Hidden Treasure2 min read

In Parshas Tazria, Hashem tells Moshe that when the Jews enter the Holy Land, He will place tzara’as on their houses. Rashi explains that unlike other forms of tzara’as, this plague was not a response to human sin. Rather, this affliction would be sent from heaven for the benefit of the homeowner. When a Jew would approach the kohen and announce, “Something like a plague has appeared on my house”, the stricken abode would be rendered impure and closed up for a seven day period after which the stained bricks would be removed. Because the tzara’as appeared on a section of the wall behind which the Emorites had hidden money and other valuables, the removal of the bricks would reveal treasures which would then become possessions of the homeowner. According to the Ramban, this plague was entirely unnatural; its appearance guaranteed the presence of a treasure behind the plagued bricks.

In the year 1940, the holy Piacezner Rebbe Hy”d asked the following question to his battered congregants in the Warsaw Ghetto. If the sole purpose of this form of tzara’as was to reveal the hidden treasure as explained by Rashi and accentuated by the Ramban, why did the house need to be deemed impure and sealed off for seven days? Why couldn’t the kohen simply tear down the wall straight away?

Chazal teach that whatever happens to a person is for his ultimate spiritual betterment – “Kol mah d’avid Rachmana l’tav avid”. This means that all trials and tribulations of the human experience are intended to aid us in our personal journey toward closeness with the Master of the world. While not always easy to apply, it is simpler for us to understand how this rule manifests in day-to-day annoyances such as a missed bus, a broken-down car, a failed business endeavor, or illness. However, when the difficulty we encounter is religious in nature, it becomes far more difficult for us to understand how this could possibly be heaven-sent in order to aid our growth. Unable to pray in a shul or visit the mikvah, forced to enter Succos without dalet minim, and having no menorah to light on the first night of Chanukah – these tragic difficulties seem to impede on our growth, trampling on our avodas Hashem and stomping it into oblivion. Can there be a glimmer of light even here, in the spiritual desolation of a Warsaw Ghetto or – on an infinitely smaller scale – the social isolation of a Coronavirus quarantine?

The holy Aish Kodesh teaches that the answer is to be found in the laws regarding tzara’as on a house. If the kohen were to break down the wall immediately after the tzara’as appeared, this would perhaps teach that everything, even leprosy, is for the purpose of revealing a hidden treasure. However, the introduction of impurity into the process broadens the lesson dramatically: even heaven-sent impurity manifest in impassible spiritual obstacles lead to a treasure in the end. This is why instead of saying “A plague appeared on my house”, the homeowner would say “Something like a plague…” As limited human beings, we are not privy to understand the true nature of things – even those things which seem unjust and negative. All we can ever say is “Something like…”, acknowledging that despite how a given situation may appear, we believe it is ultimately for the good. One day we will understand that even the crisis represented by the inability to properly serve Hashem itself paves the way for the most awesome, incomprehensible spiritual treasure. May we see it with the rebuilding of the third Beis HaMikdash, speedily and in our days!