Let's see here in the Ramban, Perek Yud Gimmel, Pasuk Mem Zayin. Yud Gimmel, Mem Zayin. The pasuk והבגד כי יהיה בו נגע צרעת בבגד צמר או בבגד פשתים.
Says the Ramban זה איננו בטבע כלל ולא הווה בעולם. This pasuk is the beginning of, until now the parsha's been dealing with nigey adam, when the nega tzara'as is on the person. And here the Torah begins dealing with nigey begadim when you have a nega on a beged. Says the Ramban זה איננו בטבע כלל ולא הווה בעולם. This is not a natural phenomenon, it doesn't happen. V'chein nigey batim. So too in Parshas Metzora where the Torah talks about nigey batim, it's also not a natural phenomenon, it just does not happen. אבל בהיות ישראל שלמים לה', when Klal Yisrael as a whole is completely and consistently committed to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, in response יהיה רוח השם עליהם תמיד. There's a different type of hashgacha which ensues להעמיד גופם ובגדיהם ובתיהם במראה טוב. When mitzi'deinu there's complete consistency, there are no disparities, no discrepancies between what we say, what we do, what we believe, how we act is בהיות ישראל שלמים לה', so then a, there's no disparity as it were between the hashgacha which is overt and that which is hidden. And what's more, when we're again collectively, consistently, completely committed to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so then there's also no incongruence between the taharas haneshama and the body which clothes the neshama and the begadim which clothe the body. יהיה רוח השם עליהם תמיד להעמיד גופם ובגדיהם ובתיהם במראה טוב.
When everyone's neshama is preserved in its pristine state, so then that's reflected outwardly as well. And when as an aberration within this utopian world, as an aberration כאשר יקרה באחד מהם חטא ועוון, there will be, but it's an exceptional circumstance, it's not ma'aseh bechol yom. As an exceptional circumstance כאשר יקרה באחד מהם חטא ועוון, so as a result yis'haveh, there will develop, there will materialize ki'ur, something unseemly, something ugly בבשרו או בבגדו או בביתו להראות כי השם סר מעליו,
which serves to indicate that Hakadosh Baruch Hu, as it were, has turned away from him because of that cheit. V'lachach amar hakasuv ונתתי נגע צרעת בבית ארץ אחוזתכם. Nigey batim is only in Eretz Yisrael. כי היא מכת השם בבית ההוא... sorry, at this point the Ramban is emphasizing v'nasati, כי היא מכת השם בבית ההוא... sorry, sorry, at this point the Ramban is emphasizing v'nasati, כי היא מכת השם בבית ההוא. It's not a natural phenomenon, no, this is something which is v'nasati, Hakadosh Baruch Hu acting on the supernatural level. imposes Nigei Batim. And that's why, says the Ramban, the next part of the pasuk, u'veveis eretz achuzaschem, והנה איננו נוהג אלא בארץ שהיא נחלת השם. Nigei Batim are only noheig in Eretz Yisrael, כמו שאמר כי תבאו אל ארץ כנען אשר אני נותן לכם לאחוזה. ואין הדבר מפני היותו חולי בקרקע אבל מפני שלא יבוא הענין ההוא אלא בארץ הנבחרת אשר השם הנכבד שוכן בתוכה.
The reason Nigei Batim is limited to Eretz Yisrael is because it's an expression of a level of hashgacha which only exists in Eretz Yisrael where you have a special hashras hashchinah. ובתורת כהנים דרשו עוד שאין הבית מטמא אלא אחר כיבוש וחילוק השבע שכבשו והשבע שחילקו.
But if there would have been Nigei Batim during those fourteen years, again they wouldn't have been noheig. והטעם כי אז נתיישבה דעתם עליהם when they were no longer busy with milchama and no longer busy settling, אז נתיישבה דעתם עליהם לדעת השם ותשרה שכינה בתוכם. וכן אני חושב בנגעי הבגדים שלא ינגעו אלא בארץ.
The Ramban says even though there's no pasuk to this effect, I think that Nigei Begadim also are only operative in Eretz Yisrael for the same reason because it's something supernatural. It's only something that can happen in Eretz Yisrael where you have that special hashgacha. Ay, but there's no pasuk, ולא הוצטך למעט מהן חוץ לארץ כי לא יאורו שם לעולם.
You don't need a pasuk to be mema'et. You need a pasuk to be mema'et if it can happen to tell you but you don't have to worry, you don't have to destroy the house, you don't have to go through the parsha. The Ramban says what I'm telling you is it simply won't happen. כי לא יאורו שם לעולם. Okay so let's stop here at least for the moment and try to process here. So on the one hand, the Ramban attributes nega'im באשר יקרה באחד מהם חטא ועון. He attributes nega'im to cheit. Now Chazal kayaduah associate nega'im with specific chata'im. אמר שמואל בר נחמני אמר רבי יונתן על שבעה דברים נגעים באים.
There are seven specific chata'im which trigger nega'im. על לשון הרע על שפיכות דמים על שבועת שוא על גילוי עריות על גסות הרוח על הגזל ועל צרות העין.
But from reisha the Ramban is saying differently. The Ramban is saying no, nega'im can be in response to any cheit v'avon. There's no indication in the Ramban here that it's specific chata'im. No, כאשר יקרה באחד מהם חטא ועון יתהוה כיעור בבשרו או בבגדו או בביתו.
Now here something lich'ora a little bit confusing in the Ramban. Ramban opens by telling us that Nigei Begadim זה איננו בטבע כלל ולא הווה בעולם. It's not a natural phenomenon. It doesn't happen naturally in the world. vechein Nigei Habatim. The clear implication being in contrast to Nigei Adam. Now Nigei Adam maybe there is a virus that there is a tzara'as virus. And the Ramban didn't make this comment earlier in the parsha because it wasn't warranted. Apparently Nigei Adam is an So lich'ora the pshat is as follows, the pshat is as follows. Nigay adam, אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת או בהרת ואיש כי ימרט ראשו
vechulu. Nigay adam are part of two different systems. Nigay adam are a natural phenomenon. Because they are a natural phenomenon, they're not limited to Eretz Yisrael. It doesn't require that higher level of hashgacha which is linked to the hashras hashchina of Eretz Yisrael to have nigay adam. Nigay adam certainly is noheig in chutz la'aretz. We're familiar with when the gemara in Berachos talks about whether nega'im are yissurim shel ahava or not, the gemara says הא לן והא להו. The gemara distinguishes between whether or not a person is afflicted with, in Berachos, whether or not a person is afflicted with nega'im in Bavel, in chutz la'aretz, or whether he's afflicted in in Eretz Yisrael. Nigay adam are noheig in in chutz la'aretz. And what's more, nigay adam in chutz la'aretz are an onesh. And yitachen me'od they're an onesh davka maybe for lashon hara, maybe for those shiva devarim that the gemara in Arachin enumerates. But then Ramban says nigay adam are also part of a second ma'aracha. In Eretz Yisrael there's an additional ma'aracha, it's not a ma'aracha of onesh. Right, the gemara in Berachos talks about nega'im as as an onesh, al pi it's mizbeach kapara, an onesh is mechaper, but nigay adam is part of a ma'aracha of onshim. And again, a nigay adam, unlike nigay batim and nigay begadim, are noheig in in chutz la'aretz and that's a ma'aracha of onesh. When the Rambam says in Hilchos Teshuvah, in perek gimmel of Hilchos Teshuvah, that there are some chata'im for which Hakadosh Baruch Hu punishes in this world, he doesn't say that that's only in Eretz Yisrael. When Yonah runs away to chutz la'aretz he also gets into into trouble. Nigay batim is part of a, is a natural phenomenon, nigay adam are a natural phenomenon and they're part of a ma'aracha of onesh for what? For the shiva devarim. But then there's another ma'aracha. There's there's a supernatural ma'aracha which includes nigay begadim and nigay batim. For that reason it's only noheig in Eretz Yisrael and what's more, it's very meduyak in the Ramban, it's not the toras onesh, it's להראות כי השם סר מעליו. It's serving notice. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is is sending a message to the individual, להראות כי השם סר מעליו. Nigay adam in Eretz Yisrael are also a part of this ma'aracha. So again, we asked, initially the Ramban is talking exclusively about nigay batim and nigay begadim and he says they're miraculous. And then when he talks about how the system functions, so then he includes nigay adam as well. So the answer is, the indication The indication that this is a miraculous system, it's a miraculous ma'aracha, which is why it's limited to Eretz Yisrael is that's indicated by Nigei Bottim and Nigei Bgadim. But within that framework, so then the Nigei Adam are also subsumed, they're also, they're also included. So in chutz la'aretz, when you have Nigei Adam in chutz la'aretz, so it's a different ma'aracha, it's a ma'aracha of onesh. That's what Chazal are talking about: על שבעה דברים נגעים באים. In Eretz Yisrael, there's an additional ma'aracha, a miraculous ma'aracha of להראות כי השם סר מעליו, where HaKadosh Baruch Hu serves notice. And then that is a broader ma'aracha. It includes Nigei Bgadim and Nigei Bottim as well, but it also subsumes Nigei Adam. Okay, let's read a few lines here. והנה איננו נוהג אלא בארץ. Nigei Bottim is mefurash in the Chumash that איננו נוהג אלא בארץ, shehi nachalat Hashem, כמו שאמר כי תבאו אל ארץ כנען אשר אני נותן לכם לאחוזה. ואין הדבר מפני היותו חובת קרקע.
The overwhelming majority of dinim that are limited to Eretz Yisrael is because they're chovat karka. They're mitzvot hateluyot ba'aretz, literally ba'aretz: trumot, ma'asrot, challah, etc. It's a function of the fact that the produce of Eretz Yisrael, that it grew in the land of Eretz Yisrael, mitzvot hateluyot ba'aretz. Ramban says ain, this is not chovat karka. So is that just a statement of the obvious? It's a statement of the obvious? Or no, could be what the Ramban has in mind is the following. The Gemara has in different places a question of talush ulesof chibro, whether dino kemechubar or dino ketalush. So you take a house. So the materials of a house were all talush. The beams, the wood for the walls, everything, the materials are all talush. But then you mechaber it. You dig a foundation in the ground, and the result of the house is that it's mechubar lakarka. So the question is wherever you have a din that distinguishes between talush and mechubar, and by avoda zara we distinguish between talush and mechubar. If a person is oved, if the davar hane'evad is talush, so then it's neasar behana'ah. But if it's mechubar, so then it's not neasar behana'ah. By me'ilah we have a difference between talush and mechubar, etc. So in many areas in halacha, we distinguish between talush and mechubar. So the question is whether talush ulesof chibro is dino ketalush or dino kemechubar. So itachen that the pshat in the Ramban is, the Ramban maybe what this line in the Ramban means is that even if you would assume that talush ulesof chibro is dino kemechubar, but af al pi chen, don't think that this is some kind of mitzvah hateluyah ba'aretz. Right, that's what the Ramban means. It's not that ואין הדבר מפני היותו חובת קרקע, it's not that that's sort of just a statement of the obvious. No, but maybe he's dismissing and saying, you know, talush ulesof chibro don't, even if you would assume that it's dino kemechubar, that's not the pshat here. It's not the pshat that just as the karka of Eretz Yisrael produces dagan, tirosh, veyitzhar that's chayav in trumot uma'asrot, so it also is responsible for having a din of Nigei Bottim. No. ואין הדבר מפני היותו חובת קרקע. אבל מפני שלא יבא העניין ההוא אלא בארץ הנבחרת אשר השם הנכבד שוכן בתוכה.
Good, fine. Now let's continue. ובתורת כהנים דרשו עוד שאין הבית מטמא אלא אחר כיבוש וחילוק.
The Torat Kohanim darshans that the dinim of Nigei Bottim were only noheg, dehaynu a bayis was only nitma with Nigei Bottim after the sheva shekavshu, sheva shechilku. Ve'hata'am, says the Ramban, כי אז נתיישבה דעתם עליהם לדעת את השם ותשרה שכינה בתוכם.
So why does the Ramban need an explanation? Le-ma'aseh, with the exception of challa, so kedushas ha-aretz wasn't complete until אחר שבע שכבשו ושבע שחלקו. Kibush was mekadesh eretz yisrael. Right? The kedusha rishona, the Rambam explains in hilchos beis ha-bechira, Yehoshua accomplished, Yehoshua effected through kibush. The Gemara haka kibush is with the chiluk. So kedushas ha-aretz was, challa is the exception, bo'achem, משונה ביאה זו מכל ביאות שבתורה, challa is the exception. So why does the Ramban sort of need to give an explanation for why this din would only become operative אחר שבע שכבשו ושבע שחלקו? Almost all the dinim of eretz yisrael were held in abeyance until אחר שבע שכבשו ושבע שחלקו. Ela mai? So the vort is like this. The Rav zecher tzadik livracha used to say from his father the following: that there are three places in where you find, at least in the Rambam, where the halacha depends not upon, these were the phrases he used, not on kedushas eretz yisrael but on shem eretz yisrael. Shem eretz yisrael means a special standing and status eretz yisrael has even at a point in history where kedushas ha-aretz is batela. That's what the concept of shem eretz yisrael is. Those three are the following: the din is that the semicha, the original semicha, איש מפי איש משה רבינו can only happen in eretz yisrael. But the Rambam says that it can happen in Ever ha-Yarden. Even though Ever ha-Yarden was a part of eretz yisrael in kedusha rishona, but bimei ezra, which was batela when we went into galus bavel, and then when we came back bimei ezra, so eretz yisrael that was niskadsha was significantly smaller than it had been niskadsha the gvulos בימי יהושע בן נון. For instance, Ever ha-Yarden. But אף על פי כן the Rambam writes in hilchos sanhedrin that semicha can be conferred in Ever ha-Yarden. But I don't understand, if Ever ha-Yarden doesn't have kedushas ha-aretz, it's not eretz yisrael. Similarly, the din is, the Torah at the end of parshas shoftim has the parsha of egla arufa. כי ימצא חלל באדמה אשר השם אלוקיך נותן לך לנחלה,
something to that effect, the pasuk says. Egla arufa is only noheges in eretz yisrael. The Rambam says, but you bring an egla arufa from Ever ha-Yarden. If those circumstances which trigger egla arufa would happen in Ever ha-Yarden, again even now when kibush yehoshua was batel and the kedusha rishona was batela and the kedushas ha-aretz that we have is on, doesn't include Ever ha-Yarden. Ever ha-Yarden is the east, the east bank of the Jordan, the east bank of the Jordan. And the third din is lgabei kiddush ha-chodesh. Kiddush ha-chodesh as long as there is a beis din in eretz yisrael, so kiddush ha-chodesh and ibur ha-shana cannot be declared by a beis din michutz la-aretz. Again, the Rambam says that Ever ha-Yarden has a din of eretz yisrael even bimei kedusha shniya. So says Rav Soloveitchik, in each of these cases the din hinges not on kedushas eretz yisrael but on shem eretz yisrael. Again, shem eretz yisrael representing that eretz yisrael as the eretz ha-nivchara has a standing and a status even when its kedusha is not in effect. Now le-ma'aseh. The Ramban in the beginning of Gittin, in the old editions of the Ramban, and this is the Chavel edition, it was in the hashmatos on Gittin daf bais. I think the newer editions they were machnis the hashmatos, are no longer hashmatos. So in the newer editions it's on daf bais. So the Ramban, Tosfos deals with the following kashya that there seem to be stiros whether Akko is within Eretz Yisroel or outside the borders of Eretz Yisroel. So the Ramban is dealing with the same question. So at one point, the Ramban says, well, maybe you'll say that the answer is that Akko was within the borders of Olei Mitzrayim but not within the borders of Olei Bavel. Again, because when Olei Bavel came, they settled a smaller area than Olei Mitzrayim had conquered. So maybe that will reconcile the stiros and that Akko was within Eretz Yisroel of Olei Mitzrayim but not within the Eretz Yisroel of Olei Bavel. But then the Ramban says that the kashya on that is that the Gemara says that when Rabbi Abba would come from chutz la'aretz and he'd reach Akko, he'd bend down and he'd kiss the ground. So obviously it was Eretz Yisroel. So the Ramban says no, that's not a kashya because even if Akko l'inyan kedushas ha'aretz and terumos u'maasros didn't, but in terms of the chibas ha'aretz, so the chibas ha'aretz would still be there even if now there's no kedushas ha'aretz in Akko. So in other words, it's the same idea, right? That Eretz Yisroel has a standing and a status even when its kedusha is not in effect. And that's what the Ramban says by Akko. The fact that Rabbi Abba is kissing the ground when he gets to Akko doesn't mean that it has to have kedushas ha'aretz. It's a part of Eretz Yisroel even if that part of Eretz Yisroel doesn't have its kedusha l'gabbi terumos u'maasros, l'gabbi challah d'oraisa, etc. So the Ramban clearly also has this idea, this distinction, right? That Eretz Yisroel as a special spot on the globe, it's not that it rises and falls entirely with whether or not kedushas ha'aretz is in effect, with whether or not this year it's shmita d'oraisa or whether it's only shmita d'rabbanan, whether or not terumos u'maasros are d'oraisa, whether terumos u'maasros are d'rabbanan. No, there are many dinim which do rise and fall, but Eretz Yisroel there's a shem Eretz Yisroel. Eretz Yisroel is the Eretz Hanivcharas even when its kedusha is not in effect. Now klar, the pshat now where Ramban here rabosai is that even though the din of שבע שכבשו ושבע שחלקו by negai batim just corresponds to the same thing by terumos and by maasros and by shvieis, etc., but for the Ramban, negai batim is only noheg in Eretz Yisroel because Eretz Yisroel is the Eretz Hanivcharas. negai batim should be tied to shem Eretz Yisroel, not on the kedushas ha'aretz l'gabbi terumos u'maasros. That's why the Ramban has to say pshat. That's why the Ramban says והטעם כי אז נתישבה דעתם עליהם לדעת את ה' ותשרה שכינה בתוכם.
No, the greatest tzaddikim, if you're busy waging war, you're busy settling, you're busy building a house, so it shtairt, it shtairt. לאחר שנתיישבה דעתם עליהם לדעת את ה' so then they have the full hashras hashchina. That mehalaich is the pshat here. This ha'ara, this that negai batim and negai begadim are... הצרעת פרק טז הלכה י. If you can get it on the computer look on the computer I also. הצרעת הוא שם האמור בשותפות כולל עניינים הרבה שאינם דומים זה לזה.
Shem Ha'amur Bishutfus is a homonym, meaning it has two different meanings which are not, they're not, they're not, they're not connected. Ich veis, a Yad is a hand and a Yad is a handle, Yados Hakelim. So that's two different meanings but they're related, right? As it were, the handle is the, you want to grab onto someone so you hold on to his hand, you want to grab onto the Kli so you hold on to its handle, right? So that's not a Shem Ha'amur Bishutfus. Shem Ha'amur Bishutfus is when you have a word that just means two different things. So Tzara'as is also Shem Ha'amur Bishutfus כולל עניינים הרבה שאינם דומים זה לזה. The whatever, maybe it's a virus, whatever it is that causes Nigai Adam has got nothing in the world to do with the phenomenon of Nigai Begadim and Nigai Batim. Aye, we call them all Negai, okay, such a thing is a homonym, Shem Ha'amur Bishutfus, right? It's different meanings that are partners in owning this word. The word means, has totally independent and distinct meanings. הצרעת הוא שם האמור בשותפות. When the Rambam explains why so many people are, were led astray by the anthropomorphic descriptions of Hakadosh Baruch Hu in Tanach, so he says one of the things that people, they don't understand language. One of the things about language is that there are many words which are, this isn't the only thing they don't understand, but one of the things the Rambam points out, make a long list of what people don't understand, but one of the things the Rambam points out is that many, many words in language and in Lashon Hakodesh in particular are Amurim Bishutfus. The words have different meanings, so if you plug in the wrong meaning, so then obviously you get a distorted sense for what's being conveyed. הצרעת הוא שם האמור בשותפות כולל עניינים הרבה שאינם דומים זה לזה שהרי לא בין עור האדם.
Right, when the skin turns this unusually white, Karei Tzara'as. Another, even within Nigai Adam it's really a Shem Ha'amur Bishutfus. נפילת מקצת שיער הראש או הזקן. And when there's a patch of baldness whether it's on the head or whether it's in the beard, Karei Tzara'as. That's also referred to as Tzara'as. שינוי עין הבגדים או הכתלים. When the color of the, of the Begadim or the walls or the Batim is also Karei Tzara'as. But the Rambam said don't think that there's one virus which causes all these and that's why we call them all Tzara'as. No, it's a Shem Ha'amur Bishutfus. Then the Rambam continues וזה השינוי האמור בבגדים ובבתים שקראה אותו תורה צרעת בשותפות השם אינו ממנהגו של עולם.
Like the Ramban, right? The exact same point as the Ramban later makes, that Nigai Begadim and Nigai Batim are not natural phenomena. אלא אות פלא היה בישראל כדי להזהירם מלשון הרע. Right, the Rambam sees that even Nigai Batim and Nigai Begadim target Bedafka Lashon Hara. But when you think about it, it's just so, so extraordinary. Hakadosh Baruch Hu has a whole miraculous system to warn us away from Lashon Hara. It's, it's staggering. אלא אות פלא היה בישראל כדי להזהירם מלשון הרע. שהמספר בלשון הרע,
the Rambam says, mishtannos kiros beiso. Here's the progression the Rambam says. If a person speaks Lashon Hara, so initially the Tzara'at will afflict the walls of his house. Im chazar bo, if he takes that to heart, he does teshuva, so yitaher habayis. However, ואם עמד ברשעו עד שהותץ הבית, so if the nega doesn't go away, so ultimately you have to destroy the house. משתנין כלי העור שבביתו שהוא יושב ושוכב עליהן, his furniture. אם חזר בו יטהרו ואם עמד ברשעו עד שישרפו, mishtannin habegadim she'alav. Then it progresses and the nega'im appear on his clothing. Im chazar bo, again, if he'll do teshuva, yitaheru, ואם עמד ברשעו עד שישרפו, so then ultimately the same progression that you find, for instance, by Iyov, right? So first, first it's first the children, then the nechasim, then Iyov, right? So the progression, minkal el hachomer, first a person's nechasim, but then ultimately, Rachmana litzlan, the person himself as well. The same progression the Rambam's describing here. אם עמד ברשעו עד שישרפו משתנה עורו, so then the Tzara'at will appear on his skin already. ויצטרע ויהיה מובדל מפורסם לבדו. So here, too, we have a problem that initially the Rambam says that it's nigei batim and nigei begadim which are miraculous, but then he describes them as part of a system that includes nigei adam. And what's more, the sort of the strongest and most demonstrative message is what's natural, not what's supernatural. Right? The whole point is the os vafela, a person cannot, unless he closes his eyes and his ears, which we often do, but a person cannot avoid noticing the os vafela of nigei batim, of nigei begadim. But as the person is omed berisho and as it were Hakadosh Baruch Hu is increasing the pressure to get the person to be chozer biteshuva, so it seems very anomalous that dafka now what's natural happens. And again, the Rambam, like the Ramban, says no, nigei adam is a natural phenomenon. You can, I don't know, maybe someday they'll discover a virus which can cause Tzara'at. It is a natural phenomenon. Ella mai, lefi hapeshat is like this: Let's say a person gets a cold. הכל בידי שמים חוץ מצינים ופחים. So a person doesn't, and appropriately so, doesn't necessarily read any deep, profound, providential significance into the fact that he has a cold. הכל בידי שמים חוץ מצינים ופחים, it's a natural occurrence. But what happens if the person had one machala after another which is one in a million, and then he has something which is more natural? So when it's in context, when it's part of a sequence, when it's part of a series, so then it doesn't need anymore to be supernatural in order for a person to understand, no, this isn't an accident, this isn't a coincidence, this is also min hashamayim. Hakadosh Baruch Hu only makes miracles. Every miracle is sort of Hakadosh Baruch Hu making an exception to His own ratzon Hashem of the natural functioning of the world. So miracles only happen when they're needed. There's no such thing as a gratuitous miracle. There's no such thing as an unnecessary miracle. Once it's been clearly established that what's happening is an os vafela. Maybe we would dismiss it as a fluke, as a freakish occurrence. But first negaei begadim, excuse me, first negaei batim, then negaei begadim, so at this point it's just so overwhelmingly clear that what's happening is an os vafeilah, that the next stage of negaim doesn't have to be supernatural anymore, because it's quite clear contextually what the nigaei adam represent. And that's pshat in the Rambam, right? Pshat in the Rambam is, the whole process is אות ופלא להסירם מלשון הרע, but once that's been clearly established, there's no need for the, even for the nigaei adam to bedafke unfold in a in a supernatural fashion. Okay, maybe we'll stop here for a second.