Parshah Rabbit Hole - Metzora: Ears and Garlic Breath

Tzara'at is a collective term including many afflictions that do not resemble each other. For the whitening of a person's skin is called tzara'at, as is the falling out of some of the hair of his head or beard, and the change of the color of clothes or houses.
This change that affects clothes and houses which the Torah described with the general term of tzara'at is not a natural occurrence. Instead it is a sign and a wonder prevalent among the Jewish people to warn them against lashon hora, "undesirable speech."

The kohein shall take from the blood of the guilt-offering and the kohein shall put it on the middle ridge of the right ear of the person being purified, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.

THEN THOU SHALT KILL…TIP. The word tenukh (tip) has no counterpart. Saadiah Gaon says that it refers to the soft tissue which is connected to the circle of the ear.

Rather, the question is: What is the reason that fingers are pointed like pegs? It is so that if a person hears an inappropriate matter, he will place his fingers in his ears. Similarly, a Sage of the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: Why is the entire ear hard and the earlobe soft? It is so that if a person hears an inappropriate matter, he will bend his earlobe into his ear to seal it. The Sages taught: A person should not allow his ears to hear idle matters. Because of the fact that ears are very sensitive and are the first of the limbs burned, one should make certain not to expose them to anything problematic.

The limbs of the hands and feet extend from the body, as the Maharal of blessed memory wrote, and they tend more towards the external. The ear also extend, as our sages said, "Never let your ears hear idle words, for the ear is the first to be burned among the limbs." And the reason why it is the first to be burned is because it sticks out the most. When you examine and scrutinize the limbs carefully, you will find that all the limbs have movement, for the soul, which is in the inner part of the body, has the power to move the limbs, with the exception of the ears. The ear does not have the power to move at all because it is farther from the powers of the soul and the soul does not have the power to move it. Therefore, the Kohanim who became internal beings need these limbs that are far from the inner part of the soul to be sanctified even more...

The Gemara continues: And from where did Shecaniah ben Jehiel learn it? From an incident involving Joshua, as it is written: “And the Lord said to Joshua: Get yourself up; why do you fall upon your face? Israel has sinned” (Joshua 7:10–11). Joshua said before Him: Master of the Universe, who sinned? God said to him: And am I your informer? Rather, cast lots to determine who is guilty.

The Gemara relates that the story about Shmuel HaKatan is similar to an incident that occurred when Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was sitting and teaching, and he smelled the odor of garlic. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was very sensitive and could not tolerate this odor. He said: Whoever ate garlic should leave. Rabbi Ḥiyya stood up and left. Out of respect for Rabbi Ḥiyya, all of those in attendance stood up and left. The next day, in the morning, Rabbi Shimon, son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, found Rabbi Ḥiyya, and he said to him: You are the one who disturbed my father by coming to the lecture with the foul smell of garlic. Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: There should not be such behavior among the Jewish people. I would not do such a thing, but I assumed the blame and left so that the one who did so would not be embarrassed.

God forbid that I should eat garlic when he comes to his study hall. But it was rather so as not to whiten the face of the one who ate the garlic that I left, so that they would all leave and they would not know who he is.

You are the one who disturbed father, etc.: Rashi explained: As you ate the garlic, etc. But it is difficult: Everyone else also left after Rabbi Chiyya , implying that they all knew that Rabbi Chiyya did not leave because he ate the garlic, but in order that the one who ate it not be embarrassed, and that is why they also left. And if so, it wouldn't make sense that Rabbi Shimon did not know and did not understand this. As why else would they have all left?

...It seems to me that there is no difficulty at all. For surely the fact that everybody left is not a proof that Rabbi Chiya didn't eat garlic, because it is possible to argue that those who left after him did so for his honor, so that he would not be embarrassed to leave alone.

It appears that it can be explained that they certainly all knew that he was not the eater, and that is why they all left. And [Rabbi Shimon} meant "you are the one who disturbed father with your leaving the study hall [such that] they all left behind you. So you disturbed father with the cessation of Torah [study] at that time. For you should not have left; rather just the one who ate it should have left by himself." So he said to him, "There should not be such in Israel." For the cessation of Torah is certainly a transgression and an iniquity, but embarrassing a Jew - there should not be such a great sin among the Jewish people, and it is better to cease Torah than to embarrass a Jew.