Plagues of houses

144. Similarly, it is written, "When you come into the land of Canaan...and I put the plague of leprosy in the house of the land of your possession" (Vayikra 14:34). HE ASKS, What is the good reward in finding PLAGUES IN THE HOUSES OF those of were worthy of entering the land? AND HE ANSWERS, It has been explained that AFTERWARDS THEY WILL DEMOLISH THE CONTAMINATED HOUSES, will find treasures THAT THE CANAANITES have hidden in their houses; and Yisrael will benefit from them.

145. Yet come and see, happy are Yisrael to be cleaving to the Holy One, blessed be He. And the Holy One, blessed be He loves them as it is written, "I have loved you, says Hashem" (Malachi 1:2). In His love, He brought them into the Holy Land, to cause His Shechinah to rest among them and to dwell among them, so that Yisrael will be holier than all the inhabitants of the world.

146. Come and see, it is written, "And all the women whose heart stirred them..." (Shemot 35:26), THAT IS, when they were doing their work they used to say, this is for the Temple, this is for the tabernacle, and that is for the curtain. All the craftsmen DID the same, so that holiness shall dwell on their efforts and that workmanship shall be sanctified. When they brought it to its place it turned into AND WAS IN holiness.

147. In the same way, whoever creates something for idol worship or for another, unholy side, once he mentions it in regard to that work, the spirit of defilement dwells on it. As the work progresses, it does so in impurity. The Canaanites were idol worshippers and used to build edifices for sculptures of their faces and for their abominations on the side of impurity, for the purpose of idol worship. When they started building, they used to say something. Once it was uttered, the spirit of impurity rose over the building. As the work progressed, it did so by the spirit of impurity.

148. Once they entered the land of Yisrael, the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to purify and sanctify the land for them, and make room for the Shechinah, so that the Shechinah will not dwell on an impure place. Hence, by that plague of leprosy they would demolish the buildings of wood and stone made in impurity.

149. Come and see, if this action OF BREAKING DOWN THE CONTAMINATED HOUSES was done for the sake of finding treasures alone, they would have to return the stones back into place as they were and ALSO TO RETURN the dust to its place. Yet scripture says, "they take away the stones" (Vayikra 14:40), and, "he shall take other mortar" (Ibid. 42). Thus the spirit of impurity will be removed and taken out, and THE LAND shall be sanctified as before and Yisrael will dwell in holiness, in holy habitation, so the Shechinah will dwell among them.