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Parashat Metzora (Vayikra 14:33-53) chronicles the complex laws of tumat nigei batim, the advent of ritual defilement that may afflict a Jewish residence. The Torah (14:34) establishes that this mysterious manifestation of tumah is exclusively limited to homes in Eretz Yisrael.
Certainly this striking geographic limitation, which cannot be justified on the basis of physical factors, reflects the supernatural character of the negaim defilement, as the mefarshim explicitly note. While the spiritual focus of this malady is reinforced by the diaspora exclusion, the specific implications of Eretz Yisrael's role remains elusive.
Perhaps the restriction of nigei batim to the venue of Eretz Yisrael stems from and highlights the integration of various important albeit seemingly disparate themes. Indeed, the surprising prominence of Eretz Yisrael in negei batim underscores the convergence of these themes as an important dimension of kedushat Eretz Yisrael itself.
Many of the mefarshim (see sources noted in Hishamer be-Nega ha-Ttzaraat: The Challenge of Overcoming Human Pettiness. See also Seforno and Kli Yakar) posit that nigei batim constitute either a warning or punishment for improper actions or attitudes that need to promptly addressed and remedied. The affliction, then, reflects Hashem's special protection of and spiritual interest in Klal Yisrael. This perspective is consistent with the Eretz Yisrael requirement. Throughout his commentary on the Torah, the Ramban emphasizes the special hashgahah that is accorded in Eretz Yisrael. This excessive scrutiny and special oversight is encapsulated in the notion of "ki chelek Hashem amo, Yaakov chevel nachalato."
Moreover, nigei batim's restriction to Eretz Yisrael reflects Eretz Yisrael's greater spiritual potential, as well is its higher religious standard and its special sensitivity to halachic refinement which engenders an intolerance to vice generally and especially to some particular infractions. [See, for example, Vayikra 18:25, 28; 20: 22-24.] The subtle yet pernicious tumah both reflects and exemplifies this special sensitivity, which finds concrete expression only in the context of the high spiritual aspirations of life in Eretz Yisrael.
Many mefarshim particularly link nigaim to abuses like lashon ha-ra and tzarut ayin (see Hishamer be-Nega..., cited above and Kli Yakar). This perspective highlights a further dimension of the link to Eretz Yisrael. As the national homeland of the Jewish people, Eretz Yisrael is particularly resistant, even hostile to halachic abuses that demonstrate a disregard for Jewish unity and comity. Violations that divide or alienate Jews from one another emphatically undermine the Eretz Yisrael motif in Jewish life. The gemara in Sanhedrin (43b) establishes that kol Yisrael areivim zeh la-zeh (the responsibility of each Jew for his fellow) was initiated only when Klal yisrael first entered Eretz Yisrael at the onset of corporate national life. Violations like lashon hara that gratuitously sow discord and enmity and disrupt Jewish unity fundamentally contravene the concept of Eretz Yisrael as place that provides common Jewish identity and unity, triggering a supernatural response of nigei batim.
Having just celebrated the 64th anniversary of Medinat Yisrael, we are particularly equipped to recognize and assimilate the lessons of the Eretz Yisrael factor in nigei battim. Anyone with a modicum of historical sensitivity and an elemental capacity for hakarat ha-tov can grasp and appreciate the pervasive Divine providence that enabled the proclamation of Medinat Yisrael and that has fostered the subsequent flourishing of Jewish life there in the face of constant challenges and numerous dangers. The impact of the kedushat Eretz Yisrael factor during the past six and a half decades on the elevation and intensification of Torah study and practice throughout the entire Jewish world is undeniable. Eretz Yisrael's capacity to unite divergent Jewish interests and constituencies and to inspire the loyalty and dedication of even otherwise unaffiliated Jews has proved a powerful factor that has helped neutralize other problematic developments and dangers in Jewish life in our time. Our current experience underscores and validates each of the neigei batim Eretz Yisrael themes, and especially reinforces their convergence and interrelationship. Hodu la-Hashem ki tov ki le-olam chasdo.