An Unusual Sign of Healing and Messianic Redemption

This teaching talks about:

• • Tzara’at as a Spiritual Condition
  • Tzara’at and the Messiah
  • Connection to Torah and Talmud

-By Rabbi Joshua Brumbach-

When I was in college, I taught Hebrew school at a large Reform synagogue nearby. One of my primary responsibilities was to prepare young adolescents for their B’nai Mitzvah. Every year, some poor twelve-year-old kid would be devastated to learn that their entire Torah portion was about physical impurities or skin conditions. Often, they would try everything imaginable to get the rabbi or cantor to let them choose another Torah portion, but usually to no avail.

Specific portions of Scripture, particularly within Leviticus, discuss such maladies in detail. One such example is Leviticus 13:1-3.

ADONAI said to Moses and Aaron, ”If someone develops on his skin a swelling, scab, or bright spot which could develop into the disease tzara’at, he is to be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who are priests. The priest is to examine the sore on his skin; if the hair in the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to go deep into the skin, it is tzara’at, and after examining him the priest is to declare him ritually impure.

Tzara’at: A Physical or a Spiritual Condition?

Tzara’at is a type of physical condition affecting the skin, often translated as leprosy. However, the modern notion of leprosy is not the best way to understand and describe the Hebrew word tzara’at. Although it is common to understand these passages as dealing with a skin disease as understood by modern medicine, Jewish tradition teaches that tzara’at is not leprosy at all but rather the symptom of a serious spiritual condition.

According to our sages, tzara’at is a spiritual malady caused by sinat chinam—hatred without a reason. It is the direct result of unforgiveness and animosity harbored over time. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch demonstrates that tzara’at cannot possibly be what we commonly understand as leprosy today. His conclusion is due to two observations: First, the physical symptoms for leprosy are different from the Torah’s description of tzara’at. And second, the confinement procedures and rules for a person with tzara’at make no medical sense. For example, a person with tzara’at which covers their entire body is not ritually impure. However, a person who is only partially covered with tzara’at is ritually impure (see Lev. 13:13).

Another example of the illogical nature of tzara’at has to do with a home or dwelling (see Lev. 14:26). The Torah states that before a house can be declared ritually pure, all its contents must be removed. Otherwise, they become ritually impure. However, if there was truly a worry about tzara’at being a contagious skin disease, it is irrational to exclude household items from the quarantine. They should be included in the quarantine of the house!

The Talmud further states that if the symptoms of tzara’at appear on a newlywed or during a festival, the priest should not even examine the person so as not to interfere with the celebrations. Therefore, if the purpose was to actually prevent the spread of a disease, it would be important to enforce the laws of tzara’at so as not to spread it around any further.

Tzara’at and Messiah

The rabbis teach that everything in the Torah concerns the Messiah. Therefore, even within this spiritual malady of tzara’at are hidden signs of the Messiah. As evidence of this, let’s return to the following:

Leviticus 13:12-13, If the tzara’at breaks out all over the skin, so that, as far as the cohen can see, the person with tzara’at has sores everywhere on his body, from his head to his feet; then the cohen is to examine him, and if he sees that the tzara’at has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the person with the sores as ritually pure—it has all turned white and he is clean.

Discussing particularly verse 13, the Talmud states (b. Sanhedrin 97a), “The Son of David (Messiah) will only come when every government becomes heretical. Rabah said, ’Where do we see this in Scripture? From the verse, ’He has turned completely white; he is ritually pure.’”

The medieval commentator Rashi further explains, “Just as when the affliction has spread throughout the entire skin the person is ritually pure, so too, when all the governments have become heretical, the redemption will come.”

Recognizing that the Messiah must be afflicted and familiar with suffering, the rabbis of the Talmud went even further, noting that one of the ways the Messiah will be identified is with the title, The Leper Scholar:

The rabbis say that Messiah’s name is The Leper Scholar of the House of Rabbi, for it is written, “Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God (Sanhedrin 98b, quoting Isaiah 53:4).”

The rabbis obviously recognized that this does not mean that the Messiah would literally be afflicted with tzara’at, but that this was a metaphor for one familiar with suffering, affliction, and being on the margins of society.

The ancient sages clearly recognized that tzara’at was a physical symptom of sin. It was a spiritual disease that must be kept in check. And to specifically avoid tzara’at, we must avoid slander and baseless hatred towards others.

Yeshua himself taught that we must forgive and not let baseless hatred eat away at us.

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25).

And he further stated:

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). 

Yeshua and Those with Tzara’at

Descriptions of those who were afflicted with tzara'at and also healed of tzara'at are mentioned in several places within the New Testament. And their healings were actually a sign of Yeshua being the Messiah.

In a dramatic encounter, we read in the Gospel of Luke:

Luke 5:12-14

Once, when Yeshua was in one of the towns, there came a man completely covered with tzara’at. On seeing Yeshua, he fell on his face and begged him, “Sir, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Yeshua reached out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing! Be cleansed!” Immediately, the tzara’at left him. Then Yeshua warned him not to tell anyone. “Instead, as a testimony to the people, go straight to the cohen and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded.” But the news about Yeshua kept spreading all the more, so that huge crowds would gather to listen and be healed of their sicknesses. However, he made a practice of withdrawing to remote places in order to pray.

What is so fascinating about this passage, especially considering the descriptions of quarantining tzara’at in the Torah, is that Yeshua reached out and touched him (see verse 13). Normally, contact with someone with tzara’at would render that person ritually impure. But that is not what happens to Yeshua. In this case, the person is healed.

Conclusion

All of us have spiritual sores and wounds, which, if left untreated, can fester into something much worse. Tzara’at, which the rabbis identified as a physical symptom of sinat chinam (baseless hatred), is only one example of a spiritual malady that can destroy us. But forgiveness and healing can set us free! 

Just as Yeshua reached out his hand and touched the man with tzara'at, he wants to reach out and touch each one of us as well. We must learn how to go before our great High Priest (see Hebrews 5-7), Yeshua, our Messiah, and let him inspect us. For through him, not only will we find healing and wholeness, but redemption as well.