Parshat Tazriah: Tzaraat Today

(2) When a person has on the skin of the body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly affection on the skin of the body, it shall be reported to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. (3) The priest shall examine the affection on the skin of the body: if hair in the affected patch has turned white and the affection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, it is a leprous affection; when the priest sees it, he shall pronounce the person impure.

The signs of negaim are two which, in fact, are four. The bright spot (baheret) is bright white like snow; secondary to it is the sign as white as the lime of the Temple. The rising (se'et) is as white of the skin of an egg; secondary to it is the like white wool, the words of Rabbi Meir. But the sages say: the rising (se'et) is white wool and secondary to it is like the white of the skin of an egg.

'אל אהרון וגו‎ [HE SHALL BE BROUGHT] TO AARON etc. — It is an enactment of Scripture that the uncleanness and purification of leprous plagues are pronounced only by the mouth of a priest (Sifra, Tazria Parashat Nega'im, Section 1 9).

He shall be brought to Aharon, the kohein. His purification is only by means of a kohein because Aharon’s descendents have three good character traits that are the opposite of these: 1) The sin of lashon hara causes arguments and a separation between fellow men. Therefore he is healed by Aharon, who exemplifies the trait of peace, for Aharon was “a lover of peace who pursued peace.” 2) Similarly, the sin of haughtiness of spirit is rectified by Aharon who was extremely humble, as Chazal said: What is written concerning Moshe and Aharon is even greater than that which is written concerning Avraham, because by Avraham it says, “I am dust and ashes” whereas by Moshe and Aharon it says, “What are we?” 3) Also, Aharon did not have the negative character trait of lust for money, since the kohanim did not have an inheritance in the Land and only had what they were given from “Hashem’s Table” [the Divine Service in the Beis HaMikdash]. Therefore, they perfected the trait of being satisfied with little and were not at all close to the trait of miserliness, in which one’s entire goal is to amass huge sums of money.

Erchin 15 explains that these afflictions are a penalty for people who have spoken ill of their fellow man. Maimonides explains this in greater detail in the seventh chapter of his Hilchot Deyot. This is what he writes: "A person is guilty of the sin of לשון הרע, a wicked tongue, when he tells something detrimental to the image of this fellow man even though he speaks the truth. If he tells lies about his fellow man he is guilty of the sin of מוציא שם רע, bad-mouthing another human being." We see therefore that one is called בעל לשון הרע, even if one tells the truth about someone, whereas one is called מוציא שם רע when the evil gossip one spreads has no basis in fact. The Torah therefore describes two different categories of skin afflictions, one to be applied to people guilty of לשון הרע, i.e. בהרת, the other to be applied to people guilty of מוציא שם רע, described by the Torah as שאת.The reason the Torah chose the term שאת as an allusion to people guilty of מוציא שם רע is because the Torah said in Exodus 23,1: "do not utter a falsehood." The word בהרת aptly describes someone who engages in לשון הרע, as the word describes something which is the brightest of bright, i.e. true. Although such a person speaks the truth, what he has done is despicable. The sub-categories of which the Torah speaks may be regarded as alluding to the verbiage which surrounds the basic detrimental information which the respective guilty party tries to convey conversationally.

כי יהיה בעור בשרו, which he will have on the skin of his flesh, etc; the Torah informs us here that only the skin of Israelites afflicted with this disease is affected. The disease does not penetrate below the skin. This is a principal difference between Israelites and Gentiles; the latter are perceived as afflicted with this disease through and through. Their entire being is perceived as being part of the צרעת syndrome. If an Israelite has committed a sin which results in נגע צרעת, the skin afflictions mentioned in this chapter, it is visible only on his exterior not on his flesh and certainly not his soul, personality.

A Scriptural decree. Rashi’s view is so because it is written nearby: “He shall be brought to Aharon, the kohein, or to one of his sons, the kohanim.” Why does it need to say, “one”? Also, Scripture does not need to write, “of his sons, the kohanim,” but rather only: “Or to his sons.” Thus, “one” comes to include even a non-kohein, [in the case] that the kohein was ignorant of Torah law he may show [the signs] to a man who knows [the laws of] signs of impurity, although he is a non-kohein. And that which it is written afterwards, “of his sons the kohanim” is to teach that although the kohein does not know the signs of impurity, and needs to show [them] to a Torah scholar who may not be a kohein, nevertheless, the Torah scholar is not allowed to say: This is a sign of impurity or this is a sign of purity. Rather, he must teach the kohein the laws of impurity and purity so that the kohein will tell the person who has the skin-eruption: You are pure or impure. Upon this Rashi explains: “It is a Scriptural decree...”

“When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab ….” (Vayikra, 13:2)
It is written in the holy Zohar (Vayikra, 48a), “there are many terms for man, and adam is above them all.” The term for man, ish, is in relation to the term for woman, isha. Isha means that she does not have the power to subdue the desire of her heart. Ish means that when he experiences longings and desires, he can overpower them. However, the term for man, adam, means a state of elevation above all lusts and desires, that no lust or desire will enter his heart save that which is God’s will. The term adam is used here in the passage discussing the procedure for treating biblical leprosy, for leprosy teaches of one who has a deficiency concerning anger. Such is the attribute (deficiency) most prevalent among great men, since they derive no satisfaction from the good of this world, and the good that is prepared for them in the world to come is hidden from them in this world. The advice given to deal with this problem is to strengthen oneself in looking at the rest of the world with a good eye (judging it favorably).
There are three sublevels in this attribute. The first wants the Holy One, blessed be He, to effuse His goodness to the whole world in general and to all of Israel. The second level is in a case where when his fellow also receives good; then the good he himself receives is limited; and still he looks on him with a good eye. The third level is when the effusion of God is only to his community, and he himself receives no portion in the good, and still he is happy that God effused goodness to others. This is the meaning of the verse (Mishlei, 22:9), “he who sees with a good eye shall be blessed,” for he is blessed with a good eye. Even though he has no portion in the effusion, still he is content that God effuses to his fellow, and his fellow receives good according to his desire.