Parshas Metzora – The Aristocratic Home

Part I.Recognizing the GiftsTZARA’AS IS A GIFT?!כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה “When you shall come to the land which I give you as a possession, וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם and I shall give a plague of leprosy upon a house of the land of your possession” (Metzora 14:34). In studying thispossukthechachomimtook note of the wordnosati, “I shall give to you.” “I will give” a plague instead of the more common, וְשַׂמְתִּי “I will place” implies a gift of sorts,and remarkably, that’s howchazalunderstood these words. “These are good tidings to them that plagues would come upon them”, thechachomimsay.Now, what good tidings could there be in a home that is contaminated withtzara’as, a home that has to be knocked down? Sochazaltell us that upon hearing that the Am Yisroel was advancing towards them, theCanaanimhad concealed their wealth; all of their gold and silver, in the walls of their houses (Vayikra Rabbah 17:6). And when the loyal Jew obeyed the law ofnig’ei battim, and eventually he knocked down the walls as commanded in this week’sparsha, he discovered the wealth that had been hidden there all along.And so, it was thetzara’asthat Hashem had “given” to the owner of this house that became the bearer of good tidings. Because this family had possessed a great store of wealth in the walls of their home, only that they weren’t aware of what they possessed. And it was only when thetzara’ascame that they realized what a trea