The Torah describes the three kinds of Tzaraat as Seit, Sapachat, and Baheret. (Vayikrah-Leviticus 13:2).  How do these words relate to this spiritual disease?

These words allude to three types of people who speak lashon hara (gossip/slander), the sin which leads to Tzaraat. Seit is related to the Hebrew word for “uplift”. This refers to people who wish to increase their own importance and put down others in order to do so.

Sapachat is related to the Hebrew word for “attach”.  This refers to people speaking lashon hara, not because it is characteristic of them but rather because they attach themselves to those who do speak in that way.

Baheret is related to the Hebrew word for “clear.” This refers to people who think they have complete clarity so that they see everything with perfect clarity and have the ability to understand everything about a person. This characteristic that they believe they possess gives them the right, so they think, to speak about others and their flaws.

Regardless of the reason for the person speaking lashon hara, it still makes the speaker impure