The
law concerning
Ritual Purity and Impurity
459.
That eight species of creeping things defile by contact (Lev. 11:29-30 These are the
contaminated ones among the teeming animals that teem upon the earth: the
choled, the achbar, and the tzav according to its variety; 30 the aakah, the
koach, and the letaah; and the chomet and the tinshemes; 30 Only these are
contaminated to you among all the teeming animals) (This command teaches list the eight small animals which carry
contamination when they are dead and which convey their contamination to people
and objects. Since not all of their identities are clear, we transliterate
them, but give the possible translations in the commentary. According to some
the Choled is a weasel; the achbar is a mouse; The tzav is a frog; the anakah
is a viper; the Koach is a lizard; the letaah is also a lizard; the tinshemes
is a mole.).
561.
That foods become defiled by contact with unclean things (Lev. 11:34 Any earthenware utensil
into whose interior one of them will fall, everything in it shall become
contaminated and we shall break it; 34 of any food that is edible, upon which
water comes, shall become contaminated; and any beverage that can be drunk, in
any vessel, shall become contaminated) (This
command teaches us about food becoming defiled. It explains how food or drink
can become tamei merely by being in the interior of the vessel into which a
carcass fell. This implies that utensils cannot become contaminated unless they
are actually touched by the carcass. That food or drink that has become unfit
for consumption cannot become tamei).
562.
That anyone who touches the carcass of a beast that died of itself
shall be unclean (Lev. 11:39 if an animal that you may eat has died, one who touches its
carcass shall not be eaten) (This command
teaches us that when any thing die from natural causes we must not try to
resurrect it. Many time when a relationship dies, it become a dead thing. Do
not try to reestablish that relationship).
563.
That a lying-in woman is unclean like a menstruating woman (in terms of
uncleanness) (Lev. 12:2-5 when a woman
conceives and give birth to a male, she shall be contaminated for a seven-day
period as during the days of her separation infirmity shall she be
contaminated. 3 On the eight day the flesh of
his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 for thirty-three days she shall
remain in blood of purity; she may not touch anything sacred and she may not
enter the Sanctuar, until the completion of her days of purity. 5 If she give
birth to a female, she shall be contaminated, for two weeks , as during her
separation; and for sixty-six days shall remain in blood of purity.) (This command teaches us that upon giving
birth, a woman becomes tamei (unclean with the same regulation as those of a
menstruant) someone who is separated. She must remains separated from her
husband and may not touch anything that is holy, such as the flesh of
offerings, she must remain in a state of ritual impurity).
564.
That a leper is unclean and defiles (Lev. 13:2-46 When a man has
on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it shall
become on the skin of his body like a leprous infection, then he shall be
brought to Aharon the priest or to one of his sons the priests. 3 “And the
priest shall look at the infection on the skin of the body. And if the hair on
the infection has turned white, and the infection appears to be deeper than the
skin of his body, it is a leprous infection. And the priest shall look at him,
and pronounce him unclean. 4 “But if the bright spot is white on the skin of
his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not
turned white, then the priest shall shut up the infected one seven days. 5 “And
the priest shall look at him on the seventh day and see, if the infection
appears to be as it was, and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the
priest shall shut him up another seven days. 6 “And the priest shall look at
him again on the seventh day and see, if the infection has darkened, and the
infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
clean. It is a scab, and he shall wash his garments and be clean. 7 “But if the
scab spreads further over the skin, after he has been seen by the priest for
his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again. 8 “And the priest shall
look and see, if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall
pronounce him unclean, it is leprosy. 9 “When the infection of leprosy is on a
man, then he shall be brought to the priest. 10 “And the priest shall look and
see, if the swelling on the skin is white, and it has turned the hair white,
and there is a spot of raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is an old leprosy on
the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He does not
shut him up, for he is unclean. 12 “And if leprosy breaks out all over the
skin, and the leprosy shall cover all the skin of the infected one, from his
head to his foot, wherever the priest looks, 13 then the priest shall look and
see, if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce the infected
one clean. It has all turned white, he is clean. 14 “But the day raw flesh
appears on him, he is unclean. 15 “And the priest shall look at the raw flesh
and pronounce him to be unclean – the raw flesh is unclean, it is leprosy. 16
“Or when the raw flesh changes and turns white again, he shall come to the
priest. 17 “And the priest shall look at him and see, if the infection has
turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the infected one clean, he is
clean. 18 “And when the body has a boil in the skin, and it is healed, 19 and
in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a bright spot,
reddish-white, then it shall be seen by the priest. 20 “And the priest shall
look and see, if it appears deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned
white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a leprous infection which
has broken out of the boil. 21 “But if the priest looks at it and sees no white
hairs in it, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest
shall shut him up seven days; 22 and if it has spread further over the skin,
then the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a leprous infection. 23 “But
if the bright spot stays in its place, it has not spread, it is the scar of the
boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 24 “Or when the body receives a
burn on its skin by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn shall become a bright
spot, reddish-white or white, 25 then the priest shall look at it and see, if
the hair of the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the
skin, it is leprosy broken out in the burn. And the priest shall pronounce him
unclean, it is a leprous infection. 26 “But if the priest looks at it and sees
there are no white hairs in the bright spot, and it is not deeper than the
skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days. 27 “And the
priest shall look at him on the seventh day. If it spreads further over the
skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a leprous infection.
28 “But if the bright spot stays in its place, and has not spread on the skin,
but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn. And the priest shall pronounce
him clean, for it is the scar from the burn. 29 “And when a man, or a woman,
has an infection on the head or in the beard, 30 then the priest shall look at
the infection and see, if it appears deeper than the skin, and there is thin
yellow hair in it, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is an
eruption, a leprosy of the head or beard. 31 “But when the priest looks at the
infection of the eruption and sees that it does not appear deeper than the
skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the one with the infection of the
eruption seven days. 32 “And on the seventh day the priest shall look at the
infection and see, if the eruption has not spread, and there is no yellow hair
in it, and the eruption does not appear deeper than the skin, 33 then he shall
shave himself, but the eruption he does not shave. And the priest shall shut up
the one with the eruption
another seven days. 34 “And on the seventh day the priest shall look at the
eruption and see, if the eruption has not spread over the skin, and does not
appear deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he
shall wash his garments, and he shall be clean. 35 “But if the eruption spreads
further over the skin after his cleansing, 36 then the priest shall look at him
and see, if the eruption has spread over the skin, the priest need not seek for
yellow hair, he is unclean. 37 “But if the eruption appears to have stayed, and
there is black hair grown up in it, the eruption has healed. He is clean, and
the priest shall pronounce him clean. 38 “And when a man or a woman has bright
spots on the skin of the body, white bright spots, 39 then the priest shall
look and see, if the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is
a white spot that grows on the skin, he is clean. 40 “And when a man loses the
hair of his head, he is bald, he is clean. 41 “And if the hair has fallen from
his forehead, he is bald on the forehead, he is clean. 42 “And when there is on
the bald head or bald forehead a reddish-white infection, it is leprosy
breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 “And the priest shall
look at it and see, if the swelling of the infection is reddish-white on his
bald head or on his bald forehead, as the appearance of leprosy on the skin of
the body, 44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him
unclean, without fail, his infection is on his head. 45 “As for the leper who
has the infection, his garments are torn, and his head is uncovered, and he has
to cover his upper lip and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 “He is unclean – all the
days he has the infection he is unclean. He is unclean, and he dwells alone,
his dwelling place is outside the camp) (This
command teaches us that when a person is inflected with tzaraas our loving
Father does not want to cause us public humiliation. Therefore let every sinner
know and repent, but let him no be humiliated unnecessarily).
565.
That the leper shall be universally recognized as such by the
prescribed marks. So too, all other unclean persons should declare themselves
as such (Lev. 13:45 As for the leper who has the infection, his garments are torn, and
his head is uncovered, and he has to cover his upper lip and cry, ‘Unclean!
Unclean) (This command teaches us that the rule for
isolation from the community are given and they must be apply to all cases. The
problem today with AID is that this principle is still not followed and the
disease is still spreading. The purpose of isolation is to stop the
contaminated disease).
566.
That a leprous garment is unclean and defiles (Lev. 13:47-49 And when a
garment has an infection of leprosy in it, in a woollen garment or in a linen
garment, 48 or in the warp or in the weft of linen or wool, or in leather or in
any leather-work, 49 and the infection shall be greenish or reddish in the
garment or in the leather, or in the warp or in the weft, or in any leather
object, it is an infection of leprosy and shall be shown to the priest.) (This command teaches us that the spiritual
covering of a contaminated person is of a unclean nature. For example if a
person continue to eat pork, this means that their spiritual belief system is
flawed. The clouting of a righteous is their action, and that action must be
determine by Torah).
567.
That a leprous house defiles (Lev. 14:34-46 When you
come into the land of Kenaʽan, which I
am giving you as a possession, and I put a plague of leprosy in a house in the
land of your possession, 35 then shall the one who owns the house come and
inform the priest, saying, ‘It seems to me that there is some plague in the
house.’ 36 “And the priest shall command, and they shall empty the house,
before the priest goes in to look at the plague, so that all that is in the
house is not made unclean. And after that the priest goes in to look at the
house. 37 “And he shall look at the plague and see, if the plague is on the
walls of the house with sunken places, greenish or reddish, which appear to be
deep in the wall, 38 then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of
the house, and shut up the house seven days. 39 “And the priest shall come
again on the seventh day and look and see, if the plague has spread on the
walls of the house, 40 then the priest shall command, and they shall remove the
stones with the plague in them, and they shall throw them outside the city,
into an unclean place, 41 while he lets the house be scraped inside, all
around, and the dust that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean
place outside the city. 42 “And they shall take other stones and put them in
the place of those stones, and take other mortar and plaster the house. 43 “And
if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has removed the
stones, after he has scraped the house, and after it is plastered, 44 then the
priest shall come and look and see, if the plague has spread in the house, it
is an active leprosy in the house, it is unclean. 45 “And he shall break down
the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he
shall bring them outside the city to an unclean place. 46 “And he who goes into
the house, all the days while it is shut up, becomes unclean until evening) (This command teaches us that a tzaraas-type
afflictions on a house are clearly supernatural occurrence. Obviously, their
appearance is for a purpose. Two very different explanation are given by the
Hebrew teachers, the more familiar one is that when the Canaanite inhabitants
of land of Yisrael
568.
That a man, having a running issue, defiles (Lev. 15:1-15 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying, 2 “Speak to
the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When any man has a discharge from
his flesh, his discharge is unclean. 3 ‘And this is his uncleanness in regard
to his discharge; whether his flesh runs with his discharge, or his flesh is
stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. 4 ‘Any bed becomes unclean
on which he who has the discharge lies, and any object on which he sits becomes
unclean. 5 ‘And anyone who touches his bed has to wash his garments, and shall
bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 6 ‘And he who sits on any object
on which he who has the discharge sat, has to wash his garments, and shall
bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 7 ‘And he who touches the flesh
of him who has the discharge has to wash his garments, and shall bathe in
water, and shall be unclean until evening. 8 ‘And when he who has the discharge
spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his garments, and shall bathe in
water, and be unclean until evening. 9 ‘Any saddle on which he who has the
discharge rides becomes unclean. 10 ‘And whoever touches any of that which was
under him is unclean until evening. And he who is carrying them up has to wash
his garments, and shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 11 ‘And
anyone whom he who has the discharge touches without rinsing his hands in
water, shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and be unclean until
evening. 12 ‘And the earthen vessel which he who has the discharge touches has
to be broken, and every wooden vessel has to be rinsed in water. 13 ‘And when
he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for
himself seven days for his cleansing, and shall wash his garments, and shall
bathe his flesh in running water, and be clean. 14 ‘And on the eighth day he
takes for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and shall come before יהוה, to the
door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall give them to the priest. 15 ‘And the
priest shall prepare them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt
offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before יהוה because of his
discharge) (This command teaches us that semen or a
zav-emission that is discharge from a Hebrew male is contaminated in itself; in
addition, it causes contaminated to the one who emitted it and to others who
come in contact with it. There are three degree of such contamination,
depending on the frequency and type of the discharge, as follows: If a
male who had a seminal emission, whether
the fluid is normal semen or the slightly different zav fluid. This
contamination is the mildest of the three degree, and it applies np matter what
circumstances brought about the discharge. A (baal keri) the person who has has
such an emission may immerse himself immediately and become completely pure the
following evening. The second discharge which makes someone a zav is different
from semen, but a man who has had a single such discharge has the same status
as the baal keri. A person who has had two such discharge is a zav and has the full severity of
contamination, as will be set forth in this passage. The third is a man who has
had three discharge, either in the same day with short intervals between them
or on successive days, has the same degree of contamination as an ordinary zav, but the must also bring an offering
at the conclusion of a seven-day period following the cessation of discharge. A
discharge from the flesh, refers to the male organ. The fluid the Torah calls
zov, is similar to, but different From semen , which result from a malfunction
inside the body. His discharge is contaminated. The contaminated fluid has the
status of primary or source of contamination, and it transmit contamination
through contact or being carried. That is, one become tamei not only through
touching it, but even by bearing its weight without contact. The clothing of
this person become tamei as well).
569.
That the seed of copulation defiles (Lev. 15:16 A man from whom there is
a discharge of semen shall immerse his entire flesh in the water and remain
contaminated until evening) (This command
teaches us that the seed of corruption defiles).
570.
That purification from all kinds of defilement shall be effected by
immersion in the waters of a mikvah (Lev. 15:16 A man from whom there is a discharge of
semen shall immerse his entire flesh in the water and remain contaminated until
evening) (This command teaches us that as the
Children f Yisrael pass through the Red Sea a form of mass immersion and were
cleanse from Pharaoh Army. The Blood and Water that flows from Yahushua side
does the same for us today. We must wash our hand our work, our feet our walk
in the Water that flows from His Side daily).
571.
That a menstruating woman is unclean and defiles others (Lev. 15:19-24 And when a
woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her flesh is blood, she has to be
in her separation for seven days. And whoever touches her is unclean until
evening. 20 ‘And whatever she lies on during her separation is unclean. And
whatever she sits on is unclean. 21 ‘And anyone who touches her bed has to wash
his garments, and shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 ‘And
whoever touches any object that she sat on has to wash his garments, and shall
bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 ‘And if it is on the bed or on
any object on which she sits, when he touches it, he is unclean until evening.
24 ‘And if any man lies with her at all, and her monthly flow is on him, he
shall be unclean seven days. And any bed he lies on is unclean.) (This command teaches us that the Niddah and
Zavah female discharge are handle. This command is the basis of the sanctity of
the Hebrew home, for it contains the laws of niddah, and niddus, the monthly
period when husband and wife may not cohabit. It is significant that this
mitzvah is known as purity of the family. Just as the ritual that binds man and
woman to one another is called, sanctification, for a Hebrew marriage is an
exercise in bringing sanctity to human relationship that can most easily become
an act of degradation, so the maintenance of this sanctity throughout the years
during which the home is built and the future brought into the world depends on
the constant purity of the family and the partners who create it. Through the
seven-day period, she is ritually contaminated to the same degree as a zav, and she must therefore separate
herself from people or things that are required to remain ritually pure. If a
man were to cohabit with her on the fifth day of her contamination, he would
become tamei for the next seven days, even though she
would be eligible to immerse herself at the end of her own seven days).
572.
That a woman, having a running issue, defiles (Lev. 15:25-27 And when a
woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her
monthly separation, or when she discharges beyond her usual time of monthly
separation, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her
monthly separation. She is unclean. 26 ‘Any bed on which she lies all the days
of her discharge is to her as the bed of her monthly separation. And whatever
she sits on is unclean, as the uncleanness of her monthly separation. 27 ‘And
anyone who touches them is unclean, and shall wash his garments, and shall
bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.) (This command teaches us that there are seven days during which a
discharge gives a woman the niddah status . Under the command of Torah, if there
is a discharge during this period, she counts seven days from the onset of the
flow, and provided the flow has stopped before the end of the seven-day period,
she immerses herself the following evening. Any flow during those seven-days is
a niddah flow, and even discharges on
consecutive days would not make her a zavah.
It is only after those seven days can she become a zavah. For at least the
next eleven days, any discharge is treated as a zavah flow. Once those eleven days have ended, it is possible for
her to resume the status of a niddah.
However, if she had become a major zavah,
she must become niddah again only if
there were seven uninterrupted days with no discharge. Otherwise, she remain with the zavah status
indefinitely, until there are seven clean days. During the eleven days period
when the zavah laws apply, there are
two degrees of stringency, as derived from this command. If a woman has a
discharge during the eleven-day period, even if she discharge on two
consecutive days, she may immerse herself the next morning, provided there was
a cessation of her flow before sunset. If she has a discharge on three
consecutive days during the eleven-day period, she is tamei until she counts seven
consecutive days without any discharge, following which she immerses herself
and bring her offering).
573.
To carry out the ordinance of the Red Heifer so that its ashes will
always be available (Num. 19:9 A pure man shall gather the ash of the cow and place it outside of the camp in a
pure place. For the assemble of Yisrael it shall remain as a safekeeping, for
water of sprinkling; it is for purification). (This
command teaches us that the ashes were divided into three parts: first one part
was stored on the Mount of Olive for future use: either to purify the Kohen
performing the service in the future, or to mix with the ashes of future Red
Cows; second another part was divided among the twenty-four divisions of the
Kohanim, for use in purifying people; and third, the third part was kept in the
Chail an area next to the wall of the
court yard, for safekeeping, as a required by this commandment).
574.
That a corpse defiles (Num. 19:11-16 He who touches the dead of
any human being is unclean for seven days. 12 ‘He is to cleanse himself with
the water on the third day, and on the seventh day he is clean. But if he does
not cleanse himself on the third day, then on the seventh day he is not clean.
13 ‘Anyone who touches the dead of a human being, and does not cleanse himself,
defiles the Dwelling Place of יהוה. And that being shall
be cut off from Yisra’ĕl. He is unclean, for the water for uncleanness was not
sprinkled on him, his uncleanness is still upon him. 14 ‘This is the Torah when
a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent
are unclean for seven days, 15 and every open vessel which has no cover
fastened on it, is unclean. 16 ‘Anyone in the open field who touches someone
slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, is unclean
for seven days.) (This command teaches us that if someone
become contaminated through a dead human and neglected to purify himself with
the ashes of the Red Cow, even though he immersed himself in a mikveh, he
remains in his state of contamination. Consequently, if he intentionally enters
the Sanctuary or Courtyard, he is subject to the heavenly punishment of Kares,
meaning that his soul is cut off from the Hebrew people).
575.
That the waters of separation defile one who is clean, and cleanse the
unclean from pollution by a dead body (Num. 19:19-22 And the
clean one shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day.
And on the seventh day he shall cleanse himself, and shall wash his garments
and bathe in water, and shall be clean in the evening. 20 ‘But the man who is
unclean and does not cleanse himself, that being shall be cut off from among
the assembly, because he has defiled the set-apart place of יהוה – water for uncleanness has not been sprinkled on
him, he is unclean. 21 ‘And it shall be a law for them forever. And the one who
sprinkles the water for uncleanness washes his garments. And the one who
touches the water for uncleanness is unclean until evening. 22 ‘And whatever
the unclean being touches is unclean. And the being who touches it is unclean
until evening 22 ‘And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of
the guilt offering before יהוה for his sin which he has done. And the sin which he has sinned
shall be forgiven him.) (This command teaches us that in the process
of helping someone else gets clean, we must be very careful that we do not get
contaminated as well).
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