"When you arrive in the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I will place a tzara'at affliction upon a house in the land of your possession..."
This week's parasha discusses the laws of one who speaks negatively of his fellow Jew. The Torah explains that a blemish will appear on the wall of his house and he will have to seek out the Kohen for further investigation. One of the steps to this process is that he will break a whole in the wall, at which point - Rashi explains (in accordance with the above stated verse) - he will find hidden treasure left behind from the Canaanites who lived there before him.
At first glance, it would seem strange that Hashem chooses to reward a person for speaking lashon hara by presenting them with treasure. In fact, that would almost be an incentive to go and commit this sin! Chazzal explain that the purpose of the treasure is to teach the speaker a message: just like the wall is a plain wall on the outside, yet when you break through the surface you see gold - so too, the person you are speaking about might seem one way on the outside, yet when you get too know them they too will be a treasure.
I would like to add to this concept. Anyone who has studied basic psychology has learned that the reason one speaks ill of another is, in fact, because the speaker really has problems with his own character and therefore finds flaws in the characters of others. Perhaps, in this week's parasha Hashem is not only teaching the speaker that his victim is truly golden on the inside, but that if the speaker takes a deeper look at his own self he will find that he is truly a treasure!!
May we all recognize that each of us is made "in the image of Hashem" and we are all treasures! In doing so, may we not feel the need to find flaws in others and may we be zoche to see the coming of Mashiach speedily in our days!
Shabbat Shalom!
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