How Does Judaism View a Person with a Defect?

Let us explore who is the compassionate one, and through this, strengthen our faith in Him.

It is a fact that there are people in our world who are cruel and lack compassion for others. Even animals show no mercy toward their kind (a cat does not feel compassion for a cat hit by a car). Compassion is something special given to humans by Hashem - He is the Father of all mercy, and all compassion comes solely from Him, blessed be He. To the Jews, He has given abundant compassion! In the language of the Sages, He is called "Rachmana," the merciful, and in the Torah, it is said of Him "slow to anger and abundant in kindness." Indeed, the people of Israel are called "shy, compassionate, and doers of kindness."

From this, we learn that He, blessed be He, is undoubtedly far more compassionate than us, for He is the source of all mercy, and it is only through Him that we are capable of showing compassion.

Any cruelty or hardness of heart that a person might wrongly attribute to the Creator stems only from a lack of understanding of His actions, as this world is hidden and not understood. It is but a small part of many cycles, the beginning and end of which we do not know. When we reach the world to come, the world of souls, and see the true world, we will understand that He, blessed be He, is indeed more merciful and gracious than any human and far beyond what we could imagine.

The Creator is the giver of the Torah, about which it is said, "Its ways are the ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace." The Torah taught us "Love your neighbor as yourself," "Do not put a stumbling block before the blind," "Do not bear tales among your people," "Do not covet," "Love the stranger," etc., etc. All our morals and compassion come solely from Him, blessed be He.

Of course, no one would suspect the holy Torah of belittling people with defects, God forbid, for Hashem is the source of all love and compassion and certainly loves and has mercy on all His creations.

Nevertheless, I have seen some who struggled with the words of the holy Zohar (Parashat Emor, page 90), where it is told that Rabbi Elazar was sitting in his father-in-law's hall to seek advice on a certain matter. Meanwhile, a man with a defect in one of his eyes passed by, and his father-in-law suggested asking his advice. But Rabbi Elazar replied that he was defective and not trustworthy: "Come see, Hashem said (there, 21:18) every man with a defect shall not come near, for holiness from above does not dwell in a defective place" (as cited in Magen Avraham Orach Chaim, Siman 53:8), as if one might mistakenly think that holiness does not rest on a person with a defect.

However, we must know that the sayings in the Zohar intentionally conceal secrets and are usually not meant to be taken literally. To understand the Zohar, one needs tradition and rabbis who have delved into the esoteric teachings. One should not attempt to understand such profound statements plainly. The story quoted from the Zohar is a rare and very difficult one to comprehend, and indeed the commentators have struggled to understand it (since this story has no parallel in the Talmud, and it is known that there were even some Amoraim who were blind).

For example, I found that a great rabbi struggled with this: "Rabbi Eliezer, the author of Minchat Elazar of Munkatch, of blessed memory, in his book Divrei Torah (2nd edition, letter 54)... wondered, not understanding at all the words of the holy Zohar, for we have found many righteous and holy men throughout the generations who had defects [that disqualified them from priesthood], and how is it possible to say that holiness did not dwell on them, God forbid."

After all, the Torah tells us that Isaac, our patriarch, had a defect (he was dim-eyed), Jacob, our patriarch, had a defect (he limped on his leg). Even Moses, our great prophet, was of uncircumcised lips. There were Tannaim and Amoraim with defects, like Rav Sheshet, who was completely blind, and Rav Yosef, yet they were great sages of the Sages. And there is no doubt that Hashem was very close to them, for they were among the greatest of the Jewish people.

Therefore, there is no question that a person with a defect can be righteous and have the divine presence. The Sages have said that even a mamzer can be a scholar, and there were great rabbis who were blind and possessed divine inspiration, and it is clear that the patriarchs had the divine presence, even though some of them had defects.

Many rabbis have tried to explain the difficulty in the holy Zohar and have offered various interpretations to understand it, but all agreed that even people with defects can reach holiness, and I have not found anyone who disagreed with this.

Nevertheless, in my humble opinion, I will offer my own interpretation. In my personal view - Rabbi Elazar knew through divine inspiration that the defect of that blind person was caused by an account from a previous cycle (- a certain sin that the blind person had to rectify in this cycle, and therefore he was born with a defect in his eyes, and apparently, that blind person had not yet managed to rectify his sin in his lifetime, and thus, the divine presence did not dwell on him), so Rabbi Elazar said what he said regarding that specific blind person whom he identified, that his defect came to him because of a particular sin. However, this was not said about all blind people in the world. Even what was brought as a verse "any man with a defect shall not come near" was as proof of his words, that a defect can indicate an account of a sin from a previous cycle, as he indeed saw through divine inspiration regarding that blind person who passed by them. But it was not intended for all persons with defects in the world, for even the patriarchs and prophets had defects, and no one disputes this.

In any case, when we encounter difficult sayings, we should not hastily draw conclusions. Let us remember what the Sages said: "Judge your fellow favorably (and not unfavorably)," how much more so when it comes to the magnificent and compassionate tradition of our people, of the Father of all mercy, whose holy Torah taught us to have mercy on the oppressed and the unfortunate. From Him we learned compassion.