Ronald Heifetz’s writes in Leadership Without Easy Answers that leaders play an essential role in our society by helping people organize themselves and see how the needs of any given individual fit into a larger set of goals and expectations for the greater group. He writes:
“It should be obvious from reflecting on our daily lives that authority relationships are enormously productive. The human capacity for generating complex systems of authority is essential to our extraordinary adaptability and creativity as social creatures. Without our innate abilities to organize ourselves to solve problems, much of what we call civilization likely would not exist” (Ronald A. Heifetz, Leadership Without Easy Answers, 69).
For Heifetz, a leader’s authority is valuable because it allows them to take a leading role in solving problems going from the specific to the general and diagnosing what can individual or community needs to do to get back on track. This model of authority and leadership is reflected in this week’s parasha, where the role of kohanim is one that provides order and structure to a disorganized situation.
Parashat Tazria devotes itself to the procedure for diagnosing and curing tza’raat, a mysterious biblical skin disease that the Torah intimately connects to the laws of the purity and impurity that play such a prominent role in Sefer Vayikra, as a whole. The instructions for diagnosing tza’raat are the following (emphasis mine):
“When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly affection on the skin of his body, it shall be reported to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. The priest shall examine the affection on the skin of his body…” (Vayikra 13:2-3).
In theory, while tza’raat was common enough that any Israelite could know it when they saw it, the Torah and our commentators make clear that only a kohen can pronounce that a person is afflicted with tza’raat. The Hizkuni states that, “If the affection is diagnosed by a non-priestly expert, he must still bring the man to a kohen, even one who is an idiot, and tell him what to say” (Hizkuni on Vayikra 13:2), implying that the kohen has a unique role that must be utilized in this process. Taking a different approach, Isaac Abravanel writes that while, “It was preferable to report to Aaron, if possible, since he was the outstanding expert,” in truth “the expertise of the priests in general is not in the disease by in the rules of uncleanness” (Abravanel on Vayikra 13:2). In each case, our commentators argue that the kohanim play an essential role in the tza’raat process, based on some kind of expertise.
Below, two Hasidic commentaries take different approaches to what kind of expertise made the kohanim the person to whom a person must go to see if the skin ailment qualified as tza’raat. Taking a practical approach, the Meshekh Hokhmah of Rabbi Meir Simha Ha-Kohen of Dvinsk argues that because tza’raat is a spiritual disease, rather than a physical one, someone with spiritual knowledge is necessary to diagnose the ailment. He writes:
““He shall be brought to the priest”: ...it may be that we are dealing with an infectious disease...and treating it may be fraught with danger. The doctor therefore needs special Divine protection to be immune to it. This is why the Torah assigned this task to the sons of Aaron, who have a special status and enjoy particular Divine protection” (Meshekh Hokhmah on Vayikra 13:2?)
This commentary takes the perspective that while any Israelite could theoretically diagnose tza’raat, it was only the kohanim whose special status made them immune to the infections brought from tza’raat. Furthermore, the Meshekh Hokhmah’s commentary adds a new layer of significance to what it means to be a kohen, as this commentary asserts that the kohanim do not merely serve a spiritual function, but that the kohanim are endowed with a special kind of divine protection by virtue of their position.
Taking an educational approach, the Noam Elimelekh of Rabbi Eliemelkh of Lizhensk asserts that while any Israelite could theoretically identify tza’raat, the kohanim must diagnose the ailment because only they can perform the educational function of speaking to the Israelite about why he or she became afflicted, and what he or she must do to change their soul in order to change their body. The Noam Elimelekh states:
“When the priest sees this he should pronounce the person impure”: The tzaddik will demonstrate and explain the great damage you have caused through all this and will teach you the ways of true regret and repentance, so that you can correct the bad attributes and the evil that is within you” (Noam Elimelekh on Vayikra 13:3).
While the Meshekh Hokhmah argues that the added significance of kohanim is divine in-nature, the Noam Elimelkeh argues that the added significance is educational in-nature, for the kohanim are tasked with working to help the individual Israelite realize why he or she was afflicted with tza’raat, and what path that person needs to take in order to eradicate the ailment, while cleansing his or her soul in the process.
No matter the reason why the kohanim were the individuals to whom individuals with tza’raat must go for diagnosis, the reality is that each of the reasons brought by our commentators share a common sense that the kohanim possess the leadership capacity by virtue of their position to bring order to a disordered situation. While we thankfully do not need to diagnose tza’raat today, our parasha provides us a model for helping our children understanding what it means into a leadership, for a real leader is one who see the whole picture and help individuals and communities simplify complex problems, and get on the pathway to a brighter future.
Shabbat Shalom!
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