Let us first introduce the pertinent laws regarding tzara’at. The first verse in this regard states, “If a person develops a wool-white spot, a white-shaded spot, or a snow-white spot on the skin of his flesh” (בהרת או ספחת או שאת בעור בשרו). The literal translation would be a little different and the sages identify the first type of lesion—one that is “raised” (שאת) and here translated as “wool white”—and the third type of lesion—one that is “bright” (בהרת) and here translated as “snow-white”—as the two main categories of lesion. The second type of lesion, the one that is literally a “rash” (ספחת) and here translated as “white-shaded,” is a sub-type. What is a bit complex is that the sub-type of each category has the same name, “rash” (ספחת), so the second type of lesion in the verse is the name of two separate sub-types of lesions, one that is subordinate to the raised category of lesions and one that is subordinate to the bright category of lesions.
What differentiates the categories and the sub-types from one another is that each is a different shade of white. When a lesion appears in any of these shades, it is considered impure, because these “whites” are not from a holy dimension (we tend to associate white with purity), because here they represent a state of self-exoneration coupled with a critical attitude to others.
The highest shade of white is described as “snow white” (כזזה שלג)—that is the “bright” (בהרת). Its sub-type is the shade that is white “as the lime of the Temple” (כסיד ההיכל). The “raised” (שאת) lesion is described as white “like white wool” (כצמר לבן). Its sub-type is the shade that is described as white “like the membrane of an egg” (כקרום ביצה).
(from Wonders Magazine / HaRav Yitzchak Ginsburgh • Tazria 5784)
