest tore the affected piece out. But if the patch appeared again, it was a wild growth, and the whole item was burned.

When a person had a leprous affection, they also lived apart, outside the camp. Their clothes were torn, their head left bare, and their upper lip covered. They called out, “Impure! Impure!” as long as the disease remained.