On the Torah׳s wording וראהו הכהן ביום השביעי the Sifra interprets ביום literally, by day and not at night. Too, viewing isn’t done indoors nor on a cloudy day. The kohen’s POV There are a few rules any kohen viewing nega’im must be in the know about. Of them, timing -and more importantly proper lighting,…read more
Putuch פתוך introduces a whole new variable to any of the four chief nega’im being a sign of tumah. As the name implies “mixed” or “blended”, meaning any one of the big four can indicate tumah when appearing with a reddish hue. That’s right, the nega needn’t be bright white but even “creamed” with red/pink…read more
The mishna lists the minimal size of all skin nega’im is the size of a “griss HaKalki”., the “kalkilian groat” aka “Cilician bean”. This measurement is important since it is the standard minimal size of any and all skin tzoraath variations. So just how big is that? in short, the area covered by 36 hairs….read more
White hair, the sign of maturity and wisdom -well not always. Abnormal white-hair (on parts of the body other then the scalp and beard) is a telling sign in the Torah’s classification of Tzaraath. In terms of receiving a grace period, were the afflicted person already aged and white, this sign of 2 white hairs…read more
Bahereth, the whitest and brightest of all skin nega’im, is the color of snow -snow-white in its intensity. But, has a lesser form of bahereth that is listed in the mishna being as “white” as the limestone of the heichal. Thus, it is even brighter than se’eth and depending on its size, may be an…read more
Sapachat is the lesser shade of nega possibilities. As its name implies (ספחת -“addition” in an inferior way) it is a mere tag-along in terms of whiteness intensity and shine but is nonetheless join-able to the primary whites of se’th and bahereth.{{1}} So, this sapachath, making an appearance adjacent to a se’eth or bahereth is…read more
Today’s kohen should make effort and delve into the halachot of nega’im, not just for fun -but for actual use should the need arise.
Nega’im in all era’s and places implies that the mitzvah of the kohen viewing nega’im applys to בני ישראל independent of where they are geo-located, this is in line with the generality that a mitzvah that is a חובת הגוף applies both in the land of Israel and outside of it. But, with the exception…read more
[boxify theme=”info” cols=”4″ cols_use=”3″]See our new SEFER on this grand MITZVAH[/boxify] What is the proper way for a kohen to eat the cheek meat the shochet gives him? Based on the word למשחה, which the torah uses when speaking about matanot kehuna, it is a general rule that all matnos kehuna are supposed to be consumer…read more
Foregoing kehuna privileges also known as כהן שמחל על כבודו -כבודו מחול, is a familiar concept in halacha. Although a kohen may not absolve himself of the torah restrictions placed on kohanim (such as marrying a divorcee or becoming tamei to the dead etc.), he may choose to forego one or all of the kehuna…read more