Vayikra 13:47-59 – Tsara’at by clothing

Vayikra 13:49,50 records that if a person has a nega, spot, on their clothes, which is thought to be a sign of tsara’at, then the priest inspects the spot and the clothing is put aside for a week. At the end of the week, the priest inspects the clothing. If the spot spread, then the priest declares the clothing as tamei since it is tsara’at and the clothing is burnt, 13:50-52. If the spot did not spread, then it is washed, and after the week, the priest examines it again, 13:53-55. If the spot did not diminish, the clothing is burnt, 13:55. If the spot diminished, then the spot is removed from the clothing, and a person can use the other material from the clothing, 13:56. If a spot returns to the clothing after having removed the initial spot, then the clothing is burnt, 13:57. Finally, if the spot is completely gone from the clothing after the clothing was washed, then the clothing is considered tahor, 13:58. What is the meaning of this section? Why does the Torah record laws concerning tsar’at by clothing?

Hertz (1960, p. 465) writes that maybe the tsara`at was some mildew or some parasitic infection. Similarly, Levine (1989, p. 83), writes that perhaps “they were fungoid or sporoid infections.” This follows the idea that tsara`at is a health problem. The tsara`at by the clothing might be the most likely case where tsara`at is a health problem, but would not people on their own throw out clothing that is infected? Maybe today yes with our higher standard of living, but in olden days if they had no clothing it might have been difficult for people to throw out clothing. Yet, does this idea explain the shocking aspect of burning the clothing?

The traditional understanding is that the spots on the clothing are a warning that the person has sinned usually by talking loshen hara, slander, see Rambam, Laws of Tumat Tsara`at, 16:10 and Seforno on 13:47. Yet, why then does the priest not warn the person to repent when he inspects the clothing?

My guess is that the crucial issue is that the clothing is destroyed either by being burnt or being cut up. Possibly the message is that clothing is unimportant. The idea being that at times people get very caught up with material items, clothing being very prominent material items, and they forget about G-d. Maybe, here the message is that material possessions such as clothing are not important to one's relationship with G-d. With this idea, the tumah of the spots on the clothing, has a similar message to the spots on the person. In our discussion on chapters 13,14 "Tsara`at by a person,” we suggested that the spots of tsara'at on a person signify that a person's looks are not important to one's relationship with G-d, and then similarly, maybe the message by tsara’at on clothing is that a person’s clothing, whether fancy or simple, is not important to a person’s relationship with G-d.

Bibliography:

Hertz, J. H. (1872-1946), 1960, The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, second edition, London: Soncino Press

Levine, Baruch A., 1989, Leviticus: The JPS Torah Commentary, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.