Tazria-Metzora ~ You in your own words

(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (2) This shall be the ritual for a leper at the time that he is to be cleansed. When it has been reported to the priest, (3) the priest shall go outside the camp. If the priest sees that the leper has been healed of his scaly affection,

(3) Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar would say: Afflictions come upon those who speak slanderously. This is what you see with Gehazi, who slandered his teacher and was afflicted with a skin disease that clung to him until the day he died, as it says (II Kings 5:27), “May the skin disease of Na’aman cling to you…and he left him, and he was flaky like the snow.”
He would also say: Afflictions come upon the arrogant. This is what we find with Uzziah, as it says (II Chronicles 26:16–19), “And when [King Uzziah] became strong, his heart became so proud that he became corrupt, and trespassed against the Eternal [his God by entering the Temple of the Eternal to offer incense on the altar. And after him came] the priest Azariah, with eighty other brave priests of the Eternal. They stood up against King Uzziah and said to him: It is not for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Eternal, but for the priests, who are the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated, to offer incense. Get out of the Sanctuary, for you have trespassed, and there will no glory for you from the Eternal God. Uzziah, holding the incense lighter, became angry; but as he became angry with the priests, a skin disease broke out on his forehead.” At that moment, the Temple split apart into two halves, twelve miles apart. The priests, panicking, rushed to get out, “and he, too, rushed to get out, for the Eternal had afflicted him. And he was a leper until the day he died. He stayed in isolated quarters, as a leper, and he was cut off from the House of the Eternal, while Jotham his son was put in charge of the king’s house, and governed the people of the land” (II Chronicles 26:20–21).

(21) Death and life are in the the hand [power] of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit.

These are the things that have no definite quantity: The corners [of the field];

The [amount of] first-fruits;

[The offerings brought] on appearing [at the Temple on the three pilgrimage festivals];

The performance of generous deeds;

And the study of Torah.

The following are the things for which a man enjoys the fruits in this world while the principal remains for him in the world to come:

Honoring one’s father and mother;

The performance of generous deeds;

And the making of peace between a person and his friend;

And the study of Torah is present in/is equal to all of them.

(1) These are the things that have no definite quantity:

The corners [of the field];

The [amount of] first-fruits;

[The offerings brought] on appearing [at the Temple on the three pilgrimage festivals];

The performance of generous deeds;

And the study of Torah. The corners of the field have a minimum amount but does not have a maximum amount. [If] one makes his entire field "corners", it is not "corners".

(2) These are the things that are [constantly] subtracting from a person in this world while the principal remains for him in the world to come: idolatry, sexual perversion, and murder; and malicious speech is present in/is equal to all of them.

It was said before Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak: Anyone who humiliates another in public, it is as though he were spilling blood. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: You have spoken well, as we see that after the humiliated person blushes, the red leaves his face and pallor comes in its place, which is tantamount to spilling his blood.

Rabbah bar Bar Ada further said: And anyone who disqualifies others by stating that their lineage is flawed, that is a sign that he himself is of flawed lineage. Another indication that one’s lineage is flawed is that he never speaks in praise of others. And Shmuel says: If one habitually claims that others are flawed, he disqualifies himself with his own flaw. The flaw he accuses them of having is in fact the one that he has.

We learned "a person sees all defects, except (chutz) their own defects" (M. Nega'im 2:5) and the holy Ba'al Shem Tov explained that "a person sees all defects outside (chutz)" - what they see is a continuation of that person's defects, as our sages say "he disqualifies others with his own flaw."

Be very careful concerning gossip for with this you shame yourself. For he who finds others unworthy is himself unworthy, and he does not speak in praise of anyone, and his way is to find people unworthy with the fault that he himself possesses (Kiddushin 70a).For this fault of his is constantly on his mind and when he gossips he expresses it with his mouth. For every man can be tested and recognized by his deeds. How? When you see a man who is accustomed to praise women and to speak of them always, know that he is a womanizer. And if he praises good food and wine and does so constantly, know that he is a glutton and a drunkard. And so is it with everything. And proof of this you may find in the verse, "Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day" (Ps. 119:97). Because I love the Torah, I always speak of it — since whatever a person loves in his heart, he lends to speak about always.

(45) And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall go loose, and he shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry: ‘Unclean, unclean.’ (46) All the days wherein the plague is in him he shall be unclean; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be.

(4) the priest shall order two live clean birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop to be brought for him who is to be cleansed. (5) The priest shall order one of the birds slaughtered over fresh water in an earthen vessel; (6) and he shall take the live bird, along with the cedar wood, the crimson stuff, and the hyssop, and dip them together with the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. (7) He shall then sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the eruption and cleanse him; and he shall set the live bird free in the open country. (8) The one to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water; then he shall be clean. After that he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent seven days. (9) On the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair—of head, beard, and eyebrows. When he has shaved off all his hair, he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; then he shall be clean.

And he shall cry, Unclean! Unclean! [That is], impurity cries out [to the passer-by] and tells him: Keep off! And R. Uzziel, the grandson of the elder Rav Uzziel, said the same, [that] impurity cries out [to the passer-by] and tells him: Keep off!

But, was this [text] intended for this lesson? It is required for what has been taught: And he shall cry, Unclean! Unclean! [This teaches that] one must make his distress known to many, that many pray for mercy on his behalf.

(1) living [birds] — This term excludes רפות‎ט, birds that suffer from some fatal organic disease (חיות does not only mean “living”, but also “capable of continuing to live”). (2) הרות‎ט Acceptable — This term excludes an unclean bird (of a species that may not be eaten). Because the plagues of leprosy come as a punishment for slander, which is done by chattering, therefore birds are compulsory for [the leper’s] purification, because these chatter, as it were, continuously with a twittering sound. (3) And cedar wood — This lofty tree was used because plagues come also as a punishment for haughtiness. (4) ושני תולעת ואזוב And crimson and hyssop — What is the remedy he should use, that he may be healed? Let him, abandoning pride, regard himself lowly as a worm (תולעת) and as hyssop. (5) cedar tree - means a stick of cedar wood (not an entire tree). (6) שני תולעת — a strip [lashon, tongue] of wool dyed crimson.

(1) There is a story of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar: He was once coming from Migdal Eder, from his teacher’s house, and he was riding on a donkey. He was traveling along the coast, and he spotted somebody who was quite ugly. He said: Empty one, how ugly you are! Are all the people in your city as ugly as you? The man replied: What can I do about it? Go to the Artisan who made me and say to Him, How ugly is this vessel You made! When Rabbi Shimon realized that he had sinned, he got off his donkey and prostrated himself before the man. And he said: I have sinned against you. Forgive me. But the man replied: I will not forgive you until you go to the Artisan who made me and say, How ugly is this vessel You made! Rabbi Shimon followed after him for three mil. All the people in the city came out to greet him, and then said: Peace be upon you, Rabbi! The man said: Whom are you calling Rabbi? They said: The one who is traveling behind you. He said to them: If that is a rabbi, may there be no more like him in Israel! They said to him: God forbid! What did he do to you? He told them: Such-and-such he did to me. They said to him: Even so, forgive him! He said: I hereby forgive [him], but only if he does not continue doing this.

On that day, Rabbi Shimon went to his great study hall and taught: A person should always be soft like a reed, and not rigid like a cedar. For the reed, when all the winds come and blow against it, moves in their direction. But when the winds quiet down, the reed returns to its place. That is why the reed merited to be made into a quill that is used to write a Torah scroll. But the cedar does not stay in its place; when the southern wind comes and blows against it, it uproots the tree and flips it over. And then what happens to the cedar? [Woodcutters come along and chop it up, and take from it to build houses and then] throw the rest into the fire. And that is why they say: A person should always be soft like a reed, and not rigid like a cedar.

The Hebrew term for leprosy [has] various meanings...The whiteness in a man's skin is called leprosy; the falling off of some hair on the head or the chin is named leprosy; and a change of color in clothing or in houses is referred to as leprosy. Now this change in clothes and in houses which the Torah has called leprosy... is not a natural phenomenon, but was deemed a sign and a wonder among the people of Israel to warn them against evil gossip. If a man dealt out malicious gossip, the walls of his house would change; if he repented, the house would become clean again. But if he persisted in his wickedness until the house was demolished, leather objects in his home upon which he would sit or lie would then suffer a change; if he repented, they would become clean again. But if he persisted in his wickedness until they had to be burned, the clothes which he wore would undergo a change; if he repented, they would become clean again. But if he persisted in his wickedness until they had to be burned, his skin would suffer a change and he would become leprous, and be set apart and exposed all alone, so as not to engage in evil talk, which consists of mockery and malicious gossip.