Beneath the Surface

By Rabbi Joshua (superficially known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

The Torah teaches us that there is neither impurity of the afflictions of tzora’as, commonly translated as leprosy, nor their purification, except by the word of the kohein (see Rashi to Vayikra 13:22). Rabbi Mordechai Ilan, in his Mikdash Mordechai, explains that this is because tzora’as, at its core, is a spiritual malady, usually brought about, as the rabbis tell us through evil talk. The kohein, in contrast, is set apart by his refinement of speech. In fact, as the prophet Malachi (2:7) tells us, the kohein’s very lips are different from those of others, in that they “safeguard knowledge and people seek teaching from his mouth.” The Talmud (Pesachim 3b) relates an incident in which a certain person who claimed to be a kohein ate from a sacrifice and described the portion he received in a somewhat unrefined way. This led people to suspect that he really was not a kohein, and, after an investigation, this indeed turned out to be the case, perhaps, as some explain (see Toldos Yisrael by Zev Yavetz), that he was serving as a spy for the Roman government. The refinement of the kohein’s speech, says Rav Ilan, serves as an antidote to the coarseness of speech exhibited by the metzorah, which led to his tzora’as.

According to the Maharal of Prague, speech is the link between the physical and the spiritual. This, in fact, is the deeper meaning behind Moshe’s so-called speech impediment. He was on such a high spiritual level that he found it difficult to express himself in terms of the physical world. The involvement of the kohein in the process of tzora’as, according to Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, in his Dorash Moshe, is emblematic of the fact that the kohein needs to bring spirituality into all areas of life and not confine his work to the mishkan.

A further comment by Rabbi Ilan serves to reinforce his observation about the kohein’s use of speech, and the comments of the Maharal and Rav Moshe, zt”l, as well. One of the indications that a spot on a person’s body is, indeed, one of tzora’as, is that it appears to be deeper than the skin. The idea here, says Rabbi Ilan, is that the kohein needs to look deeper than the outward appearance of the spot. What may appear at first glance to be a malady that is only skin deep may very well be a deeper, spiritual malady. The kohein, with his refinement of speech, is able to see beyond the mere physical, and perceive the spiritual roots hidden underneath. This is true in many areas in life. The casual observer may only see the symptoms of the real malady. The spiritually sensitive person, however, who, like the kohein, knows how to bridge the divide between the physical and the spiritual, sees beneath the surface. These truly spiritually attuned people need to broaden their scope and bring their ability into operation in all areas of life.