The Blinders We Wear

This time of the year is quite an auspicious time for anyone writing a Dvar Torah. One is not limited to the week’s parshah, which is related to the often unrelatable purities and impurities from the Temple. Rather, one can speak about the month of Nisan, Pesach, the connection between Purim and Pesach, etc. So much to talk about! As such, I have chosen to write about the purities and impurities from this week’s parshah, Tazria.

This parsha deals with tzaraat, a condition that manifests on the skin and is often translated as leprosy. So in the times of the Temple, a person would see a spot on their skin and think it is Tzaraat, and start to worry. They would set up an appointment with the kohen, pace back and forth for an hour in the waiting room, and finally the get checked out by the kohen. However, if we look at the details of the Torah rather closely, we will see that no one is ever pronounced as a tzaraat, a person with this malady, without a kohen pronouncing it.

So, the obvious question is, what is the kohen doing? Does his mere proclamation actually cause a change in the person? Is there a cause, the kohen’s stating that it is tzaraat, and then an effect, the person now gets it? In fact, my question is further enflamed by the fact that the Torah tells us that the kohen will tell the man to clear out his house before the inspection. Why? Because if he is found to be a tzaraat, only then will all the belongings in his house become spotted. So again, what is the kohen doing here? 

Why can’t the individual just look at their own skin? So you might think, we don’t know the laws. But we can just learn the laws. There’s a white spot on the skin, there’s a white spot under the layer of the skin, ok. Whatever, just tell me the rules, we’ll give ourselves an examination, determine it, and free the Kohanim to go golfing. Why involve someone else?

I’ll tell you why we don’t just check ourselves out, and it is because we can’t just check ourselves out. The Mishnah in Negaim (2:5) teaches us a very important rule. A kohen can inspect everybody, except for himself, because, כל הנגעים אדם רואה חוץ מנגעי עצמו, “all afflictions one sees, except his own.” No man examines his own afflictions; another person must do that. The Torah is describing a physical manifestation of a spiritual disease here, but the meaning is not limited to the physical implications of these laws. We can gain an understanding about humans from here. 

Afflictions, or even moral shortcomings, are obvious and as clear as day, when we see them in someone else. We notice when others don’t say please and thank you, we see when people are condescending, when they cut us off, and when they make mistakes. What do we do? We are shocked by these people’s actions. They cannot even try to hide any of their mistakes because we are there, ready to report on them. 

In fact, our ability to point out these faults and to challenge the person committing these acts is something that many of us find impressive and noteworthy. However, when we look at ourselves, how many of us do not see what we are doing wrong? How many of us do not notice how we have hurt others?

As a teacher, when I have students get a wrong answer, I have the ability to think, hmmm, maybe they didn’t pay attention, maybe they didn’t get it. However, from this lesson from tzaraat I learn to question what role I may have played in that process. Was I unclear? Did I not go over certain material? Perspective is essential. If we focus on others’ shortcomings, we’ll just clash and run into each other.

If we stop focusing on the faults of others and try to pay more attention to our missteps, we can really understand where others are coming from and lose a lot of the fighting and arguments that surround our lives; in fact, we can promote peace. And as it says in the Gemara (Gittin 59b) “The entire Torah is for the sake of the ways of peace.” This is just one of the many timeless lessons to be uncovered in the intricate laws and details found in the Torah, in the often avoided areas of Temple-related items.

Shabbat Shalom,

R. Eliezer Barany