Although the plague of tzara’as shows up on the skin, it is not symptomatic of a physical ailment, but of a spiritual one.

We are told that seven things can cause tzara’as.

The primary causes are ga’avah— haughtiness and lashon hara — speaking evil of other people.

Other secondary causes, which flow from these two primary causes, are murder, forbidden sexual relationships, theft, stinginess and false oaths.

The first primary symptom of tzara’as is “s’eis,” an elevated swelling of the skin.

The word s’eis comes from the word lehitnasei, to elevate oneself. This symptom is caused by a false feeling of elevation. It is only when one feels superior that one speaks lashon hara and puts others down. The lofty heights of self-congratulation prevent one from placing oneself in the shoes of the other and reaching the honest conclusion that under the same circumstances, one might well have acted the same way.

The second primary symptom of tzara’as is baheres, a bright spot on the skin. The word baheres comes from the word “bahir” which means clear or bright. Because I am so bright, it is clear to me that I am always right and I become self-opinionated. Others who do not share my view are simply wrong. This sense of false self-assuredness stems from ga’avah, haughtiness.

Because one imagines oneself superior to others, one feels entitled to misappropriate their belongings or relationships, to withdraw any assistance from them, to lie under oath when it gives one a leg up, or if all else fails, to push people out of one’s way.

These two primary categories of selfish behavior, lashon hara and ga’avah, lead to the five sub- categories of destructive conduct mentioned above that cause tzara’as. That is why the Torah refers to them as sapachas, which comes from the word safiach, which means something which grows out of something else.

Once these symptoms appear on the skin, the Kohen, the spiritual doctor, is called in to diagnose them to see whether there are tell-tale signs of spiritual contamination, Tumah.

There are several of these tell-tale signs:

One of them is that a hair in the afflicted area has turned white. The hair of a person who is old in his ways turns white. We are told that once a person commits the same sin many times, it loses the properties of something which is forbidden and by dint of age-old repetition, morphs into something which is considered permissible. There is no way back for the hair that has turned white with age or for the whitewash of habit that turns wrong into right. The Kohen’s diagnosis is that this person is spiritually contaminated.

Another tell-tale sign is that there is healthy flesh within the afflicted area. Focusing on the healthy area, the afflicted person remains in a state of denial. He protests, “I’m all right Jack,” and refuses to admit his faults or mend his ways. This too leads the Kohen to the determination that this person is spiritually contaminated.

What is the cure for someone who has been diagnosed with tzara’as? To find the cure, one must look for the cause.

The common factor in the two primary causes, lashon hara and ga’avah, is that the person thought too much of himself. Perhaps he dressed beyond his station in life. To bring him down to earth, his clothes have to be torn. He must walk around in tattered clothes, like the poor people he denigrated.

Perhaps, like Yosef before him, he paid too much attention to his hair and that got him into trouble. He must therefore humble himself by letting his hair grow wild.

Perhaps he spoke lashon hara. He must therefore cover up his lips and stop speaking about other people altogether. For as we know, even praising someone in public triggers the “yes, but” reaction.

And he must proclaim in public that he is spiritually contaminated, because the first step towards repentance is admission.

The final cure for tzara’as is dwelling in isolation, outside of the walls of society. One needs to suffer the pain of isolation that one’s slander and arrogance caused others. In addition, living in isolation prevents one from peering into other peoples’ business and reminds one to put one’s own house in order before judging others.

What is the source of the word tzara’as and how should one translate it?

Since the Hebrew letters tzadi and siyen are interchangeable, the word “tzarua” can be read as “sarua.”

One of the disqualifying impediments that prevent a Kohen from officiating in the Temple is a person who is a sarua, who has one foot or arm larger than the other. In other words, there is something about him that extends beyond his natural boundaries. Maybe it is a long arm or maybe it is a big head.

Emphasizing the fact that tzara’as is a spiritual ailment rather than a physical illness, Onkelos translates it as the “plague of isolation.” It is the plague of one who isolates himself from others by putting himself on a pedestal and who must therefore endure the punishment of being isolated by others. This punishment will lead to his cure.

Raphael Grunfeld, a partner at the Wall Street law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, received Semichah in Yoreh Yoreh from Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem of America and in Yadin Yadin from Harav Haga’on Dovid Feinstein, Zt”l from whose Shiurim which he attended for twenty years, many of these ideas are taken.