What makes you unconfortable with our text?
What other Jewish values this rule seems to pass over?
Why would this be the case in the Temple?
כל איש אשר בו מום NO MAN THAT HAS A BLEMISH… [SHALL COME NEAR] — This is intended to include in the prohibition (besides the blemishes expressly mentioned in vv, 18—20) also other bodily blemishes.
מום בו HE HAS A BLEMISH — These apparently redundant words imply: so long as he has the bodily blemish he is unfit for priestly service; (the translation is: מום בו while the blemish is in him, 'לא יגש וכו he shall not approach to offer); consequently, if his blemish disappears, he becomes again fit for it (Sifra).
אשר בו מום אפילו נולד בעל מום ממעי אמו.
Even if he was born with a blemish from his mother's womb.
(כו) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹקִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ ... (כז) וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹקִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹקִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
(26) And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness....' (27) And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
(יד) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לוֹ שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ט) כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקִים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לָהֶם שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יד) בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּתַּן לָהֶם כְּלִי חֶמְדָּה. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לָהֶם שֶׁנִּתַּן לָהֶם כְּלִי חֶמְדָּה שֶׁבּוֹ נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ד) כִּי לֶקַח טוֹב נָתַתִּי לָכֶם, תּוֹרָתִי אַל תַּעֲזֹבוּ:
(14) He would say: Beloved is man, since he is created in the image [of God]. A deeper love - it is revealed to him that he is created in the image, as it says (Genesis 9:6): "for in God's image He made man." Beloved are Israel, since they are called children of the Omnipresent. A deeper love - it is revealed to them that they are called children to God, as it says (Deuteronomy 14:1): "You are children of the Lord, your God." Beloved are Israel, since a precious instrument has been given to them. A deeper love - it is revealed to them that the precious instrument with which the world was created has been given to them, as it says (Proverbs 4:2): "For a good lesson I have given to you; do not forsake my teaching."
(10) But Moses said to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to Your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
(14) Do not curse a person who is deaf and do not place a stumbling block in front of a person who is blind.
(יב) הרואה את ... ואת המשונין בצורת פניהן או באיבריהם מברך ברוך אתה ה'' אלקינו מלך העולם משנה את הבריות הרואה סומא או קיטע ומוכה שחין ובוהקנין וכיוצא בהן מברך ברוך אתה ה'' אלקינו מלך העולם דיין האמת ואם נולדו כן ממעי אמן מברך משנה את הבריות הרואה את הפיל ואת הקוף ואת הקיפוף אומר ברוך משנה את הבריות.
One who sees…people with disfigured faces or limbs, recites the blessing, ‘Blessed are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, who makes people different.’ One who sees a person who is blind or lame, or who is covered with sores and white pustules (or similar ailment), recites the blessing, ‘Blessed are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, who is a righteous judge.’
But if they were born that way (with the disability), one says, ‘...who makes people different.’
"This might sound slightly pejorative, but can also be interpreted as an acknowledgement that what appears at first as a disability can also be seen as a sort of blessing, as it may provide those who have a nominal disability with insight and skill levels that they might otherwise never have attained. According to the midrash preserved in Midrash T'hillim 34:1, for example, David who initially questioned the purpose of madness in the world, ultimately prays to God to grant him at least the appearance of madness in order to save his life from a hostile Philistine king. Thus we are taught that all sorts of disabilities exist in the world, physical and psychological, and they all provide us with opportunities to look for God and experience divine reality in unexpected ways."
(ג) הוא היה אומר, אל תהי בז לכל אדם, ואל תהי מפליג לכל דבר, שאין לך אדם שאין לו שעה ואין לך דבר שאין לו מקום.
(3) Ben Azzai taught: Do not disdain any person. Do not underrate the importance of anything for there is no person who does not have his hour, and there is no thing without its place in the sun.
(ז) כִּי יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחַד אַחֶיךָ בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ בְּאַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ לֹא תְאַמֵּץ אֶת לְבָבְךָ וְלֹא תִקְפֹּץ אֶת יָדְךָ מֵאָחִיךָ הָאֶבְיוֹן.
(7) If there is among you one of your brethren with needs, within any of your gates, in your land which ADONAI your God has given you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your needy brother.
ועדיין לא שמענו אם נולד במומו אם המום מעכב או לא, כי יש מקום לומר שמא דווקא זה שתרווייהו איתנהו ביה שיש לו פגם בנשמתו ובגופו ראוי שיתגאל מן הכהונה לבלתי הקריב את קרבן ה', אבל הנולד במומו שאין בו פגם בנשמתו זולת בגופו לבד שמא תאמר שאינו מעכב קמ"ל למטה מום בו את לחם אלקיו וגו' וזה מדבר במי שקדמה מציאת המום למציאתו לאויר העולם, וזה ביאורו כל איש אשר בו מום מזרע אהרן הכהן לא יגש להקריב את אשי ה'. ואע"פ שכבר הזכיר למעלה אשר יהיה בו מום וגו' מ"מ לא הזכיר שם כ"א לחם אלקיו. וסד"א דווקא לחם אלקיו כמנחות, ולחם הפנים, אבל שאר אשי ה' מותר להקריב קמ"ל לא יגש להקריב את אשי ה' להשוות כל האישים במי שבו מום וסד"א דווקא במי שבו מום אבל לא במי שמום בו קמ"ל מום בו את לחם אלקיו לא יגש להקריב. ונקט לחם אלקיו לא שבא למעט האישים שהרי כבר הושוו כל האישים במי שבו מום והוא הדין במי שמום בו ולא נקט לחם אלקיו כ"א בעבור שר"ל אח"כ שאפילו לחם אלקיו שיש בהם קדושה יתירה יותר מן העולים לאישים מ"מ מותר לאכול מהם, כמ"ש מיד לחם אלקיו מקדשי הקדשים יאכל, וכ"ש מן האישים. ומ"ש ומן הקדשים יאכל אלו קדשים קלים לפי שיש מקום לומר שאחר שלא הותרו לזר, כמו מנחות של קדשי קדשים שאכל משה וכן משמע בילקוט סוף פר' צו (ח.תקיח). ובדרך זה מיושב מה שנאמר גם בבהמות פעם מום בו ופעם בו מום, לפי שכל מומים פוסלים בבהמה בין שנולדה במומה בין שנולד מומה בה.
....that he has a blemish on his soul ... but the one who is born with a blemish does not have defect on his soul, jut on his body....[and he is only prohibited from offering certain sacrifices, and is able to conduct other sacrifices].....[and there is a difference between mum bo and bo mum - a blemish on him, and in him a blemish....]
"Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook wrote more than seventy years ago (Ezrat Kohein, responsum 68, ed. Jerusalem, 1969, pp. 278-282) that expert professional advice is needed before anyone may be absolved from the obligation to perform the mitzvot on the basis of mental disability. Today, the assumption should always be that a person is competent and responsible, unless it is plainly obvious that the case is otherwise. Also, people without psychiatric training should always avoid applying psychiatric labels to others; we should always make every effort to include all Jews in the performance of mitzvot."
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב כל המונע הלכה מפי תלמיד כאילו גוזלו מנחלת אבותיו שנאמר (דברים לג, ד) תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהילת יעקב מורשה היא לכל ישראל מששת ימי בראשית
Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav whomsoever withholds a halacha from his/hers disciple, it is as if s/he has robbed him of his/her inheritance, for as it is written, "Moses charged us with the Torah as the heritage of the Congregation of Jacob," (Deut. 33:4). It is an inheritance for all of Israel since the six days of creation.
(י) כָּל אֵלּוּ הַדְּבָרִים לְפִי מַה שֶּׁיִּרְאֶה הַדַּיָּן שֶׁזֶּה רָאוּי לְכָךְ וְשֶׁהַשָּׁעָה צְרִיכָה. וּבַכּל יִהְיוּ מַעֲשָׂיו לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם וְאַל יִהְיֶה כְּבוֹד הַבְּרִיּוֹת קַל בְּעֵינָיו שֶׁהֲרֵי הוּא דּוֹחֶה אֶת לֹא תַּעֲשֶׂה שֶׁל דִּבְרֵיהֶם וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן כְּבוֹד בְּנֵי אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב הַמַּחֲזִיקִין בְּתוֹרַת הָאֱמֶת שֶׁיִּהְיֶה זָהִיר שֶׁלֹּא יַהֲרֹס כְּבוֹדָם אֶלָּא לְהוֹסִיף בִּכְבוֹד הַמָּקוֹם בִּלְבַד שֶׁכָּל הַמְבַזֶּה אֶת הַתּוֹרָה גּוּפוֹ מְחֻלָּל עַל הַבְּרִיּוֹת וְהַמְכַבֵּד אֶת הַתּוֹרָה גּוּפוֹ מְכֻבָּד עַל הַבְּרִיּוֹת. וְאֵין כְּבוֹד הַתּוֹרָה אֶלָּא לַעֲשׂוֹת עַל פִּי חֻקֶּיהָ וּמִשְׁפָּטֶיהָ:
Let not human dignity be light in [your] eyes, for the respect due a person supersedes a negative rabbinic commandment....A judge must be careful not to do anything calculated to destroy someone's self-respect. The sole concern [in the administration of justice] should be the enhancement of the glory of God, for whosoever dishonors the Torah will be dishonored by other people, and whosoever honors the Torah will honored by others. To honor the Torah means to follow its statutes and laws.
One of the most uncomfortable readings for moderns is present in this portion. It is uncomfortable because we do read humanity as all made in the image of God, and kavod habriot, the honor to human beings, as fundamental.
The text in the Torah gives us a list. Blind, lame, one limb that is longer or shorter, even if your arm or leg is broken, hunchback, dwarf, a growth in the eye, scars, scurvy.
The idea that any physical blemish would exclude a kohen from working in the temple is expanded by Rashi to mean any little blemish, even one that comes and then disappears, let’s say, a rash or a cut. So notice that some of these defects are acquired and some not, but it does not matter: according to the Bechor Shor, France, 12th century, it is about representing the people, and just as you would not send a representative of an entire people to talk to the king, you can’t send someone with a defect to talk to God. In France, 12th century, you wouldn’t risk it – after all, there is the possibility of the king seeing this as an insult.
When we read last week – do not curse the deaf and do not put a stumbling block in front of the blind, most of my congregants jumped to the metaphors of that. But imagine for a moment this law as saying what the text simply says, as people only legislate what actually happens. This would point to the possibility a society in which it is acceptable to play cruel pranks on the disabled, as the identity imposed to those who have any disability is that disability, and not the everything else a person can do and be.
It is to prevent that that the rabbis actually instruct us to say a bracha, a blessing, when seeing someone who has a desfiguration: Meshaneh et Habriot… who makes people different. According to Maimonides, that blessing is supposed to be said when we see someone that lost a limb or became desfigured. Or if they were born deaf or blind. I prefer to think that this is done silently, between you and the Holy One.
The word briot in the blessing is fundamental, as we should know that “kavod habriot”, honor to humans, is so strong that it supersedes a negative commandment in the Torah. By which the tradition wants us to remember that the most important fact about someone is that they are human, and with an inherent honor – because our baser instinct is to push away what looks ugly, or make fun of people who have some disability. And unless we accept that this is the case we can’t transcend that reality.
Maimonides, however, will go on to say that if you see someone to whom this was not th original way they were born, but a acquired disability, you should say a different blessing, which is dayan haemet, the true judge. If you have been to enough funerals you might recognize that blessing. This poses, I think, a bigger challenge in emotional terms, really. Because you have to accept that this person passed through a death of sorts. Who you see in front of you is not who they originally were. They went through a change, and that can be profound.
When we talk and relate to someone that acquired a disability, in many instances they can give you a profound lesson in humanity and the strength necessary to live with that disability. Like with any human being going through any loss, those five stages that Elizabeth Kubler Ross described exist: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. The ones that are most incredible are the ones who can fully accept where they are and then move forward – but we know and they know they lost something, and they at a certain point at least did experience God as dayan haemet, as a harsh judge. Which is not the case with those born that way, as they live for a while without noticing they are different – they will experience other people as harsh judges, but not God, certainly not at the outset of their lives.
The Kli Yakar, Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz, was a rabbi in Prague in the 1600s. He looks at our text and disputes that the text is doing a blank statement on disabilities, and says that it is circumscribing that only the bread and the flour are off limits to people that have those defects, so they would be able to offer the other sacrifices. I like his writing on this because he bses his reading on something that I think we all can get behind: he says – someone who is born with a physical blemish does not have a blemish on their soul. He highlights again that the honor we owe to others is paramount – all defects of body are outside of our control. Defects in the soul – well, those are in our control. Those are the ones we feed – anger, arrogance, cruelty, hatred, lack of curiosity, you name it, it’s all on us.
Now, the narratives in the Torah like to talk to one another, and Moshe, whom we all know from Exodus as a someone with a defect, ends up being the one closest to God. If at the beginning he needs help to talk, through Aharon, he is the one who spends twice 40 days and 40 nights hanging out with God. We know that this contact is so powerful that makes the rest of us look at Moshe with respect, and even fear, as his face shines, and he has to walk around the camp with his face hidden by a veil.
We know his first defect eventually disappears – the entire book of Devarim is his words. And yet, he is speaking behind a veil. So Moshe, in that sense, goes from one extreme to another, and both are seen as outside of the norm. And still – he’s the leader against which all other Jewish leaders are measured. Is his sttutering a defect? Is his shining face a defect? The fact that he has to walk around hiding his face under a veil, because people cannot deal with it, points to what we know – there is an incredible discomfort around him.
And in that regard, what would be the blessing you would say when you saw Moshe?