Tazria, Thazria, Thazri’a, Sazria, or Ki Tazria’ (תַזְרִיעַ — Hebrew for “she conceives,” the 13th word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 27th weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the fourth in the book of Leviticus. It constitutes Leviticus 12:1–13:59. Jews in the Diaspora read it the 27th or 28th Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in April.
The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 55 weeks, the exact number varying between 50 in common years and 54 or 55 in leap years. In leap years (for example, 2011, 2014, and 2016), parshah Tazria is read separately. In common years (for example, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2018), parshah Tazria is combined with the next parshah, Metzora, to help achieve the number of weekly readings needed.
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God told Moses to tell the Israelites that when a woman at childbirth bore a boy, she was to be unclean 7 days and then remain in a state of blood purification for 33 days, while if she bore a girl, she was to be unclean 14 days and then remain in a state of blood purification for 66 days. (Leviticus 12:1–5.) Upon completing her period of purification, she was to bring a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering, and the priest was to offer them as sacrifices to make expiation on her behalf. (Leviticus 12:6–7.) If she could not afford a sheep, she was to take two turtle doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. (Leviticus 12:8.)
God told Moses and Aaron that when a person had a swelling, rash, discoloration, scaly affection, inflammation, or burn, it was to be reported to the priest, who was to examine it to determine whether the person was clean or unclean. (Leviticus 13:1–44.) Unclean persons were to rend their clothes, leave their head bare, cover over their upper lips, call out, "Unclean! Unclean!" and dwell outside the camp. (Leviticus 13:45–46.)
Similarly, when a streaky green or red eruptive affection occurred in wool, linen, or animal skin, it was to be shown to the priest, who was to examine to determine whether it was clean or unclean. (Leviticus 13:47–51.) If unclean, it was to be burned, but if the affection disappeared from the article upon washing, it was to be washed again and be clean. (Leviticus 13:52–59.)
Leviticus 12 associates childbirth with uncleanness. In the Hebrew Bible, uncleanness has a variety of associations. Leviticus 11:8, 11; 21:1–4, 11; and Numbers 6:6–7; and 19:11–16; associate it with death. And perhaps similarly, Leviticus 13–14 associates it with skin disease. Leviticus 15 associates it with various sexuality-related events. And Jeremiah 2:7, 23; 3:2; and 7:30; and Hosea 6:10 associate it with contact with the worship of alien gods.
While Leviticus 12:6–8 required a new mother to bring a burnt-offering and a sin-offering, Leviticus 26:9, Deuteronomy 28:11, and Psalm 127:3–5 make clear that having children is a blessing from God; Genesis 15:2 and 1 Samuel 1:5–11 characterize childlessness as a misfortune; and Leviticus 20:20 and Deuteronomy 28:18 threaten childlessness as a punishment.
The Hebrew Bible reports skin disease (tzara’at, צָּרַעַת) and a person affected by skin disease (metzora, מְּצֹרָע) at several places, often (and sometimes incorrectly) translated as “leprosy” and “a leper.” In Exodus 4:6, to help Moses to convince others that God had sent him, God instructed Moses to put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, his hand was “leprous (m’tzora’at, מְצֹרַעַת), as white as snow.” In Leviticus 13–14, the Torah sets out regulations for skin disease (tzara’at, צָּרַעַת) and a person affected by skin disease (metzora, מְּצֹרָע). In Numbers 12:10, after Miriam spoke against Moses, God’s cloud removed from the Tent of Meeting and “Miriam was leprous (m’tzora’at, מְצֹרַעַת), as white as snow.” In Deuteronomy 24:8–9, Moses warned the Israelites in the case of skin disease (tzara’at, צָּרַעַת) diligently to observe all that the priests would teach them, remembering what God did to Miriam. In 2 Kings 5:1–19, part of the haftarah for parshah Tazria, the prophet Elisha cures Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, who was a “leper” (metzora, מְּצֹרָע). In 2 Kings 7:3–20, part of the haftarah for parshah Metzora, the story is told of four “leprous men” (m’tzora’im, מְצֹרָעִים) at the gate during the Arameans’ siege of Samaria. And in 2 Chronicles 26:19, after King Uzziah tried to burn incense in the Temple in Jerusalem, “leprosy (tzara’at, צָּרַעַת) broke forth on his forehead.”
Rabbi Simlai noted that just as God created humans after creating cattle, beasts, and birds, the law concerning human impurity in Leviticus 12 follows that concerning cattle, beasts, and birds in Leviticus 11. (Leviticus Rabbah 14:1.)
Rabbi Ammi taught in the name of Rabbi Johanan that even though Rabbi Simeon ruled that a dissolved fetus expelled by a woman was not unclean, Rabbi Simeon nonetheless agreed that the woman was ritually unclean as a woman who bore a child. An old man explained to Rabbi Ammi that Rabbi Johanan reasoned from the words of Leviticus 12:2, “If a woman conceived seed and bore.” Those words imply that even if a woman bore something like “conceived seed” (in a fluid state), she was nonetheless unclean by reason of childbirth. (Babylonian Talmud Nidah 27b.)
Rabbi Johanan interpreted the words “in the [eighth] day” in Leviticus 12:3 to teach that one must perform circumcision even on the Sabbath. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 132a.)
The Gemara read the command of Genesis 17:14 to require an uncircumcised adult man to become circumcised, and the Gemara read the command of Leviticus 12:3 to require the father to circumcise his infant child. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 132b.)
The Mishnah taught that circumcision should not be performed until the sun has risen, but counts it as done if done after dawn has appeared. (Mishnah Megillah 2:4; Babylonian Talmud Megillah 20a.) The Gemara explained that the reason for the rule could be found in the words of Leviticus 12:3, “And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 20a.) A Baraita interpreted Leviticus 12:3 to teach that the whole eighth day is valid for circumcision, but deduced from Abraham’s rising “early in the morning” to perform his obligations in Genesis 22:3 that the zealous perform circumcisions early in the morning. (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 4a, Yoma 28b.)
The disciples of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai asked him why Leviticus 12:6–8 ordained that after childbirth a woman had to bring a sacrifice. He replied that when she bore her child, she swore impetuously in the pain of childbirth that she would never again have intercourse with her husband. The Torah, therefore, ordained that she had to bring a sacrifice, as she would probably violate that oath. (Babylonian Talmud Niddah 31b.) Rabbi Berekiah and Rabbi Simon said in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai that because she fluttered in her heart, she had to bring a fluttering sacrifice, two turtle-doves or two young pigeons. (Genesis Rabbah 20:7.) The disciples asked Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai why Leviticus 12:2 permitted contact between the father and mother after 7 days when the mother bore a boy, but Leviticus 12:5 permitted contact after 14 days when she bore a girl. He replied that since everyone around the mother would rejoice upon the birth of a boy, she would regret her oath to shun her husband after just 7 days, but since people around her would not rejoice on the birth of a girl, she would take twice as long. And Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai taught that Leviticus 12:3 ordained circumcision on the eighth day so that the parents could join their guests in a celebratory mood on that day. (Babylonian Talmud Niddah 31b.)
Rabbi Simeon noted that Scripture always lists turtledoves before pigeons, and imagined that one might thus think that Scripture prefers turtledoves over pigeons. But Rabbi Simeon quoted the instructions of Leviticus 12:8, “a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin-offering,” to teach that Scripture accepted both equally. (Mishnah Keritot 6:9; Babylonian Talmud Keritot 28a.)
Rabbi Eleazar ben Hisma taught that even the apparently arcane laws of bird offerings in Leviticus 12:8 and the beginning of menstrual cycles in Leviticus 12:1–8 are essential laws. (Mishnah Avot 3:18.)
Tractate Kinnim in the Mishnah interpreted the laws of pairs of sacrificial pigeons and doves in Leviticus 1:14, 5:7, 12:6–8, 14:22, and 15:29; and Numbers 6:10. (Mishnah Kinnim 1:1–3:6.)
Interpreting the beginning of menstrual cycles, as in Leviticus 12:6–8, the Mishnah ruled that if a woman loses track of her menstrual cycle, there is no return to the beginning of the niddah count in fewer than seven, nor more than seventeen days. (Mishnah Arakhin 2:1; Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 8a.)
The Mishnah (following Leviticus 5:7–8) taught that a sin-offering of a bird preceded a burnt-offering of a bird; and the priest also dedicated them in that order. (Mishnah Zevachim 10:4; Babylonian Talmud Zevachim 89a.) Rabbi Eliezer taught that wherever an offerer (because of poverty) substituted for an animal sin-offering the offering of two birds (one of which was for a sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering), the priest sacrificed the bird sin-offering before the bird burnt-offering (as Leviticus 5:7–8 instructs). But in the case of a woman after childbirth discussed in Leviticus 12:8 (where a poor new mother could substitute for an animal burnt-offering two birds, one for a sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering), the bird burnt-offering took precedence over the bird sin-offering. Wherever the offering came on account of sin, the sin-offering took precedence. But here (in the case of a woman after childbirth, where the sin-offering was not on account of sin) the burnt-offering took precedence. And wherever both birds came instead of one animal sin-offering, the sin-offering took precedence. But here (in the case of a woman after childbirth) they did not both come on account of a sin-offering (for in poverty she substituted a bird burnt-offering for an animal burnt-offering, as Leviticus 12:6–7 required her to bring a bird sin-offering in any case), the burnt-offering took precedence. (The Gemara asked whether this contradicted the Mishnah, which taught that a bird sin-offering took precedence over an animal burnt-offering, whereas here she brought the animal burnt-offering before the bird sin-offering.) Rava taught that Leviticus 12:6–7 merely accorded the bird burnt-offering precedence in the mentioning. (Thus, some read Rava to teach that Leviticus 12:6–8 lets the reader read first about the burnt-offering, but in fact the priest sacrificed the sin-offering first. Others read Rava to teach that one first dedicated the animal or bird for the burnt-offering and then dedicated the bird for the sin-offering, but in fact the priest sacrificed the sin-offering first.) (Babylonian Talmud Zevachim 90a.)
Leviticus 12:8 called for “two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt-offering, and the other for a sin-offering.” Rav Hisda taught that the designation of one of the birds to become the burnt-offering and the other to become the sin-offering was made either by the owner or by the priest's action. Rabbi Shimi bar Ashi explained that the words of Leviticus 12:8, “she shall take . . . the one for a burnt-offering, and the other for a sin-offering,” indicated that the mother could have made the designation when taking the birds, and the words of Leviticus 15:15, “the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering,” and of Leviticus 15:30, “the priest shall offer the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering,” indicated that (absent such a designation by the mother) the priest could have made the designation when offering them up. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 41a.)
Tractate Negaim in the Mishnah and Tosefta interpreted the laws of skin disease in Leviticus 13. (Mishnah Negaim 1:1–14:13; Tosefta Negaim 1:1–9:9.)
A midrash compared the discussion of skin diseases beginning at Leviticus 13:2 to the case of a noble lady who, upon entering the king's palace, was terrified by the whips that she saw hanging about. But the king told her: “Do not fear; these are meant for the slaves, but you are here to eat, drink, and make merry.” So, too, when the Israelites heard the section of Scripture dealing with leprous affections, they became afraid. But Moses told them: “These are meant for the wicked nations, but you are intended to eat, drink, and be joyful, as it is written in Psalm 32:10: “Many are the sufferings of the wicked; but he that trusts in the Lord, mercy surrounds him.” (Leviticus Rabbah 15:4.)
Rabbi Johanan said in the name of Rabbi Joseph ben Zimra that anyone who bears evil tales (lashon hara) will be visited by the plague of skin disease (tzara’at), as it is said in Psalm 101:5: “Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I destroy (azmit).” The Gemara read azmit to allude to tzara’at, and cited how Leviticus 25:23 says “in perpetuity” (la-zemitut). And Resh Lakish interpreted the words of Leviticus 14:2, “This shall be the law of the person with skin disease (metzora),” to mean, “This shall be the law for him who brings up an evil name (motzi shem ra).” (Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 15b.)
Similarly, Rabbi Haninah taught that skin disease came only from slander. The Rabbis found a proof for this from the case of Miriam, arguing that because she uttered slander against Moses, plagues attacked her. And the Rabbis read Deuteronomy 24:8–9 to support this when it says in connection with skin disease, “remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam.” (Deuteronomy Rabbah 6:8.)
Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Johanan that skin disease results from seven sins: slander, the shedding of blood, vain oath, incest, arrogance, robbery, and envy. The Gemara cited Scriptural bases for each of the associations: For slander, Psalm 101:5; for bloodshed, 2 Samuel 3:29; for a vain oath, 2 Kings 5:23–27; for incest, Genesis 12:17; for arrogance, 2 Chronicles 26:16–19; for robbery, Leviticus 14:36 (as a Tanna taught that those who collect money that does not belong to them will see a priest come and scatter their money around the street); and for envy, Leviticus 14:35. (Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 16a.)
Similarly, a midrash taught that skin disease resulted from 10 sins: (1) idol-worship, (2) unchastity, (3) bloodshed, (4) the profanation of the Divine Name, (5) blasphemy of the Divine Name, (6) robbing the public, (7) usurping a dignity to which one has no right, (8) overweening pride, (9) evil speech, and (10) an evil eye. The midrash cited as proofs: (1) for idol-worship, the experience of the Israelites who said of the Golden Calf, “This is your god, O Israel,” in Exodus 32:4 and then were smitten with leprosy, as reported in Exodus 32:25, where “Moses saw that the people had broken out (parua, פָרֻעַ),” indicating that leprosy had “broken out” (parah) among them; (2) for unchastity, from the experience of the daughters of Zion of whom Isaiah 3:16 says, “the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and ogling eyes,” and then Isaiah 3:17 says, “Therefore will the Lord smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion”; (3) for bloodshed, from the experience of Joab, of whom 2 Samuel 3:29 says, “Let it fall upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper,” (4) for the profanation of the Divine Name, from the experience of Gehazi, of whom 2 Kings 5:20 says, “But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said: ‘Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; as the Lord lives, I will surely run after him, and take of him somewhat (me'umah, מְאוּמָה),” and “somewhat” (me'umah, מְאוּמָה) means “of the blemish” (mum, מוּם) that Naaman had, and thus Gehazi was smitten with leprosy, as 2 Kings 5:20 reports Elisha said to Gehazi, “The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave to you”; (5) for blaspheming the Divine Name, from the experience of Goliath, of whom 1 Samuel 17:43 says, “And the Philistine cursed David by his God,” and the 1 Samuel 17:46 says, “This day will the Lord deliver (sagar, סַגֶּרְ) you,” and the term “deliver” (sagar, סַגֶּרְ) is used here in the same sense as Leviticus 13:5 uses it with regard to leprosy, when it is says, “And the priest shall shut him up (sagar)”; (6) for robbing the public, from the experience of Shebna, who derived illicit personal benefit from property of the Sanctuary, and of whom Isaiah 22:17 says, “the Lord . . . will wrap you round and round,” and “wrap” must refer to a leper, of whom Leviticus 13:45 says, “And he shall wrap himself over the upper lip”; (7) for usurping a dignity to which one has no right, from the experience of Uzziah, of whom 2 Chronicles 26:21 says, “And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death”; (8) for overweening pride, from the same example of Uzziah, of whom 2 Chronicles 26:16 says, “But when he became strong, his heart was lifted up, so that he did corruptly and he trespassed against the Lord his God”; (9) for evil speech, from the experience of Miriam, of whom Numbers 12:1 says, “And Miriam . . . spoke against Moses,” and then Numbers 12:10 says, “when the cloud was removed from over the Tent, behold Miriam was leprous”; and (10) for an evil eye, from the person described in Leviticus 14:35, which can be read, “And he that keeps his house to himself shall come to the priest, saying: There seems to me to be a plague in the house,” and Leviticus 14:35 thus describes one who is not willing to permit any other to have any benefit from the house. (Leviticus Rabbah 17:3.)
Similarly, Rabbi Judah the Levite, son of Rabbi Shalom, inferred that skin disease comes because of eleven sins: (1) for cursing the Divine Name, (2) for immorality, (3) for bloodshed, (4) for ascribing to another a fault that is not in him, (5) for haughtiness, (6) for encroaching upon other people's domains, (7) for a lying tongue, (8) for theft, (9) for swearing falsely, (10) for profanation of the name of Heaven, and (11) for idolatry. Rabbi Isaac added: for ill-will. And our Rabbis said: for despising the words of the TorAH (Numbers Rabbah 7:5.)
In the priest’s examination of skin disease mandated by Leviticus 13:2, 9, and 14:2, the Mishnah taught that a priest could examine anyone else’s symptoms, but not his own. And Rabbi Meir taught that the priest could not examine his relatives. (Mishnah Negaim 2:5; Deuteronomy Rabbah 6:8.) The Mishnah taught that the priests delayed examining a bridegroom — as well as his house and his garment — until after his seven days of rejoicing, and delayed examining anyone until after a holy day. (Mishnah Negaim 3:2.)
Rabbi Abbahu, as well as Rabbi Uzziel the grandson of Rabbi Uzziel the Great, taught that Leviticus 13:46 requires that the person afflicted with skin disease “cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’” to warn passers-by to keep away. But the Gemara cited a Baraita that taught that Leviticus 13:46 requires that the person “cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’” so that the person’s distress would become known to many people, so that many could pray for mercy on the afflicted person’s behalf. And the Gemara concluded that Leviticus 13:46 reads “Unclean” twice to teach that Leviticus 13:46 is intended to further both purposes, to keep passers-by away and to invite their prayers for mercy. (Babylonian Talmud Moed Katan 5a.)
A midrash taught that Divine Justice first attacks a person’s substance and then the person’s body. So when leprous plagues come upon a person, first they come upon the fabric of the person’s house. If the person repents, then Leviticus 14:40 requires that only the affected stones need to be pulled out; if the person does not repent, then Leviticus 14:45 requires pulling down the house. Then the plagues come upon the person’s clothes. If the person repents, then the clothes require washing; if not, they require burning. Then the plagues come upon the person’s body. If the person repents, Leviticus 14:1–32 provides for purification; if not, then Leviticus 13:46 ordains that the person “shall dwell alone.” (Leviticus Rabbah 17:4; Ruth Rabbah 2:10.)
Similarly, the Tosefta reported that when a person would come to the priest, the priest would tell the person to engage in self-examination and turn from evil ways. The priest would continue that plagues come only from gossip, and skin disease from arrogance. But God would judge in mercy. The plague would come to the house, and if the homeowner repented, the house required only dismantling, but if the homeowner did not repent, the house required demolition. They would appear on clothing, and if the owner repented, the clothing required only tearing, but if the owner did not repent, the clothing required burning. They would appear on the person’s body, and if the person repented, well and good, but if the person did not repent, Leviticus 13:46 required that the person “shall dwell alone.” (Tosefta Negaim 6:7.)
Rabbi Samuel bar Elnadab asked Rabbi Haninah (or others say Rabbi Samuel bar Nadab the son-in-law of Rabbi Haninah asked Rabbi Haninah, or still others say, asked Rabbi Joshua ben Levi) what distinguished the person afflicted with skin disease that Leviticus 13:46 ordains that the person “shall dwell alone.” The answer was that through gossip, the person afflicted with skin disease separated husband from wife, one neighbor from another, and therefore the Torah punished the person afflicted with skin disease measure for measure, ordaining that the person “shall dwell alone.” (Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 16b.)
Maimonides cited verses in this parshah for 3 positive and 1 negative commandments:
(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah, Positive Commandments 76, 112, 215; Negative Commandment 307. Cairo, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 1:88, 123–24, 230–31; 2:283–84. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4.)
According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 5 positive and 2 negative commandments in the parshah:
(Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 2:201–33. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1984. ISBN 0-87306-296-5.)
The haftarah for the parshah is 2 Kings 4:42–5:19.
A man from Baal-shalishah brought the prophet Elisha bread of the First Fruits — 20 loaves of barley — and fresh grain in his sack to give to the people to eat. (2 Kings 4:42.) Elisha’s servant asked Elisha how he could feed a hundred men with these rations, but Elisha told his servant to give the food to the people, for God said that they would eat and have food left over. (2 Kings 4:43.) So the servant set the food before the men, they ate, and they had food left over, just as God had said. (2 Kings 4:44.)
Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great warrior, but he was a leper. (2 Kings 5:1.) The girl who waited on Naaman's wife was an Israelite whom the Arameans had taken captive, and she told Naaman's wife that if Naaman went to Elisha in Samaria, then Elisha would cure Naaman of his leprosy. (2 Kings 5:2–3.) Naaman told his lord the king of Aram what the girl said, and the king of Aram sent Naaman on his way with a letter to the king of Israel. (2 Kings 5:4–5.) Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothes. (2 Kings 5:5.) Naaman brought the king of Israel the letter, which asked the king of Israel to cure Naaman of his leprosy. (2 Kings 5:6.) When the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and complained that he was not God with power over life and death, but the king of Aram must have been seeking some pretext to attack Israel. (2 Kings 5:7.)
When Elisha heard, he invited the king to send Naaman to him, and so Naaman came to Elisha’s house with his horses and his chariots. (2 Kings 5:8–9.) Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman to tell him to wash seven times in the Jordan River and be healed, but that angered Naaman, who expected Elisha to come out, call on the name of God, and wave his hands over Naaman. (2 Kings 5:10–11.) Naaman asked whether the Amanah and Pharpar rivers of Damascus were not better than any river in Israel, so that he might wash in them and be clean. (2 Kings 5:12.)
But Naaman’s servants advised him that if Elisha had directed him to do some difficult thing he would have done it, so how much more should he do what Elisha directed when he said merely to wash and be clean. (2 Kings 5:13.) So Naaman dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, and his flesh came back like the flesh of a little child. (2 Kings 5:14.)
Naaman returned to Elisha, avowed that there is no God except in Israel, and asked Elisha to take a present, but Elisha declined. (2 Kings 5:15–16.) Naaman asked if he might take two mule loads of Israel’s earth so that Naaman might make offerings to God, and he asked that God might pardon Naaman when had had to bow before the Aramean idol Rimmon when the king of Aram leaned on Naaman to bow before Rimmon. (2 Kings 5:17–18.) And Elisha told Naaman to go in peace. (2 Kings 5:19.)
Both the parshah and the haftarah report the treatment of skin disease, the parshah by the priests (in Leviticus 13), and the haftarah by the prophet Elisha (in 2 Kings 5). Both the parshah and the haftarah frequently employ the term “skin disease” (tzara’at, צָרַעַת). (Leviticus 13:3, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 20, 25, 27, 30, 42, 43, 49, 51, 52, 59; 2 Kings 5:3, 6, 7.)
A midrash deduced from the characterization of Naaman as a “great man” in 2 Kings 5:1 that Naaman was haughty on account of his being a great warrior, and as a result was smitten with leprosy. (Numbers Rabbah 7:5.)
And fundamentally, both the parshah and the haftarah view skin disease as related to the Divine sphere and an occasion for interaction with God.
When the parshah coincides with Shabbat HaChodesh ("Sabbath [of] the month," the special Sabbath preceding the Hebrew month of Nissan — as it does in 2011 and 2014), the haftarah is:
On Shabbat HaChodesh, Jews read Exodus 12:1–20, in which God commands that “This month [Nissan] shall be the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year” (Exodus 12:2), and in which God issued the commandments of Passover. (Exodus 12:3–20.) Similarly, the haftarah in Ezekiel 45:21–25 discusses Passover. In both the special reading and the haftarah, God instructs the Israelites to apply blood to doorposts. (Exodus 12:7; Ezekiel 45:19.)
When parshah Tazria is combined with parshah Metzora (as it is in 2012, 2013, and 2015) and the parshah does not coincide with a special parshah, the haftarah is the haftarah for parshah Metzora, 2 Kings 7:3–20.
During the Arameans’ siege of Samaria, four leprous men at the gate asked each other why they should die there of starvation, when they might go to the Arameans, who would wither save them or leave them no worse than they were. (2 Kings 7:3–4.) When at twilight, they went to the Arameans’ camp, there was no one there, for God had made the Arameans hear chariots, horses, and a great army, and fearing the Hittites and the Egyptians, they fled, leaving their tents, their horses, their donkeys, and their camp. (2 Kings 7:5–7.) The lepers went into a tent, ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold, and clothing from the tents and hid it. (2 Kings 7:8.)
Feeling qualms of guilt, they went to go tell the king of Samaria, and called to the porters of the city telling them what they had seen, and the porters told the king's household within. (2 Kings 7:9–11.) The king arose in the night, and told his servants that he suspected that the Arameans had hidden in the field, thinking that when the Samaritans came out, they would be able to get into the city. (2 Kings 7:12.) One of his servants suggested that some men take five of the horses that remained and go see, and they took two chariots with horses to go and see. (2 Kings 7:13–14.) They went after the Arameans as far as the Jordan River, and all the way was littered with garments and vessels that the Arameans had cast away in their haste, and the messengers returned and told the king. (2 Kings 7:15.) So the people went out and looted Arameans’ camp, so that the price of fine flour and two measures of barley each dropped to a shekel, as God had said it would. (2 Kings 7:16.) And the king appointed the captain on whom he leaned to take charge of the gate, and the people trampled him and killed him before he could taste of the flour, just as the man of God Elisha had said. (2 Kings 7:17–20.)
Both the double parshah and the haftarah deal with people stricken with skin disease. Both the parshah and the haftarah employ the term for the person affected by skin disease (metzora, מְּצֹרָע). (Leviticus 14:2; 2 Kings 7:3, 8.) In parshah Tazria, Leviticus 13:46 provides that the person with skin disease “shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be,” thus explaining why the four leprous men in the haftarah lived outside the gate. (2 Kings 7:3.)
Rabbi Johanan taught that the four leprous men at the gate in 2 Kings 7:3 were none other than Elisha’s former servant Gehazi (whom the midrash, above, cited as having been stricken with leprosy for profanation of the Divine Name) and his three sons. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 107b.)
In parshah Metzora, when there “seems” to be a plague in the house (Leviticus 14:35), the priest must not jump to conclusions, but must examine the facts. (Leviticus 14:36–37, 39, 44.) Just before the opening of the haftarah, in 2 Kings 7:2, the captain on whom the king leaned jumps to the conclusion that Elisha’s prophesy could not come true, and the captain meets his punishment in 2 Kings 7:17 and 19. (See Lainie Blum Cogan and Judy Weiss. Teaching Haftarah: Background, Insights, and Strategies, 203. Denver: A.R.E. Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-86705-054-3.)
When the parshah or combined parshah coincides with Shabbat Rosh Chodesh (as it did in 2009), the haftarah is Isaiah 66:1–24.
Some Jews refer to the laws of bird offerings in Leviticus 12:8 and the laws of the menstrual cycle as they study the end of chapter 3 of Pirkei Avot on a Sabbath between Passover and Rosh Hashanah. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 556. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)
Some Jews refer to the guilt offerings for skin disease in Leviticus 13 as part of readings on the offerings after the Sabbath morning blessings. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 239.)
In the Weekly Maqam, Sephardi Jews each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For parshah Tazria, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Saba, the maqam that symbolizes a covenant (brit). This is appropriate, because this parshah commences with the discussion of what to do when a baby boy is born. It also mentions the brit milah, a ritual that shows a covenant between man and God.
The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:
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