Tzaraas expels evil from the pure

בענין זכירת מרים.

On the matter of remembering Miriam.

The Sefas Emes addresses the mitzvah to remember what happened to Miriam, who was stricken with tzaraas after speaking lashon hara about Moshe Rabbeinu.

קשה אי לפרוש מלה"ר מה בוש הכתוב לפרש הזכירה על לה"ר עצמו.

It is difficult: if the purpose is to keep away from lashon hara, why was the verse "ashamed" to state the remembrance explicitly in terms of lashon hara itself?

If the goal is to warn us against evil speech, the Torah could simply have said "remember the sin of lashon hara." Why does it instead phrase it around what happened to Miriam?

וגם דכתיב אשר עשה ה"א למרים.

And also, it is written "that which Hashem your God did to Miriam."

A second difficulty: the verse attributes the affliction to Hashem — "that which Hashem did to Miriam."

וידוע שאין הכתוב מיחס דבר רע ח"ו להבורא ית' כי מאתו לא תצא אך טוב.

And it is known that Scripture does not attribute an evil thing, chas v'shalom, to the Creator, for from Him issues only good.

This is puzzling, since the Torah never ascribes harm to Hashem — nothing but good comes forth from Him. So how can an affliction like tzaraas be called "that which Hashem did"?

אבל נראה שהיא מתנה שנתן הבורא ית' לבנ"י אשר אין הרע יכול לדבוק בהם לכן הרע יוצא לחוץ ובא הצרעת.

But it appears that it is a gift that the Creator gave to Bnei Yisrael — that evil cannot cling to them, and therefore the evil goes outward and the tzaraas comes.

The Sefas Emes resolves both difficulties: tzaraas is in truth a kindness. Because evil cannot fasten itself to a Jew's inner being, it is expelled outward onto the skin as tzaraas — a sign of the soul's essential purity.

וזה נתן הש"י ביצ"מ להיות בנ"י מבוררין לטוב.

And this Hashem gave at yetzias Mitzrayim, so that Bnei Yisrael should be refined and sifted toward the good.

This special quality was granted at the Exodus, when Bnei Yisrael were clarified and set apart for good, so that evil could no longer take hold within them.

כמ"ש הרמב"ן ז"ל שענין הנגעים הוא פלא ועדות על בנ"י ע"ש.

As the Ramban wrote, that the matter of the nega'im (afflictions) is a wonder and a testimony concerning Bnei Yisrael, see there.

The Ramban explains that tzaraas is a supernatural phenomenon — not a natural disease but a wondrous testimony that Bnei Yisrael are bound to Hashem, their bodies reflecting their spiritual state.

לכן צריך כ"א לקבל על עצמו זאת שכ"ד רע שנמצא בו ח"ו יצא לחוץ ע"פ משפט הבורא ית' לבנ"י:

Therefore each person must take this upon himself — that whatever evil thing is found in him, chas v'shalom, should go outward, according to the judgment of the Creator upon Bnei Yisrael.

The practical lesson: a Jew should accept upon himself that any evil clinging to him be driven out rather than allowed to lodge within — trusting in Hashem's loving order for His people that keeps their inner core pure.

Summary: The affliction of tzaraas that came upon Miriam is not a "bad thing" done by Hashem, for only good issues from Him. Rather it is a gift granted to Bnei Yisrael since the Exodus: because evil cannot cling to their inner essence, it is expelled outward onto the skin. Each Jew should embrace this — that any evil within him be driven out, leaving his inner self pure before Hashem.