TORAH: Leviticus 12:1-15:33
HAFTARAH: 2 Kings 7:3-20
GOSPEL: Luke 2:22-35; Mark 1:35-45
Portion Summary
Tazria
The name of the twenty-seventh reading from the Torah is Tazria (תזריע), which means “she conceived.” The name is derived from the words of Leviticus 12:2, where the LORD says to Moses, “When a woman [conceives] and bears a male child …” Leviticus 12 discusses the laws of purification after childbirth. Leviticus 13 introduces the laws for diagnosing and quarantining lepers. Except in biblical calendar leap years, Tazria is read together with the subsequent Torah portion, Metzorah, on the same Sabbath.
Metzora
The twenty-eighth reading from the Torah is Metzora (מצורע), a word that means “leper.” The word appears in the second verse of the reading, which says, “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing” (Leviticus 14:2). Leviticus 14 spells out the complex purification rituals for the cleansing of a leper and a leprous home. Leviticus 15 briefly covers the laws regarding ritual unfitness stemming from bodily emissions. Except in biblical calendar leap years, Metzora is read together with the previous Torah portion, Tazria, on the same Sabbath.
Portion Outline:
Torah
Leviticus 12:1 | Purification of Women after Childbirth
Leviticus 13:1 | Leprosy, Varieties and Symptoms
Leviticus 14:1 | Purification of Lepers and Leprous Houses
Leviticus 15:1 | Concerning Bodily Discharges
Prophets
2Ki 7:3 | The Arameans Flee
Portion Commentary:
The Haughty Spirit
In our attempts to elevate ourselves by stepping on others, we inevitably lower ourselves.
The Torah prescribes an elaborate ritual for the cleansing of a leper after his symptoms have abated. The ritual involves several components including two live birds, scarlet wool, living water, and cedar wood. Jewish tradition provides meanings for each of the symbols.
Why did the cleansing of the leper require cedar wood? The sages believed that biblical leprosy resulted from evil speech. Rashi suggested that the purification ceremony employed cedar wood because the cedar, as a tall and lofty tree, represents the haughty spirit. The metaphor of a cedar as a haughty person comes from the words of the prophet Isaiah.
The LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up. (Isaiah 2:12-13)
A haughty spirit finds it difficult to tolerate other people’s character flaws. The haughty person fails to recognize his own shortcomings. Instead, he focuses on the shortcomings of others. Most often, when we speak ill of others, it is because we are defending our own pride. People elevate themselves by stepping on other people. By putting someone else down, we think we are lifting ourselves up. The Proverbs contrast two kinds of people: a person who guards his words and a person with a haughty spirit:
He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles. “Proud,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his names, who acts with insolent pride. (Proverbs 21:23-24)
Read complete commentary at First Fruits of Zion.
