The Runaway Soul

ESSAY: The Runaway Soul
The malady: malignant weeds feeding on a devitalized self. The cure: a dose of humility

THE WRITTEN WORD: Displaced Persons
The blessings of turmoil

A TELLING STORY: His Daughter’s Son
The making of a Rebbe

The Torah sections of Tazria (Leviticus 12-13) and Metzora (14-15) discuss the laws of tzaraat, a spiritual illness whose identifying mark was a white patch or patches appearing on the skin of a person, on the walls of a home, or on a cloth or leather garment.

Not every white patch indicates tzaraat; there are several secondary symptoms that determine whether the person (or house or garment) should be declared tamei (“impure”). In the human body, one of the signs of tzaraat is if the white patch subsequently caused (at least) two hairs in its area to turn white.

Regarding this law, there is a remarkable passage in the Talmud that recounts a “debate” taking place in the “academy of heaven”:

It was debated in the academy of heaven: If the white patch precedes the white hair, it is impure; if the white hair precedes the white patch, it is pure; but what if there is doubt (as to which came first)?
The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: “It is pure.”
The entire academy of heaven said: “It is impure.”
Said they: “Who shall decide it for us? Rabbah bar Nachmeini.” For Rabbah bar Nachmeini had declared: “I am singular in the laws of tzaraat...” They dispatched a messenger [to bring him to heaven]... Said [Rabbah]: “Tahor, tahor (‘Pure, pure’).”[1]

To understand the meaning of this debate between “the Holy One” and the “academy of heaven,” and why a mortal human being was called upon to decide between them, we must first understand the nature of the tzaraat disease in general, and the significance of the “white patch” and the “white hair” in particular.

Chassidic teaching explains that the human soul is driven by two contrary forces: the drive to “run” or escape (ratzo), and the drive to settle (shov). Every time we are overcome by excitement, love, ambition or yearning, we are “running,” escaping the self to reach for something greater, more beautiful and perfect than it. Whenever we experience awe, humility, devotion and commitment, we are “settling”—affirming our connection to our existence, our place in the world and our mission in life. Ratzo drives us to climb a mountain, shov to build a home; ratzo to pray, shov to do a mitzvah.

In the spiritually healthy soul, the will vacillates between ratzo and shov like the rise and fall of a well-balanced pendulum, like the contraction and expansion of a smoothly beating heart. The constraints of our place in the world, the finiteness of our nature and body, the boundaries of our very being—these impel us to escape them, to strive for the unbounded and the infinite. But our very escape brings us to a place from which we better appreciate the beauty and necessity of our existence. Thus the ratzo peaks and provokes a counteraction of shov, of return to oneself and one’s place in the world

Tzaraat is the condition in which this crucial balance in disrupted, in which the pendulum of the soul ascends in its ratzo arc but fails to swing back in shov. The will escapes the self but fails to return, leaving behind a vacuum in which all sorts of undesirable elements can now take root like weeds in an abandoned garden.

This is the significance of the “white patches” and the “white hairs” that are the symptoms of tzaraat. A patch of white skin indicates that life and vitality have departed from (this part of) the body. Still, a white patch alone does not mean that the will’s failure to “settle” has resulted in any negative developments in the character and behavior of the person. But when we see white hairs sprouting in the white patch—when we see dead things feeding on this dead place—we have a full-blown case of tzaraat.

On the other hand, the existence of white hairs, in and of themselves, do not indicate tzaraat. These might represent the ordinary garbage that we lug through life, the run-of-the mill negative traits and experiences which actually have the positive function of challenging us and provoking our finest talents and most potent energies. It is only when the white hairs are caused by the white patch that something serious is afoot. Such a condition indicates that the person has “run away” with his escapist impulses so high and so far that he has completely abandoned his commitments to life and productivity, leaving behind a hollow and lifeless self that is a breeding ground for what is worst in human nature.

Hence the law that a white hair is a symptom of tzaraat only when “the white patch precedes the white hair,” indicating that this dead growth is the result of a certain area of the person’s life having been drained of its vitality.

What is the root cause of tzaraat? Ratzo is the escape from self, while shov is the return to self. It would therefore seem that tzaraat—ratzo without shov—derives from excessive selflessness. In truth, however, the very opposite is the case. Ratzo is what the soul desires to do, while shov is what the soul is committed to do. Escapist behavior is the ultimate self-assertion, while “settling down” is the ultimate submission. Tzaraat, then, derives from a lack of humility, from the failure to yield one’s own will to the will of one’s Creator.

This explains the aforementioned debate between “The Holy One” and the “academy of heaven.” The Kabbalists speak of two types of divine energy that nourish our existence: a divine light that “fills the worlds,” entering within them to relate to the individual character of every creature; and a divine light that “encompasses the worlds”—a transcendent energy to which we can relate only as something “mystical” or “spiritual”—something that is “outside” of ourselves.

Of course, the divine essence is neither “filling” nor “encompassing.” Ultimately, G-d’s relationship with our existence cannot be defined as internal or external—it is neither and both, for the divine reality is beyond such distinctions and characterizations. But G-d desired to relate to us in a manner that is consistent with our reality. In our experience, there are things that are “internal”—things that we can understand and empathize with—and things that are “encompassing,” meaning that they are beyond the parameters of our understanding. So He, too, relates to us via these two channels, making Himself available to us via rational and apprehensible media (e.g., the laws of nature), as well as through “mystical” and “spiritual” vectors.

There are numerous differences between these two modes of divine energy and their effects upon us, discussed at length in the works of Kabbalah and Chassidism. One basic difference is that the divine light that “fills the world” give credence to our sense of reality and selfhood, while from the perspective of the “encompassing” light, which transcends the parameters of our existence, our “reality” has no true validity and our sense of self is little more than an illusion.

The “academy of heaven” is an allusion to the “filling light,” while “The Holy One” (kedushah, “holiness,” meaning transcendence) connotes the “encompassing light” of G-d. So regarding the case in which there is doubt as to whether the white hair came before or after the white patch, the “academy of heaven” is inclined to declare this a case of tzaraat. For this is the divine perspective on man that recognizes man’s selfishness. If tzaraat is a possibility, we must suspect that it has indeed occurred.

“The Holy One,” however, sees man as an essentially selfless being. From the standpoint of the “encompassing light,” tzaraat is an anomaly. If there is clear and conclusive evidence that a person has indulged his escapist desires to such an extreme, the laws of tzaraat apply. But where there is doubt, this divine perspective is inclined to declare him “pure.”

Who might decide between these two divine visions? Only one who is in touch with the overriding vision, with the singular truth that transcends both the “filling” and the “encompassing” modes of divine relationship with reality.

Rabbah bar Nachmeini was “singular in the laws of tzaraat.” He was a human being, but a human being who had so thoroughly devoted himself to G-d’s Torah that he had uncovered its singular core—uncovered the divine vision of reality as it relates to the very essence of G-d rather than to the “filling” or “encompassing” elements of His light.

When Rabbah bar Nachmeini pondered the laws of human selfishness and selflessness, he saw man as G-d Himself sees him: as a creation utterly devoted to the will of its Creator. A creation who, even if touched by the possibility of the malady of shov-deficiency, is invariably declared: “Pure! Pure!”

Based on an address by the Rebbe, Shabbat Tazria 5725 (April 3, 1965) and Shabbat Metzora 5730 (April 18, 1970)[2]

The following is a freely-translated excerpt from a letter by the Rebbe dated the “3rd day of Chanukah, 5705” (December 13, 1944):[3]

Your letter awakened memories of the time we were together in Vichy and Nice, under difficult and alien conditions.[4]
From the time that a person is uprooted from his habitual environment until he grows accustomed to the demands and conditions of his new place, in this interim, there come to light certain traits of his inner character as they are in their purity, undistorted by the expectations of society.
Often, these traits reveal hidden virtues of this person—virtues that have been hidden even from himself under the layers of “manners” and social conventions.
Fortunate is the person who does not allow these traits to disappear when he subsequently settles down and finds tranquillity.

The Chabad-Chassidic movement was founded in 1772 by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. Upon Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s passing in 1812, the leadership of Chabad was conferred upon his eldest son, Rabbi DovBer.

When Rabbi DovBer passed away fourteen years later, another of Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s children, the venerable chassid Rabbi Chaim Avraham, was still among the living. Rabbi DovBer also left two sons. Nevertheless, the Chabad community instead chose Rabbi Menachem Mendel (the “Tzemach Tzedek”) as their third Rebbe. Rabbi Menachem Mendel was a grandson of Rabbi Schneur Zalman—the son of his daughter, Devorah Leah. He was also a son-in-law of Rabbi DovBer, having married his first cousin, the Rebbetzin Chayah Mushka.

Many years later, the chassid Rabbi Peretz Chein related the events of that crucial time in Chabad history:

“At a conference held by the elder chassidim of Rabbi DovBer, it was decided to place the crown of leadership upon the head of his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel. The conference appointed a delegation of chassidim to notify Rabbi Menachem Mendel of its decision.
“The delegation consisted of eighteen chassidim, including Rabbi Hillel of Paritch, Rabbi Yitzchak Aizik of Vitebsk, Rabbi Yitzchak Moshe of Jassy, and myself.
“When we came to the Rebbe to tell him of our decision, he refused to accept the leadership. So passed many months of uncertainty. Finally, on Passover of 5590 (1830), it was decided that the elder chassidim would all converge on Lubavitch for the festival of Shavuot to press for the Rebbe’s acceptance.
“When I arrived in Lubavitch some two weeks before Shavuot, I found many of the guests already there. Within a few days, Rabbi Yitzchak Aizik of Vitebsk, Rabbi Hillel of Paritch, Rabbi Yitzchak Aizik of Homel and the others had arrived, and the conferences and delegations began. Still, the Rebbe refused us, suggesting that we choose Rabbi Chaim Avraham or Rabbi Menachem Nachum, the son of Rabbi DovBer. The community of the chassidim was in great distress.

“On Tuesday, the first of the ‘Three Days of Preparation’ before Shavuot, I was inspired by a spirit of G-d. Standing with Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Yitzchak Aizik as we pleaded with the Rebbe in the name of thousands of chassidim that he accept the leadership, I said to the Rebbe that I had a clear proof from a saying of the Sages that he, as the grandson of Rabbi Schneur Zalman, was the one for whom the leadership is designated.

“To this, the Rebbe said: ‘One does not play around with a saying of the Sages. Say what is in your mouth and I will hear you out.’
“I then said: ‘It is written: “If a woman shall give seed, and give birth to a male...”[5] From this, the Sages derive: ‘If the woman gives seed first, she gives birth to a male; if the man gives seed first, she gives birth to a female.”[6] It therefore follows that your mother was born from the first seed of your grandfather, and you were born from the first seed of your mother. As his daughter’s son, you are the most fitting heir of our first Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman. As such, you must fulfill the will of the chassidim and accept the leadership.’
“The Rebbe thought for a while, and then said: ‘Agreed, on the condition that I will not be bothered by those seeking advice on material matters.’ ‘Chassidim want to hear Chassidus,’ responded Rabbi Hillel.

“A short while later, the Rebbe appeared dressed in white garments—inherited from his grandfather—sat down on the podium, and began delivering the discourse, The World Stands on Three Things.”[7]

Based on the writings of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn[8]

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber