Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Tzara’at seems to be a lot of different things. It can be on skin, clothing, or houses! Why so many kinds of tzara’at?
קָשֶׁה לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לִפְשֹׁט יָדוֹ בָּאָדָם הַזֶּה. וּמָה הוּא עוֹשֶׂה?
מַתְרֶה בּוֹ תְּחִלָּה וְאַחַר כֵּן מַלְקֶה אוֹתוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: "וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם" (ויקרא יד:לד). בַּתְּחִלָּה מַלְקֶה בֵּיתוֹ.
חָזַר בּוֹ, מוּטָב. וְאִם לָאו, מַלְקֶה בְּגָדָיו, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: "וְהַבֶּגֶד כִּי יִהְיֶה בוֹ נֶגַע צָרָעַת" (ויקרא יג:מז).
חָזַר בּוֹ, מוּטָב. וְאִם לָאו, בָּאִים בְּגוּפוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: "אָדָם כִּי יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ" (ויקרא יג:יב).
It’s difficult for the Holy Blessed One to punish a person directly. So what does God do?
God warns a person first and then strikes them, as it says: “And I will give a nega (wound) of tzara’at in the home where you live” (Vayikra 14:34). So at first God strikes the person’s home (as a warning).
If that person does teshuvah (repents), that’s good. If not, God strikes that person’s clothing (as another warning), as it says: “And clothing that has a nega of tzara’at” (Vayikra 13:47).
If that person does teshuvah, that’s good. If not, God strikes their body, as it says: “A person who has (a nega) in the skin of their body…” (Vayikra 13:12).
One of the things this midrash notices is that God uses the word וְנָתַתִּי (ve-natati, and I will give) to describe the way God would place tzara’at on a house. Ve-natati is a surprising word to use here, because it seems to mean giving with kindness, like giving a gift.
According to the midrash “ve-natati” teaches us that tzara’at on the house is actually a type of gift. The gift is that the punishment comes in gradual stages, so that a person has opportunities to change.
- Why is that a gift?
- Why is it important to warn someone before they get punished?
- What is this midrash teaching us about God?
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