Tzaraath
''Tzaraath'' (Hebrew צָרַעַת ''ṣāraʿaṯ''), variously transcribed into English and frequently mistranslated as leprosy, describes various ritually unclean disfigurative conditions of the skin, hair of the beard and head, clothing made of linen or wool, or stones of homes in the Bible. All variations are mainly referred to in chapters 13– 14 of Leviticus. The Torah identifies three manifestations of ''tzaraath'': as an affliction of human skin, of garments, and of houses. The manifestation of ''tzaraath'' is termed a ''negah'' (נגע) "affliction", ''nega'im'' (plural: נגעים). Name The Hebraic root ''tsara'' or ''tsaraath'' (צָרַע, – tsaw-rah' – to be struck with leprosy, to be leprous) and the Greek (λεπρός–lepros), are of broader classification than the more narrow use of the term related to Hansen's Disease. The linguistic root of ''tzaraath'' may mean "smiting", in comparison with Arabic, in reference to a Talmudical explanation that it ...
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Ritual Impurity
Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt stains; nevertheless, body fluids are generally considered ritually unclean. Most of these rituals existed long before the germ theory of disease, and figure prominently from the earliest known religious systems of the Ancient Near East. Some writers connect the rituals to taboos. Some have seen benefits of these practices as a point of health and preventing infections especially in areas where humans come in close contact with each other. While these practices came before the idea of the germ theory was public in areas that use daily cleaning, the destruction of infectious agents seems to be dramatic. Others have descri ...
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