Leviticus 14:1 And יהוה spoke to Moses saying, 2 זֹאת This will be the Torah of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He will be brought to the priest: 3 And the priest will go outside of the camp; and the priest examines to see if the sores have healed in the afflicted person. C-MATS
Question: What are seven things that bring on tzara’at?
- slander
- bloodshed
- false oath
- incest
- pride
- robbery
- envy
Question: Why is the metzora brought to the Priest? The Priest’s function as a condemner and ostracizer runs contrary to his most basic nature and role. The Priest is commanded by יהוה to “bless His people Israel with love.” A “disciple of Aaron” is one who “loves peace, pursues peace, loves יהוה’s creatures and brings them close to Torah.” But this is precisely the reason that the Torah entrusts to the Priest the task of condemning the metzora. There is nothing more hateful to יהוה than division between His children. The metzora must be ostracized because, through his slander and tale bearing, he is himself a source of discord; nevertheless, the Torah is reluctant to separate him from the community. So it is not enough that the technical experts say that he marked by tzara’at. It is only when the Priest–whose very being shudders at the thought of banishing a member of the community–is convinced that there is no escaping a verdict of tzara’at, that the metzora is separated from his people. And it is only when the one doing the banishing is covered with loving concern for the banished person, that the penalty will yield a positive result–the repentance and rehabilitation of the metzora. There is another lesson here as well: it is not the fact of the tzara’at that renders the metzora impure, but the Priest’s declaration of his impurity. In other words, no matter how terrible a person’s state may be, to speak ill of him is more terrible still. The Priest’s saying that he is impure affects his spiritual state far more profoundly than the actual fact of his tzara’at! Chumash