LEAD TIDBIT
Not what Mercutio had in mind
Don’t worry about the title, it was meant to draw the curious to read this Lead Tidbit. When Romeo’s friend is dying from a sword wound, he curses the families of Montague (Romeo’s family) and Capulet (Juliet’s family) with the words “A pox (or plague) on both your houses”. In Parshat Metzora we learn of a different kind of pox on one’s house - TZORAAT HABAYIT.

Let’s review a few facts about the “afflictions of houses”. They occur only in Eretz Yisrael, not in Chutz LaAretz. They happen only to Jewish homes, not that of non-Jews. And in our own time, they don’t happen at all.

The simple explanation is that the higher spiritual level one is on, the more accountable he is for his wrong- doings. All people are accountable for their own actions, but a Jew has a higher spiritual calling than the average human being and G-d expects a higher degree of commitment and adherence to His mitzvot. And when the Jew lives in Eretz Yisrael, his accountability and G-d’s scrutiny in- crease.

But this is not yet completely so in our time. Yet. We could say, perhaps, that we - Jews who live in Israel, both native born and Olim - have a halfway situation. Eretz Yisrael today is still more sacred than everywhere else in the world. Let one-day Yom Tov and many Land-related mitzvot demonstrate that. So are we “there”? Not yet. We’ve got a long way to go. But we’ve come a long way so far, too.

Not that we are looking forward to being afflicted with Nega’im. But it would certainly be nice to be on the spiritual level to be subject to Nega’im and, at the same time, be worthy of never actually being so afflicted - by our own merit.

In the meanwhile, we owe G-d a debt of gratitude for helping us come this far - while we pray for the Geula Sh’leima.

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