Purification from Tzara’at
Leviticus 14:1-5
14:1 God spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “The following is the law regarding the procedure that must be followed in order to rid the person afflicted with tzara’at of his defilement. The process of his purification must take place during the day. Once the symptoms of tzara’at have disappeared, he must be brought to the priest who is designated to examine him, but only after the priest has gone outside the camp, since the afflicted person had been banished from the camp and may not reenter it until he is pronounced rid of this defilement. The priest must examine him, and if the lesion of tzara’at has healed in the afflicted person, 4 the priest must order someone to take for the person who is to be purified two fowl that are (a) alive and not suffering from a fatal disease and (b) of a species that does not render one spiritually defiled, plus an unpeeled cedar stick at least a cubit [48 cm or 19 inches] long, a strip of scarlet wool, and some hyssop. The fowl allude to the fact that tzara’at is a corrective punishment for gossip or slander, which are usually said in the course of the idle chatter that is reminiscent of how fowl chirp. The stick of a tall cedar tree alludes to haughtiness, which is also punishable by tzara’at. The strip of wool dyed with the scarlet blood of a lowly worm and the lowly hyssop allude to the humility the sufferer must learn in order to repent of these sins. The cedar stick and the hyssop must be bound together using the excess length of the strip of scarlet wool. 5 The priest must order someone to slaughter one fowl such that its blood drip into an earthenware vessel and onto spring water that has been placed in that vessel. The amount of water that must be placed in the vessel is one quarter of a log [86 ml or 2.91 oz]; any more than this will dilute the fowl’s blood to the point that it will no longer be discernible in the water. Even though this fowl is from a species normally permitted for consumption and it was slaughtered properly, you may not eat it. In order to prevent anyone from eating it, it is buried immediately after being slaughtered.
