intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

The "Leper" in the Mikdash (II)
Rambam notes: "When a Metzora enters a dwelling, he renders the contents ritually impure (Nega'im 13:11), whether he is a "suspect" being "shut up" during the time of his quarantine, or a (declared) Metzora who definitely has the disease. How so? When he enters the house, he contaminates everything within, people and utensils (and of course food and liquids)… Just like he is impure, so is his dwelling impure… if he stuck his head and the bulk of his body into a house, he contaminated everything in it" (Hil. Tumat Tzara'at 10:12). The sages deliberated on the nature of the impurity that an entering Metzora imparted to the contents of a house. The Halacha is that the Metzora contaminates everything in the house "even to the height of the roof beams", however R. Simeon contended that the impurity extended "only to a height of four Amot". After all, people do not "dwell" more than four Amot off the ground! And how long must he stay in the house to render its contents impure? The sages postulated that from the moment the Metzora entered the house he contaminated it; however R. Yehuda contended that he contaminated the contents of the house "only if he stayed long enough to light a lamp" (Sifra 12: 14, Nega'im 13: 11). If a Metzora enters a "dwelling" he contaminates the contents and everyone within with impurity for one day; yet the Metzora is allowed to enter a Beit Knesset! But first "they make for him a partition 10 Tefachim (handbreadths) high and 4 Amot (roughly 2m) wide. He must enter in first and come forth last" (Nega'im 13:12).

The Metzora's bed, couch, chair and saddle are subject to a 7-day (Midras) impurity (Midaf-impurity also applies to the Metzora. Hil. Zabim 4:6). Liquids emanating from his or her body - urine, spittle (which includes the phlegm of his lungs, throat and nose), and his semen impart a one-day impurity.

Anyone who carries or moves the Metzora is rendered impure for one day even if he did not have physical contact with him. After the conquest and settlement of Eretz Yisrael by Yehoshua bin Nun, the Halachic definition of the Biblical "camp" from whence Metzora'im were excluded ('…his dwelling shall be outside the camp', Vayikra 13:46), was applied to a walled city (note Vayikra 13:45,46 which describes the isolation of the Metzora). The Metzora was not permitted to reside in Jerusalem or any of the other walled city, dating back to the conquest by Yehoshua (Arachin 9:9, Kelim 1:7). Very instructive is the account preserved in II Melachim 7:3,4. Four Metzora'im (traditionally Gehazi, the servant of the prophet Elisha and his three sons.

Note II Melachim 5:27), who were living outside of besieged Shomron, the capital of the Northern Kingdom, had run out of provisions and faced a terrible choice. They could either enter the famished city and probably starve to death or, they could cross over to the enemy lines, and in all likelihood, be killed. Nevertheless - possibly because of the prevailing atmosphere of Piku'ach Nefesh - they did not seem to fear being barred from the city. Though it may have been forbidden for Metzora'im to live within walled cities, they were not under some kind of excommunication.

However Tasafot Berachot 5b ("Ha Lan") suggests that, perhaps, since other Halachot pertaining to Arei Choma applied only when Yoveil (Jubilee year) was operative (Arachin 29a), the Halacha excluding Metzora'im was also operative only during the period of Bayit Rishon. (More accurately, until the period when the Israelite tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Manashe were expelled from their homes in Ever HaYarden, Transjordan some 150 years before the first destruction of Jerusalem and Bayit Rishon in 587 BCE.) That would mean that, since Yoveil was inoperative during Bayit Sheini, Metzora'im may very well have been permitted to enter Jerusalem then.

The Purification of the Metzora
The procedure for the purification of the Metzora is related in detail in Vayikra 14:1-31. Once the Metzora had been cured of his Tzara'at, and this was verified and orally proclaimed by a Kohein after a thorough visual inspection, the purification and atonement rites could begin. "The Kohein shall command: and for the person being purified, there shall be taken two live clean birds, cedarwood, crimson thread and hyssop.

The Kohein shall command and the one bird shall be slaughtered over an earthenware jar over spring water. ("On the basis of tradition" the slaughtered bird was then buried. Rambam Hilchot Tumat Tzara'at 11:1). And as for the live bird, he shall take it with the cedarwood, red thread and hyssop, and he shall dip them and the live bird into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the spring water." (It is important to note that these birds were not Korbanot, therefore they did not have to be doves or turtledoves, the usual birds used for sacrificial offerings, however, they did have to be kosher. They also had to be wild so that the surviving "live bird" would actually fly away). The slaughtered bird was slaughtered in the usual way, not Melika). "Then he shall sprinkle seven times upon the person being purified from the Tzara'at, he shall purify him, and he shall set the live bird free upon the open field" (Vayikra 14:1-7). "The birds should be alike in appearance, in size and in value and should have been bought at the same time" (Nega'im 14:5). The Mitaheir, the former Metzora in the process of being purified, "shall immerse his clothing, shave off all his hair, immerse himself in water and become pure. Afterwards he may enter the camp (or walled city) but he shall dwell outside of his tent for seven days" (Vayikra 14:8,9). Even though the Mitaheir was now permitted to enter Jerusalem (or any other walled city), he still could not return to his home; he was required to find alternative lodgings. On the seventh day a Kohein shaved all the Mitaheir's hair off.

It is interesting to note that the Kohein was required to use a razor, the very instrument proscribed in normal shaving (Nega'im 14:4). The Mitaheir was required to wash his clothes and then he underwent a second immersion in a Mikva before sunset. He was now a Tevul Yom and he could enter Har Habayit, but he still was barred from entering the Temple complex (Kelim 1:8). (Tevul Yom, lit. "One who immersed that day"- i.e. one who immersed in a Mikva during the day but had to wait until stars-out before his purification was complete. While a Tevul Yom does not render ordinary food impure, he can disqualify sacrificial meat by contact. After stars-out, the Mitaheir was pure, but he still had to wait until the next morning when the Leviyim would open the Mikdash gates. Then he could enter the Ezrat Nashim (Women's Court) with his required Korbanot.

<to be continued>

Catriel is in the process of writing a book: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service

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