Torah Portion--Tazria – She Conceives

To get your own email of the weekly Torah portion from Rabbi Messer and Simchat Torah, go to the bottom of the page and and sign up to get this weekly email in your inbox for yourself!

“Set Apart for Complete Wholeness”

Tazria – She Conceives

Torah: Leviticus 12:1 – 13:59, Haf Torah: Ezekiel 45:16 – 46:18, Brit Chadashah: 2 Corinthians 6-9

All throughout the Torah God makes a distinction between the clean and unclean…holy and unholy. This week’s Torah portion, Tazria, deals with states of impurity, how to recognize them, how to recognize when one is no longer considered ritually unclean, and when to declare cleanness or uncleanness.

Ritually clean – Pure – Tahor
Ritually unclean – Contaminated – Tamei

The Torah portion starts with the explanation of the time of ritual impurity after a woman gives birth to a child. The Bible states that a woman must abstain from sexual relations with her husband for 40 days after the birth of a son, 80 days after the birth of a daughter. During this time of separation the woman is separated unto Yahweh; she is devoting herself wholly to God in order that she would be made complete and whole. For the woman, completeness occurs when the blood flow has stopped; wholeness occurs during the time when her body is still physically, mentally and emotionally healing from the process of child-birth.

God differentiates between completeness and wholeness because they deal with two distinct facets of your being.

Completeness: relates to your heart – the earthly realm
Wholeness: relates to your mind – the heavenly realm.

Tazria explains that when there is a sign or area of possible uncleanness on a person (or on their clothing), a cohen (priest) examines the area in question and, based on specific identifiers listed in the Torah, declares the person unclean or separates the person from the rest of the population for a period of time. After the period of time has been fulfilled, the cohen re-examines the area in question and either separates the person for another period of time or declares them unclean. If a third examination is required and the area in question does not meet certain standards, the cohen declares the person unclean.

Just as there are indications of ritual uncleanness or contamination outlined in this Torah portion, there are indications in our daily lives that cause us to be contaminated. When a person chooses to participate in offenses, gossip, slander, arrogance, or false oaths, they become “ritually unclean” (tamei). When we participate in the “uncleanness” or “contamination” of others we also become defiled.

Another form of ritual contamination is allowing your thoughts to continually remember the past. If you are overly concerned with what people think about you and/or that past mistakes will be exposed, you can enter into ritual impurity and be locked in your past. Fear can lead to poverty and isolate you from man and God.

Dwelling on the past…

Inhibits your ability to move forward and grasp what God has for you; your mind remains in a state of wandering and trying to negotiate your future.
focuses your mind on what the enemy wants you to believe
Can be extremely painful, leaving you emotionally and physically paralyzed
Allows the enemy to play on your insecurities and imprison you in a mental place that causes discomfort

"Stop dwelling on past events and brooding over times gone by; I am doing something new; it’s springing up—can’t you see it?” (Isaiah 43: 18-19 CJB)

God is doing a new thing in your life! Yeshua has prepared a bright future for you and your generations. Your deliverance declares that you can step out of the past abuses and into your future that is full and abundant. Tazria is God’s provision to keep you clean, healthy, complete, and whole. Tazria is God’s instruction to keep you, by His Spirit, in right standing with God and man. During the times of separation from others when we feel isolated or alone, God – our cohen gadol (high priest) – is examining us and looking us over; His Spirit is causing us to be cleansed and purified so that we are complete and whole…able to reflects back to Him His own character, likeness, lifestyle and ways. Tazria reveals an outward manifestation of the condition of your inward self. God’s redemption is found in His covenant and the covenant promise that God’s purpose and intent for your life is being accomplished.

“Therefore, my dear friends, since we have these promises, let us purify ourselves from everything that can defile the body or spirit, and strive to be completely holy, out of reverence for God.”2 Corinthians 7:1 CJB