Judgment for the Nations of the World:
The Medrash Rabbah (15:4) says a moshol of noblewoman who enters the palace of the king and sees a whip hanging on the wall. This made her scared but the king calmed her and said, “Don’t worry. This is for the slaves. You, however, can eat, drink and rejoice here.”
So too, when the Yidden heard about the nega’im, they got scared. Moshe Rabenu then told them, “Don’t worry. This is for the nations of the world. But you can eat, drink and rejoice, as is stated (Tehillim 32:10): ‘There are many maladies for the wicked but those who trust in Hashem are surrounded by kindness.”
In this vein, the pasuk states: (Shemos 21:1): “And these are the laws that I place before you.” Targum Onkelos translates this pasuk as: “V’eilin dina di tesader kadmeihun.” Rav Hersh of Rimanov zy”a understands this to mean that if a “din” (harsh decree) is issued in Heaven against Klal Yisroel, we ask that it should go “before us” and be transferred to the gentiles, so that it is not applied to the Jewish people.
