When a (Nega) affliction of Tzoras is on a person you shall bring him to a Cohen. (Vayikra 13:3)

Tzarass is woefully misunderstood. It is seen as an archaic matter, a form of leprosy that for some reason is no longer applicable or relevant. The truth is that Tzarass, according to the sainted Chofetz Chaim, this was a blessing in disguise. How so?

I went through half a dozen clunker cars until I learned two important words that have served me in good stead. Actually, it was not until I bought a more expensive vehicle and realized that I was not comfortable making payments for a car that no longer functioned that I bothered to take the user’s manual out of the glove compartment and discover this two-word phrase that has granted longer and healthier life to every one of my automobiles ever since. The two words are, “Oil change!”

Now, though, the newer cars have something the older ones did not and that is the proverbial, “Amber light!” Once the amber light goes on, or the “check engine” sign on the dashboard it’s time to ask.

Without that early warning system, we are at a real disadvantage. Tzarass was a sort of earlier warning system, an amber-light to alert us that spiritual deficiencies were starting to wreak havoc on our system. We operate now at a distinct disadvantage without Tzarass!

The Talmud tells us that even though the institution of the four types of capital punishment are no longer enforced by the Sanhedrin, even still, from heaven the enforcement department is “alive and well”. King David writes in Tehillim, “HASHEM is good and straight, therefore He instructs those who are mistaken along the way”.

King Solomon adds from Mishlei, “The foolishness of the man perverts his way and yet he directs his complaint to HASHEM.” Many mishaps in life are self-inflicted wounds that could have been avoided by simply paying attention and catching early signs. We know how this works in the world of certain medical conditions. It can be applied to driving as well. There are those ridges on the side of the road to awaken a sleepy driver and there are rest stops and warning signs as well. Yet people can foolishly and recklessly and sometimes tragically ignore those critical signs. This equally applies to all parts of life!

The Talmud gives praise to wise people with the following important aphorism, “A hint is good enough to the wise”. It may sound too obvious but unfortunately it is not. A wise person gets it with a hint! A foolish person requires stronger reminders.

The old bad joke is told about the wife that calls her husband to warn him that she heard on the news that there’s a crazy man out there driving on the wrong side of the road. He retorts, “What are you talking about!? There are thousands of people driving on the wrong side of the road!”

There’s a cute phrase that I took for a bad pun many years ago, “Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver”. Then I saw a picture depicting a fellow with silver duct tape sealing his mouth. I understood the subtle profundity of that playful phrase. If a person can quiet himself from the inside, with inner discipline, then that is the golden approach. Gold is more expensive than silver.

However, silver is valuable too. Even if someone submits themselves to some external authority, a wife, a boss, or some other form of blessed coercion, that also has tremendous value.

Again, the wisdom of Talmud applies here. We are told that one hit that a person gives himself from within removes hundreds from without. A wise and golden approach to getting things with a hint can save the person from all the subtle and heavy warning signs from without!

The Metzora was sent to a Kohain, and that was part of his cure. He needed some wise advice to learn to get it with a hint.