This Week’s Torah Reading:

Parashah 27: Tazria (She conceives) 12:1–13:59

[In regular years read with Parashah 28, in leap years read separately]

12 Adonai said to Moshe, ² “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘If a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy, she will be unclean for seven days with the same uncleanness as in niddah, when she is having her menstrual period. ³ On the eighth day, the baby’s foreskin is to be circumcised. ⁴ She is to wait an additional thirty-three days to be purified from her blood; she is not to touch any holy thing or come into the sanctuary until the time of her purification is over. ⁵ But if she gives birth to a girl, she will be unclean for two weeks, as in her niddah; and she is to wait another sixty-six days to be purified from her blood.

⁶ “‘When the days of her purification are over, whether for a son or for a daughter, she is to bring a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or dove for a sin offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the cohen. ⁷ He will offer it before Adonai and make atonement for her; thus she will be purified from her discharge of blood. Such is the law for a woman who gives birth, whether to a boy or to a girl. ⁸ If she can’t afford a lamb, she is to take two doves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; the cohen will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”

13 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ² “If someone develops on his skin a swelling, scab or bright spot which could develop into the disease tzara‘at, he is to be brought to Aharon the cohen or to one of his sons who are cohanim. ³ The cohen is to examine the sore on his skin; if the hair in the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to go deep into the skin, it is tzara‘at, and after examining him the cohen is to declare him unclean. ⁴ If the bright spot on his skin is white, but it does not appear to go deep into the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the cohen is to isolate him for seven days. ⁵ On the seventh day the cohen is to examine him again, and if the sore appears the same as before and has not spread on the skin, then the cohen is to isolate him for seven more days. (LY: ii) ⁶ On the seventh day the cohen is to examine him again, and if the sore has faded and hasn’t spread on the skin, then the cohen is to declare him clean — it is only a scab, so he is to wash his clothes and be clean. ⁷ But if the scab spreads further on the skin after he has been examined by the cohen and declared clean, he is to let himself be examined yet again by the cohen. ⁸ The cohen will examine him, and if he sees that the scab has spread on his skin, then the cohen will declare him unclean; it is tzara‘at.

⁹ “If a person has tzara‘at, he is to be brought to the cohen. ¹⁰ The cohen is to examine him, and if he sees that there is a white swelling in the skin which has turned the hair white and inflamed flesh in the swelling, ¹¹ then it is chronic tzara‘at on his skin, and the cohen is to declare him unclean; he is not to isolate him, because it is already clear that he is unclean. ¹² If the tzara‘at breaks out all over the skin, so that, as far as the cohen can see, the person with tzara‘at has sores everywhere on his body, from his head to his feet; ¹³ then the cohen is to examine him, and if he sees that the tzara‘at has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the person with the sores clean — it has all turned white, and he is clean. ¹⁴ But if one day inflamed flesh appears on him, he will be unclean. ¹⁵ The cohen will examine the inflamed flesh and declare him unclean; the inflamed flesh is unclean; it is tzara‘at. ¹⁶ However, if the inflamed flesh again turns white, he is to come to the cohen. ¹⁷ The cohen will examine him, and if he sees that the sores have turned white, then the cohen is to declare clean the person with the sores; he is clean.

(LY: iii) ¹⁸ “If a person has on his skin a boil that heals ¹⁹ in such a way that in place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish-white bright spot, it is to be shown to the cohen. ²⁰ The cohen is to examine it; if he sees that it appears to be more than skin-deep, and its hair has turned white, then the cohen is to pronounce him unclean — the disease of tzara‘at has broken out in the boil. ²¹ But if the cohen looks at it and doesn’t see any white hairs in it, and it isn’t more than skin-deep but appears faded, the cohen is to isolate him for seven days. ²² If it spreads on the skin, the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is the disease. ²³ But if the bright spot stays where it was and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the cohen is to declare him clean.

(RY: ii, LY: iv) ²⁴ “Or if someone has on his skin a burn caused by fire; and the inflamed flesh where it was burned has become a bright spot, reddish-white or white, ²⁵ then the cohen is to examine it; and if he sees that the hair in the bright spot has turned white and that it appears to be deeper than the skin around it, it is tzara‘at; it has broken out in the burn, and the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is a sore from tzara‘at. ²⁶ But if the cohen examines it and sees no white hair in the bright spot, and it is no lower than the skin around it but looks faded, then the cohen is to isolate him for seven days. ²⁷ On the seventh day the cohen is to examine him; if it has spread on the skin, then the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is a sore from tzara‘at. ²⁸ But if the bright spot stays where it was and has not spread on the skin but appears faded, it is a swelling due to the burn; and the cohen is to declare him clean; because it is only a scar from the burn.

(LY: v) ²⁹ “If a man or woman has a sore on the head or a man in his beard, ³⁰ then the cohen is to examine the sore; if he sees that it appears to be deeper than the skin around it, with yellow, thin hair in it, then the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is a crusted area, a tzara‘at of the head or beard. ³¹ If the cohen examines the diseased crusted area and sees that it appears not to be deeper than the skin around it, and without any black hair in it, then the cohen is to isolate for seven days the person with the diseased crusted area. ³² On the seventh day the cohen is to examine the sore, and if he sees that the crusted area hasn’t spread, that it has no yellow hair in it, and that the crusted area is not deeper than the skin around it; ³³ then the person is to be shaved, except for the crusted area itself, and the cohen is to isolate him for seven more days. ³⁴ On the seventh day the cohen is to examine the crusted area; and if he sees that the crusted area has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin around it, then the cohen is to declare him clean; he is to wash his clothes and be clean. ³⁵ But if the crusted area spreads after his purification, ³⁶ then the cohen is to examine him; and if he sees that the crusted area has spread on the skin, the cohen is not to look for yellow hair; he is unclean. ³⁷ But if the crusted area’s appearance doesn’t change, and black hair grows up in it, then the crusted area is healed; he is clean; and the cohen is to declare him clean.

(RY: iii, LY: vi) ³⁸ “If a man or woman has bright spots on his skin, bright white spots; ³⁹ then the cohen is to examine them. If he sees that the bright spots on the skin are dull white, it is only a rash that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.

⁴⁰ “If a man’s hair has fallen from his scalp, he is bald; but he is clean. ⁴¹ If his hair has fallen off the front part of his head, he is forehead-bald; but he is clean. ⁴² But if on the bald scalp or forehead there is a reddish-white sore, it is tzara‘at breaking out on his bald scalp or forehead. ⁴³ Then the cohen is to examine him; if he sees that there is a reddish-white swelling on his bald scalp or forehead, appearing like tzara‘at on the rest of the body, ⁴⁴ he is a person with tzara‘at; he is unclean; the cohen must declare him unclean; the sore is on his head.

⁴⁵ “Everyone who has tzara‘at sores is to wear torn clothes and unbound hair, cover his upper lip and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ ⁴⁶ As long as he has sores, he will be unclean; since he is unclean, he must live in isolation; he must live outside the camp.

⁴⁷ “When tzara‘at infects an article of clothing, whether it be a woolen or a linen garment, ⁴⁸ on the threads or the woven-in parts of either linen or wool, or on a hide or item made of leather; ⁴⁹ then if the stain on the garment, hide, threads, woven-in parts or leather item is greenish or reddish, it is an infection of tzara‘at and is to be shown to the cohen. ⁵⁰ The cohen is to examine the stain and isolate the article that has the infection for seven days. ⁵¹ On the seventh day he is to examine the stain; if the stain has spread on the garment, threads, woven-in parts or leather, whatever its use, the infection is a contagious tzara‘at; the garment is unclean. ⁵² He is to burn the garment, threads, woven-in parts of either wool or linen, or item of leather having the infection; for it is a contagious tzara‘at; it must be burned up completely. ⁵³ But if, when the cohen examines it, he sees that the infection has not spread on the garment or in the threads, woven-in parts or leather item, ⁵⁴ then the cohen is to order that the article having the infection be washed and isolated for seven more days. (RY: iv, LY: vii) ⁵⁵ The cohen is to examine it after the stain has been washed, and if he sees that the stain has not changed color, then, even though the stain has not spread, it is unclean; you are to burn it up completely — it is rotten, no matter whether the spot is on the outside or on the inside. ⁵⁶ If the cohen examines it and sees that the stain has faded after being washed, then he is to tear the stain out of the garment, leather, threads or woven-in parts. (LY: Maftir) ⁵⁷ If it appears again in the garment, threads, woven-in parts or leather item, it is contagious, and you are to burn up completely the article that had the stain. ⁵⁸ But if the infection is gone from the garment, threads, woven-in parts or leather item that you washed, then it is to be washed a second time, and it will be clean. ⁵⁹ This is the law concerning infections of tzara‘at in a garment of wool or linen, or in the threads or the woven-in parts, or in any leather item — when to declare it clean and when to declare it unclean.

Haftarah Tazria: M’lakhim Bet (2 Kings) 4:42–5:19

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Tazria: Mattityahu (Matthew) 8:1–4, 11:2–6; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 2:22–24; 5:12–16; 7:18–23

Parashah 28: M’tzora (Person afflicted with tzara‘at) 14:1–15:33

[In regular years read with Parashah 27, in leap years read separately]

14 Adonai said to Moshe, ² “This is to be the law concerning the person afflicted with tzara‘at on the day of his purification. He is to be brought to the cohen, ³ and the cohen is to go outside the camp and examine him there. If he sees that the tzara‘at sores have been healed in the afflicted person, ⁴ then the cohen will order that two living clean birds be taken for the one to be purified, along with cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop leaves. ⁵ The cohen is to order one of the birds slaughtered in a clay pot over running water. ⁶ As for the live bird, he is to take it with the cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered over running water, ⁷ and sprinkle the person to be purified from the tzara‘at seven times. Next he is to set the live bird free in an open field. ⁸ He who is to be purified must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water. Then he will be clean; and after that, he may enter the camp; but he must live outside his tent for seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day he is to shave all the hair off his head, also his beard and eyebrows — he must shave off all his hair; and he is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and he will be clean.

¹⁰ “On the eighth day he is to take two male lambs without defect, one female lamb in its first year without defect and six-and-a-half quarts of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, and two-thirds of a pint of olive oil. ¹¹ The cohen purifying him is to place the person being purified with these items before Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹² The cohen is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering with the two-thirds-pint of olive oil, then wave them as a wave offering before Adonai. (LY: ii) ¹³ He is to slaughter the male lamb at the place in the sanctuary for slaughtering sin offerings and burnt offerings, because the guilt offering belongs to the cohen, just like the sin offering; it is especially holy. ¹⁴ The cohen is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ¹⁵ Next, the cohen is to take some of the two-thirds-pint of olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, ¹⁶ dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle from the oil with his finger seven times before Adonai. ¹⁷ Then the cohen is to put some of the remaining oil in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot and on the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸ Finally, the cohen is to put the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the person being purified; and the cohen will make atonement for him before Adonai. ¹⁹ The cohen is to offer the sin offering and make atonement for the person being purified because of his uncleanness; afterwards, he is to slaughter the burnt offering. ²⁰ The cohen is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar; thus the cohen will make atonement for him; and he will be clean.

(RY: v, LY: iii) ²¹ “If he is poor, so that he can’t afford to do otherwise, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him; two quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; two-thirds of a pint of olive oil; ²² and two doves or two young pigeons, such as he can afford, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ²³ On the eighth day, he will bring them to the cohen for his purification, to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Adonai. ²⁴ The cohen is to take the lamb of the guilt offering and the two-thirds of a pint of olive oil and wave them as a wave offering before Adonai. ²⁵ He is to slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering; and the cohen is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶ The cohen is to take some of the olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, ²⁷ and sprinkle with his right hand some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Adonai. ²⁸ The cohen is to put some of the oil in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot — in the same place as the blood of the guilt offering. ²⁹ Finally, the cohen is to put the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the person being purified, to make atonement for him before Adonai. ³⁰ He is to offer one of the doves or young pigeons, such as the person can afford, ³¹ whatever his means suffice for — the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering — with the grain offering; thus the cohen will make atonement before Adonai for the person being purified. ³² Such is the law for the person who has tzara‘at sores if he cannot afford the usual elements used for his purification.”

(RY: vi, LY: iv) ³³ Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ³⁴ “When you have entered the land of Kena‘an which I am giving you as a possession, and I put an infection of tzara‘at in a house in the land that you possess, ³⁵ then the owner of the house is to come and tell the cohen, ‘It seems to me that there may be an infection in the house.’ ³⁶ The cohen is to order the house emptied before he goes in to inspect the infection, so that everything in the house won’t be made unclean; afterwards, the cohen is to enter and inspect the house. ³⁷ He will examine the infection; and if he sees that the infection is in the walls of the house, with greenish or reddish depressions that seem to go in deeper than the surface of the wall, ³⁸ he is to go out of the house to its door and seal up the house for seven days. ³⁹ The cohen will come again on the seventh day and examine the house; if he sees that the infection has spread over its walls, ⁴⁰ he is to order them to remove the infected stones and throw them into some unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹ Next, he is to have the inside of the house thoroughly scraped, and the scraped-off plaster is to be discarded outside the city in an unclean place. ⁴² Finally, other stones must be set in the place of the first stones and other plaster used to replaster the house. ⁴³ If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after the stones have been removed and the house scraped and plastered; ⁴⁴ then the cohen is to enter and examine it. If he sees that the infection has spread in the house, it is a contagious tzara‘at in the house; it is unclean. ⁴⁵ He must break down the house and take its stones, timber and plaster out of the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶ Moreover, whoever enters the house at any time while it is sealed up will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁷ Whoever lies down or eats in the house must wash his clothes. ⁴⁸ If the cohen enters, examines and sees that the infection has not spread in the house since it was plastered; then he is to declare the house clean; because the infection is cured.

⁴⁹ “To purify the house, he is to take two birds, cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop leaves. ⁵⁰ He is to slaughter one of the birds in a clay pot over running water. ⁵¹ He is to take the cedar-wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² He will purify the house with the blood of the bird, the running water, the live bird, the cedar-wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. ⁵³ But he is to set the live bird free outside the city in an open field; thus will he make atonement for the house; and it will be clean.

(LY: v) ⁵⁴ “Such is the law for all kinds of tzara‘at sores, for a crusted area, ⁵⁵ for tzara‘at in a garment, for a house, ⁵⁶ for a swelling, for a scab and for a bright spot, ⁵⁷ to determine when it is clean and when it is unclean. This is the law concerning tzara‘at.”

15 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ² “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, the discharge is unclean. ³ The discharge is unclean no matter whether it continues flowing or has stopped; it is still his uncleanness.