parshaמפרשי הפרשה

רמב"ן — וכפר עליו / וכפר על המטהר מטומאתו / וכפר עליו הכהן וטהר

The metzora brings three korbanot — asham, chatat, olah — and the Torah uses the language of 'kapara' for each separately. Three atonements for one process — why?

אולי האשם יכפר על מעלו אשר מעל קודם נגעו, והחטאת על חטאו אשר חטא בימי הנגע, אולי בצערו נתן תפלה לאלהים, וזה טעם 'מטומאתו'. והעולה והמנחה יהיו לו כופר נפש שיזכה ליטהר ולשוב אל אהלו, ולכך אמר 'וכפר עליו הכהן וטהר'... ויתכן כי 'וכפר עליו הכהן וטהר', רמז לכל הנעשה בו, כי גם הצפרים יבואו לכפרה ולטהרה, כי כן אמר בנגע הבית 'וכפר על הבית וטהר'.

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רמב"ן

רמב"ן על ויקרא י״ד:י״ח

Ramban on Leviticus 14:18

Q — The metzora brings three korbanot — asham, chatat, olah — and the Torah uses the language of 'kapara' for each separately. Three atonements for one process — why?

A — Ramban: each addresses a different temporal axis. (1) Asham atones for the original 'מעל' that produced the negaim before they appeared (since 'אין נגעים אלא משום חטא,' as Ramban develops at 13:47). (2) Chatat atones for the sin committed during the days of nega — the bitter complaints against Hashem ('נתן תפלה לאלהים') in his isolation; this is why pasuk יט specifically reads 'וכפר על המטהר מטומאתו' — atonement for what was committed during tum'ah. (3) Olah and mincha are 'כופר נפש שיזכה ליטהר ולשוב אל אהלו' — the prayer for return. The summary phrase 'וכפר עליו הכהן וטהר' (pasuk כ) covers the whole eight-day process including the tziporim — which themselves were a כפרה parallel to the שעיר המשתלח on Yom Kippur. (Ramban also notes: house-nega skips asham/chatat because the sin behind it is lighter — body-nega means a graver sin and needs more.)

אולי האשם יכפר על מעלו אשר מעל קודם נגעו, והחטאת על חטאו אשר חטא בימי הנגע, אולי בצערו נתן תפלה לאלהים, וזה טעם 'מטומאתו'. והעולה והמנחה יהיו לו כופר נפש שיזכה ליטהר ולשוב אל אהלו, ולכך אמר 'וכפר עליו הכהן וטהר'... ויתכן כי 'וכפר עליו הכהן וטהר', רמז לכל הנעשה בו, כי גם הצפרים יבואו לכפרה ולטהרה, כי כן אמר בנגע הבית 'וכפר על הבית וטהר'.

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