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ASBEE Home Page > Learning > Tanach/Bible > Leviticus/Vayikra > Parshas Tazria / Parshas Metzora >

Tazria-Metzorah: What is all this talk about leprosy?

Maimonides tells us that the leprosy described in the Torah is not what we call leprosy today, because it speaks about leprosy of the clothes
and leprosy of the house, which would be possible in the case of  modern
leprosy.  What then is the meaning of this ancient plague?

Let us examine the five cases of leprosy mentioned in the Torah and the
source of those plagues. The first case is contracted by no one less
than Moses himself (Ex. 3). What did he do wrong? The context indicates
that he also was punished for not accepting his role as leader and being
overly modest.

The second indication of the root of leprosy occurs in the case of house
leprosy (Lev. 14). Rashi asks how a house could get leprosy? He answers
that it was not a punishment but a good tiding that houses would be
dismantled through contracting leprosy, thereby exposing the treasures
left by the ancient Canaanites beneath.

Miriam, Moses' sister also contracts leprosy after slandering Moses and
equating herself to Moses as a prophet (Numbers 12).  King Uzziah was
stricken with leprosy when he attempted to enter the Temple and serve as
a Priest to offer the Holy incense (II Chronicles 26). In the would-be
Haftarah for Parashat Tazriah (II Kings 4) the enemy General Naaman
becomes a leper. He is a man who thinks that his country is better than
Israel and doesn't see the potential in the waters and prophets of
Israel.

What do all these cases have in common? In all of these cases, people
did not recognize their potential and their limitations. They did not
know their true inner selves. Tzaraat, leprosy peels away the façade and
allows one to see one's true self, good or bad. Let us hope that through
this parasha, we should learn to know
our true selves, for better and for worse.