Metzora, Metzorah, M'tzora, Mezora, Metsora, M'tsora, Metsoro, Meṣora, or Maṣoro (—Hebrew for 'one being diseased', the ninth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 28th weekly Torah portion (, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the fifth in the Book of Leviticus. The parashah deals with ritual impurity. It addresses cleansing from skin disease (, tzara'at), houses with an eruptive plague, male genital discharges, and menstruation. The parashah constitutes Leviticus 14:1–15:33. The parashah is made up of 4,697 Hebrew letters, 1,274 Hebrew words, 90 verses, and 159 lines in a Torah Scroll (, Sefer Torah).
Jews generally read it in April or, rarely, in early May. The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 55 weeks, the exact number varying between 50 in common years and 54 or 55 in leap years. In leap years (for example, 2024 and 2027), Parashat Metzora is read separately. In common years (for example, 2025, 2026, and 2028), Parashat Metzora is combined with the previous parashah, Tazria, to help achieve the needed number of weekly readings.
Readings In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or , aliyot.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, The Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Vayikra/Leviticus (Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2008), pages 89–106.
First reading—Leviticus 14:1–12 In the first reading, God told Moses the ritual for cleansing one with a skin disease.. If the priest saw that the person had healed, the priest would order two live clean birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop.. The priest would order one of the birds slaughtered over fresh water and would then dip the live bird, the cedar wood, the crimson stuff, and the hyssop in the blood of the slaughtered bird.. The priest would then sprinkle the blood seven times on the one who was to be cleansed and then set the live bird free.. The one to be cleansed would then wash his clothes, shave off his hair, bathe in water, and then be clean.. On the eighth day after that, the one being cleansed was to present two male lambs, one ewe lamb, choice flour, and oil for the priest to offer..
Second reading—Leviticus 14:13–20 In the second reading, the priest was to kill the lamb and put some of its blood and the oil on the ridge of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the one being cleansed, and then put more of the oil on his head..
Third reading—Leviticus 14:21–32 In the third reading, if the one being cleansed was poor, he could bring two turtle doves or pigeons in place of two of the lambs..
Fourth reading—Leviticus 14:33–53 In the fourth reading, God then told Moses and Aaron the ritual for cleansing a house with an eruptive plague.. The owner was to tell the priest, who was to order the house cleared and then examine it.. If the plague in the walls was greenish or reddish streaks deep into the wall, the priest was to close the house for seven days.. If, after seven days, the plague had spread, the priest was to order the stones with the plague to be pulled out and cast outside the city.. The house was then to be scraped, the stones replaced, and the house replastered.. If the plague again broke out, the house was to be torn down.. If the plague did not break out again, the priest was to pronounce the house clean.. To purge the house, the priest was to take two birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop, slaughter one bird over fresh water, sprinkle on the house seven times with the bird's blood, and then let the live bird go free..
Fifth reading—Leviticus 14:54–15:15 In the fifth reading, God then told Moses and Aaron the ritual for cleansing a person who had a genital discharge.. When a man had a discharge from his genitals, he was unclean, and any bedding on which he lay and every object on which he sat was to be unclean.. Anyone who touched his body, touched his bedding, touched an object on which he sat, was touched by his spit, or was touched by him before he rinsed his hands was to wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening.. An earthen vessel that he touched was to be broken, and any wooden implement was to be rinsed with water.. Seven days after the discharge ended, he was to wash his clothes, bathe his body in fresh water, and be clean.. On the eighth day, he was to give two turtle doves or two pigeons to the priest, who was to offer them to make expiation..
Sixth reading—Leviticus 15:16–28 In the sixth reading, when a man had an emission of semen, he was to bathe and remain unclean until evening.. All material on which semen fell was to be washed in water and remain unclean until evening.. And if a man had carnal relations with a woman, they were both to bathe and remain unclean until evening.. When a woman had a menstrual discharge, she was to remain impure seven days, and whoever touched her was to be unclean until evening.. Anything that she lay on or sat on was unclean.. Anyone who touched her bedding or any object on which she has sat was to wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening.. And if a man lay with her, her impurity was communicated to him and he was to be unclean seven days, and any bedding on which he lay became unclean.. When a woman had an irregular discharge of blood, she was to be unclean as long as her discharge lasted.. Seven days after the discharge ended, she was to be clean..
Seventh reading—Leviticus 15:29–33 In the seventh reading, on the eighth day, the woman was to give two turtle doves or two pigeons to the priest, who was to offer them to make expiation.. God told Moses and Aaron to put the Israelites on guard against uncleanness, lest they die by defiling God's Tabernacle..
Readings according to the triennial cycle Jews who read the Torah according to the triennial cycle of Torah reading may read the parashah according to a different schedule.See, e.g., Richard Eisenberg, "A Complete Triennial Cycle for Reading the Torah," in Proceedings of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement: 1986–1990 (New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2001), pages 383–418.
In inner-biblical interpretation The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources:For more on inner-Biblical interpretation, see, e.g., Benjamin D. Sommer, "Inner-biblical Interpretation," in Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, editors, The Jewish Bible, 2nd edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), pages 1835–41.
Leviticus chapter 14 Leviticus 13–14 associates skin disease with uncleanness, and Leviticus 15 associates various sexuality-related events with uncleanness. In the Hebrew Bible, uncleanness has a variety of associations. Leviticus 11:8, 11; 21:1–4, 11; and Numbers 6:6–7; and 19:11–16; associate it with death. And perhaps similarly, Leviticus 12 associates it with childbirth and Leviticus 13–14 associates it with skin disease. Leviticus 15 associates it with various sexuality-related events. And Jeremiah 2:7, 23; 3:2; and 7:30; and Hosea 6:10 associate it with contact with the worship of alien gods.
The Hebrew Bible reports skin disease (, tzara'at) and a person affected by skin disease (, metzora) at several places, often (and sometimes incorrectly) translated as "leprosy" and "a leper." In Exodus 4:6, to help Moses to convince others that God had sent him, God instructed Moses to put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, his hand was "leprous (, m'tzora'at), as white as snow." In Leviticus 13–14, the Torah sets out regulations for skin diseases (, tzara'at) and a person affected by skin disease (, metzora). In Numbers 12:10, after Miriam spoke against Moses, God's cloud removed from the Tent of Meeting and "Miriam was leprous (, m'tzora'at), as white as snow." In Deuteronomy 24:8–9, Moses warned the Israelites in the case of skin disease (, tzara'at) diligently to observe all that the priests would teach them, remembering what God did to Miriam. In 2 Kings 5:1–19, part of the haftarah for Parashat Tazria, the prophet Elisha cures Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, who was a "leper" (, metzora). In 2 Kings 7:3–20, part of the haftarah for Parashat Metzora, the story is told of four "leprous men" (, m'tzora'im) at the gate during the Arameans' siege of Samaria. And in 2 Chronicles 26:19, after King Uzziah tried to burn incense in the Temple in Jerusalem, "leprosy (, tzara'at) broke forth on his forehead."
The Torah mentions the combination of ear, thumb, and toe in three places. In Exodus 29:20, God instructed Moses how to initiate the priests, telling him to kill a ram, take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and his sons, on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot, and dash the remaining blood against the altar round about. And then Leviticus 8:23–24 reports that Moses followed God's instructions to initiate Aaron and his sons. Then, Leviticus 14:14, 17, 25, and 28 set forth a similar procedure for the cleansing of a person with skin disease (, tzara'at). In Leviticus 14:14, God instructed the priest on the day of the person's cleansing to take some of the blood of a guilt-offering and put it upon the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot of the one to be cleansed. And then in Leviticus 14:17, God instructed the priest to put oil on the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot of the one to be cleansed, on top of the blood of the guilt-offering. And finally, in Leviticus 14:25 and 28, God instructed the priest to repeat the procedure on the eighth day to complete the person's cleansing.
In early nonrabbinic interpretation The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:For more on early nonrabbinic interpretation, see, e.g., Esther Eshel, "Early Nonrabbinic Interpretation," in Adele Berlin and Marc Brettler, editors, Jewish Study Bible, 2nd edition, pages 1841–59.
Leviticus chapter 14 Philo taught that the skin disease in Leviticus 14 signified voluntary depravity.Philo, On the Unchangeableness of God 27:129.
In classical rabbinic interpretation The parashah is discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud:For more on classical rabbinic interpretation, see, e.g., Yaakov Elman, "Classical Rabbinic Interpretation," in Adele Berlin and Marc Brettler, editors, Jewish Study Bible, 2nd edition, pages 1859–78.
Leviticus chapter 14 Tractate Negaim in the Mishnah and Tosefta interpreted the laws of skin disease in Leviticus 14.Mishnah Negaim 1:1–14:13; Tosefta Negaim 1:1–9:9.
Leviticus 18:4 calls on the Israelites to obey God's "statutes" (, chukim) and "ordinances" (, mishpatim). The Rabbis in a Baraita taught that the "ordinances" (, mishpatim) were commandments that logic would have dictated that we follow even had Scripture not commanded them, like the laws concerning idolatry, adultery, bloodshed, robbery, and blasphemy. And "statutes" (, chukim) were commandments that the Adversary challenges us to violate as beyond reason, like those relating to purification of the person with skin disease (, tzara'at, in Leviticus 14), wool-linen mixtures (, shaatnez, in Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:11), release from levirate marriage (, chalitzah, in Deuteronomy 25:5–10), and the he goat for Azazel (in Leviticus 16). So that people do not think these "ordinances" (, mishpatim) to be empty acts, in Leviticus 18:4, God says, "I am the Lord," indicating that the Lord made these statutes, and we have no right to question them.Babylonian Talmud Yoma 67b; see also Sifra Aharei Mot pereq 13, 194:2:11.