There are times when we feel that the laws of the Torah may be too stringent. One such example is in this week’s Torah portion when we are given the laws of the Metzorah. Here are the details in short:
Let’s say someone is inflicted with tzara’at (for lack of an exact English translation, some form of leprosy), and it spreads from a person to their clothes and finally to the walls of their home (like mold). The treatment to rid the home of this tzara’at is to destroy the home!
Don’t worry, though: The famous commentator Rashi quoting from the Midrash, tells us the Emorites hid many valuables in their walls when they heard that the Jews would be making their way toward Israel. Eventually, when a Jewish house – which once was an Emorite home – would be destroyed because of the tzara’at, they would find these valuables. So, although it looks like a punishment, there is a hidden treasure within the punishment.
It is interesting to point out that although Rashi is quoting the Midrash, he changes the words of the Midrash and instead of writing the “Canaanites” (the general term that describes all the nations that lived in Israel at the time), he mentions one specific tribe that lived in one area, the “Emorites.” From this we learn that there is a lesson to be learned.
Emor means “to say.” There are hidden messages in the words that we say. When they are bad words, they can cause damage, to the extent that we can be punished with tzara’at; but even within this “punishment” we can reveal a reward, something even greater—we can find an inner treasure. All we must do is look. Sometimes we place them there ourselves, and sometimes they are placed there by others.
Being home for the foreseeable future, we are doing some cleaning and we are finding some treasures of our own. This has encouraged some great conversation. Look around your own home and see if you can find a treasure of your own. The trick is to keep all the words that we say to be positive, as our words reveal the hidden “I”.
Shabbat Shalom.