Metzora Lev. 14-15
Torah Portion: Metzora Vayikra Lev. 14-15
HafTorah: II Kings 7:3-20
Tonight I want us to look at the person with leprosy and the process involved with the person becoming clean again. Look at Lev. 14:1-3 which introduces us to this process. It is important to keep in mind that the process we are looking at did not cure the leprosy but was the process to declare the person clean so they could reenter the religious life of Israel.
Tazria/Metzora (Conceived/Leper)
Weekly Torah Section: Tazria (Conceived) and Metzora (Leper) Leviticus 12:1-15:33,
Haftorah: II Kings 7:3-20
What binds these Torah sections and II Kings 7:3-20 together? Leprosy and Lepers are the common themes. What is leprosy? Today it is known as Hanson’s Disease. But what the scripture talks about is probably something else. In scripture when people had leprosy it was usually different types of skin problems, boils, rashes or psoriasis.
In II Kings we read of Elisha and how he followed Elijah as the prophet to the northern kingdom. The events here happened during the reign of King Joram, son of Ahab, the king of Syria. Ben Hadad had laid siege to the city and people had been reduced to eating their own children as prophesied in Deut. 28:53. In chapter 6 verse 25, it tells how bad it had become. We pick up the story in II Kings 7:3 where we see four lepers talking at the entrance to the city. Why were they outside the city? The answer can be found in Leviticus 13:46. Because of their leprosy they were not allowed inside the city.