The parsha of Metzorah deals with the plague of tzaraat, a physical malady resulting from certain spiritual deficiencies. Tzaraat can infect a person in one of three ways: on their house, clothes or skin.

What causes tzaraat? The Talmud says that tzaraat comes as a result of speaking Loshon Hara - negative speech about another person. A person's home protects privacy; Loshon Hara invades upon the privacy of others. Similarly, clothing is a way to maintain dignity; Loshon Hara deprives others of dignity. Therefore, such a plague on homes and clothes is measure-for-measure.

The Torah first speaks about tzaraat on the body and clothes, and how to purify oneself from tzaraat of body and clothes. Then the Torah talks about tzaraat on the house and how to be purified from it.

Why does the Torah separate its discussion of "body and clothes" from "house?" Obviously, tzaraat on a house is a different category than on body and clothes.

Leviticus 14:34 tells us the difference: "The plague in the house of the land of your possession..." This teaches that tzaraat on a house can occur only in the Land of Israel, whereas the other two forms can occur anywhere in the world.

Why the difference?

Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg, Dean of Ner Israel Talmudic College in Baltimore, explains: Clothing is mine and my body is mine - no matter where I live. But my house is not mine - except in the Land of Israel. For Jews, houses outside of Israel are not true "homes." They are for us to rent, sell and occupy until we find somewhere else. But they do not serve us as living in Israel would. Ultimately, we don't belong anywhere else but our land.

Which is not to say that there's no good reason for living in the Diaspora. I myself do! But under what condition and circumstances that is preferable ... that's a separate discussion.

For someone who never lived in Israel, it would be very difficult to appreciate how a house there is different than America. (It's hard to appreciate a loss when you never had it.) Israelis look at their homes very differently. They view their land as something more than did Polish Jews who lived in Poland for hundreds of years.

Some years ago, when Rabbi Berel Wein was building Yeshiva Shaarey Torah in Monsey, New York, the contractor offered to use special Finnish lumber that lasts 150 years, instead of regular wood which starts rotting after 90. "No thank you," said Rabbi Wein, "we don't want to make our stay outside of Israel too permanent."

If you have never been to Israel, make a commitment and start planning a trip now. You will be surprised at how much you will learn about yourself.

BRAINSTORMING QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Question 1: Do you think of yourself as more American than Jewish?

Question 2: Why do you think Diaspora Jewry has so staunchly supported the State of Israel (both politically and economically)?

Question 3: How do you think the existence of such a large Jewish community in Israel has changed the worldwide Jewish dynamic in modern times?

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VISITORS COMMENTS: 1

(1) aaron fox, 13/4/2003
kol hakavod
a beautiful message that needs to be heard more at the aish site.

About the author:

Rabbi Stephen Baars

Rabbi Stephen Baars came to Washington, D.C. in 1992 and serves as Executive Director of Aish Seminars. He is the creator of BLISS, and has been a pre-eminent educator and marriage counselor for more than 20 years. He is known for his talent in imparting important ideas with creativity and humor, especially in the areas of marriage and parenting.

Rabbi Baars has successfully counseled hundreds of couples, making marriage counseling his specialty. It was these counseling experiences, along with his extensive work motivating people that spurred him to begin the development of the BLISS seminar. The seminar has been such a success, it was awarded a Federal Grant to help reduce the divorce rate in Washington DC.

BLISS is one of the many educational seminars he has authored and presented over the past 20 years. Others include Thrill and The 13 Paradigms.

Born and educated in London, Rabbi Baars, did nine years of post-graduate studies at the Aish HaTorah Rabbinical College in Jerusalem and studied comedy at UCLA with a well known comedian.

Rabbi Baars and his wife, Ruth, are blessed with seven children.

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