2022/5782
Adapted from Rabbi Yamin Goldsmith's FMT series
Last week's Parashah, Parashat Tazria, discussed Tzara'at on one's body and clothing. This week's Parashah, Parashat Metzora, examines Tzara'at one's house.
In the beginning of Aliyat Revi'i, Hashem introduces the concept of Tzara'at on the house with a seemingly ordinary Pasuk: "כי תבאו אל־ארץ כנען אשר אני נתן לכם לאחזה ונתתי נגע צרעת בבית ארץ אחזתכם," "Once you arrive in Eretz Yisrael which I gave you to receive and I will give you Tzara'at on your house" (VaYikra 14:34). Rashi quotes a Midrash in Vayikra Rabbah that says that Tzara'at on the house is a blessing because it leads people to remove bricks from their houses or even destroy their homes. When the natives of Eretz Yisrael heard that Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim and were heading to Eretz Yisrael, the natives hid their gold in the walls of their houses so that the Jews would not retrieve the gold when they captured Eretz Yisrael. When the Jews would remove the bricks from their walls, they would find the treasures hidden by the previous homeowners.
Rashi seems to be saying that Tzara'at on the house is a gift. If so, why did Hashem make us go through the entire hassle of bringing the Kohen and cleaning the house just to give us a gift? Also, why is Hashem seemingly rewarding us by giving us treasures for doing the egregious act of speaking Lashon HaRa?
On a basic level, one can relate the case of Nigei Batim to all other Aveirot and punishments that we bring upon ourselves. For every Aveirah that we do, there is a hidden treasure. When we do Aveirot, we push ourselves farther from Hashem and from reaching our potential. When Hashem punishes (hopefully, the punishments only affect our houses and not something closer to us), He does us a favor by giving us a nudge in the right direction. When we understand that Hashem is trying to help us and then accept the Musar and better ourselves, we realize that the punishment was a hidden treasure to return us to the right path. We can appreciate that the Simchah of returning to Hashem is worth far more than the pleasure of the Aveirah.
The Sefat Emet (Rav Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter zt" l) adds a deeper meaning to the Midrash. The Sefat Emet quotes Chabakuk 2:11: "כי־אבן מקיר תזעק וכפיס מעץ יעננה," "The stone will cry out of the wall and the beam of the wood will cry out." The Gemara (Ta'anit 11a) explains that this Pasuk states that the stones and wooden beams of one's house will testify against the person in Shamayim. When people do Aveirot in the privacy of their own homes, they think that nobody is watching, but NO, the walls are watching, and they testify against us in Shamayim. You and your home both are negatively affected by sin. However, if we can bring Aveirot to the walls, we can also bring Kedushah to the walls. We can make our homes places of spirituality and Kedushah, and that is the hidden treasure in our walls. Our job is to find the hidden treasure by bringing Kedushah to our homes. Be'Ezrat Hashem, we should internalize this message, and hopefully, we will not need Aveirot and punishments to show us how we can uncover the Kedushah of our homes.