אבן עזרא — בגדיו יהיו פרומים / על תנוך אזן המטהר הימנית

Q — Why must the metzora wear torn clothes and let his hair grow wild? And why does the kohen later place blood on the right thumb, right big toe, and right ear-tip of the metzora's purification day?

A — Ibn Ezra weaves the two into a single arc of teshuvah. The torn clothes and wild hair are not merely identification ("טמא טמא יקרא") — though that is one possibility — they are signs of AVEILUS. The metzora mourns "רוע מעשיו," because the affliction came from his deeds; tzara'at is the body publishing the soul's state. The seven-day exclusion is structured teshuvah. Then on the purification day, the blood is placed at three specific points: the right thumb ("עיקר כל המעשים" — where action begins), the right ear-tip ("זכר לשמוע אשר צווה" — listening to what God commanded), and the right big toe (foundation of all movement). These mark the three loci that need repair — action, hearing, foundation. The right side is the side of strength. The korbanot atone for the past; the blood-placement orients the metzora toward the future. The entire ritual is a structured reentry into society and into self, designed by the chiddush that tzara'at is moral feedback. (Particularly relevant: tzara'at as "מוסר על מעשה הלשון" — discipline for lashon hara.)