ears, nose, breasts, etc.), those that occur in the location of an unhealed boil or burn, and those that occur in hairy parts of the body, do not indicate tzaraath.Nega'im 6:8 The items used in the purification ritual were specifically included to deliver a message to the metzora. The sin most associated with tzaraath is lashon hara (an "evil tongue", to speak derogatorily about others consistently to one's friends is likened to birds, who chatter endlessly. In a similar vein, the one who speaks ill of others is haughty, holding himself or herself high above others and is likened to the tall cedar. To be healed, the metzora must erase arrogance, making themselves lowly like a worm. This is a play on words—the word tola'as (תולעת) means both "red" and "worm" – as well as hyssop. Current practice The laws of tzaraat are not practiced by contemporary Jews. Views differ as to why this is the case. According to one approach, one could contract tzaraath nowadays, but this is practically irrelevant because in the absence of a Temple it is impossible to perform the tzaraath purification ritual, and because since the exile there is no commandment to remove tzaraath sufferers from the camp. According to another approach, one cannot formally acquire the status of tzaraath since there are currently no priests with proven priestly lineage who can declare this status, or else because current priests do not have the necessary tradition or knowledge to determine the status, or because the Temple robes which must be worn while declaring the status are unavailable. A third approach is that in times of exile tzaraath is not regarded as a direct Divine punishment with a ritual remedy, but rather as a normal physical disease whose treatment is purely medical. Affliction of clothing Tzaraath can also afflict garments (Leviticus 13:47). Garment tzaraath is relevant to only three materials: wool (Hebrew צמר) linen (Hebrew פשתים) Two types of leather are indicated in Leviticus 13:48: unworked leather (עור) finished leather (כל מלאכת עור, literally "all worked leather") In a wool or linen garment, the tzaraath may appear as a uniformly existing negah within the material or as a negah limited to either only the woof or warp (או בשתי או בערב) of the garment (Leviticus 13:48). There are a number of limitations to tzaraath as it applies to clothing: Clothing belonging to a gentile are insusceptible