Rabbi Aryeh Levin, known as the Tzaddik of Yerushalayim, was a beloved teacher and leader. Although great in stature, he was very short in height. Walking on the street, he once saw a former student of his who had abandoned the Jewish way of life. When the student noticed that he was walking directly towards his former teacher, he crossed the street to avoid him.
Rabbi Aryeh followed him and approached him with a smile. “I’m so happy to see you, but why did you avoid me?” The student replied, “to be perfectly honest, I’m embarrassed to see you because I don’t have a kippah on my head.” Rabbi Aryeh looked at him and said, “My dear student, don’t you realize that I’m a short man?
I can only see up to your heart.”
I’m reminded of this heartwarming story by a fascinating teaching found in this week’s parashah. When describing the process of determining a person’s tzaraas affliction, the Torah states that a Kohen should examine the affliction carefully, its color and appearance, before deciding its status.
The posuk concludes by saying, “the Kohen should look at the person and declare whether he is tahor or tamei.” The Medrash notes a glaring redundancy. The posuk opens by stating the Kohen will examine the affliction. Why does it repeat itself and say that the Kohen will look again before deciding its status?
The meshech chochmah provides a beautiful explanation. In the first instance, the Kohen examines the skin discoloration, vera’ah es hanegah. In the second, he looks at the origination, the individual, varahu hakohen. Even after inspecting the tzara’ah’s affliction, the Kohen cannot declare the status just yet.
He must first look at the person before determining whether they are tameh. The meshech chochmah quotes a Gemara in moed katan that provides a practical application of this distinction. If the afflicted is a chassen, a newlywed, they are given the Sheva Brachas, the seven days of feasting, as time to celebrate before being declared tamei, and the same applies to a yom tov.
In other words, in order to avoid spoiling one’s wedding celebration or Yom Tov Joy, the Kohen has a license to delay proclaiming the person a Metzorah, even though he knows full well that the skin condition qualifies as a Metzorah. The Kohen must take into account two factors, the status of the tzaraas, And the status of the person.
It’s not enough to see the symptom. One must also assess the causation before making any type of declaration. In other words, before we point to a person’s flaw, before we declare a person an outcast, we have to take their entire picture into account. We don’t just look at what someone’s doing. We consider where they’re holding.
We don’t look at a problem in a vacuum. We consider the human in their entirety. And that is what Rabbi Aryeh Levin was communicating to his student. If I just look at the problem, I’d see your lack of observance. But if I look at you, the person, I will see your heart and your individual story. No book, especially a human story, should be judged solely by its cover.
Wishing you a wonderful Shabbo
