פרשת תזריע - מצורע תשי"ב - תורת המצורע

And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean; and after that he may come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days.

And the priest shall take one of the he-lambs, and offer him for a guilt-offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave-offering before the LORD.

והקריב אותו לאשם. It has already been explained in 7,1 as well as in my commentary on Leviticus 1,2 that the guilt offering, אשם in the main applies to inadvertent sins committed involving misuse of sacred matters, or misuse of the sacred domain of the Temple, such as unauthorised persons entering it, or ritually unclean persons entering it, etc. Just as in the case of the sin offering, חטאת, if that sin had been committed deliberately it would have resulted in the karet penalty, and if not atoned for through teshuvah would have resulted in the guilty person’s eternally being cut off from the collective soul of the Jewish people.
Our sages in Erchin 15 and 16 have already stated that the principal sins for which a person is afflicted with the נגע צרעת, are bad-mouthing people and haughtiness, both of which are perceived by the sages as direct trespass against G’d’s Holiness. Even though badmouthing is generally perpetrated in secret not affording the victim a chance to defend himself against the accusation and character assassination, the prophet Isaiah 29,15 views it as the perpetrators saying “who sees us, who takes note of us?” In other words, the prophet considers the “secrecy” as worse than the sin itself, as it suggests that G’d is unable to see it, and therefore represents a gross insult directed at G’d.
Concerning arrogant, haughty behaviour. We read in Psalms 101,5 “He who slanders his friend in secret I will destroy; I cannot endure the haughty and proud man.” G’d is portrayed as if the sinner is “trying to steal part of G’d’s “clothing.” G’d declares that such people cannot co-exist with Him in the same universe. (Sotah 5).
We have evidence in our scriptures (Chronicles II 26, 16-19) that King Uzziah’s arrogance was punished with tzoraat for his haughtiness, as this sin was considered a trespass against G’d Himself.

הרות‎ט CLEAN — This term excludes an unclean bird (of a species that may not be eaten) (cf. Chullin 140a). Because the plagues of leprosy come as a punishment for slander, which is done by chattering, therefore birds are compulsory for his (the leper’s) purification, because these chatter, as it were, continuously with a twittering sound (Arakhin 16b).

הרות‎ט CLEAN — This term excludes an unclean bird (of a species that may not be eaten) (cf. Chullin 140a). Because the plagues of leprosy come as a punishment for slander, which is done by chattering, therefore birds are compulsory for his (the leper’s) purification, because these chatter, as it were, continuously with a twittering sound (Arakhin 16b).

כי תמעל מעל — The term מעל everywhere in Scripture denotes “changing”. Similarly it stales, (I Chronicles 5:25) “And they committed a מעל against the God of their fathers; for they went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land” (i. e. they exchanged Him for their gods). And similarly it states of the faithless wife, (Numbers 5:12) “[If any man’s wife go aside] and commit a מעל in respect to him” (i. e. she changes her relationship to him for one to another man) (Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Chovah, Section 11 1; Meilah 18a).

This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the priest.

he will be brought connotes the same here as it does above [13:2; 13:9], since, once the affliction of ṣara‘at has gone away, he might not want to bring the obligatory sacrifice.