Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses an unusual halacha regarding tzaraas, based on the verse:

“Then the priest shall look; and behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce the one who has the mark pure; it is all turned white—he is pure” (Vayikra 13:13).

Why should tzaraas that spreads over the entire body result in purity? One would think it indicates corruption beyond repair.

The Gemara Sanhedrin (97a) uses this halachic phenomenon in an interesting metaphoric manner:

“Rabbi Neḥemya says: During the generation that the son of David comes, arrogance will proliferate and the cost of living will corrupt people so they will engage in deceit. The vine will produce its fruit, and nevertheless, the wine will be costly. And the entire gentile monarchy will be converted to heresy, and there will be no inclination among the people to accept rebuke. This baraisa supports the opinion of Rabbi Yitzḥak, as Rabbi Yitzḥak says: The son of David will not come until the entire kingdom will be converted to heresy. Rava says: What is the verse from which this statement is derived? It is the verse: “It is all turned white; he is ritually pure” (Leviticus 13:13). One is a leper and ritually impure only if he has a leprous mark, however small, but not if his skin is completely leprous. Similarly, the world will be redeemed only when the Jewish people reach their lowest point.”

The Gemara uses this phenomenon as a metaphor: the world will only be redeemed when it reaches total spiritual decay—“it is all turned white; he is pure.”

The Maharal (Netzach Yisrael 35) explains that any new creation involves the destruction of its prior form. Like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, or an egg transforming at conception, the emergence of a new phase requires the death of the old. The decay of the world at the end of days is therefore the prelude to its rebirth.

Similarly, the metzora whose flesh turns completely white symbolizes the destruction of the prior self, allowing for spiritual regeneration. As with a clay vessel that can only become pure by being shattered and remade (Vayikra 11:33), sometimes life’s utter breakdown is the beginning of renewal.

Though painful, such “white-out” moments—when it feels like you have nothing left—can mark the hidden point of transformation.