Parashat Tazria
Upper-right is Looney Tunes' Tazmanian Devil, affectionately known as TAZ, as in TAZRIA. FYI, the character, which was introduced back in '54, is based on a real animal, the Tasmanian devil, (sarcophilius harrisii), a small, massive-headed predatory marsupial (pouched mammal) from Tasmania. Tasmania is an island south of the main body of Australia. It is part of Australia; actually, it is one of its states. To TAZ's left is a RHEA (common name for two different species: Pterocnemia pennata and Rhea americana, as in TAZRIA, which is a ostrichlike ratite (has to do with the type of breastbone it has) bird that can reach a height of 5 feet. (Ostriches grow to 8 feet in height.) To the rhea's left are two baby carriages - the boy's is marked with 7+33 and the girl's is marked 14+66, as spelled out in the beginning of the parsha. The knife at the top-left is for MILA on the 8th day. The KORBAN of the YOLEDET is a lamb as an OLAH and a dove (one of the two types of doves - TOR or BEN-YONA) as a CHATAT. Next to the dove is a camel, in Hebrew, a GAMAL, sound-alike of the big GIMMEL in Tazria - V'HITGALACH. At the bottom are representations of the afflictions of the body and garments, the major theme of Tazria, after the short chapter on births. (Perek 12 with 8 p'sukim is the Torah's shortest chapter.) Let's see. We've had 3 mammals (actually five, if you count the two babies), and 2 birds. That leaves the final member of the menagerie, a reptile. Specifically, a lizard. More specifically, a chameleon. Aside from its very slow locomotion and its projectile tongue, it changes colors, which reminds us of the many changes of color in the hair and/or blemish of various NEGA'IM.
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