תַזְרִיעַ
Tazria / She Bears Seed
Leviticus 12:1-13:59
HafTorah Portion 2 Kings 4:42-5:19
Brit Chadasha Matthew 8:1-4
This parsha begins with instructions regarding the birth of children. In the case of a male child, the Scriptures say, “On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” Leviticus 12:3. The Hebrew word for circumcision is milah. The act of circumcision is called a Brit Milah, which has even more significance: The Covenant of Circumcision, in Hebrew: בְרִית מִילָה. This is because even before the events at Mt. Sinai, circumcision became the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham. Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15:9-21 and Genesis 17:1-14.
Why is this external mitzvah the very sign of our covenant with God and His with us? And why on the eighth day? Interestingly, the Torah portion that we just completed was Shemini/Eighth because it dealt with the inauguration of the Mishkan and the priests on the eighth day.
The Mishkan was the dwelling place of God. It required His people to build it to the specifications that God directed. It was an outward act of an inward sign of Him and His people. The circumcision is an outward act of an inward sign of His people and now the dwelling place of God.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ‘Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.’
The first three covenants, the Eden (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15-17), the Adamic (Genesis 3:14-19) and the Noah Covenant (Genesis 9:8-12) required nothing physical from man; these are universal covenants. But to be with God is also to be part of a particular covenant of exchange with God. God calls; we respond. God begins the work and calls on us to complete it. That is what the act of circumcision represents.
Circumcision was/is so important that it caused strife between Zipporah and Moses on their journey. The sages do not agree on who was circumcised and they do not totally agree on the dialogue, yet an article by Fred Blumenthal clarifies some: “It was the story of the circumcision, and the ceremony surrounding it, that had completed the appointment of Moses; it made no difference which one of his sons was being circumcised, whether Gershom or Eliezer. The change of Zipporah from a symbol of Midianite religion to a companion on their way ahead is the essence of the story told in these three short sentences. Moses becomes her "bridegroom," her newly acquired husband because they both were culturally new persons. The expression hatan damim [bridegroom of blood] refers to the blood of circumcision which erases any preceding affiliation and allegorically seals the appointment of Moses to the leadership of his people.”
For the Romans, the Greeks and the ancient world generally, the gods were to be found in nature: the sun, the sea, the sky, the earth, its seasons, the fields and their fertility. Thus, they worshiped the beauty of the body and the beauty of creation. They worshipped and worship the created instead of the Creator. Yet we know that God is beyond mere nature. The Romans found circumcision strange because it was unnatural. Why not celebrate the human body as God made it? Thus, the question, “If God really wants males to be circumcised, why did He not arrange for babies to be born circumcised?” Rabbi Akiva answered this by saying, “God did not cause male children to be born circumcised because He deliberately left this act, this sign of the covenant, to us.”
Even further, this is the outward work of the building of the Tabernacle for Him.
Ephesians 2:19-22 ‘So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Yeshua the Messiah Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.’
The Brit Chadasha teaches that circumcision is not null and void, but rather much more detail oriented than a physical circumcision. Although much more physically painful when carried out, the physical outward when done is done. The instructions that we have today regarding circumcision are never ending, never ceasing, never done. We see in Romans 3:1-2 that circumcision was not made null and void, ‘Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.’
Romans 2:29 clarifies that a Jewish person is one inwardly. ‘But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.’ Romans 2:25 also clarifies that it is important to complete both. ‘For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.’
Deuteronomy 30:6 ‘And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.’
Jeremiah 4:4 “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”
Jeremiah 6:10 tells us that circumcision reaches even to our ears. ‘To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.
Acts 7:51 clarifies those that do not listen: ‘You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.’
Tazria / She Bears Seed Metxora / Infected One
Leviticus 12:1-13:59 Leviticus 14:1-15:33
HafTorah Portion 2 Kings 4:42-5:19 2 Kings 7:3-20
Brit Chadasha Matthew 8:1-4 Romans 6:8-23
Tazria/Metzora describes the clean and unclean, the pure and impure. Does the pure make the impure pure again? Does the unclean defile the clean? Or does the clean make the unclean clean? Pure is the result of avoiding contact with the unclean, and impure is coming into contact with the unclean. If a dead body was touched, the people became unclean. They didn’t become the dead body, but for a period of time, were unclean. This can be a metaphor for today coming into contact with death/darkness/chaos and confusion from the spiritual world.
Tazria begins with instructions regarding the birth of a boy: “On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” Leviticus 12:3. The Hebrew word for circumcision is milah and the act of circumcision is called a Brit Milah, which has even more significance: The Covenant of Circumcision, in Hebrew: בְרִית מִילָה. This is because even before the events at Mt. Sinai, circumcision became the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham. Genesis 17:1-14.
Why is this external mitzvah the very sign of our covenant with God and His with us? And why on the eighth day? Interestingly, the Torah portion we just completed was Shemini/Eighth because it dealt with the inauguration of the Mishkan and the consecration of the priests on the eighth day.
The Mishkan was the dwelling place of God. It required His people to build it to the specifications that He directed. It was an outward act of an inward sign of Him and His people. Circumcision is an outward act of an inward sign of His people as we are now the dwelling place of God.
Metzora continues with different situations that define a person’s state as impure. There are different ways a person was to be purified, as in the case, and separate laws about Metzora.
While all the other impure people were forbidden from entering the Temple or coming into contact with the sacrifices, the metzora was made to sit alone outside the city and act as a mourner, wearing torn clothes. The sages teach that this was significant because impurity is not just in relation to the holiness of the Temple or sacrifices but rather that it dives deep into the inner soul of holiness or lack of it and dives deep into thought and ego.
Yeshua confirms that the metzora is a physical manifestation of an inner defilement when He gave instructions that the pure must be brought to the High Priest, Mark 1:44, Luke 5:14 and Matthew 8:4. Of course, we know today He is The High Priest, and we must humbly go before Him for our cleansing.
What is the root cause of metzora? Slander and gossip which are birthed from conceit and are expressions of arrogance. In the Scriptures, arrogance is synonymous with ‘the heart being lifted up’. Tzarass is Hebrew for skin disorder, and is a physical manifestation from a spiritual disorder. Lashon Hara, translated as evil tongue, spawns from and generates animosity and contempt.
This is contagious. It creates in others the urge to either hear more, and spread what they have heard, or it puts the bearer of the gossip in a very unspiritual and awkward place. It is a plague that can sweep through a camp, a church, a synagogue and home.
Lashon Hara, Evil Tongue is worse than the three cardinal sins – idolatry, adultery, and bloodshed – combined. It kills three people: the one who speaks it, the one of whom it is spoken, and the one who receives it. Joseph spoke negatively about his brothers and suffered the consequences. The generation that left Egypt was denied the chance of entering the land because they spoke badly about it. Speech is considered to be lashon hara if it says something negative about a person and is not intended to correct or improve a negative situation or person but is strictly to defame, hurt, and shame. Hotzaat shem ra (spreading a bad name) – also called hotzaat diba or motzi shem ra (putting out a bad name) – consists of blatant lies, and is best translated as "slander" or "defamation". This type of behavior will render us unclean or impure.
Deuteronomy 8:11-17 warns us that if we neglect the commandments of God, we lift our hearts and give glory to ourselves. ‘Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
Psalm 140:5 states that the arrogant will lay traps. Psalm 138:6 says that God is aware of the arrogant from afar. The arrogant will boast of his heart’s desire and will not seek God in Psalm 10:3-4. And arrogance loves transgressions as stated in Proverbs 17:19. Psalm 119:21 states that the arrogant turn away from Torah, try to fool others into believing that they are walking in Torah when they aren’t, are cursed and will be rebuked. Even the arrogance of a city will be broken as says the prophet, Ezekiel 16:49.
Scriptures give us the antidote to battle against evil tongue. The importance of multiple testimonies to establish truth and ensure fairness in a matter. Deuteronomy 19:15 establishes the legal principle requiring multiple witnesses to confirm a matter. In Matthew 18:16 Yeshua instructs His followers on resolving conflicts, echoing the principles of two or more witnesses. And Rabbi Shau’l in 2 Corinthians 13:1 quotes Deuteronomy 19:15.
Without these guidelines, negative reports could be taken as truth by unsuspecting people.
תַזְרִיעַ
Tazria / She Bears Seed
Leviticus 12:1-13:59
HafTorah Portion 2 Kings 4:42-5:19
Brit Chadasha Matthew 8:1-4
מְצֹרָע
Metsora / Infected One
Leviticus 14:1-15:33
HafTorah Portion 2 Kings 7:3-20
Brit Chadasha Romans 6:8-23
Tazria/Metzora describes the clean and unclean, the pure and impure. Does the pure make the impure pure again? Does the unclean defile the clean? Or does the clean make the unclean clean? Pure is the result of avoiding contact and with the unclean, and impure is the result of coming into contact with the unclean. If a dead body is touched, we become unclean, we don’t become the dead body, but for a period in time, we are unclean.
Repentance, obedience, water play a big part in this Torah portion. In 2 Kings 5:9-14 Naaman had to immerse in the living waters to become clean, but he had to obey first. As always with God there is order. In these two parshas there is a huge connect with obedience, order and water. It’s not just one or the other; it is a process of all.
Tazria opens with instructions regarding the birth of children. In the case of a male child, the Scriptures say, “On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” Leviticus 12:3. The Hebrew word for circumcision is milah. The act of circumcision is called a Brit Milah, which has even more significance. It literally means The Covenant of Circumcision, in Hebrew: בְרִית מִילָה. This is because even before the events at Mt. Sinai, circumcision became the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham. Genesis 15:9-21 and Genesis 17:1-14.
Why is this external mitzvah the very sign of our covenant with God and His with us? And why on the eighth day? Interestingly, the Torah portion that we just completed was Shemini/Eighth because it dealt with the inauguration of the Mishkan and the priests on the eighth day.
The Mishkan was the dwelling place of God. He required His people to build it to the specifications that He had directed. It was an outward act of an inward sign of Him and His people. The circumcision is an outward act of an inward sign of His people and now we are the dwelling place of God.
We are told that now our hearts will become circumcised by God Himself as He does the Brit Milah.
Deuteronomy 30:6 ‘And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.’
Jeremiah 4:4 ‘Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.’
Romans 2:29 ‘But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.’
Deuteronomy 10:16 ‘Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.’
Metzora continues with different situations that define a person’s state as impure. There different ways in which a person was to be purified as in the case and separate law pertaining to the metzora.
While all the other impure people were forbidden from entering the Temple or coming into contact with the sacrifices, the metzora was made to sit alone outside the city and act as a mourner, wearing torn clothes. The sages teach that the significance of this was due to the fact that the impurity is not just in relation to the holiness of the Temple or sacrifices but rather that it dives deep into the inner soul of holiness or lack of and divulges their expression of thought, ego and inner circle.
Yeshua confirms that the metzora is a physical manifestation of an inner defilement when He gave instructions that the pure must be brought to the High Priest, Mark 1:44, Luke 5:14 and Matthew 8:4. Of course, we know today He is The High Priest, and we must humbly go before Him for our cleansing.
What is the root case of metzora? Slander and gossip always begin with conceit. Gossip and slander are birthed from conceit and are expressions of arrogance. In the Scriptures, arrogance is synonymous with ‘the heart being lifted up’.
It is taught that Lashon Hara, Evil Tongue לשון הרע is worse than the three cardinal sins – idolatry, adultery, and bloodshed – combined. It kills three people: the one who speaks it, the one of whom it is spoken, and the one who receives it. Joseph received the hatred of his brothers because he spoke negatively about them. The generation that left Egypt was denied the chance of entering the land because they spoke badly about it. Speech is considered to be lashon hara if it says something negative about a person and is not intended to correct or improve a negative situation or person. It is strictly to defame, hurt and shame. By contrast, hotzaat shem ra ("spreading a bad name") – also called hotzaat diba or motzi shem ra (lit. "putting out a bad name") – consists of blatant lies, and is best translated as "slander" or "defamation".
It is taught that there are times when a person is permitted or even required to disclose information whether or not the information is negative. For instance, if a person’s intent in sharing negative information is for a to’elet, a positive, constructive, and beneficial purpose that may serve as a warning to prevent harm or injustice, then the prohibition against lashon hara does not apply. Hotzaat shem ra, spouting lies and spreading disinformation, on the other hand is always prohibited. However, even with good intentions, one must guard against a personal agenda in speaking negatively about another.
God is the God of order – HaSatan the author of lies and confusion. How do the steps that Naaman took guard us today? Repentance – obedience – water. The order of God.
Repentance:
2 Chronicles 7:14-20 ‘…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’ 19 “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have [sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.’
Acts 3:19 ‘Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.’
Jonah 3:10 ‘When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.’
Matthew 3:2 ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Matthew 4:17 ‘From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Luke 13:3 ‘I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.’
Acts 17:30 ‘Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent…’
Obedience:
Exodus 19:5 ‘Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine…’
Deuteronomy 11:1 ‘Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.’
Deuteronomy 27:10 ‘You shall therefore obey the Lord your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.’
1 John 5:3 ‘For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.’
Isaiah 1:19 ‘If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land…’
Jeremiah 7:23 ‘But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’
Water:
Ezekiel 36:25-27 ‘I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.’
Isaiah 44:3 ‘For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.’
Zechariah 14:8 ‘And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.’
John 7:37 ‘Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let
in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’
Revelation 22:1-2 ‘Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.’
John 4:14 ‘But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Repentance (Teshuva), obedience and water bring life!
