Posts Categorized: tumah and taharah

Organ Donation in Torah law

Altruism is alive and well among the people of Israel – are you considering donating an organ? are you wondering what the Torah has to say about saving another persons life? Any encompassing approach to the specifics of organ donations should include the Mishna (Horiyot 3 8) telling us matter-of-factly that there is a seder…read more

Why Israel Keeps Kosher Today

The word Kosher is sourced (not in Yiddish, but rather) in Mishnaic and Targumic texts. Literally, it cognates with כשורה – “in line”. Meaning to say in line with a variable of criteria. In terms of kosher food, the word “kosher” is used to demonstrate that a particular food is in line with the dietary…read more

Eating challah – what the kohen should know

As chazal encouraged challah be given to the kohen in chu”l for him – not to burn – but to actually eat, a minhag encouraged by some of the bigger rishonim, The kohen who chooses to eat the challah given to him (again, this is allowed only in Chu”l as the entire gift is merely…read more

Kohen-friendly Cemetery listing

General note: Please consult with your local Orthodox Rabbi for information on kohen-friendly areas in your city For our incomplete listing of Orthodox-Jewish cemeteries that have availability a designated area near the perimeter of the cemetery for burial-use of kohanim and their close family;   Ohio Mt. Olive Cemetery – 27855 Aurora Road Solon, OH 44139 Bet Olam Cemetery – Beechwood…read more

Airtight Taharah Protection

Among the methods of maintaining a state of Tahara in a tammei environment is by way of protection of צמיד פתיל and שידה, תיבה ומגדל. צמיד פתיל צמיד פתיל  (Tzamid Passil or Sammid Pthil) is a mishna term used to define an airtight container or enclosure that prevents tumah from being transmitted. Although generally, there…read more

Adamdam (vitiligo classification)

Adamdam is the Torah’s definition of vitiligo with a reddish tinge to it. The term is used to differentiate between the standard appearance of vitiligo; e.g.  in white shades comparable to that of a  moist egg membrane or whiter (up to and including snow white). Adamdam means that the entire vitiligo patch has a uniform reddish tinge…read more

Wool strip colored with שני תולעת

A wool strip (לשון של צמר) colored red using the famed תולעת שני dye is a required ingredient for the Tahara process of he/she who’s skin nega has receded from it’s state of tumah. What is שני תולעת? Tosefta and talmud yerushalmi describe the תולעת שני as a worm, this is the approach adopted in…read more

The staff used to purify the metzora

The Torah instructs that the kohen use a עץ ארז as part of the purifying process of the metzora. This process is done immediately upon the recession of the nega. Type of wood The wood used is עץ ארז, known as the famed cedar of Lebanon wood. But, the story of rabbi Tarfon indicates that…read more

Purification ceremony for צרעת

[boxify theme=”info” cols=”4″ cols_use=”3″]Note: This purification ceremony is Torah-mandated to Jewish people upon rescission of צרעת[/boxify] Once the vitiligo is cured, the Taharah (purifying) process can and should begin the very same day (Sifra metzora ch. 5), even outside the land of Israel (Maimonides commentary to Mishna tractate Nega’im 14:13) the recipe is as follows;…read more

The launder process for a garment nega

The launder process for a nega on a wool, linen or leather garment/vessel is performed on the seventh day of quarantine of the infected garment. [boxify cols_use =”1″ cols =”2″ position =”right” order =”first” box_spacing =”10 auto” padding =”20″ background_color =”light blue” background_opacity =”10″ border_width =”3″ border_color =”yellow” border_style =”solid” border_radius =”10″ height =”343″ width…read more