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Parshiyot Tazria-Metzora famously deal with the intricacies of tzara’at, the spiritual malady which resulted from speaking lashon hara (amongst other sins). As we all know, lashon hara emanates from a skewed perspective of another’s character, and, like love, is entirely in the eyes of the beholder. In fact, the pasuk describing the kohein’s determination of a skin deformation as being tzara’at states, והנה עמד הנגע בעיניו - and behold the discoloration persisted in his eyes.
In kabbalistic teachings the word נגע - affliction, is closely associated with the word ענג - pleasure, the only difference being where you place your ayin, or, in other words, where you place your eyes. If your ayin is placed at the end of the word, in other words, if your ayin sees the unflattering aspects of another’s character, the result is a נגע, an affliction. However, if your ayin is placed at the beginning of the word, in other words, your ayin sees the laudatory aspects of another’s character, the resulting word is ענג - pleasure.
This perspective on tzara’at helps explain an interesting peculiarity in the laws of tzara’at. The pasuk states that if the discoloration spread to every part of the metzora’s body, the metzora is actually tahor! This counterintuitive halacha shows us that when the tzara’at is full-blown and apparent to everyone, it leads the onlooker to jump to an obvious, skin-deep, and incorrect conclusion that the afflicted is guilty. In this case, everyone sees a נגע, when in fact they should have seen ענג.
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