Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] We know how to deal with biological threats. We sanitize, we isolate, we contain the spread. But this week's Torah portion describes a different kind of danger. One you can't sanitize or isolate, and one that spreads faster than any disease because according to Torah, the most dangerous contamination doesn't come from what you touch, but from what you say. Let's explore why in this week's five Minute Torah.
[00:00:30] Shalom and bless. Greetings from Shalom Macon, the place where disciples of Yeshua learn, connect and grow. I'm Darren, and before I get into the five minutes of my five minute Torah commentary, let's cover a few quick facts about this week's Torah portion. This week we are studying the 27th and the 28th Torah portions and the third and fourth portions of the book of Leviticus. We are in the double portion of Tazria Mitsura, Leviticus 12, 1, 15, 33 and here are the three things that you need to know about it. Number one impurity in childbirth is God misogynist. The idea that God is misogynist often comes from a surface reading of this week's Torah portion. The laws of purification after childbirth, especially the longer period following the birth of a daughter, have led some to assume a divine preference for males. But that reading misses the depth of biblical purity. These distinctions aren't about the value, they're about the role.
[00:01:24] Women are uniquely connected to life. They carry not only physical life, but but the potential for future generations. In that sense, they are deeply tied to both physical and spiritual reproduction. The Torah's emphasis on separation and purification isn't degrading, it's elevating. It highlights the sacred responsibility of bearing life and treats it with the weight it deserves. Number two, Tzara' at and Mitsora the disease and the diseased. Tazria and Mitzorah are often read together and and for good reason. Their themes are inseparable. Both portions deal with tzara, often translated as leprosy, and the mitsora, the one afflicted by it. Simply put, tzarat is the condition and matzorah is the person.
[00:02:11] Tazria focuses on identification and diagnosis, whereas mitsora shifts to what happens after once a condition has subsided and restoration begins. Together they form a complete picture, from detection to healing to return. And number three, Soul physician. The role of the kohen. The fact that the kohen diagnoses Tzarat teaches us something profound. Not all sickness is merely physical. In the Torah, tzara is tied to spiritual failure, an outward sign of an inward issue. That means the priest's role wasn't just medical, it was spiritual. He wasn't simply examining skin, he was discerning the the condition of the soul. The process forced the individual to stop, reflect and confront what was happening beneath the surface. And the goal? Not punishment, but restoration. Through the purification process, the Cohen helps bring healing, restoring not just the body, but the person's place in the community and before God.
[00:03:12] What does it really mean to live by the Spirit of the Law and not the Letter of the Law? For centuries, believers have been told that the Law of God is a burden and something Yeshua came to set us free from.
[00:03:24] But what if that's not what the scriptures say at all? What if Paul's words about the letter of the law killing were never meant to pit God's spirit against his own commandments? In my new book, Spirit of the Law, I take a closer look at the writings of Paul, the teachings of Yeshua, and the Torah itself to uncover a consistent truth. The problem was never God's law. It was the human heart. And rather than repealing his Father's commandments, Yeshua came to transform our rebellious heart heart, empowering his disciples to walk in the fullness of the Spirit of the Law. But in order to accomplish this, we first need to understand what it means. If you've ever struggled to reconcile law and grace, Spirit of the Law will open your eyes to a richer, more faithful understanding of both. It will challenge assumptions, bring clarity to misunderstood passages, and invite you into a deeper walk of obedience, one that's alive with the Spirit of God. Pick up your copy today and let the Spirit of the Law transform the way you see God's Word and the way you live it. It may just be the missing key you've been looking for to unlock the Scriptures and open a whole new world of biblical understanding. Once it clicks, you'll want to invite others to join the journey as well. This week's Torah commentary is called Spiritual Biohazard and comes from my book, Five Minute Torah Volume one. This week's Torah portion discusses two topics largely skipped over by Bible students today the laws of purification after childbirth and biblical leprosy. These two topics are a typical cross section of the various topics covered by the Book of Leviticus and why it's largely avoided by even the most serious students of the Scriptures. However, since the Lord considered these topics important enough to populate the Holy Scriptures, we would do well to at least familiarize ourselves with them. Let's take a brief look at the topic of Biblical Leprosy when the Torah portion speaks of biblical leprosy, we must keep in mind that this is not the same as modern leprosy. Modern leprosy is a bacterial infection, also known as Hansen's disease. Although it can be a debilitating disease, it's completely treatable if caught in time. Biblical Leprosy however, in the Bible the Scriptures call Zara and is not caused by a bacterial or viral infection, and it has no known prescriptive cure. But biblical leprosy affected only one status of ritual purity and communal participation. Let's take a brief look at Tzarat and a few of its appearances in the Torah. We only have two recorded instances of tzara in the Torah. The first is when Hashem encountered Moses at the burning bush. The Lord told Moses to put his hand in his cloak, and when he pulled it out, the Torah tells us that it was leprous like snow. Exodus 4:6 this was the result of Moses objection to the Lord's instruction to speak to the children of Israel regarding their salvation. He said, behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, the LORD did not appear to you. Exodus 4:1. The other occurrence is when Miriam is temporarily stricken with leprosy. The Torah records that Miriam spoke against Moses because of the cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a cushite woman numbers 12:1. As a result, she was stricken with Zara for seven days. In both of these instances, the person afflicted was guilty of slander Moses against the children of Israel and Miriam against Moses. Tzarat has several unusual characteristics. First, a person who has tzara is called a mitzorah. However, when a person has the symptoms of Tzarat, it did not automatically mean they were a mitzorah. They could be declared a matzora only by the official diagnosis of the priests. Check out Leviticus 13. Once a person was declared to have biblical leprosy, they were then ritually unclean and had to remain in isolation outside of the Israelite encampment. Another unusual characteristic is that if the Tzara spread to the point at which it covered the entire flesh of the matzorah, the priest was to reverse his status and declare him ritually clean. Leviticus 13:17. If this were an infectious disease such as Hansen's disease, then declaring him ritually clean would be counterproductive and a liability to the community.
[00:07:54] Surely there is something more going on than meets the eye. In Hebrew, the word mitsura has the same letters as the phrase mozi shemra, which means causing an evil name or reputation, with the shem or name implied there from the spelling of the word. As well as these two events recorded, recorded in the Torah, our sages connected Tzarat with lashon hara, or evil speech. Sarat was contracted only due to gossip and slander and was a supernatural disease that was in effect only in a time when the tabernacle or the temple stood. Tzarat was not a pathological biohazard, as one might think, but a spiritual biohazard. It seems the Lord was extremely concerned about how his children spoke of one another, and he took extreme measures to show the severity of it. So how does this apply to us today? Just because we don't have the outward manifestation of Tzarat today doesn't mean that we can freely slander our brothers and sisters without fear of consequences. Studying the laws of this consequence that the Lord designated for slanderers is a constant reminder that although we may think we can get by with something that doesn't seem so bad in our eyes, the dignity of another person is always esteemed in the eyes of our Creator. We may not see any consequences today, but one day the books will be open and our actions revealed for all to see. May we be reminded about the laws of the matzorah, and may our speech be pure at all times. Because sometimes the issue isn't just what we say, it's thinking we're right when we're not. Last week in the Torah portion of Shamini, we looked at a moment where Moses himself got it wrong. And if you missed missed it, go back and check it out. You may never read that passage the same way again. You can check it out right here.
