The Torah speaks of a disease of the skin called tzaraat. It usually appears as a small white spot, sometimes with a red dot inside.
For treatment, a person does not go to a doctor. Instead, the person goes to a kohen. If the kohen determines it matches the symptoms set forth by the Torah, he declares it tzaraat.
Tzaraat does not have physical causes, its causes are spiritual. Our rabbis teach it is a result of misdeeds, in particular lashon hora, disparaging gossip.
A person who maintains a high standard of holiness is allergic to misdeeds. The misdeed is like an allergen to the body, and the body reacts with a skin sore.
Two people in Torah contracted tzaraat: Moshe and his sister Miriam, two of the holiest people in our history! Although their misdeeds were quite minor, they were so holy that their bodies reacted by developing tzaraat.
This is why the mishna teaches (Negaim 3:1) Kuthites cannot contract tzaraat. Kuthites were a people who converted to Judaism without sincere intentions. Tzaraat is the result of spiritual impurity. A person who is spiritually deficient is not affected by the impurity of a misdeed.
There are many people who commit misdeeds, including malicious gossip, who do not develop tzaraat. A close look at a verse in Mishlei holds the answer.
(Mishlei 21:23) שומר פיו ולשונו, שומר מצרות נפשו / “Someone who guards his mouth and tongue guards his soul from troubles.” With paronomasia, the word מצרות / “mitzarot” / “from troubles” can be read מצרעת / “mitzaraat” / “from tzaraat”. (In English it does not sound very different, but in Hebrew it is a different word.)
The verse then reads, “Someone who guards his mouth and tongue guards his soul from tzaraat.” Malicious gossip causes the soul to develop tzaraat, even if it does not appear on the body.
A person who has been diagnosed by the kohen to have tzaraat must stay outside the city’s walls until the spot gets smaller or fades. (Tazria 13:46) בדד ישב, מחוץ למחנה / “He shall stay in isolation, outside the camp.”
This can mean the soul with tzaraat remains outside the sphere of the Shechina, the Divine Presence.
