The Torah portion this week, Metzora, is about an affliction called tazra’at that is sometimes translated as leprosy. The strange thing about this disease in the Torah is that it can affect a person, a garment or a house. Imagine that, a house with leprosy. 

In the Torah portion, the Cohen, the priest is called in to diagnose the condition and to treat it with elaborate rituals. 

What can it possibly mean for a house to be sick? It’s clearly not the kind of problem that a carpenter or plasterer or in these days a plumber or electrician could fix. If so, why would you need a priest to address the situation? Clearly, the affliction of tzara’at has to do with a spiritual disorder that requires healing of a spiritual nature.