See What I’m Saying

Would you rather be blind or deaf? If you had to make a choice, which would you keep; which would you give up? This week’s opening verse: “See, I have placed before you today, blessings and curses,” (Devarim 11:26) is perhaps suggesting that G-d ‘needs’ us to see. But surely we are not talking here about actual sight: after all no blessings or curses were physically visible! Torah is simply describing intellectual concepts, and the word ‘see’ refers to comprehension as in, “Do you see what I’m telling you?” or, “I see what you mean.”

Interestingly enough, there is another famous Biblical term that symbolizes understanding: “Hear, O’ Israel, G-d is our L-rd, G-d is One.” Once again, we are addressing the Jew’s obligation to discern the “One G-d” from among the multitude of competing forces in our confused universe. The switch in phraseology (sometimes utilizing see versus hear) is more pronounced than one imagines. Throughout the Talmud new information is introduced with, “Come and hear” (Ta Shema). In contradistinction, Jewish mysticism (Zohar) usually presents new ideas with, “Come and see” (Yuh Chazi).

The Talmud (Baba Kama 85b) rules, that if you deafen someone you are liable for greater damages than if you blinded him. This seems to indicate, quite emphatically, that hearing is much more valuable to a person than seeing. But, in fact, shouldn’t it be the opposite? Isn’t sight our surest sense? As we all know, “Hearing is not comparable to seeing,” (Rosh Hashanah 26A) and, “Seeing is Believing!” This is not to say that a person cannot be fully convinced with second-hand information. A court of law will decide on life-and-death issues based on testimony presented to it. But there is a level of conviction that can only be attained through sight. One example is to be found in Jethro’s recognition of G-d. At first, “Jethro heard of all that G-d had done,” (i.e., the Exodus, the Sea splitting, the miraculous victory against Amalek); nevertheless, it was only when he came to the Israelite camp at Sinai and witnessed, firsthand, the special relationship they enjoyed with G-d, that he said,

“Now I know that G-d is greater than all gods.”
We are fully aware that Torah was originally written and later transmitted orally. Hence, Torah can be read or heard. That is why Torah sometimes demands that we LISTEN; other times to LOOK. The difference: Hearing expects us to make an intellectual commitment; seeing seeks an emotional commitment.
Imagine hearing on the radio that tens of thousands were swept away by a tidal wave. The reports are gruesome. You share the ugly news with your wife as she serves dinner. You take a bite and request the margarine, spreading both it and the devastating report in equal measure. You may comment, “How tragic,” but that won’t stop you from enjoying dessert.  Now suppose that on the next night you’re driving home and turning into your block, when suddenly a little dog rushes into the street.  You have no time to react. You actually see the impact. Looking in the rear view mirror you slow down and watch ‘Doggie’ on the side of the road twitching. You pull slowly into the driveway and slink through the front door where your wife exclaims with exuberance, “Guess what we’re having for dinner; your favorite, HOT DOGS!” You excuse yourself: you’ve lost your appetite.
What happened? Do we care more about one dog than we do about thousands of humans? Is the tragedy of one doggie greater than an entire village drowned? The answer: one event we heard about, the other we witnessed with our own eyes.  We do not act upon what we intellectually know, but on what we emotionally feel.
Through listening we gain information; through vision we gain motivation. When a driver is caught driving drunk he is forced to watch vivid, heartbreaking films. “Friends [really] won’t let friends drink and drive” when they’ve seen graphic pictures, not when they’ve merely heard statistics.  This explains the Rabbinic adage that the wise man is the one who sees the outcome! Not only does he anticipate, he envisions with his mind’s eye the consequences of his actions.

Hence the Talmud, which comprises the revealed, rational Torah, addressing our intellect summons us to, “Come and hear,” since listening achieves rational comprehension. But the writings of Kabbalah which go beyond the realm of logic to the mystical encourages us to, “Come and see,” for it is that sense that arouses our emotions which is the Zohar’s main function; to excite our spiritual passions.

At the conclusion of Moses’ life, the Torah informs us that he “saw” the Land of Israel and all of the events that would befall our people “until the last day.” The fact that the L-rd saw fit, so to speak, to show Moses the future, rather than just tell it to him is because (A) seeing forms the strongest of impressions, and (B) Moses is a prophet meant to foresee the future.
 
This form of seeing requires more than 20/20 vision. It involves a true understanding of what is being seen. Contrast this to Isaiah’s portrayal of non-believers as being sightless; i.e., blind to the lessons of history. This is especially true when the ideologies of the past century have been proven worthless, and only the mentally ‘blind’ continue to believe in them. Therefore in this week’s reading, G-d asks us to “see” our future blessings and curses. He is requesting our emotional commitment; that we internalize what we’ve seen/grasped of the first forty years of Jewish history and make a cogent choice between blessing and curses, between eternal life and human mortality. 

So which would you choose, blind or deaf. At this point, it must seem pretty obvious that sight is more advantageous. But let’s not be so short-sighted. Helen Keller once remarked. “If I could have one of my senses back, either sight or hearing…I would choose hearing. Being blind cuts you off from the world, being deaf cuts you off from relating and communicating with people. I choose people over the world.” Thus hearing is more valuable when it comes to paying damages because losing the ability to share with others is a more serious deprivation. Sight may be our most reliable sense in appreciating and apprehending G-d, but for   man - a social creature at heart - relationships are judged more vital, and thus in a human court, their loss is more keenly felt and evaluated at a higher price

Perhaps there is a spiritual action you would like to adopt, but getting started is proving difficult. Create a mental picture of how you would feel if you did this good thing for the next 5 years. Not only will this emotionally goad you, you will be counted amongst the wise.

See what I’m saying?