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Rambam - 1 Chapter a Day

Tum'at Tsara'at - Chapter 4

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Tum'at Tsara'at - Chapter 4

1The increase of a blemish imparts impurity regardless of its size, provided the increase was one of the shades of blemishes that impart impurity.1 If, however, the increase was the color of a bohak,2 it is not considered as an increase. An increase of a blemish is a sign of impurity only when it spreads beyond the blemish. If, however, it spreads within the blemish, the person’s original status is unchanged. What is implied? There was a baheret with less than a lentil of healthy flesh inside of it.3 He was therefore isolated. At the end of a week, the size of the healthy flesh was diminished or it disappeared entirely, it is not considered as an increase. For, to be significant, an increase of a baheret may not spread within its own midst, but rather outside of it.אהַפִּשָּׂיוֹן מְטַמֵּא בְּכָל שֶׁהוּא. וְהוּא, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן מֵאַחַת מִמַּרְאוֹת הַנְּגָעִים; אֲבָל אִם הָיָה הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן מַרְאֵה בֹּהַק, אֵינוֹ פִשָּׂיוֹן. וְאֵין הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן סִימַן טֻמְאָה עַד שֶׁיִּפְשֶׂה חוּץ לַנֶּגַע; אֲבָל אִם פָּשָׂה לְתוֹךְ הַנֶּגַע, הֲרֵי הוּא כְּמוֹת שֶׁהָיָה. כֵּיצַד? בַּהֶרֶת וּבְתוֹכָהּ בָּשָׂר חַי פָּחוֹת מִכַּעֲדָשָׁה, וְהִסְגִּירָהּ, וּבְסוֹף הַשָּׁבוּעַ נִתְמַעֲטָה הַמִּחְיָה מִמַּה שֶּׁהָיְתָה, אוֹ שֶׁהָלַךְ הַבָּשָׂר הַחַי כֻּלּוֹ - אֵין זֶה פִּשָּׂיוֹן; שֶׁאֵין הַבַּהֶרֶת פּוֹשָׂה לְתוֹכָהּ, אֶלָּא חוּצָה לָהּ.
2An increase is not considered as a sign of impurity unless it comes after isolation. If, however, a person came at the outset and the priest saw the blemish increasing, he does not deem the person definitively impure. Instead, he isolates him until the end of the week and then observes it.באֵין הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן סִימַן טֻמְאָה עַד שֶׁיִּהְיֶה אַחַר הֶסְגֵּר; אֲבָל אִם בָּא בַּתְּחִלָּה, וְרָאָה הַכֹּהֵן אֶת הַנֶּגַע שֶׁהוּא פּוֹשֶׂה וְהוֹלֵךְ - אֵינוֹ מַחֲלִיטוֹ, אֶלָּא מַסְגִּירוֹ עַד סוֹף הַשָּׁבוּעַ וְיִרְאֶה.
3To be significant, an increase may not spread into a boil or into burnt flesh or into a healed boil or burn, nor on the head, nor on the beard4 even though they became bald and the hair was removed from them, as implied by Leviticus 13:7: “If the blemish will spread on the skin.”5 If, however, a baheret spreads to a bohak, it is considered an increase.גאֵין הַבַּהֶרֶת פּוֹשָׂה לְתוֹךְ הַשְּׁחִין וְלֹא לְתוֹךְ הַמִּכְוָה וְלֹא לְתוֹךְ מִחְיַת הַשְּׁחִין וְלֹא לְתוֹךְ מִחְיַת הַמִּכְוָה, וְלֹא לָרֹאשׁ וְלֹא לַזָּקָן, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁנִּקְרְחוּ וְהָלַךְ הַשֵּׂעָר מֵהֶן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "וְאִם פָּשֹׂה תִפְשֶׂה הַמִּסְפַּחַת בָּעוֹר". אֲבָל הַבַּהֶרֶת שֶׁפָּשְׂתָה לְתוֹךְ הַבֹּהַק, הֲרֵי זֶה פִּשָּׂיוֹן.
4If a boil, burnt flesh, a bohak, or a healed boil or burn separate between an increase and the original6 blemish, it is not a sign of impurity.7 If the person was isolated and these skin conditions departed and this increase was immediately adjacent to the original blemish, he is deemed definitively impure.דהַשְּׁחִין וְהַמִּכְוָה וְהַבֹּהַק וּמִחְיַת הַשְּׁחִין וּמִחְיַת הַמִּכְוָה, שֶׁהָיוּ חוֹלְקִין בֵּין הָאֹם לַפִּשָּׂיוֹן - אֵינוֹ סִימַן טֻמְאָה; הִסְגִּירוֹ, וְהָלְכוּ לָהֶן עַד שֶׁנִּמְצָא הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן סָמוּךְ לָאֹם - הֲרֵי זֶה מֻחְלָט.
5When there was a baheret the size of a gris and it spread more than a half a gris, but approximately half a gris of the original blemish disappeared,8 the person is pure even though together, there remained more than a gris from the original blemish and the increase.9 If the original blemish was the size of a gris and it spread more than a gris, but the original blemish disappeared entirely,10 it should be given an initial observation and isolated week after week.11 If a person has a baheret and was isolated and the baheret disappeared at the end of the days of isolation, and then the baheret returned to its original place,12 it is given its initial status13 If it became diminished during the days of his isolation and then expanded and returned to its original size at the end of the week or increased and then the increased blemish diminished and returned to its original size at the end of the week, he should continue in isolation14 or is released from the process of inspection.15הבַּהֶרֶת כִּגְרִיס וּפָשְׂתָה כַּחֲצִי גְרִיס וְעוֹד, וְהָלַךְ מִן הָאֹם כַּחֲצִי גְרִיס, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהַנּוֹתָר מִן הָאֹם עִם הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן יָתֵר מִכִּגְרִיס - הֲרֵי זֶה טָהוֹר. הָיְתָה כִּגְרִיס, וּפָשְׂתָה כִּגְרִיס וְעוֹד, וְהָלְכָה לָהּ הָאֹם - תֵּרָאֶה בַּתְּחִלָּה, וְיַסְגִּיר שָׁבוּעַ אַחַר שָׁבוּעַ. הָיְתָה בוֹ בַּהֶרֶת וְהִסְגִּירוֹ, וְהָלְכָה הַבַּהֶרֶת בְּסוֹף יְמֵי הֶסְגֵּר, וְחָזְרָה בַהֶרֶת בִּמְקוֹמָהּ כְּמוֹת שֶׁהָיְתָה - הֲרֵי הוּא כְּמוֹת שֶׁהָיָה. נִתְמַעֲטָה בְּתוֹךְ יְמֵי הֶסְגֵּר, וּפָשְׂתָה וְחָזְרָה כְּמוֹת שֶׁהָיְתָה, אוֹ שֶׁפָּשְׂתָה וְנִתְמַעֵט הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן, וְחָזְרָה כְּמוֹת שֶׁהָיְתָה - הֲרֵי זֶה יַסְגִּיר אוֹ יִפְטוֹר.
6If a baheret was the size of a gris, it then increased the size of a gris,16 then17 healthy flesh or white hair18 erupted in it, and then the original blemish disappeared, it should be given an initial observation.19 The following rules apply if a person had a baheret the size of a gris and he was isolated. At the end of the week, the blemish was the size of a sela,20 but there was a doubt whether it was the original blemish21 or a new one that came in its place, it is impure.22ובַּהֶרֶת כִּגְרִיס, וּפָשְׂתָה כִּגְרִיס, וְנוֹלַד בַּפִּשָּׂיוֹן מִחְיָה אוֹ שֵׂעָר לָבָן, וְהָלְכָה לָהּ הָאֹם - תֵּרָאֶה בַּתְּחִלָּה. הָיְתָה בוֹ בַּהֶרֶת כִּגְרִיס וְהִסְגִּירוֹ, בְּסוֹף הַשָּׁבוּעַ וַהֲרֵי הִיא כַּסֶּלַע - סָפֵק שֶׁהִיא הִיא, סָפֵק שֶׁהִיא אַחֶרֶת בָּאָה תַּחְתֶּיהָ - הֲרֵי זֶה טָמֵא.
7The following rules apply when there is a baheret more than the size of a gris and a stretch of afflicted flesh emerging from it. If the stretch is two hairs wide, it requires white hair or an increase in size for the person to be considered impure.23 If, however, healthy flesh appears in it, this ruling does not apply. The rationale is that healthy flesh is not considered as a sign of impurity unless it is surrounded by a baheret and there is a space where two hairs can grow between the edge of the healthy flesh and the edge of the baheret.24 The following laws apply when there were two baharot and a stretch of afflicted flesh extending from one to the other. If it is two hairsbreadth wide, they are considered as being joined together. If not, they are not considered as joined.25זבַּהֶרֶת כִּגְרִיס, וְחוּט יוֹצֵא מִמֶּנּוּ - אִם יֵשׁ בּוֹ רֹחַב שְׁתֵּי שְׂעָרוֹת, זוֹקְקָהּ לְשֵׂעָר לָבָן וּלְפִשָּׂיוֹן, אֲבָל לֹא לְמִחְיָה; שֶׁאֵין הַמִּחְיָה סִימַן טֻמְאָה עַד שֶׁתַּקִּיף אוֹתָהּ הַבַּהֶרֶת, וְיִהְיֶה בֵּין סוֹף הַמִּחְיָה וְסוֹף הַבַּהֶרֶת רֹחַב צְמִיחַת שְׁתֵּי שְׂעָרוֹת. הָיוּ שְׁתֵּי בֶהָרוֹת, וְחוּט יוֹצֵא מִזּוֹ לָזוֹ: אִם יֵשׁ בּוֹ רֹחַב שְׁתֵּי שְׂעָרוֹת, מְצָרְפָן; וְאִם לָאו, אֵינוֹ מְצָרְפָן.
When the afflicted person was isolated as a result of a blemish for one week after another26 and a sign of impurity did not appear and, as a result, he was released from the process of inspection, but after he was released from the process of inspection, the blemish increased in size even slightly, he should be deemed definitively impure.27הִסְגִּירוֹ שָׁבוּעַ אַחַר שָׁבוּעַ וְלֹא נוֹלַד לוֹ סִימַן טֻמְאָה, וּפְטָרוֹ, וּלְאַחַר הַפְּטוּר פָּשָׂה הַנֶּגַע כָּל שֶׁהוּא - הֲרֵי זֶה מֻחְלָט.
8When a baheret was declared pure either after the afflicted person was isolated28 or deemed definitively impure, i.e., the signs of impurity disappeared, he should not be isolated again.29חבַּהֶרֶת שֶׁטָּהֲרָה מִתּוֹךְ הֶסְגֵּר אוֹ מִתּוֹךְ הֶחְְלֵט שֶׁהָלְכוּ מִמֶּנָּה סִימָנֵי טֻמְאָה - אֵין מַסְגִּירִין בָּהּ לְעוֹלָם.
9When a baheret diminished after the person was released from the process of inspection after isolation30 and then increased to its original size31 or it increased and then decreased to its original size,32 the person remains in his state of purity.טבַּהֶרֶת שֶׁכָּנְסָה אַחַר הַפְּטוּר וּפָשְׂתָה לִכְמוֹת שֶׁהָיְתָה, אוֹ שֶׁפָּשְׂתָה וְחָזְרָה לִכְמוֹת שֶׁהָיְתָה - הֲרֵי הוּא בְּטָהֳרָתוֹ.
10The following laws apply when there is a baheret the size of a gris and healthy flesh the size of a lentil33 in it and white hair in the midst of the healthy flesh. The afflicted person should be deemed definitively impure. If, after that determination was made, the healthy flesh disappeared, he is still impure because of the white hair.34 If the white hair disappeared,35 he is impure because of the healthy flesh. If the white hair was located in the baheret and not in the healthy flesh and then the white hair disappeared, the afflicted person is impure because of the healthy flesh. If the healthy flesh disappeared, he is still impure because of the white hair.36יבַּהֶרֶת כִּגְרִיס וּבָהּ מִחְיָה כַּעֲדָשָׁה, וְשֵׂעָר לָבָן בְּתוֹךְ הַמִּחְיָה, וְהֶחְלִיטוֹ, וּלְאַחַר הֶחְלֵט הָלְכָה הַמִּחְיָה - טָמֵא מִפְּנֵי שֵׂעָר לָבָן; הָלַךְ הַשֵּׂעָר הַלָּבָן - טָמֵא מִפְּנֵי הַמִּחְיָה. הָיָה הַשֵּׂעָר הַלָּבָן בְּתוֹךְ הַבַּהֶרֶת, וְהָלַךְ הַשֵּׂעָר הַלָּבָן - טָמֵא מִפְּנֵי הַמִּחְיָה; הָלְכָה הַמִּחְיָה - טָמֵא מִפְּנֵי שֵׂעָר לָבָן.
11The following rules apply when after a person with a baheret was isolated for a week, he was deemed impure, because there was healthy flesh in the baheret and it increased in size. If later the healthy flesh disappeared, he is impure because of the increase. If the increase disappeared, he is impure because of the healthy flesh. If a person was deemed definitively impure because of white hair, that white hair disappeared, but other white hair appeared, healthy flesh appeared, or the size of the blemish increased, his status of impurity remains unchanged. This law also applies if a person was deemed definitively impure because of healthy flesh and the healthy flesh disappeared, but other healthy flesh or white hair appeared or the size of the blemish increased or he was deemed definitively impure because the size of the blemish increased, that increase disappeared, but there was another increase or healthy flesh or white hair appeared. Whether an afflicted person was deemed impure when he originally appeared before the priest,37 at the end of the first week of isolation, at the end of the second week,38 or after he was released from the process of inspection,39 since he was deemed definitively impure in any instance, he is not pure until no sign of impurity remains upon him, neither the sign for which he was deemed impure or any other sign.יאבַּהֶרֶת וּבָהּ מִחְיָה וּפִשָּׂיוֹן: הָלְכָה הַמִּחְיָה - טָמֵא מִפְּנֵי הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן; הָלַךְ הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן - טָמֵא מִפְּנֵי הַמִּחְיָה. וְכֵן בְּשֵׂעָר לָבָן וּבְפִשָּׂיוֹן. הֶחְלִיטוֹ בְּשֵׂעָר לָבָן, וְהָלַךְ הַשֵּׂעָר, וְחָזַר בּוֹ שֵׂעָר לָבָן אַחֵר, אוֹ שֶׁנּוֹלְדָה לוֹ מִחְיָה אוֹ פִּשָּׂיוֹן; אוֹ שֶׁהֶחְלִיטוֹ בְּמִחְיָה, וְהָלְכָה הַמִּחְיָה, וְנוֹלְדָה לוֹ מִחְיָה אַחֶרֶת אוֹ שֵׂעָר לָבָן אוֹ פִּשָּׂיוֹן; אוֹ שֶׁהֶחְלִיטוֹ בְּפִשָּׂיוֹן, וְהָלַךְ הַפִּשָּׂיוֹן, וְחָזַר בּוֹ פִּשָּׂיוֹן אַחֵר אוֹ שֶׁנּוֹלְדָה בָהּ מִחְיָה אוֹ שֵׂעָר לָבָן - הֲרֵי זֶה בְּטֻמְאָתוֹ כְּמוֹת שֶׁהָיָה. אֶחָד הַטָּמֵא שֶׁהֻחְלַט בַּתְּחִלָּה, אוֹ שֶׁהֻחְלַט בְּסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ רִאשׁוֹן, אוֹ בְּסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ שֵׁנִי, אוֹ אַחַר הַפְּטוּר, הוֹאִיל וְהֻחְלַט מִכָּל מָקוֹם - אֵינוֹ טָהוֹר עַד שֶׁלֹּא יִשָּׁאֵר בּוֹ סִימַן טֻמְאָה, לֹא סִימַן הֶחְלֵט וְלֹא סִימָן אַחֵר.

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Footnotes
1.

I.e., one of the four shades mentioned in Chapter 1, Halachah 2. Even if the increase is not the same shade as the original blemish, if it is one of these four, it imparts impurity.

2.

See Chapter 1, Halachah 1, for a definition of this term.

3.

Thus the person is not impure because of the healthy flesh.

4.

For the head and beard are governed by special laws, as stated in Chapter 8.

5.

I.e., only when it spreads on skin is it considered an increase.

6.

The term the Rambam uses, om, relates to the word aim, literally, “the mother.”

7.

This is speaking about a situation where the increase was not located immediately adjacent to the original blemish, but separated from it by one of these skin conditions. Accordingly, the increase is considered as a new blemish and not an increase of the existing one.

8.

From another side.

9.

The rationale is that since more than half the original blemish receded, it is considered to have disappeared entirely. Hence the new blemish is judged entirely independently. Since, in and of itself, that new blemish is not the size of a gris, the person is not required to be isolated.

10.

Leaving a blemish larger than a gris, but not the same blemish that was observed originally.

11.

I.e., it is considered as a new blemish and is observed for two weeks like other new blemishes.

12.

This is speaking about an instance where the blemish was not observed by a priest and declared pure after it disappeared. Were that to have been the case, it would be considered as a new blemish.

13.

I.e., we do not consider it as a new baheret that should be observed for two weeks, but as the initial one. And thus it is given only one more week of observation.

14.

If he is at the end of his first week.

15.

If he is at the end of his second week. The Rambam is clarifying that all the fluctuations in the size of the blemish during the period of isolation are not significant. The determining factor is the size of the blemish when it is inspected at the conclusion of the seven days.

16.

And the afflicted person was declared definitively impure because of the increase.

17.

I.e., after he was declared definitively impure. If he was not declared impure until after the white hair or the healthy skin erupted, he would be considered as impure even though the original blemish disappeared.

18.

Which are considered signs of impurity independently.

19.

If the person would be impure according to the laws that govern such blemishes, he is declared as such. See the Rambam’s Commentary to the Mishnah (Nega’im 4:10).

20.

A coin of the Talmudic period, substantially larger than a gris.

21.

Rav Yosef Corcus explains that the blemish must be in some way different from the original one. Otherwise, there would be no room for doubt.

22.

I.e., we consider this as the original blemish. Were it to be considered a new blemish, he would require isolation for another week.
Here, the Rambam does not state whether the person is deemed definitively impure or considered impure only because of a doubt. From his Commentary to the Mishnah (Nega’im 5:1), it appears that the person’s impurity is a matter of question, parallel to that mentioned in Chapter 2, Halachah 9, and indeed, the Rambam intimates this point in Chapter 6, Halachah 5.

23.

I.e., the stretch of afflicted flesh is considered as an extension of the original blemish and not an independent entity.

24.

As stated in Chapter 3, Halachah 5. Since the entire width of this stretch of flesh is the width of two hairs, that condition cannot be met.

25.

As the Kessef Mishneh explains, this ruling is significant if there is one white hair in each baheret. If the two are considered as a single blemish, the person should be deemed impure. If they are considered as separate blemishes, he is not placed in that category.

26.

I.e., the two weeks of evaluation mentioned in Chapter 1, Halachah 10.

27.

I.e., we do not consider it a new blemish which requires a new evaluation.

28.

And no signs of impurity appear in the two weeks of isolation.

29.

I.e., if signs of impurity reappear, he is not isolated again. He may, however, be deemed definitively impure, as stated in the previous halachah.

30.

Because no signs of impurity were manifest.

31.

The Ra’avad interprets this as referring to a situation in which the blemish was originally exactly the size of a gris. The Kessef Mishneh maintains that the Rambam would accept this interpretation.
Even though an increase in the size of a blemish after the person was declared pure causes him to be considered as impure, that applies only when the increase extends beyond the original parameters of the blemish.

32.

Before inspection.

33.

In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Nega’im 4:6), the Rambam explains that this is speaking about an instance where the lentil-sized portion of healthy flesh comes in addition to the blemish which is the size of a gris.

34.

The white hair was located in the healthy flesh and not in the blemish. Now, as stated in Chapter 2, Halachah 6, white hair is not considered as a sign of impurity unless it is turned white by the blemish. Thus there is reason to argue that, in this instance, the white hair should not be considered as a sign of impurity. Nevertheless, since the healthy flesh is in the blemish, the hair is considered to have been turned white by the blemish [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (op. cit.)].

35.

But the healthy flesh still remained.

36.

This clause is speaking about an instance where together the healthy flesh and the blemish were exactly the size of a gris. Hence, there is reason to argue that the white hair should not be considered as a sign of impurity, because there was not a portion of afflicted flesh the size of a gris at the time it turned white. Nevertheless, since the healthy flesh was in the blemish, the blemish itself is considered to be the size of a gris and the white hair is deemed a sign of impurity (ibid.).

37.

I.e., there was healthy flesh or two white hairs within the affliction.

38.

For either of the above reasons or because the size of the blemish increased.

39.

The person was released after two weeks of isolation, but manifested a sign of impurity afterwards, in which instance, he is deemed definitively impure, as stated in Halachah 7.

The Mishneh Torah was the Rambam's (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon) magnum opus, a work spanning hundreds of chapters and describing all of the laws mentioned in the Torah. To this day it is the only work that details all of Jewish observance, including those laws which are only applicable when the Holy Temple is in place. Participating in one of the annual study cycles of these laws (3 chapters/day, 1 chapter/day, or Sefer Hamitzvot) is a way we can play a small but essential part in rebuilding the final Temple.
Download Rambam Study Schedules: 3 Chapters | 1 Chapter | Daily Mitzvah
Rabbi Eliyahu Touger is a noted author and translator, widely published for his works on Chassidut and Maimonides.
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The text on this page contains sacred literature. Please do not deface or discard.