Playback speed

Negaim 1:4-5

Negaim 1:4

Rabbi Chanina the deputy kohein gadol says that the colors of negaim are 16; Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas says that they are 36; Akavya ben Mahalalel says they’re 72. Rabbi Chanina the deputy kohein gadol says that negaim may not be inspected for the first time after Shabbos because then the end of the first week will fall on Shabbos. They’re also not inspected on Monday because then the end of the second week will fall on Shabbos. Those of houses are likewise not inspected on a Tuesday because the end of their third week will fall on Shabbos. Rabbi Akiva says that negaim may be inspected at any time and if the time of an inspection falls on Shabbos, it’s just postponed until after Shabbos. Doing so sometimes leads to a leniency and sometimes leads to a stringency.

Negaim 1:5

It leads to a leniency if a nega had white hair and it disappeared or turned black, or if one hair was white and the other was black and they both turned black, or if they were long and they became short, or if one was long and the other was short and they both became short, or if a boil adjoined both hairs or one of the hairs, or if a boil surrounded both or one of the hairs, or if the hairs were separated by a boil or the healthy flesh of a boil, a burn, the healthy flesh of a burn or a white blemish, or if it had healthy flesh that disappeared, or if it was square and it became round or long, or if it was enclosed and then moved to one side, or if it was all in one place and then it dispersed, or if a boil entered it, or if the boil surrounded, separated or reduced it – a boil, the healthy flesh of a boil, a burn, the healthy flesh of a burn or a white blemish – or if there was spreading and it disappeared, or if the original sign of nega disappeared or decreased in size so that both were smaller than the size of a split bean, or if a boil, the healthy flesh of a boil, a burn, the healthy flesh of a burn, or a white blemish separated between the original sign and the spreading – in all of these situations, it results in a leniency.

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz