One of the fascinating halachos that we find in connection with tzaras is that the Kohen who declares the Metzora pure or impure must have good eyesight. If he is blind or even weaker in one eye the Kohen is unfit pronounce the status of the Metzora. At first glance, this halacha seems to make perfect sense. If the Kohen can’t see the nega tzaras, how can he pronounce someone Tamei or Tahor? But this is not so simple. To begin with the Kohen is just making the declaration. If he is a minor or ignorant in the area of tzaras, a chacham who is knowledgeable in these areas is brought in to determine if it is tzaras and he then tells the Kohen what to say. Being blind does not prevent a Kohen from saying what the chacham tells him to say. The Rambam (Hilchos Tumas Tzaras 9:5) teaches that a Kohen who is a baal mum, while he is not fit for service in the Beis HaMikdash, is indeed capable of declaring someone a Metzora. Why would a blind man be any different? The Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, explained that Tumas Tzaras is the worst form of Tumah. Not only is the Metzora expelled from the community, even other people who are tamei are forbidden from sitting with him. On the other hand, tzaras is only is skin deep. It does not penetrate the actual person. The Metzora may have done a terrible aveira but that does not mean that his essence is in any way changed. We refer to someone who is blind as a sagi nahor, someone who sees too much light. While many assume that this is jus
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