This aliyah continues the description of the metzora’s purification process, moving from the external purification ritual to the sacrificial service and symbols within the Mishkan.
Main Points of the Aliyah
Slaughter of the asham (verse 13): The lamb is brought to the holy place, where the asham (guilt offering) is slaughtered, like the chatat (sin offering) and the olah (burnt offering).
Blood of the asham, signs on the person (verse 14): The priest takes from the blood of the asham and places it on the right ear lobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe. A symbol that the whole person, hearing, action, and walking, is purified.
The oil, a parallel ceremony (verses 15-17): The priest pours oil onto his left palm, dips his right finger, and sprinkles seven times before Hashem. The remainder of the oil he places on the same spots where he placed the blood, and what remains he places on the head of the one being purified.
Complete atonement (verses 19-20): The priest also offers a chatat, an olah, and a minchah (meal offering), completing the process of atonement and purification.
A Short Insight
There is tremendous wonder in the fact that the oil and blood placed on the ear lobe, thumb, and big toe are precisely the same spots used in the consecration of Aharon and his sons (Leviticus 8:23-24).
What is the idea? To teach that the metzora, who was removed from the camp of Israel because of a spiritual flaw, returns to the status of a priest. This is a message of hope: even the lowest, who was distanced from the camp, can return and be purified, and come back to the center of holiness.
Divine service begins with hearing, continues with action, and is completed by walking in the ways of Hashem.
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