The Kohen has the first and last word in regard to negaim, plagues. Toras Kohanim states that it is a gezeiras haKasuv, Biblical edict, that the rendering of tumah and taharah, impurity or purity, is solely in the hands of the Kohanim. Sforno adds that the Kohanim are the ones who teach and guide the people in the spiritual dimension. Interfacing with them all will encourage the metzora, afflicted sinner, to repent and mend his ways. While the Kohen is the decisor concerning negaim, Chazal say that “one can see/inspect all negaim, except his own.” Even a simple, clean-cut plague cannot…
