are merely a form of freckles. The symptoms that the text considers to be indicative of disease include those of the spread of superficial swellings or spots (where there had previously been a boil), and those of reddish-white sores in areas of baldness; the former condition is identified by the Bible as plague, and scholars regard its symptoms as pointing to a diagnosis of smallpox, while the latter is unidentified in the biblical text, but considered by scholars to indicate favus. In clothing fabrics In addition to infecting the skin, tzaraath is described by Leviticus as being able to infect historically common clothing fabrics, specifically wool, linen, and leather. The biblical description of tzaraath in such fabrics is strikingly analogous to that of tzaraath in the skin, with, for example, spreading of the infection being tested for by isolating the fabric in question for first 7 days. The principal symptoms are described as being very green or very red spots, which spread within a week, or that do not change appearance at all after a fortnight, having been washed after the first week, or that return a week after having been torn out, if they also had faded with washing prior to being torn out. These descriptions are regarded by scholars as most probably indicative of certain moulds, and especially matching infections by Penicillium (the fungus that produces penicillin). In houses The biblical text also describes tzaraath as infecting the walls of houses; the symptoms it describes are depressions in the wall, which are very green or very red, and spread over a period of seven days. The description is regarded by scholars as again being strikingly similar to the wording of the description of tzaraath'' infections in the skin, but still somewhat obscure; it would seem to fit some form of fungal growth, especially dry rot, which produces yellowish-green and reddish patches on walls. See also Metzora (parsha) References External links Tzara'as (from Reb Chaim HaQoton) A Rough Guide to Tzaraat by Joshua Cohen Impureté, contagion et alliance à travers la lèpre, Tsara'at Jewish ritual purity law Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law