A collection of commentaries on tsaraat of a house. The Alsheich Hakadosh says: This affliction should be considered by us, as a gift from Hashem. Why?
We read in our Parasha, of the wondrous occurrence of the house afflicted with tzaraat. The Torah relates:(14:33-35) ’Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aaron, saying:When you arrive in the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I will place a tzaraat affliction upon a house in the land of your possession ; the one to whom the house belongs shall come and declare to the Kohen, saying: Something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house.’
The Torah then describes the steps by which the house is treated ,as regards this affliction, till the ultimate step - should it be so adjudged - of the destruction of the afflicted house
If, on the other hand, it is determined that the affliction has not spread, and rendered the house afflicted, then (14:48)’’The Kohen shall declare the house to be pure, for the affliction has healed.’
Our Sages wonder:’What was the transgression of the land, that it should be afflicted?’; and answer:’ Rather, it is for the transgressions of men that the land is afflicted..Why do afflictions come to be? So that the people should see, and say that those who transgressed are afflicted, but those who did not sin, are not.
‘Why then, are the sticks and stones of the house afflicted? So that the owners of the houses should see, and do teshuva.
‘Therefore Hashem warns them, first by afflicting their houses, so that they should repent, aa we read:’And I will place a tzaraat affliction upon a house in the land of your possession.’
Our Sages add:’It is hard in Hashem’s Eyes to afflict the body of the person, so what does He do? He warns him first, as it says:’I will place a tzaraat affliction upon a house..’- He first afflicts the person’s house, and if he repents, well and good; if not, He afflicts his clothing, as the Torah relates; if he repents, well and good - but if not, the affliction is on the body of the person, as we read (13:2).’
Here we ask: What is the transgression that was punished measure-for- measure, by the house being afflicted, and - in the event that the transgressor has not repented - destroyed?
Answer our Sages:(Yoma 11:)’ What does the word לו: ‘to whom the house belongs’, come to teach, in our pasuk? - the one who keeps his house only for himself, or who does not want to lend his utensils to others, falsely saying that he does not have them; Hashem makes this known, as the affliction requires him to remove all his utensils out of his house, where all can see that he had them.
Our Sages add:( Arachin 16. ): ‘the house is afflicted because of צרות עין: ‘narrow-eyes’, which causes the person not to lend his utensils to others’.
Rav Baruch Halevi Epstein elucidates, first asking:’What was the query of the Sages, as to the word לו, as this appears to be the common usage of that word?’.
He expounds:’ Their query was that it should have merely said:’and came the owner of the house’, as we find in several other places in the Torah; the word לו alludes to one who thinks that what he has, is his forever.
‘The Torah, in choosing to use this word, tells us that this person too, thinks that his house and his utensils will remain his forever - and therefore will not lend his utensils to others, being unconcerned that he may, at some future time, have to borrow from others, too.
‘He forgets, that nothing is really ‘ours’ in this world, as ‘the wheel turns’ (Shabbat 151:).
The Breshover Rebbe brings a relevant Midrash:’Hashem takes out His anger at that person, who and how? A person asks another: Lend me a measure of wheat, and he replies: I don’t have any’ when he has, but does not want to lend to others, ‘what does Hashem do? He brings the affliction on that person’s house, and when he then is compelled to empty its contents into the street, all can see, and say: See how much wheat he has! Therefore Moshe Rabbeinu warned the people: ‘When you arrive in the land of Canaan..’’.
Expounds the Rebbe:’We learn from this, that the tzaraat afflicts houses because of the miserliness of people.
‘This in fact is why Shlomo Hamelech adjures the people: Do not bring upon yourself bad, so that you will not be afflicted: if you ensure that the ailment of miserliness does not take hold in you, but instead strengthen the measure of generosity, affliction will not come to your home.
‘This is the literal meaning of our psukim: ‘When you come to the land which (truly) I give to you as a possession ( and how, then, will you dare to be miserly, and not bring into it guests, or not loan utensils, and the like! ), and I will give the affliction of tzaraat on your house’: if you should think that it is ‘your land’, because of your actions and merits, then ‘I will bring the affliction..’, to reveal your shame - this is why Moshe issued this warning to the people.’
Rav Moshe Sternbuch adds:’ The Torah in its choice of words, comes to correct those who put their trust in their own abilities and wealth, believing that it is theirs forever: their possessions - their honor, and their house - their castle.
‘This is ‘the one to whom the house belongs’, as, in his mind, it is his private domain, and he therefore does not open its doors to those seeking his aid.
‘He will not learn nor understand mussar until the tzaraat afflicts his house, and he has to tell the Kohen, that ‘something like an affliction has appeared to me in THE house’, as he will come to understand that it the house is not ‘his’ house, and that the trust that he placed in his possessions was in vain.
‘This, alas, he will only come to realize, initially, when the Kohen commands that ‘they shall clear the house’, and, finally, when ‘he shall demolish the house’, and all its contents are revealed to all, so that it is made known that, ‘to Hashem is all the silver, and all the gold’, and he entrusted the wealth as a deposit to man, so that he should help those less fortunate and aid the poor.’
Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer notes that our Sages also see it as punishment for another transgression: for the sin of גסות רוח: haughtiness.
Expounds the Rav:’Haughtiness is likely to cause the person, when he has a nice home of his own, and his livelihood is assured, and he is feeling well satisfied with his lot, to then - as the Torah warns - (Eikev 8:14-18):,’And your heart grows haughty, and you forget the Lord, your G-d, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt..and you will say to yourself:’My strength and the might of my hand that has accumulated this wealth for me. But you must remember the Lord your G-d, for it is He that gives you strength to make wealth..’.
‘The message of these words: When it is good, and the person does not take into account that all that ‘he has’, is not due of his wisdom or to his acumen - but is solely a gift from Above - he is likely to come to the situation of:’And Yeshurun became fat and rebelled..forsook the G-d Who made them’ ( Haazinu 32:14 ).
‘The Torah comes here to warn all who have merited to settle in the land, and to become established in it, and to instructs him how to appreciate this gift.
‘This is why the pasuk is in, as it were, two halves: the first half teaches those who come to the land: ארץ כנען: that it should be בהכנעה: with submission, and requires that they should act humbly, as the land is a gift from Hashem.
‘The second part is concerned with one who does not appreciate the gift, but considers that all is due to his efforts and merits, and warns him: If you should think that it is אחוזתכם: your possession, and forget that it is a gift from Hashem, then the affliction of tzaraat will strike you, and you will be forced to demolish ‘your’house.’
The Kli Yakar also expounds that this affliction of the house, is because of צרעת עין, as our Sages deduced from the words ‘the one to whom the house belongs’ - one who does not share it, or use it to benefit others, only himself.
‘It is to test the person, that Hashem gives him wealth and a house full of all good, to see if he will use it to benefit others, as well - as, in truth, all belongs to Hashem, and all that a person gives to others, is not his that he gives, but from the Table Above, from where it comes.
‘This is why the Torah says:’When you arrive in the land.,that I give you as a possession’: there is no basis for a mean-eyed person to say:’My strength and the might of my hand that has accumulated this wealth for me’, because it is Hashem who has given him the strength and accumulation.
‘It is therefore only right that he should share ‘his’ with the poor, and, should he be amongst the narrow-minded who ascribe their wealth to themselves, then ‘I will place a tzaraat affliction upon’ your house, and - the Torah adds, immediately - ‘’the one to whom the house belongs’, who believes that his might was the cause of his ‘success’, will learn the truth.’
The Alshich Hakadosh, noting that the Torah refers to the affliction of tzaraat on houses as ונתתי:’And I will give’, comments: ‘This affliction should be considered by us, as a gift from Hashem, because, our Merciful Father, when his son transgresses, instead of afflicting his body, afflicts his house, to cause him to repent.
‘This is why the Torah says:’I will give to you this affliction of tzaraat’, to allude to it being a gift, as, by the measure of strict judgement, you should have been afflicted on your bodies.
‘To emphasize this chessed, let us note that, in the same pasuk, we also read:’the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession’, teaching that, just as the land is a gift, so too, the affliction of tzaraat on your house.
‘If you ask, why were the houses of the impure Canaanites in the land not afflicted previously by tzaraat, the answer is: why should the holy land be afflicted for the transgressions of people who were wholly impure from birth; only when Bnei Israel, the sanctified people, entered it as their possession, will their misdeeds be seen in this manner, because they have an intrinsic connection to this land, and the land, by being afflicted in this manner will be an atonement for them.’
A parting gem from the Noda B’Yehuda:’We read (14:45):’He shall demolish the house - its stones, its timber, and all the mortar of the house; they shall take it outside of the city, to a contaminated place’: We know that every מחלוקת: division leads to destruction, whereas peace builds, as it is the joinder of the parts together.
‘Therefore, the metzora, the one who by his lashon ha’ra causes division, his punishment is that this affliction comes upon his house, which is destroyed by taking apart its sticks and stones.’
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