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Nigei Batim

By: SFW Students & Alumna
Alexis Levy ('08)

In this week’s parsha, we read about tzara’at of the house.

Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aharon saying, when you come to the Land of Canaan which I am giving to you as a possession (achuza), and I will give (v’natati) a tzara’at affliction upon a house in the land of your possession (achuzatchem), the one to whom the house belongs shall come and tell the kohen, saying, ‘something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house.’

(Vayikra 14:33-35)

The Rishonim seem to be split over whether being afflicted by tzara’at of the house is good news or bad news. Rashi cites the Midrash and says that tzara’at of the house was good news. When the Canaanites heard that Bnei Yisrael were coming to Eretz Canaan, they hid their gold in the walls of their houses. After Bnei Yisrael arrived in Israel and saw the tzara’at in their houses, they had to break the walls down and, upon doing so they would find the hidden money. This explanation seems to stem from the word v’natati, and I will give, which has positive connotations.

However, the Gemara, in Yoma 11b, says that tzara’at of the home comes as a result of tzarot ayin, miserliness. It afflicts those who repeatedly tell people, ‘I would love to let you borrow the item but I don’t own it’. The person is afflicted by tzara’at of the house, forcing them to empty their homes of all its contents, showing their neighbours that they actually do own the item they had asked to borrow. The Kli Yakar adds to this idea, saying that the root of this bad character trait is thinking that everything belongs to you, achuzatchem. Therefore, Hashem afflicts the house to remind the person that everything is from Hashem’s table, achuza granted from Hashem.

These two opinions leave us confused about the meaning behind finding tzara’at on our homes. Maybe this is the reason behind the uncertainty in the words that the owner tells the Kohen, ‘something like an affliction’. He is uncertain whether the tzara’at is good news or bad news.

Many commentators, although agreeing that tzara’at of the house comes as a result of a sin, still say that there is an element of good news involved. The Or Hachaim Hakadosh says that it is a sign of Hashem’s rachamim that He first afflicts houses, and then clothes and then the person himself. An affliction of the house is the first warning that there is something wrong with a person’s behaviour and he needs to examine his actions to find the problem and then correct the flaw.

We can also ask the question of why specifically with tzara’at of the house Hashem mentions that it will only happen when we enter Eretz Yisrael. The Mishna in Negaim tells us that tzara’at of the house only afflicts actual buildings of wood and stone and so this would not be applicable in the midbar where they lived in tents, whereas their clothes and bodies could be afflicted in the midbar. These dinim of tzara’at of the house would only come into practice after entering the Land of Israel. However, there is a deeper reason behind the mention of Eretz Yisrael in connection with tzara’at of the house. According to the Ibn Ezra, tzara’at of the house is specific to Eretz Yisrael because of the higher level of kedusha there. When we live in Eretz Yisrael, we, as Am Yisrael, are subject to a higher level of hashgacha and so we have that one extra stage of warning before we ourselves are afflicted with tzara’at. We have an extra chance to change.

Why does this extra level specifically afflict our houses?

Wherever we are in the world, we can own our bodies or our clothes, but the only place we can truly own our homes is in Eretz Yisrael which we were given as an achuza. This can lead to tzarot ayin, thinking that everything belongs to us. It is essential to remember that Hashem gave it to us as an achuza. However, there is also a message for those of us who do not yet live in Israel. We sometimes make the mistake of feeling too much at home in Chutz La’aretz. Yosef, himself makes this mistake when he appears to become too comfortable in Mitzrayim, signified by the same root, achaz.

Israel settled in the land of Egypt in the region of Goshen; they acquired property (vayeachazu) in it and they were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

(Shmot 47:27)

Ya’akov reminds him, as he is about to die, not to forget achuzat olam, Eretz Yisrael, our eternal possession and inheritance.

Yaakov said to Yosef, ‘Kel Shakkai had appeared to me in Luz in the land of Canaan and He blessed me. He said to me, ‘Behold - I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make you a congregation of nations, and I will give this land to your offspring after you as an eternal possession (achuzat olam)’ 

(Shmot 48:3-4)

We should remember wherever we are in the world, and however comfortable we feel, that Eretz Yisrael is our true home and it is only there that we merit that extra level of protection from the Eternal Giver.

May we all merit to return home soon and to once again feel Hashem’s protecting Hand.