R. Dov Linzer: " . . . people with disabilities, but not disabled people."

In discussing Parashat Metzora, Rav Dov Linzer reminds us that "This [labeling] might be somewhat necessary in legal texts, but it is dangerous at the human level. When dealing with people, labeling is reductionist and it dehumanizing. The Torah's careful use of descriptors rather than labels reminds us that we should think of these individuals as people, people with special conditions, people with disabilities, but not disabled people. These are states of being; they are not who the person is."