וְהַצָּרוּעַ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ הַנֶּגַע בְּגָדָיו יִהְיוּ פְרֻמִ ים וגו' וְטָמֵא טָמֵא יִקְרָ א (יג, מה)
And the person in whom there is the nega, his garments shall be torn... and he shall call out, “Tamei! Tamei!” (13:45)
The Gemara says (Shabbos 67A): “’He shall call out: Tamei! Tamei.’ He must publicize his pain to the public, and the public should daven for mercy for him.”
Sefer Medrash Yehonasan asks why a metzorah needs to publicize his pain to the public more than anyone else who is suffering.
He answers by citing the pasuk (Bereishis 21:17) that says regarding Yishmoel: “And Hashem heard the voice of the lad.” Rashi states that we learn from this verse that the prayers of a sick person for himself are more effective than the prayers that others pray for him. The Medrash Yehonasan says that this is true regarding most sick people but is not true regarding a metzorah. The Zohar Hakadosh (Chelek 3, 53A) says that a metzorah is called “musgar” (literally “closed’) because the gates of Heaven are closed to his tefillos. Therefore, he must ask others to daven for him because, as opposed to all other sick people, his prayers are blocked from being heard in Shomayim.
