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57 [1] זאת תורת הצרעת, one is not to add and impose more stringent rules also declaring similar looking skin eczemas as conferring ritual impurity. [the author interprets the word זאת, this, as restrictive, i.e. “this and none other.” Ed.] Granted that there are numerous other skin diseases which in some respects resemble the ones mentioned in the Torah, it is not in order to apply what the sages normally do to protect a person from inadvertently running afoul one of G’d’s commandments. In the domain of negai-im the rule postulated by Solomon in Proverbs 30,6 אל תוסף על דבריו, “do not add anything to G’d’s words” is strictly adhered to. One factor which indicates how wrong it would be to do this is that the Torah herself declares the “worst” phenomenon of skin eczema, i.e. the whole skin being affected totally, as one that leaves the afflicted party ritually pure. [Naturally, such a person, in the process of being cured will experience part of his skin being afflicted, at which point the priest will have to declare him as impure. Ed.] The apparent lack of logic in this part of the legislation was the cue for the sages not to impose “protective fences” around this legislation.
Version: Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash
License: CC-BY