Who Owns the Problem?

There are times when I read a section of Torah that it leaves me with a sense of discomfort.  For example this morning, I felt that way when we read in Parshat Emor that any Kohen with a blemish could not serve G-d by making offerings on behalf of the community.  Blemish was a term used to denote an individual who was blind, lame, or disfigured.  When I see such a statement that makes me feel uncomfortable, I turn to see why such a statement might have been made in the first place.

First, it is should be noted that the “blemished” individuals were not forbidden to offer a sacrifice.  This might not seem like a justification for such a statement, but think about some societies in existence today, where “less than perfect” individuals do not even have the same opportunities to participate with the masses in everyday activities or might even be aborted prior to being carried to term.

So, if the kohanim who were “blemished” were allowed to  bring sacrifices to the Temple, but were not permitted to be the ones who placed them upon the altar for G-d on behalf of others, is there any discussion of why that was the case?  As you can imagine, such a discussion has taken place.

 In Mishnah Megillah 4:7 Rabbi Yehudah discusses kohanim who are to do the priestly blessing who have stained hands (stained by blue or red dye).  He declares that they may not do so, “because the people will gaze at him.” That ruling was commented upon by the Shulchan Aruch that added that those with “conspicuous facial blemishes” were also disqualified for the same reason.  Rambam also commented on the prohibition of having blemished kohanim performing the blessing of the community by saying, “Just as the kohanim should not gaze at the people to ensure that they do not become distracted, so the congregation should not gaze at the kohanim and become distracted.”

The commentary might lead one to believe that the problem with having a “blemished” Kohen acting on behalf of the community is not with the Kohen himself, but with the attitude of the community.  Individuals might get so caught up with looking and staring at the individual that they forget the true purpose for their spiritual action of offering a sacrifice in the first place. Such distraction, as you know still happens today when individuals with varying degrees of handicaps enter a public space.  It is only after some individuals get to know an individual who is differently abled that they are able to relate to them without staring.

In fact, later rabbis who commented on the disqualification of Kohanim mentioned in the Mishnah actually went on to say in Megillah 24b, that if the Kohen is known locally “then there is no impediment to his participating in the service.”

I know it might seem unusual to those of us now, living in Lincoln, Nebraska, and participating in the religious life of Tifereth Israel, to think about individuals who might have been disqualified in the past from participating in leadership roles because of the community’s inability to not be caught up in focusing only on an individual’s physical differences. We have worked very hard to ensure that any individual who comes through our door is greeted with respect.  The physical changes we have made to our building over the years have been done so all have accessibility to the offerings taking place within our four walls.  

I firmly believe that the only blemish that should forbid one to lead as a “religious leader” of the community is not a physical blemish, but an attitudinal blemish….the blemish of arrogance.  

I will end with a statement found in tractate Megillah 29a about just such a blemish!

Bar Kappara gave the following exposition: What is the meaning of the verse, “Why look ye askance, ye mountains of peaks, at the mountain which God has desired for His abode?” (Psalm 68:17)  A heavenly voice went forth and said to them: “Why do you look askance at Sinai? Ye are all full of blemishes as compared with Sinai. It is written here “with peaks” and it is written elsewhere “hunchbacked or a dwarf.” (Leviticus 21:20) R. Ashi observed: You can learn from this that if a man is arrogant, this is a blemish in him. 

It is reassuring that even though today’s Torah portion gives a problematic passage with which to deal, that the Rabbis dealt with it in their commentaries on Torah in a way that can leave one with a feeling that it is not the “blemished individual” who has the problem, but the community that becomes distracted because it has a feeling of superiority over individuals who are differently abled.