“Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the way, upon your exodus from Egypt” (Deuteronomy 24:9). “Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam” – halakha: If a person has a leprous spot and has a relative who is a priest, what is the ruling, is it permitted for him [the relative] to examine it?13The halachic status of leper must be conferred by a priest (Leviticus 13:2). This is what the Sages taught: A person [a priest] may examine any leprous spot other than his own leprous spot; Rabbi Meir says: He is also [barred from examining] the leprous spots of his relatives.
Through what [sin] does leprosy come about? It is a result of parsimony. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It is a common occurrence that when a person says to another: ‘Lend me your axe so I can chop this wood with it,’ he [evades the request and] says: ‘I do not have one,’ due to parsimony. Similarly, one may say [to his neighbor]: ‘By your life, lend me your sieve,’ and he [that neighbor] has one, but says: ‘I do not have one,’ due to parsimony.
As a result, leprosy befalls his house first. From where is this derived? It is as it is stated: “He shall examine the leprous spot, and, behold, the leprous spot is in the walls” (Leviticus 14:37). What would they do to him?
They would remove everything that he had in his house. From where is this known? It is as it is stated: “The priest shall command, and they shall empty out the house” (Leviticus 14:36). When he would take out everything that he had in his house, [including] his axes and sieves, people would say: ‘Do you see the parsimony that he exhibited?
He did not want to lend something that he owned.’ What caused him to empty out [his house]? It is because he had [the flaw of] parsimony. Another interpretation, Rabbi Ḥanina said: Leprosy comes about specifically as a result of malicious speech.
The Rabbis said: You may know for a fact that leprosy comes about as a result of malicious speech, as the righteous Miriam, because she uttered malicious speech regarding Moses her brother, leprosy befell her, as it is stated: “Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam.”