The Torah in Parashat Mesora (14:35) addresses the situation of “Nigeh Batim” – discolorations that appear on the walls of a person’s home. It commands such a person to approach a Kohen, and inform him that there is a suspected Sara’at affliction in his home. The Kohen then comes to the house to inspect the discoloration. The Torah presents a series of guidelines that must be followed depending on the nature of the affliction on the wall.
The Sefer Ha’hinuch explains that G-d would bring an affliction upon a person’s house as a relatively mild punishment, before bringing more severe afflictions. In His infinite compassion, G-d would first strike a person’s home to alert him of the need to repent and improve his conduct. If the person failed to repent, then G-d would bring a Sara’at affliction upon his garments, and if he continued to persist in his wrongful conduct, then G-d would bring the most severe affliction – bodily Sara’at, which surfaces on the individual’s skin. G-d never wishes to bring punishment, and He does so only for the purpose of awakening the person to repent. If the person fails to heed the call, then more severe measures are needed in order to arouse him to repent.
Secondly, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes, G-d would bring Sara’at upon a home for the person’s benefit, so he would discover treasures hidden behind the walls. The Emorim, who inhabited the Land of Israel before Beneh Yisrael, would hide their treasures inside their walls. G-d would therefore afflict the home, thus requiring the walls to be dismantled, and the person – who might at first lament having to dismantle house – would discover the hidden treasures and instantly become wealthy. The Sefer Ha’hinuch writes that G-d could have shown the people these treasures through some other means, such as by sending a prophet to inform them of the hidden treasures, but G-d always prefers following the laws of nature, and minimizing miracles. He thus arranged that people would need to dismantle their homes and discover the treasures in the process.
In order for a house to be declared afflicted with Nigeh Batim, there must be two adjacent discolorations, twice the size of a Geris (a certain type of bean).
If the discoloration is very dark green, or very dark red, then the house is immediately declared to be afflicted with Sara’at. Likewise, if the discoloration spreads after the Kohen’s initial inspection, the home is declared to have Sara’at.
The Torah writes that a person who sees a suspected Sara’at affliction in his home must approach a Kohen and state, “Ke’nega Nir’a Li Ba’bayit” – “The likeness of an affliction appeared to me in my home.” The Sages understood from the word “Ke’nega” (“The likeness of an affliction”) that even if the homeowner is learned, and proficient in the laws of Sara’at, he may not make a definitive ruling about the discoloration in his home. This ruling is issued only by a Kohen, and so even if the homeowner knows with certainty that the discoloration he sees qualifies as Sara’at, he must not speak in definitive terms, and should instead tell the Kohen that he sees “Ke’nega,” something resembling a Sara’at affliction.
A house without windows is not subject to the laws of Sara’at Ha’bayit. This is inferred from the homeowner’s statement to the Kohen, “Ke’nega Nir’a Li” – that the affliction is “seen to me,” implying that he sees without any illumination (in the Sages’ words, “Li Ve’lo Le’ori”). This indicates that the discoloration must be visible without a candle, with only sunlight, and thus the home must have windows in order to be declared as having a Sara’at affliction.
The house must be at least four square Amot, contain four walls, and be made from either stone or wood; a house made from marble is not subject to the laws of Nigeh Batim. It must also stand on the ground, and thus a treehouse, for example, is not subject to the laws of Nigeh Batim.
The Torah introduces this subject by speaking of a Sara’at affliction “Be’bet Eretz Ahuzatchem” – “in a house in the land of your inheritance,” indicating that only homes in Eretz Yisrael are subject to these laws. A house outside the Land of Israel cannot be declared afflicted with Sara’at. Furthermore, the Talmud establishes that these laws do not apply to homes in the city of Jerusalem, because Jerusalem was not allotted to any particular tribe (“Lo Nit’haleka Li’shbatim”), and was thus considered in a sense shared by the entire nation.
The command to follow the procedures relevant to Nigeh Batim applies to both male and female homeowners, and only in times when there are Kohanim proficient in these laws and thus capable of issuing rulings to determine the status of discolorations.
The aforementioned verse, “Ke’nega Nir’a Li Ba’bayit,” has been understood as conveying an important lesson about Emuna (faith). Anytime we experience any sort of hardship, we must trust that the difficulty we face is only “Ke’nega” – “the likeness of an affliction,” something which appears as a misfortune, but which is actually to our benefit. We must remember that everything Hashem does, even that which causes hardship, is actually a blessing. Indeed, the word “Nega” (“affliction”) has the same letters as “Oneg” – “delight,” teaching us that there is a hidden blessing latent within every difficult situation. This is the message of the hidden treasures within the walls – the homeowner initially bemoans his misfortune, having to take down his house, but this ultimately leads him to great fortune.
This concept can be understood in light of an incident that occurred a number of years ago when a fellow was arrested by the police and badly beaten. The fellow sued the police, and they were found guilty of unjustly beating him. They reached a settlement, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. A calculation was made that this fellow received $20,000 for every blow that he suffered. In an interview, the man joked that he wished the police beat him even more, because he would then have become even wealthier…
This humorous remark may be seen as illustrative of the message of the hidden treasures inside the walls that are stricken with Sara’at. Everything Hashem does is a blessing, though often it is disguised as “beatings” and misfortune. Even when Hashem punishes us, He punishes us as a loving father, hoping to steer us in the right direction. And thus we learn from the Misva of Nigeh Batim to always view every seeming misfortune as “Ke’nega” – something resembling an “affliction,” but which is, in truth, to our ultimate benefit.