Derasha 134 on Vayikra 13:13

TT #134 · Parshas Tazria · Aliyah 2 · Passuk 13

The Complete Passuk

וְרָאָה֮ הַכֹּהֵן֒ וְהִנֵּ֣ה כִסְּתָ֤ה הַצָּרַ֙עַת֙ אֶת־כׇּל־בְּשָׂר֔וֹ וְטִהַ֥ר אֶת־הַנֶּ֖גַע כֻּלּ֣וֹ הָפַ֑ךְ לָבָ֕ן טָה֥וֹר הֽוּא׃

English: When the priest sees that the eruption has covered the whole body, he shall pronounce the affected person clean; when it has all turned white, that person is clean.

Chabad.org — Chumash, English translation + Rashi for Vayikra 13:13

Source Citation

Torah Temimah cites Sanhedrin 97a for an aggadic reading of the rule that a person covered entirely in white is declared clean.

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text — Sanhedrin 97a
דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: אֵין בֶּן דָּוִד בָּא עַד שֶׁתִּתְהַפֵּךְ כׇּל הַמַּלְכוּת לְמִינוּת. אָמַר רָבָא: מַאי קְרָא? ״כֻּלּוֹ הָפַךְ לָבָן טָהוֹר הוּא״.

English: Rabbi Yitzchak said: The Messiah will not come until the entire kingdom has turned to heresy; Rava derives this from the verse, “All of it has turned white; he is clean.”

Type of Learning

Textual derivation

What Is Learned

The Gemara reads the rule that a fully white person is clean as an allusion to the future transformation of the kingdom into heresy before the coming of Mashiach.