Tzav, Metzora, Behaalotecha: Sneaking a woman in through the back door
Leviticus 8:23 (from Parashat Tzav):
Leviticus 14:17 (from Parashat Metzora):
The above is part of the procedure for rendering a cured "leper" tahor/ritually "pure."
Numbers 12:10 (from Parashat B'haalot'cha/Behaalotecha/Behaalotcha (whatever):
And how do you think that Miriam was cured? Rabbi Jill Hammer was right when she said that "the banishment of Miriam for having criticized Moshe’s (Moses’s) marriage resulted in her receiving the same purification rite as that undergone by a kohen/priest being anointed—the purification for a “leper” consisted, in part, of having blood from a sacrifice smeared on the right ear, thumb, and big toe."
More's the pity that Miriam disappears from the Torah after this incident, until her death. Maybe nobody wanted to deal with the possible implications of her having undergone a ritual identical in some aspects to the consecration of her brother Aharon. And/or perhaps nobody wanted to deal with the fact that Miriam had complained about Moshe's marriage to a non-Israelite because she felt that she, herself, was not getting the recognition she deserved as a n'viah/prophet. As Rabbi Shai Held pointed out in his recent discussion of Shirat Yam Sof/The Song of the [Crossing of the Reed] Sea, it's likely that the song of Miriam and the women actually preceded that of her younger brother Moshe because it was customary at that time and place for women to welcome victory with song, yet the mention of Miriam leading the women in song appears after Moshe's song in the text.
On a more general note, I find it interesting that the ritual "cure" for "leprosy" may have been the closest that any non-Kohen/priest ever got to being treated like a Kohen, all the more so when the non-Kohen was female.
For more on yesterday's parashah (weekly Torah reading), Metzora, see these posts of mine:
Leviticus 14:17 (from Parashat Metzora):
The above is part of the procedure for rendering a cured "leper" tahor/ritually "pure."
Numbers 12:10 (from Parashat B'haalot'cha/Behaalotecha/Behaalotcha (whatever):
And how do you think that Miriam was cured? Rabbi Jill Hammer was right when she said that "the banishment of Miriam for having criticized Moshe’s (Moses’s) marriage resulted in her receiving the same purification rite as that undergone by a kohen/priest being anointed—the purification for a “leper” consisted, in part, of having blood from a sacrifice smeared on the right ear, thumb, and big toe."
More's the pity that Miriam disappears from the Torah after this incident, until her death. Maybe nobody wanted to deal with the possible implications of her having undergone a ritual identical in some aspects to the consecration of her brother Aharon. And/or perhaps nobody wanted to deal with the fact that Miriam had complained about Moshe's marriage to a non-Israelite because she felt that she, herself, was not getting the recognition she deserved as a n'viah/prophet. As Rabbi Shai Held pointed out in his recent discussion of Shirat Yam Sof/The Song of the [Crossing of the Reed] Sea, it's likely that the song of Miriam and the women actually preceded that of her younger brother Moshe because it was customary at that time and place for women to welcome victory with song, yet the mention of Miriam leading the women in song appears after Moshe's song in the text.
On a more general note, I find it interesting that the ritual "cure" for "leprosy" may have been the closest that any non-Kohen/priest ever got to being treated like a Kohen, all the more so when the non-Kohen was female.
For more on yesterday's parashah (weekly Torah reading), Metzora, see these posts of mine:
~ Parashat Tazria, & Parashat Metzora in advance, 5774/2014 edition (Tuesday, March 25, 2014)
~ Haftarat Metzora: A nasty piece of work (Wednesday, April 02, 2014)
~ R. Dov Linzer: " . . . people with disabilities, but not disabled people." (Friday, April 04, 2014)
~ Is Pinocchio based on a midrashic interpretation of Tazria & Metzora? (Saturday, April 05, 2014)
~ Tazria & Metzora: A straight line from tzaraat to Shoah (Saturday, April 05, 2014)
posted by Shira Salamone at 12:36 PM
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