Here’s an ethical issue and Jewish source response:

Case

Each day, on their way to school, Danny and his friends pass a truly ugly, deformed man, who sits on the street and sells pens and pencils.  He has a deformed face, one deformed arm and no legs.  Danny is really “turned off” by the sight of this man, and always looks away in order not to stare at this deformed person.  However, Danny’s friends say that Danny should not react to the ugliness in this manner, and should look at the man in order not to embarrass him.  

How should a person react to physical differences between people?  Surely these are personal kinds of determinations, but there is a part of each of us that sees some things as beautiful and some things as ugly.  Does it make a difference if one of the “things” is another human being?

Answer

[a] It is natural to react to anyone who is different, and sometimes we are jolted by people who have disabilities.  The rabbis understood this natural reaction, and the Shulchan Aruch codified a proper Jewish reaction based on the Talmud (Brachot 58a).  Rabbi Joseph Karo writes (Shulchan Aruch, Orech Hayyim 225:9) that upon seeing a person with disabilities, including someone who is extremely pockmarked or missing a limb, a Jew  is supposed to recite the blessing ”Blessed is the God who makes different types of creations.”  The reasoning behind such a blessing is the acknowledgement that all creatures, no matter how different, are still God’s creations.  

[b] While the Shulchan Aruch rules that we make a blessing in reaction to seeing this person with disabilities, its writer adds a crucial addendum (225:8):  We should only make a blessing the first time we see a person with disabilities.  After that, the blessing is not recited.  Why is this so?  It is clear that after the first time, the reaction is not felt as strongly.  With God’s help, we begin to see past the exterior of a person and examine his or her personality.  With this, the jolt of a reaction fades.  We begin to define the person by inner, and not outer, qualities.  Even if we never get to know the person, the blessing helps center us in terms of how we should look at the human being in front of us.  This is why, when watching films about ugly things, we are not as shocked by the ugliness after a while.

Returning to our original question, it is proper to react to the man’s disability, and even to recite a blessing, but only the first time.   After the effort has been made to get to know the person and recognize that God created him, just as the Eternal created other human beings, the repulsion should fade.  

Joel Grishaver, “You Be the Judge 2”, pgs. 112-114

Used with permission from Joel Grishaver