Tazria Leviticus 12-13
Torah Portion: Tazria Leviticus 12:1-13:59
HafTorah: II Kings 4:42-5:19
Today we read mainly about two things that render a person ta’ama or unclean. One being much more serious than the other. Remember ta’ama or unclean meant the person who was in this state could not enter the Temple in Jerusalem to worship. It did not necessarily mean they had sinned. But this condition rendered them unable to enter G-d’s presence physically. So, let us look at both and see what spiritual lessons we can glean from scripture.
Tazria Lev. 12-13
Torah Portion: Tazria Vayikra Lev. 12-13
HafTorah: II Kings 4:42-5:19
NT Matt 8:1-4, 11:2-6
This week we continue on with the laws of clean and unclean which began in chapter 11 with clean and unclean animals. I want us to begin our time with what it means to be clean or unclean. The word in Hebrew, tahor, can also be found in Psalms 51:10 where David prays to G-d to, “create in me a pure/clean heart.” So clean denotes something pure and unblemished. Tami, in Hebrew would be the opposite. If you will notice this is the same word used for the sacrifices. They had to be tahor, no blemish or spot could be found. In Torah this term is used to denote if a person would be able to take part in the Sanctuary worship or to come in contact with any holy object. It had nothing to do with sin but rather was a physical issue. It was usually dealt with by the passage of time (usually until evening) and passing through the waters of mikvah. It in effect excluded a person from experiencing the presence of G-d in the Mishkan or Temple. So these laws pertained to the things of the Sanctuary. which is here being used for the first time. These laws had nothing to do with the person’s heart condition, yet they are used in both Hebrew scripture and the New Testament to symbolically refer to issues of morality. So we hear David speak of a Tahor heart. In the New Testament, Yeshua does the same in Matt. 5:8. So as we go on I want us to keep these things in mind as we explore clean and unclean.