In Jewish tradition, the Moshiach (Messiah) is referred to as a "metzora" (a person afflicted with tzaraat, or spiritual leprosy) because, like a metzora, he will be an outcast who bears the collective sickness and suffering of the Jewish people and the world to bring about a time of healing and Redemption. This suffering is not a punishment but a spiritual refinement, and the metzora's purification process in the Torah serves as a metaphor for the ultimate healing of the world through the Moshiach.