(Melachim II, 5:1) Na’aman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was an important man to his lord and high in his favor, for through him G-d had granted victory to Aram. But the man, though a great warrior, was a leper.
Aram were not meant to win that battle. Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave salvation to Aram to repay them for the joy they brought to Yaakov Avinu. And the man who accomplished it was not some great army commander who understood warfare, but an ordinary person who misfired. However, since the salvation came through him, they made him a mighty warrior. And because of this, he started to view himself as a hotshot. Since he felt himself to be “מִ י יוֹ דֵ עַ מָ ה,” Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “You’ve climbed too high; there is now arrogance in you! Let’s lower you a bit. We’ll make you itchy; we’ll bring you Tzara’at!” A young man who is scratching all the time doesn’t have much to be proud of, so he’ll sit at home, and slowly his arrogance will deflate.
(2) Once, when the Arameans were out raiding, they carried off a young girl from the land of Israel, and she became an attendant to Na’aman’s wife.
What does this have to do with our story of the battle and Na’aman’s fate? Zera Bareich says it’s very simple. If you say that Hakadosh Baruch Hu brings Tzara’at only to a Jew to teach him not to speak Lashon Hara, then why do you bring Tzara’at to Na’aman so that he will not speak Lashon Hara? Why do you care if he is arrogant? Haman was arrogant; did he get Tzara’at? No. So, why did Na’aman get Tzara’at?
Zera Berach answers, it is because he took a Jewish girl captive. If he had not taken a Jewish girl captive, Hakadosh Baruch Hu would not have cared if he was arrogant. If Na’aman was left healthy and whole, he’d surely harm her! Similar to Pharoah and Avimelech, who received Tzara’at in order to keep them away from Sarah, Na’aman received the...
