Tzaraas Habayis In Our Days

In this week's parsha sheet that is distributed in neighborhood shuls I wrote on the topic of "chazakos".

Chazaka is the principle that teaches that unless we know otherwise, we don't assume that a status has been altered. [Rav Asher Weiss Shlita calls it עקרון אי ההשתנות.]  The source for this principle is the tzaraas that develops on a house. Unless we know otherwise we assume it remains there [see Chullin 10b for more information and if you are a man of intellectual curiosity - the Talmudic Encyclopedia entry of chazaka at length].

After mincha today a friend stopped me and asked me a question that has been bothering him for years. The concept of chazaka applies to ALL areas of halacha and is a very broad topic. Why did the Torah choose to teach us the principle DAVKA regarding the tzaraas of a house. That is a very "Hutnerian" question that the Rav ztz"l asked quite often. If this is where it is derived, there is SOME lesson here.

I don't know the answer to this question and expect to see a full in-box of possible answers.

But I'll tell you what I think: Many people have problems at home. Some people have problems with parents or siblings, others with spouses or children. MOST homes have problems. The Torah is teaching us - If you have some spiritual problem in your home, some tzaraas habayis if you will, it WILL NOT go away on it's own. We must assume that it will remain there UNTIL SOMETHING IS DONE.

This is a HUGE lesson. Things generally DON'T change by themselves [excluding hair color with age:)]. Something CONCRETE must be done.

Today's task: Think about the tzaraas in YOUR home and what practical measures you can take to clean it up:):).