Developing the Kohen Gadol’s Vision5 min read

Athough returning home to the United States is exciting in many ways, I found that this experience can be frightening as well. The first few days back home flew by as I enjoyed the luxuries that home has to offer following a long, accomplished zman. It is so incredible to be able to reconnect with family and friends, enjoy home-cooked meals, and sleep in your own bed. However, after the initial excitement began to wear off on day five, I experienced a sobering moment.

I suddenly realized that despite the relaxing week at home, something was just not right. For some reason, I was having trouble experiencing Hashem in my everyday life. Throughout high school I probably would not have noticed His absence. However, following my four months in Eretz Yisroel, it was easy to detect this void. During my time in Eretz Yirsoel, Hashem permeated my every experience. He used to wave to me from behind the bus. He smiled at every intersection. Suddenly, when I arrived home, everything appeared exceedingly quiet and mundane. The streets, although were bustling with cars and buses, seemed empty. The wind whistled through the trees, but I was having trouble hearing G-d’s whisper. In addition, what I found most maddening was encountering many people who had seemed to have gotten used to living in a world in which Hashem is concealed. Many were not even aware of the fact that G-d could play such an active role in the world we currently live in. These discouraging messages flooded my mind continuously as I continued to remind myself of the intimate relationship that I experienced so often just one week ago. I desperately clung to these positive thoughts, attempting to salvage our beautiful relationship despite my physical senses that seemed to dispute this fact. However, as each day passes by and memories of such a tight-knit relationship with G-d begin to wane, I too have begun to believe my senses. The question that now dominates my mind is, “How is it possible to find Hashem even in the most distant parts of galus?”

This week’s Parsha discusses various forms of tzara’as that Hashem inflicts on various individuals for committing different aveiros, namely Lashon Hara. Although this affliction takes a physical form, we are aware that this affliction is not only skin deep – it is much deeper than that. This is indicated in the words the Torah uses to describe what constitutes tzara’as. The words that are used to describe the location of the tzara’as numerous times throughout Parshas Tazria are “Be’or bisaro”- “In the skin of his flesh”. Why does the Torah emphasis the word “Bisaro” throughout the Parsha? Should the pesukim simply state that there is an affliction “be’oro”- “in his skin”?

Let’s first explain the deeper meaning of these two words. Our skin is what the world sees when it encounters our presence. It is in no way an indicator of the depth of the soul that it contains. “Basar”, on the other hand, refers to the part of the person that is concealed. It is the very essence of the person. Tzara’as is only considered when the Kohen determines that the affliction he is looking at is not just a skin disease, a physical ailment that the world perceives as a shortcoming. Instead, the Kohen only affirms the tzara’as when he is able to see that the person is deficient in their “basar”, the part of the person that represents their spiritual well-being.

How does the Kohen determine whether this disease was merely a physical ailment or a deep spiritual wound that needed to be healed?

The process utilized by the Kohen to determine the status of the one afflicted is hinted to in the pesukim. The pasuk says that only when the tzara’as was determined to be “amok min ha’or”, “deeper than the skin”, did the person become tamei. What does this mean? Rashi explains that “amok” means that the color of the tzara’as was whiter than the skin that surrounded it. Although this is the simple understanding of the pasuk, there is a deeper, more profound connotation as well.

The word “amok” means “deeper than”. What the pasuk is alluding to is the fact that tzara’as is an affliction that is “deeper” than the skin. This means to say that it is only when the Kohen realized the affliction not as a disease itself, but rather as a symptom of a much greater issue within the person, that he is deemed impure. However, if the Kohen determines that the tzara’as does not appear “deeper” than the skin, meaning that this affliction was not a result of the person’s misdoings but merely a skin disease, it was not deemed tzara’as.

Now, the kohen could only do his job properly because he possessed the “eyes” to see beyond the physical. The message the Torah is conveying to us is that a physical defect in a person does not necessarily mean that the person is spiritually lacking. The only way to determine one’s spiritual status is by searching deeper than that which the physical has to offer, looking toward the very essence of the person.

There are many people who we encounter in life who appear to possess tzara’as. Their kippot are too small. They don’t dress in the same manner as us. They may be a little rough around the edges. However, what we always have to keep in mind is that these “negative” components that they possess are merely shortcomings in their “or”, or their physical appearance. Each and every Jew possesses a single point where he or she is always holy, despite the mud that may cover it up. Because we are not kohanim who possess the spiritual eyes to determine someone else’s spiritual status, it is not our job to do so. Although we may be tempted to judge another because those deficiencies appear to be a part of the person’s very essence, this is simply not the case. Because these are not essentially spiritual afflictions, but rather more surface-oriented blemishes, they are not true indicators of the centermost point of their essence.

This is the mentality that we have to develop, especially as students return to our regular lives in chutz la’aretz. At times, it can be harder to see Hashem’s presence in the American galus. Everything around us seems so mundane. It can be challenging to enter a situation where it is so much more difficult to see and feel Hashem’s Presence than just a few days ago in Eretz Yisroel, when we feel like He was standing by our side. But it is our mission as Jews to develop this skill that the Kohanim possessed – the ability to see beyond the physical, the ability to recognize that the view of the physical eye cannot tell the complete story about the depth of what is behind it. Although we may be surrounded by people and places which do not appear to possess anything more than physicality, that could not be further from the truth. It is incumbent upon us, especially when we encounter such situations, to realize that just because we aren’t able to witness the spiritual component of the person or place does not mean that it does not exist. The spiritual essence is there – the most real part of the person; it is just that we are unable to see it.

The identification of tzara’as is very much related to what our ultimate objective is in this world: to be aware of and reveal Hashem’s Presence in every nook and cranny of this world. How do we accomplish such a lofty goal? The secret is hidden in the Yom Tov we just celebrated in Purim – a yom tov whose essential message is our ability to reveal Hashem in the hidden. The Kedushas Levi explains that the title “Megillas Esther” is alluding to the very job of the Megillah: To be “megaleh”, to reveal, “hester” that which is hidden. How does the Megillah accomplish this?

There are two primary components of the Megillah that reveal Hashem’s presence in the Purim story. The first is in the writing of the Megillah. When the sofer writes the Megillah, he is revealing to the world that there Hashem is living here with us. The second, more obvious way is through the reading of the megillah. The same is true when it comes to developing the “eyes” to see deeper than the surface. If we want to see G-d in our every encounter with this world, we can only do so if we begin to utilize these two tools to our advantage. This can be accomplished either by transcribing our encounters with Him or by relaying those encounters to others. When we begin to develop the lenses that help us experience G-d every second of our lives, it is then that we can begin to reveal His presence within others as well.