The Spiritual State

When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a plague of tzara’at in a house of the land of your possession …                Leviticus 14:34

In our parasha, the Torah presents the laws of tzara’at affecting houses. Naḥmanides comments that this is a supernatural phenomenon. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch notes that the wording of the verse supports Naḥmanides’ approach. Firstly, God here speaks in the first person: “I put a plague in a house ...” Secondly, Rabbi Hirsch explains that the word nega (plague) generally refers “not to a condition of ordinary disease, but to one which comes as specially sent by God.” Based upon the root word, “the person affected (by a nega) is literally touched by the finger of God.” Further, the laws of tzara’at habayit (of a house) apply only in the Land of Israel.

Beyond the apparently peculiar nature of these laws, our Sages tell us that tzara’at habayit was actually a blessing for the Israelites. By destroying the affected house, the Children of Israel would find treasures hidden away by the Canaanites.

My father explained that the Torah wishes to teach us the meaning of a Jewish state within the Land of Israel. Essentially, states are physical entities. But a Jewish state must be built upon a solid spiritual foundation, it must have a neshama, a soul and spirit of its own. A house in Israel should reflect not only the economic conditions of the Land, but the spiritual as well. Our Sages teach us that tzara’at affects human beings as a result of envy and jealousy. The lesson of tzara’at habayit is that when there is moral decay in society, one must not barricade himself within his own four walls. Rather, one must take action to alleviate the situation, lest ones own four walls be affected.

It is a blessing for Israel when the people are able to see what is wrong and correct it.