Unnatural Baldness
Sixth Reading (Third when combined)
40 If a man loses all the hair on the back of his head (see Figure 5), he is unnaturally bald. Therefore, if a lesion develops on this area of his head, he cannot become defiled by it according to the diagnostic rules governing normally hairy parts of the head; such a lesion is rather diagnosed according to the rules governing lesions on the rest of the body, which were given previously.
41 Similarly, if he loses the hair on the side of his head toward his face, including the temples on each side of the head (see Figure 6), he is unnaturally bald at the front. Therefore, if a lesion develops on this area of his head, he cannot become defiled by it according to the diagnostic rules governing normally hairy parts of the head; again, such a lesion is rather diagnosed according to the rules governing lesions on the rest of the body, which were given previously.
42 Thus, if a lesion that is either uniformly white or white with red streaks develops on the back or front bald area of such a person’s head, it is a likely case of tzara’at erupting on his back or front bald area.
43 The priest must therefore examine it. If there is indeed a lesion on his back or front bald area, and this lesion is either wool-white or another of the four shades of white, and its whiteness is either uniformly white or white with red streaks, like the appearance of tzara’at on the skin of the flesh, the lesion must be subjected to the diagnostic process described previously for a body-lesion.
44 If the lesion satisfies any of the diagnostic criteria, then he is a man afflicted with tzara’at; he is defiled. The priest must therefore pronounce him defiled on account of his lesion on his head.
Behavior Required of a Person Afflicted with Tzara’at
45 As to what must be done with a person afflicted with any type of tzara’at, i.e., a person on whom there is a lesion that has been diagnosed as tzara’at: his garments must be torn, the hair on his head must be allowed to overgrow; he must cover his face with a garment down to his mustache (or, if a woman, simply down to the upper lip) and call out loud, “Defiled! Defiled!” so people will know to stay away from him.
46 He will remain defiled as long as the lesion remains upon him. Since he is defiled on account of tzara’at, he must, unlike a person defiled in any other way, dwell isolated from other people, including other defiled persons. His dwelling must be outside the camp: when we will later be organized into three concentric camps, he must dwell outside all three. This is a just, corrective reciprocal punishment for his having caused a rift between married couples or friends through gossip or slander.
