וּבָא אֲשֶׁר-לוֹ הַבַּיִת, וְהִגִּיד לַכֹּהֵן לֵאמֹר: כְּנֶגַע, נִרְאָה לִי בַּבָּיִת. And the one to whom the house belongs comes and tells the kohen, saying, "Something like a lesion has appeared to me in the house," (Vayikra 14:35) In explaining the word כְּנֶגַע, something like a lesion, Rashi says: שֶׁאֲפִלּוּ הוּא חָכָם וְיוֹדֵעַ שֶׁהוּא נֶגַע וַדַּאי, לֹא יִפְסֹק דָּבָר בָּרוּר לוֹמַר "נֶגַע נִרְאָה לִי", אֶלָּא "כְּנֶגַע נִרְאָה לִי" Even a Torah scholar, who knows that it is definitely a lesion [of tzara’ath ], shall not make his statement using a decisive expression, saying, “A lesion has appeared to me,” but, “Something like an lesion has appeared to me” [out of respect for the kohen , who is to make the decision]. — [ Nega’im 12:5] The Baalei Mussar ask the question, why does the Talmid Chacham who is proficient in the laws of Tzaras have to say that is something "like" a blemish. While he may not pronounce it to be Tzaras he certainly knows that is Tzaras. Why can't he simply come to the Kohen and say there is Tzaras on my home? Martin Seligman, the father of Positive Psychology provides an example to explain the difference between an optimist and a pessimist. A young couple has just had their first child. Standing over the baby's crib the father attempts to get the baby's attention but the baby does not appear to be responding to an audial stimulation. Dad comes to the immediate conclusion that their child is deaf. He quickly calls in his wife who also fails to get the baby'
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