Summary of parashat Metzora
Last week's parashah describes the signs of metzorá - a person afflicted by a particular illness that puts them in a state of ritual impurity. This week's parashah begins to describe the process through which the metzorá The recovered item is purified by the Cohen with a special procedure that includes two doves, spring water, an earthenware vessel, a piece of cedar wood, a purple ribbon, and a myrtle branch.
A house can also be affected by the tzaráat through the appearance of reddish or greenish stains on the walls. In a process that lasts a maximum of nineteen days, a Cohen determines whether the house can be purified or must be demolished.
The emission of seminal or other discharge in a man and menstruation or other blood discharge in a woman indicate a state of ritual impurity that requires a purification process through immersion in a mikve - ritual bath.
