Negaim 5:2-3

Negaim 5:2

If one was confirmed unclean because of white hair but the white hair disappeared and other white hair arrived – and the same is true in the case of healthy flesh or spreading – then regardless of whether this occurred at the outset, at the end of the first week, at the end of the second week, or after he had been released, he remains in the same status as he had been before. If he was confirmed unclean because of healthy flesh but the healthy flesh disappeared and other healthy flesh arrived – and the same is true in the case of white hair or spreading – then regardless of whether this occurred at the outset, at the end of the first week, at the end of the second week, or after he had been released, he remains in the same status as he had been before. If he was confirmed unclean because of spreading but the spreading disappeared and other spreading arrived – and the same is true in the case of white hair – then regardless of whether this occurred at the end of the first week, at the end of the second week, or after he had been released, he remains in the same status as he had been before.

Negaim 5:3

Akavya ben Mahalalel declared “deposited” hair ritually unclean but the Sages declared it clean. “Deposited hair” is as follows: if one had a white spot with white hair in it but the white spot disappeared leaving the white hair in its place, and the white spot later reappeared. In such a case, Akavya ben Mahalalel declares it unclean but the Sages declare it clean. Rabbi Akiva agreed with the opinion that it is clean but he defined “deposited hair” as follows: If one had a white spot the size of a split bean with two hairs in it and a part of the white spot the size of a half a split bean disappeared leaving the white hair in the place where the white spot had been, and the white spot then reappeared. The Sages said to Rabbi Akiva that just like they rejected Akavya’s opinion, there is likewise no validity in Rabbi Akiva’s opinion.