5784 Parshat Metzora Dvar Torah by Rabbi Mendy Eisenberg

There's a strange Rashi for this week's parsha that has always left me bewildered. That is, it did until around four years ago. I experienced something then that truly made me understand the commentary on a personal level, and I’d like to share my experience with you today.

While last week’s parsha dealt with almost every type of occurrence of tza'arat — the spiritual malady — there is one type of tza'arat that is inexplicably left out from last week’s discussions: tza'arat afflictions of the house. In truth, this category is slightly different, in that it was supposedly an occurrence dependent on being in Eretz Yisrael. The other occurrences of tza'arat were not in Eretz Yisrael, but there is a factor highlighted by Rashi that distinguishes this type from the others. Hashem says (14:34) כִּ֤י תָבֹ֙אוּ֙ אֶל⁠־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לָכֶ֖ם לַאֲחֻזָּ֑ה וְנָתַתִּי֙ נֶ֣גַע צָרַ֔עַת בְּבֵ֖ית אֶ֥רֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶֽם — "When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I give a plague of tzara'at in a house in the land of your possession." Troubled by the fact that Hashem says He will give the house tza'arat, Rashi explains that it could be a gift from Hashem when someone's house gets an affliction. He goes on to say that it is a good thing because the amorim, the previous owners of the land, used to hide treasures away in the walls of their homes. When a Jew found what was hidden, they would be enriched, and it all happened because of the tza'arat that had to be removed.

So, while tza'arat of last week’s parsha was strictly a result of punishment for antisocial behaviors, the tza'arat of this week’s parsha can be a gift from Hashem. If you had asked me a few years ago, I might have said this idea seems too fluffy to be a satisfying p'shat. Can one honestly look at this as a gift? Having to remove a part of your house, so that maybe you find a hidden treasure in the wall? It sounds cute and fanciful, but I don't know how one can see having an affliction as a gift, even if it does result in something nice.

This all changed four years ago.

As some of you may know, I was in a serious car accident four years ago. Miraculously, I survived, but I had sustained a traumatic brain injury. After I came home from rehab, people would ask how I was doing, and I always had the same refrain: "Baruch Hashem, day by day, but my head seems off…everything just seems off." This "off" sensation was a really awful feeling. I felt so frustrated, and I couldn't even articulate what the issue was. I had spoken to several doctors, but no one had anything to offer me. Some were befuddled and tried prescribing various medications. Some said simply being alive was a miracle, and I should take that as a win. I felt trapped in this feeling.

Fast forward a bit, and the pandemic started, so I didn't get to go out much. A little bit into the pandemic, I got pink eye. Such a nuisance to have to deal with, especially during a pandemic, but I needed to leave the house and go to the eye doctor. While I was there, I casually mentioned that I had been in a car accident and gotten a brain injury. The doctor took a quick look at my vision. Concerned by the results of the impromptu test, he asked me to schedule a formal vision test with him the following week. After the subsequent visit, we discovered that I needed glasses! So, I got glasses. After that, I went to a neurooptometrist, where my eyes were tested further and I got upgraded prism lenses. Strangely enough, after getting the glasses, the "off" sensation was entirely gone. As it turns out, along with the injuries that I had sustained had come the need to correct my vision. For all those months, I was suffering from feeling "off" because I simply needed to get glasses.

I can't begin to describe the joy I felt once the "off" feeling was gone. Aside from looking more rabbinical, getting my glasses opened up a new world for me since the accident. At the time, I couldn't help but think of this Rashi, how Hashem gave me the gift of getting pink eye. Now I understand the gift of an affliction.

Hindsight is 20/20, especially with the right glasses. It’s easy to look back and see how everything that once seemed like such a hassle ended up being a bracha for the future. Having a Rashi like this under your belt can serve as a means to help you. Not just after the fact, either — if you think about it during the time of stress, this Rashi can help you in the moment as well. I bless us all that we should see the gifts in the struggles Hashem has given us, and that this outlook should grant us the strength to overcome all adversities.