Expansive Eye
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
These two parshiot of Tazria and Metzora deal extensively with the laws of tzoraas, liberally but incorrectly translated as leprosy. When a person is suspected of being afflicted with tzoraas, he is brought not to a medical doctor, but to Aharon or another kohein for a proper diagnosis and treatment. The tzoraas can be detected in the skin, the hair, the clothing, or the housing of the individual. If the kohein declares him contaminated, the afflicted one is sent outside of the camp into social isolation until the appearance, literally the eye, of the affliction has changed, and he is declared purified and “healed.”
Long before modern medicine theorized the connections between psychological, spiritual and physical wellness, the Torah proclaimed that these were linked, that man was in fact a holistic entity. Therefore, writes Rabbi Munk, healing will be achieved by reestablishing the balance and harmony between the varying aspects of man’s being. The laws surrounding the diagnosis and cure for tzoraas bear witness to the Torah’s wisdom.
If we are to look for a cure for tzoraas, we must search for its source. Our Sages find several sources in the Tanach that point to spiritual and psychological “viruses” that had infected the individual so afflicted. Among the seven causes listed in the Gemara, three are actually blemishes of the personality more than sinful acts. These are loshon horo/evil, negative speech, gasus ruach/arrogance/haughtiness and tzoras iyin/envy/miserliness/narrowness of the eye.
Since only a kohein can diagnose this affliction, one must ask why a kohain is best suited to this task as opposed to any other person or doctor. Rabbi Druck shows how Aharon and is descendents the kohanim exhibit the exact negation of these three traits. Aharon was known for his love of others, a trait that belies the underlying cause of loshon horo. Further, when Bnei Yisroel complained to Moshe and Aharon about having only manna to eat, both Moshe, also known for his humility, and Aharon completely minimized their own importance, saying, “Who are we? We are nothing.” Finally, when Hashem appointed Moshe to lead Bnei Yisroel out of Mitzrayim, Aharon was truly happy in his heart at Moshe’s appointment to this leadership position even though he himself had been the leader of Bnei Yisroel the entire time Moshe was away in Midyan. Aharon did not resent being passed over the leadership ladder. These personal characteristics made Aharon and his descendents perfect mentors for those who may suffer from these character flaws. The antidote for such anti social behavior, as well as the other sins that cause tzoraas, is social isolation.
Loshon horo, the best known cause of tzoraas, has its roots in envy and in tzoras iyin, writes Rabbi Grosbard in Daas Schrage. It comes from a faulty perspective of one’s purpose generated by a lack of emunah/faith. As such, it is not generated by external factors, but by one’s inner faulty vision. When one realizes that we are all beloved by Hashem Who has given each of us everything we need to serve Him to our fullest potential, creating our own happiness, we will not be jealous of others, and we will not speak badly of them. Reaching this perspective takes introspection, and requires time away from the hectic rat race of our daily lives. The isolation imposed on the metzora helps him go through this process of internalization and self analysis. Perhaps this is also the message and the opportunity the current mandated self isolation provides for us to reach a better appreciation of ourselves, of our purpose, and of our relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
When Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai asked his students what is the proper path one should follow in life, he accepted as best the path recommended by Rav Elazar ben Hyrkanos, the path of an iyin tova/a good, expansive eye. Its opposite, the iyin raah/negative eye leads to many sins, especially to loshon horo, explains Rabbi Reiss in Meirosh Tzurim. If one has a good, benevolent eye, one escapes the trap of jealousy, for he recognizes that what his friend has which he does not have would do him no good, much like a pair of glasses with your friend’s prescription. When the kohein goes out to see you in your isolation, writes Rabbi Yosef Fogel in Siach Yosef, we are reminded of Aharon himself who went joyously to greet his brother albeit Moshe was just appointed to take over the reins of leadership from Aharon himself.
Every aspect of the purification process is equally symbolic. For example, through immersion in water and through shaving his entire body, the metzora is symbolically being reborn and beginning the new growth process, writes Rabbi Munk. Shaving offers a very specific lesson, notes Letitcha Elyon. Just as no two hairs can grow from one follicle, so too can there be no two people exactly alike with the same mission. Each person has his own unique place, and is beloved for it.
Since creation, Hashem has set boundaries for every element of creation, including man., adds Rabbi Grosbard. The boundaries allow everything to function in sync with each other rather than destroy each other. Fire and water can work together if the water is contained in a kettle or a pot and doesn’t want to take the place of the fire. Similarly, each person must live and work within the “boundaries” Hashem has set for him, within the assets and talents Hashem has provided for him. All that is meant to be his has already been decided on Rosh Hashanah. To assume that you are more deserving of what your friend has demonstrates a lack of emunah. Therefore, Rabbi Lugassi points out, every morning we bless Hashem Who has given me all that I need, both physically and spiritually.
Instead of comparing yourself to others, instructs us Rabbi Wolbe, look inside yourself, examine your personal potential and strive to reach that potential. When you realize you have everything you need to achieve that goal, you will be happy for what others have and for their successes.
In this context, Rabbi Fogel brings a beautiful and novel perspective to Yaakov Avinu’s blessings to his sons before his death. Before he blesses them, he asks them to gather all together. His purpose, according to Rabbi Fogel citing the Brisker Rav, was for each to hear the blessings of the others, so each would understand his unique role and the gifts he has with which to accomplish it. That way there would be no jealousy of what the other has, for it serves no purpose in his own mission. As we recite at the end of every Shemoneh Esreh, “Bless us all together, our Father, as one, with the light of Your countenance...” The lesson of the tzoraas is that we become happy for the other, not just refrain from jealousy. When you look with a “good eye,” you are looking not only at what they have, but also at what they are. You are searching for all their positive attributes rather than at their faults. When you look at others with a negative eye, you do more harm to yourself than to them. [It is these people that we hear referred to as “farbissen/embittered”, and few people want to socialize with them. Isolation, even without tzoraas is being imposed upon them by their own negative perspective. CKS]
Not everything can become contaminated with tzoraas. The Torah lists among fabrics only wool and linen that can be thus contaminated. Rabbi Kasbah in Vayomer Yehudah suggests that these two materials are meant to remind us of the first case of jealousy and its results, the jealousy between Cain and Abel whose disparate offerings to Hashem and Hashem’s response brought Cain to kill Abel his brother. It may also be the reason, as some of our commentators explain, for the prohibition of shatnez.
Not only a person’s body and his clothing may be afflicted with tzoraas, but also the walls of his home may be afflicted as well. In that case, everything is removed from the home before the kohein declares it contaminated. If the contamination persists, the wall is broken and the contaminated bricks are removed. An interesting medrash tells us that breaking the walls would reveal treasures that the original Amorites had hidden in the walls, not wanting anyone to benefit from these riches, especially the conquering Israelites, if they themselves could not do so. However, if tzoraas was meant as a punishment, how could inheriting these riches serve an instructional purpose?
Rabbi Zev Leff in Shiurei Binah tries to reconcile this problem. First, one must understand that the underlying cause of all the sins incurring the punishment of tzoraas stem from one’s tzoras iyin, his selfish, narrow vision, his feeling that everything belongs to him, his sense of entitlement and unwillingness to share. Someone like this will often lie and say he doesn’t have what his neighbor has asked to borrow. When all his possessions are now brought out of the house into the open, his lie is revealed and he undoubtedly feels embarrassed. This embarrassment becomes a corrective measure, and he may now enjoy the new found riches and, hopefully, share with others.
Rabbi Leff offers an additional, completely different perspective on this question. He notes that the only vessels that would actually become contaminated from the tzoraas without the possibility of purification are earthenware vessels of relatively insignificant value. Their value lies not in an expensive material from which they may be formed such as gold or silver vessels, but in in their function in what they contain. Their value lies in their functionality. Therefore, earthenware vessels do not become impure from external contact, but from the inside out. The lesson driven home here is that all one’s possessions, including one’s very self, are meant to serve a function and to be shared in service to Hashem and to others, not merely to be hoarded. Knowing that all one has can be elevated in service, a tzadik values even something of little financial worth. That’s why Yaakov put himself in danger to retrieve some small earthenware jugs, and then had to fight the angel for their possession. Only after the metzora has learned this lesson can he enjoy the treasures behind his walls.
The Torah uses an interesting turn of phrase for the kohein’s reexamination of the contaminated clothing and vessels to determine if they have been “cured.” The Torah commands the kohein to examine the contamination to see if it has changed its appearance. Appropriate words would be color, depth, or the Hebrew mareihu/appearance. Instead, the Torah writes that the affliction has not changed eineihu/its eye. The Aish Tamid cites the Sefas Emes in explaining this homiletically. If the person being afflicted has not changed his “eye,” his perspective, he remains contaminated.
Rabbi Schorr in Halekach Vehalebuv further develops this idea. The affliction of tzoraas appears initially on a person’s skin, on his ohr. This ohr is spelled with the letter iyin. However, its homonym ohr, spelled with an aleph is light. Man’s inner essence, his soul, is the light of God surrounded by its outer garment of skin. The metzora must change his perspective from the iyin of skin/ohr to see the inner light/ohr with an aleph within each individual.
In Hebrew, oneg/pleasure and nega/affliction are written with exactly the same letters in reverse order. The difference lies only in where you put your iyin/eye. It is our attitude and perspective which determines whether we experience pleasure or affliction, whether we are happy or sad. Changing where our eye, our iyin rests can even change a heavenly decree, The ohni/poor man can be rich (at least in his own eye) by rearranging the three identical letters of both words.
The correct “eye” is understanding that we are all servants of Hashem, With that perspective, we can look at each other with a positive eye and positive mindset, and transform our current nega/affliction to oneg/pleasure IY”H in the very near future.