Parashat:Tazria-Metzora

Parashat: Tazria-Metzora
Torah Reading: Leviticus 12:1–15:33

“When an eruptive affection occurs in cloth of wool or linen fabric, in the warp or in the woof of the linen or the wool, or in a [tanned] skin or any [clothing] made of skin…”

— Leviticus 13:47–48

In a section of highly detailed procedures in dealing with ritual impurity and skin afflictions incorrectly translated as leprosy, we get this next passage about a similar thing with clothing make of wool, linen, or animal skin. Late medieval commentator Nachmanidies says that unlike other types of impurity that can appear naturally, this impurity on fabric or skin, is not a natural occurrence, but is a result of as in from the person who owns that item of clothing. Therefore, this type of affliction on fabric is not something that can be simply taken care of ritually, like almost every other form of impurity, but the owner of the clothing must explore their own deeds. It is an outward sign of a behavior or habit that the owner of the clothing must explore and change before it consumes them. While we don’t concern ourselves with these particular laws today, still we can understand this passage to be a warning to look out for those external signs that tell us we need to change something in our lives.

— Rabbi Daniel Plotkin