Rabbi Lavery-Yizraeli writes that tzara’at is not a medical condition, even though it seems like it is. Only the Kohen diagnoses, and a Kohen cannot diagnose for himself. In fact, without a qualified Kohen, the tzara’at cannot exist, because it requires the Kohen’s declaration. Slander is actually considered to be the cause of it, rather than another type of exposure.
Rabbi Mintz writes that, despite post-biblical and contemporary thought, judgments of impurity that are affiliated with “uncleanness”, or “sinfulness” related to the chata’at are not in accordance with the text. In fact, tuma’a is not connected to demonic forces, nor dirt or infection, but simple nature; tangible realities of the human condition juxtaposed with the Divine.
Rabbi Sacks addresses the challenge of ritual impurity by citing Rambam. Rambam writes that a person cannot be flesh and blood, without also being subject to external influences. As Rabbi Sacks continues, Judaism eschews both hedonism and asceticism; by sanctifying the physical, the human life becomes a vehicle for the Divine Presence.