Midrash su Levitico 13:2

1) (Vayikra 13:1) ("And the L–rd spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: (Vayikra 13:2) A man, if there shall be in the skin of his flesh se'eth or sapachath or bahereth, and it become in the skin of his flesh a plague-spot of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the Cohein or to one of his sons, the Cohanim.") "if there shall be in the skin of his flesh": What is the intent of this ("shall be" rather than "is")? Because it is written (Vayikra 13:38) "And a man or a woman, if there be in the skin of their flesh white beharoth … he is clean," this tells me only of beharoth which did not arrive at the status of maroth ("appearances" [of plague-spots]) viz.: plague-spots (negaim) which appeared in a non-Jew before he became a proselyte (even though it remained the same after his conversion; (a plague-spot) in a fetus before it was born (which could not be inspected by the Cohein in utero, and which remained the same after birth); in a crease (in the flesh) which was (later) revealed (when the flesh became taut); in the head and the beard (which appeared when he became bald); in a "rebellious" boil or burn or inflammation — (All of these are clean even though they are now "maroth," because when they originated they were not susceptible of inspection by the Cohein. What is their status) if their appearance changes, either lessening or deepening in intensity? R. Elazar b. Azaryah says: It is clean, (for though it changed in appearance, it still originated from the first, non-inspectable plague-spot). R. Elazar b. Chasma says: If of lesser intensity, it is clean (being a "waning" of the original plague-spot); if of deeper intensity, it is to be inspected anew, (being considered a new plague-spot). R. Akiva says: Whether of lesser or deeper intensity it is to be inspected anew. (And) it is in this connection that it is written "A man, if there shall be" (connoting a change [i.e., deeper or lesser intensity] from a pre-existing condition).

2) I might think that just as it (bahereth) is third in order of the verse (Vayikra 13:2), it is third in order of appearance (i.e., of brightness); it is, therefore, written "white." It is white and there is no (white) above it in brightness. And what is its whiteness like? Like (the whiteness of) snow, as it is written (Bamidbar 12:10) "And, behold, Miriam was as leprous as snow."

(Numb. 19:2:) “This is the statute of the Torah.” This text is related (to Job 14:4), “Who can produce something clean out of something unclean; is it not One?”³²English translations usually translate these last four words as NO ONE. [Who], for example, [produced] Abraham out of Terah, Hezekiah out of Ahaz, Josiah out of Amon, Mordecai out of Shimei, Israel out of the nations of the world, the world to come out of this world?³³Numb. R. 19:1; PRK, 4:1. [So] who did so? Who commanded so? And who decreed so? Is it not One? Is it not the Singular Being of the World? We have learned elsewhere (in Neg. 8:2),³⁴Cf. ibid. 8:3, 6-9. “If one has a bright spot the size of a bean, he is unclean”³⁵The traditional Mishnah text here does not specifically declare such a one unclean, although the uncleanness may be inferred, especially when the passage is read in connection with Lev. 13:2-3.; [yet] if it has burst out all over him, he is clean. Who did so? Who decreed so? Who commanded so? Is it not One? Is it not the Singular Being of the World? We have learned elsewhere (in Hul. 4:3), “In the case of the woman whose fetus died within her belly, if [a midwife] inserted her hand [into the womb] and touched it, the midwife is unclean for seven days, but the woman remains clean until the fetus comes forth. And so it is that while the dead person is in the house, the house is clean; when he comes forth from it, he makes it unclean.” Who did this? Is it not One? Is it not the Singular Being of the World? We have learned elsewhere (in Parah 4:4; Hul. 29b), “All who are occupied with the [rite of the red] cow from beginning to end render [their] clothes unclean, while the [cow] herself makes [what is unclean] clean.” Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, has said, “I have enacted a statute for you; I have issued a decree! So you are not authorized to transgress against my decree.”