Mishnah
Mishnah

Halakhah for Negaim 1:3

אַרְבָּעָה מַרְאוֹת הָאֵלּוּ מִצְטָרְפִין זֶה עִם זֶה לִפְטֹר, וּלְהַחְלִיט, וּלְהַסְגִּיר. לְהַסְגִּיר אֶת הָעוֹמֵד בְּסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ רִאשׁוֹן. לִפְטֹר אֶת הָעוֹמֵד בְּסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ שֵׁנִי. לְהַחְלִיט אֶת שֶׁנּוֹלַד לוֹ מִחְיָה אוֹ שֵׂעָר לָבָן, בַּתְּחִלָּה, בְּסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ רִאשׁוֹן, בְּסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ שֵׁנִי, לְאַחַר הַפְּטוּר. לְהַחְלִיט אֶת שֶׁנּוֹלַד לוֹ פִשְׂיוֹן, בְּסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ רִאשׁוֹן, בְּסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ שֵׁנִי, לְאַחַר הַפְּטוּר. לְהַחְלִיט אֶת הַהוֹפֵךְ כֻּלּוֹ לָבָן מִתּוֹךְ הַפְּטוּר. לִפְטֹר אֶת הַהוֹפֵךְ כֻּלּוֹ לָבָן מִתּוֹךְ הֶחְלֵט אוֹ מִתּוֹךְ הֶסְגֵּר. אֵלּוּ מַרְאוֹת נְגָעִים שֶׁכָּל נְגָעִים תְּלוּיִם בָּהֶן:

These four appearances [of <i>Negaim</i>] combine, one with the other, to exempt [one from impurity], to decide [that one is impure], or to quarantine [one of uncertain status]. [They combine] to quarantine that which remains [unchanged] at the end of the first week [from reporting the <i>Nega</i>]. [They combine] to exempt that which remains [unchanged] at the end of the second week. [They combine] to decide that which develops healthy skin [in the area of the <i>Nega</i>] or white hair, [whether] initially, at the end of the first week, at the end of the second week, [or] after the exemption. [They combine] to decide that which develops spreading, [whether] at the end of the first week, at the end of the second week, [or] after the exemption. [They combine] to decide that which turns completely white, [coming] from [the state of] exemption. [They combine] to exempt one who turns completely white, [coming] from [the state of] the decision [that he was impure] or from quarantine. These are the appearances of <i>Negaim</i> which all <i>Negaim</i> are based upon.

Sefer HaChinukh

And the matter of tsaraat is that one or more places on the skin of the flesh of a man become white - and these places be very white until their white resembles the white of the membrane of an egg and more than it in its whiteness. But the whole time that it is less dark in its appearance than the membrane of an egg, it is not tsaraat but rather a shiny spot (bohak) - meaning to say, a different illness that is not a type of tsaraat at all, but rather like types of rash and other types of [skin] ailments that occur with a person. There are four appearances to the tsaraat on the skin of a man's flesh: Two are primary sources (avot) - and they are the se'et and the baheret - and two are their derivatives. And that is [the meaning] of their, may their memory be blessed, saying (Mishnah Negaim 1:1), "The appearances of ailments are two which are four: Baheret [...] and its adjunct; se'et [...] and its adjunct." And the understanding of its adjunct is meaning to say, its derivative; as the expression, adjunct (sapachat) is only an expression of [being] secondary. And the Sages likened these four appearances: one to clean white wool, and that is the se'et; one to snow, and that is the baheret; one to the lime of the sanctuary, and that is the derivative of the baheret; and one to the membrane of an egg, and that is the derivative of the se'et (Mishnah Negaim 1:1). These are the impure ones and they combine, one with the other, to render impure (Mishnah Negaim 1:3). And anyone who does not recognize them through their differences and their names should only determine them by the mouth of someone who recognizes [them] (Shevuot 6a) - and as it is stated below in the laws of the commandment.
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