Parshat Tazria-Metzora Schedule

Weekly Words of Torah

Good from (seemingly) Bad

Insights into Parshat Tazria-Metzora of Mr. Zach Margulies of Yeshivat Sha’alvim, by Rav Re’uven Ungar of Sha’alvim.

Imagine if all of a sudden you started breaking out with patches containing white hairs, your house became infected with them, and then you finally were kicked out of your community. For most of us this sounds annoying and torturous, and with good reason. How then does the Torah expect us to find something good out of this annoying and seemingly torturous process which we call Tzara’at?

In the end of Parshat Metzora Rashi quotes a strange Medrash. The Pasuk (14:34) describes that when we will arrive to Eretz Canaan we will find Tzara’at on our homes. The following Pesukim then go on to describe the process. However, the Medrash strangely comments here that this was good news. Before we conquered the land the previous residents hid all of their valuables in the walls and now, since we are going to need to break down the walls because of the Tzara’at, we will find these valuables. This is great news, but it comes at a very strange point in time. We are currently discussing the punishment some of the worst sins a Jew can commit (Based on the Gemara in Arachin 16a). How is it logical that through this “punishment” the Jews were able to merit wealth and reward?

In truth, Tzara’at is much different than we might think. The Kli Yakar explains that the word “metzora” can be broken down into the words, “motzi ra” (lit. “finding bad”). Meaning, the Tzara’at exposes the bad inside of the person. If a person is committing any of these sins the Tzara’at comes and tells him he needs to improve. Tzara’at is not a punishment, it’s something which reminds and motivates us to improve. The Medrash which describes that the Tzara’at led us to find treasure is much less confusing now. Perhaps the Medrash is a mashal for what goes on inside of the metzora. He needs to knock down his own physical and emotional barriers to realize what positive things he has inside of himself, to realize his potential and then motivate him to strive and achieve it. This whole process is there to give the person a chance to reflect and get to know his own potential.

This is the way we should be looking at everything in our lives. When anything bad happens, we need to look deeper and find the good in it. Not only to justify the bad, but even more to realize that the good could not have come without the first seemingly bad step. The Tzara’at is not something bad with a good side to it, a small thing which gives us some benefit and lessens the negative impact; rather the entire process is inherently good. The damage to ourselves and our homes was needed for us to realize what was under the walls of our homes and the walls of our bodies. Our history began with slavery and we continue to experience ups and downs which often seem impossible. Specifically in the month of Nissan we remember and experience our transformation from slavery to freedom and realize not only that something good came out of the slavery, but that without slavery we could not have become a nation. Be’Ezrat Hashem we should gain strength from Yetziat Mitzrayim and from Tzara’at and realize that nothing in this world is bad and everything, no matter how bad it seems, is there to bring about the eventual Geula which we should merit to see bim’heira b’yameinu.