“and the Kohen shall return…” (Vayikra 14:39)

The Ramban tells us, based on Chazal, that there are aspects of tzaraas which are supernatural. The Tiferes Shlomo, in explaining some of the aspects, brings up an idea that I feel that people are not aware of. When people become infirm and go to the doctor to be examined, many of them complain that they feel that they have been treated like a piece of meat (Some doctors try to overcome this with a “good bedside manner”). From the patient’s perspective, the doctor seems to “know it all” and the patient is at the doctor’s mercy – even though both parties may be fully aware that the doctor is only an agent of Hashem. Many times the patient’s embarrassment is compounded by the fact that the doctor is accompanied by medical students, who also must see the patient in this very vulnerable state. The Netziv says that this is also the case with the Metzora: Chazal require a Kohen to have hands-on experience (shimush) with another Kohen before he can decide the status of an affliction of tzaraas. This means that the Metzora must bare himself in front of both the Kohen and his student. The Netziv explains that this is part of the atonement process, for those who speak loshen hara also improperly expose others to people who do not need to know about a third party’s deficiencies. This is an atonement measure-for-measure.

This is all from the viewpoint of the Metzora. How is the kohen supposed to view himself as a decider of pure/impure? It is within his power to make people’s lives uncomfortable. Obviously as a descendant of Aharon haKohen, he would feel the pain of his fellow Jew. There are certain cases where the Kohen must re-examine the affected area after a week. The Torah uses the words “veshav haKohen.” While the exact translation is “The Kohen shall return”, the Tiferes Shlomo interprets it to mean that the Kohen must also repent! I think that what is being taught here is that in order to help the metzora do teshuva, the Kohen himself has to repent as well. It is not enough for this metzora to be secluded to rethink his actions in an isolated area (out of his normal surroundings) in order to get a new start on life; rather he needs the energy of the Kohen doing teshuva as well to propel him to rehabilitate himself.

This brings to mind a story about a non-chasid who became one of the earlier chasidish rebbes after the following incident happened. A rebbe told him that there is always a deeper meaning to everything that happens. After he went home a handyman knocked on his door and said to him, “Do you have anything that is broken that needs to be fixed?” The man responded, “No, everything I have is perfectly fine.” The handyman responded, “I don’t believe that is true. I think if you examined all your possessions, you would find some that need to be fixed.” He waved the handyman off, but then thought of the words of the Rebbe, “Many times there are deeper meanings to all encounters that one has.” He now understood that many of us think that we are OK and don’t need to fix any part of our lives. The message of the handyman was: Let us examine ourselves and we will find  that there are areas that need improvement. From that realization, the man became a chasid, and eventually a rebbe.

So too in our lives, we often find ourselves in positions that require us to judge others. Whether it is a parent judging his child, an employer assessing an employee, or a homeowner assessing a repairman who did work for him. We have to evaluate ourselves, “Are we also acting as we should be?” When we are put in a position of deciding the fate of others, we have to know that Hashem put us in that position to remind us to re-evaluate ourselves as well.

May we merit to understand a concept that I learned once from my Rosh Yeshiva in America. When you point a finger at someone else, there are three fingers pointing back at you!