When a man makes a vow, pledging the value of his soul to Hashem (Vayikra 27:2)

When the Temple stood, people could make two types of monetary vows. A person could make a vow that he would pay his body’s worth. To figure out the amount he owed, he would figure out how much his worth would be on the slave market, and then pay that amount. The second type of vow is Arachin, which is how much a person’s soul is worth. There is no way to evaluate how much holiness a person has, so this amount was fixed by the Torah, depending on the individual’s age and gender.

But is it really true that we cannot figure out how holy a person is by looking at them? We know who the tzaddikim are and who the wicked people are, don’t we?

Two weeks ago, my son’s seventh grade class presented their Gedolim Projects to the parents and staff of his yeshiva. Each boy chose a different great Rabbi who lived during the past 300 years and gave a short presentation about the Gadol’s life. As I listened to over 30 presentations, I realized something – if I had met many of these Gedolim during their younger years, I would not have predicted them to be a great future leader. One of them went to public school in Virginia. Another played basketball every afternoon in high school. I was amazed at the stories I was hearing. The holiness in these men was not always as clear as it was later in their lives.

Many years ago, I listened to a lecture from a Rabbi who teaches at a yeshiva in Israel. He was explaining his younger years and how he was an actor and even starred on a television show. Then he explained how he worked with big name bands, which surprised me that someone who is now a Rebbe had done this. But the biggest surprise was when he mentioned that him and his friends decided to write a movie about three things they love: opera, rock n’roll, and science fiction. This movie was the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which in case you do not know, is not a film that they show in yeshivas. Imagine if he came to the Temple and said, “I would like to make a donation in the amount of holiness I have,” when he was writing this movie. The Bais Din would have said that he owed probably a few cents…But that would have been completely wrong. There was a tremendous amount of holiness in him!

I once heard a lecture from a missionary who tried to convert people away from Judaism. Now he is a Rabbi who tries to bring people closer to Torah and mitzvos. I once heard a lecture from a NFL player who has a Super Bowl ring. Now he brings people closer to Hashem. These are just a few of the many, many stories that exist.

We have no idea how much holiness is in a person. When we see a person, we might not see much, but that person’s soul might be full of holiness. We have no idea. This is why the Torah tells us that if a person is bringing a donation for the amount his soul is worth, it is a fixed price. Don’t judge a book by its cover, because there might be much, much that we do not realize about this person.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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