LEV142 The written Torah states: "The leper in whom the disease [leprosy] is… shall cry: "Unclean, unclean" [this verse]. There is an allusion here to a subtle but pervasive psychological mechanism that Freud recognized: projection. People who are impure themselves are generally the first to detect uncleanness in others. All too easily we can darkly impugn the motives and intentions of others because unconsciously we attribute to others what we know ourselves to be capable of doing and thinking. He who is himself a leper is the first to cry out at others, "Unclean, unclean!" In the pithy adage of our Sages, "Whoever declares others blemished, it is his own blemish that he ascribes to others" (T.B. Kiddushin 70a). This telling point of our Torah is one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is Ben Zoma' teaching. Are you ready to denounce and vilify others in the blackest terms, perhaps without justification? Take care. You have a clear warning here that in your own house a thorough spring-cleaning is needed. The more you wield the brush with black paint, the darker your self-portrait becomes. If you would rather be a man of honor, to earn and enjoy the esteem of others, learn to view selectively. Observe in others whatever is good and praiseworthy, and honor them for it. Give each man the esteem that is his due. This is the only way, says Ben Zoma, to achieve your own.