tazria-metzora-tzoraas

these are 2 of the most enigmatic sections of the Torah as they seem to be dealing with leprosy in the old-fashioned leper colony solution. that is isolation and blaming of the victim due to fear and ignorance...
the Rambam was the first to address the concept of torah categories of tzoraas by declaring emphatically that the tzoraas mentioned here is not the psoriasis of common knoweledge.
rather this was a miraculous plague visited upon a person who caused dissention by his words . the sin known as loshon hora - evil tongue has many strata to it. the worst are the secret remarks that injure one's reputation without the victim being able to defend himself. in those cases G-d helps identify the problem to the sinner as one's words are easily forgotten. the person saying them could say that i really didn't mean any harm and go on as if nothing occured.
therefore the punishment came in visible and unusual ways to remind the person to look into oneself and make ammends.
first the plague enterred one's house . if he didn't change it would appear on his clothing.
if that didn't get his attention , then it grew on his body.
although Rambam's premise is the same as the classical commentaries, his approach is different as the order of the plagues is actuo is different from the order that appears in the Torah.
in the sidra the order begins with Tzoraas of the person,then the clothing and finally the tzoraas of houses.
according to the commentaries the knowledge of the source of this sin is so well known that there is no need to gradually bring the person into focusing on his behavior as the sin of loson hora is known for its' tzoraas effect. When Moses suggested that the people of Israel would not believe him , G-d showed him that his hand was leprous. this indicated to Moses that he had to watch his words when referring to the chosen people.
Tzoraas is the impurity of man's body. a human being is naturally able to avoid contamination
unlike the animal which is considered tomay except for certain kinds of animals.
the human being in his natural state has no impurity. it is one's actions that make a person pure or impure. by indulging in gossip the individual does 2 thigs.
one is that he hurts another without thinking much of the consequences and second since it isn't violent there is rarely any remorse.
this is what makes this sin unique in branding the person as tomay - impure. a thief doesn't need to be rejected-people shy away from him,even his friends. the loshon hora man has people flocking to hear his tidbits of impropriety.not only is he a danger to the victim, his effect is harmful to a society, without them realizing the hurt that it does.
therefore he had to be isolated before his attitude infects others to do the same. this is why he is declared to be tomay-impure and to be shunned. a scoundrel is alienated by his crimes. the gossiper is given honor-just look at your newspapers. talebearing.gossiping ,slandering are all degrees of the same general disorder within us. we like to hear that the powerful.rich and famous have character flaws. it makes us happier with our own warts. this attitude is divive and potentially dangerous to the fabric of a society. much of the feuds of families as well as countries can be traced to unkind words spoken.
the Torah tells us beware the slandereer and the talebearer . for they can destroy what has taken eons to build.
Trust!