Sight, both physical and spiritual, is central to Judaism. Reflect on how we reference the ayin hara, the evil eye, and the ayin hatov, the good eye. Per our norms, “sight” is life, whereas “blindness” is death. Take into account, too, that every morning, during “Birchot HaShachar,” we offer thanks for sight because we understand it to be a unique sense, a critical means of discernment, and a necessary channel to answerability.

Sight is an unmatched form of awareness in that, overall, it: assists us, commands us to avoid venalities, and promises us abundant goodness. One aspect of sight’s wonderful nature is that it’s an aid. In “Are the Jews Blessed or Cursed-Pressure and Free Will,” Rabbi Eliyahu Mitterhoff quotes Rav Henoch Leibowitz, [who, in turn,] brings the Midrash Rabba; “[i]f it wasn’t for these blessing and these curses, we wouldn’t be able to define our obligations in a clear way.” As well, Rabbi Mitterhoff shares that even unambiguous halachot can be compromised if, has v’shalom, people forget The Governor of Our Feats’ Outcomes.

Second, per sight’s extraordinariness. it charges us to avoid depravities. Rabbi Meir Goldwicht  shares, in “Ayin Torah,”

Of the five basic senses[, t]he only sense that is subjective by nature is sight. A person sees things as he wishes to see them…The Torah wanted to arouse within us a sensitivity to ayin tovah and lashon tov, because all of the major corruptions in the world began with improper sight…To the extent [that we see with ayin tova gained via Torah,] we …will merit speedily to see the fulfillment of, ‘Ki ayin b’ayin yiru b’shuv Hashem Tzion (Yeshayahu 52:8)”

Third, per sight’s remarkability, it’s a promise from Hashem. Rabbi Eli Touger teaches, in “The Power of Sight: Re’eh,” that  “[t]he Redemption is an imminent reality, so close that a foretaste of its revelations is possible today. Indeed, it is already possible to see manifestations of the blessings of Redemption in the events which have occurred to the Jewish people in the recent past.”

Beyond being a unique sensibility that helps us, provides behavioral parameters, and awards us prescience of the Messianic Era, sight is a key agency for perceptiveness. The aforementioned benison for sight follows the one for distinguishing among important concepts like day and night. To boot, the aliyah in “Parsha Re’eh” that separates blessings from curses focuses on our alertness of the derech eretz. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains, “[t]hat Moses [gave] the children of Israel the power of sight—to perceive that the true nature of evil is nothing more than a transmutation and distortion of the divine good. When evil is thus seen, it can be transformed into the good that it essentially is” (“Parsha Re’eh in Depth”).

Rabbi Amnon Bazak addends, in “Parshat Ki Tavo: The Blessing and the Curse, and the List of [‘]the Cursed,[’]” that Torah

describes the procedure for the proclamation of the blessing and the curse…These shall stand to bless the nation upon Mt. Gerizim, when you cross over the Jordan: Shimon and Levi and Yehuda and Yissakhar and Yosef and Binyamin. And these shall stand for the curse at Mt. Eival: Reuven, Gad and Asher and Zevulun, Dan and Naftali (27:12-13).

In other words, our (inner) sight empowers us to “select the correct mountain” from which to grasp reality. Ruminate over the following story;

Rav Noah Weinberg zt”l used to ask a simple yet fascinating question: If you put an envelope full of a million dollars in a homeless person’s cart, but he doesn’t realize that it’s there: Is he rich or poor? If you have thousands of gifts in your life that you are too distracted or depressed to see, do you really have those gifts at all (Guttfreud).

If our brains registers goings-on, but we fail to interpret them, have they happened? We need sight in Olam HaZeh.

Further, “Rav Moshe Feinstein [says t]he direction that [we’re] taking [ourselves] is the blessing. A person who wants to do the rotzon Hashem, will of Hashem[,] is blessed’” (Mitterhoff). To leave galut, we must craft distinctions. Sight helps us sift upright from bad.

Ponder that

people who are happy, who are satisfied, who are calm and relaxed and feel satiated [are people] going after spirituality [They’re] not competing [They know] that each thing that [they do] has value, and it makes [them] calm and relaxed…Hashem specifically gave us the blessing and the curse that we don’t rationalize what our lives are about” (Mitterhoff).

After all, “the Talmud warns: The yetzer hara has no power except with respect to what the eyes see (“Sotah” 8a)” (Winston).

All in all, our ability to discriminate,

 is not some magical force but merely a consequence of the fact that Hashem hears and considers our prayers and requests. This is part of His continuing concern and involvement with human experience. [A]nyone who submits his fellow’s judgment [to the Heavenly Court], he is punished first (Meir).

Generally speaking, sight yields moral wisdom.

Given the acuity loaned to us by sight and given its other enhancements of our lives, it’s understandable that the gift of sight, furthermore, causes us to be responsible. We’re liable, in general, visa via our daily heshbon nefesh, and in particular, during the Yomim Noraim.

At large, as Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld spells out, in “Evil Eye-Ayin Hara,” the Ayin Hara “is a real force, mentioned many times in the Talmud and Kabbalistic works (e.g. in Brachot 20a, 55b).

If we flaunt our blessings and draw undue attention to ourselves, it invokes the jealous notice of others[,] draws the notice of the Heavenly court [and] causes our judgment to be revisited…When things go wrong, our first reaction should be to turn to God and attempt to determine His message for us—as well as praying to Him for illumination.

Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, likewise, enlightens, in “Discovering our Personal Mission in Life;”

the true blessing is when we fulfill our personal mission and do the rectifications for which we were brought into this world; whereas, the curse is when someone works hard without fulfilling his personal mission…Just as every person has a particular mission in life, each of our days, as well, has a special rectification. Whatever is possible to rectify today, is different than the rectification for yesterday and tomorrow.

Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum also elucidates that our sight impacts the judgement we receive for our past year’s performances and the goodness that we’re due to receive in the coming year.

Elul, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Hoshana Rabah…are the foundation for the entire year. The highest level, however, is when we see clearly with the eyes of our heart beyond any doubt that the blessing is to listen to Hashem, and that the “Torah is life and goodness.”

To achieve teshuva, it’s insufficient to pray selichot or even to construct a daily inventory of our deeds. Rather, we must actively change how we see our Creator, other people, and ourselves.

Fortunately, The Aibeshter advances us sight. Prior to our earning such a boon, He enables us to enjoy its amazing sensitivity, its perspicacity, and the free will to determine the direction of our actions that it brings. “A good eye sees the world as one of blessing and overflow, in which Hashem’s bounty is enough for all. And an evil eye sees a world of fragmentation and disconnection” (Rosenblum). Let’s appreciate our sight!

Sources:

Bazak, Rabbi Amnon. “Parshat Ki Tavo, The Blessing and the Curse, and the List of [‘]the Cursed[’]. Torah HarEtzion. 29 Mar. 2017. etzion.org.il/en/tanakh/torah/sefer-devarim/parashat-ki-tavo/ki-tavo-2-blessing-and-curse-and-list-cursed. Accessed 20 Jul. 2023.

Goldwicht, Rabbi Meir. “Ayin Tova.” YU Torah Online. 16 Jun. 2005. yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/711224/rabbi-meir-goldwicht/ayin-tova. Accessed 21 Jul. 2023.

Guttfreud, Sarah Debbie. “Elul: The Secret to Change.” AISH.com. aish.com/h/hh/e/inspiration/Elul-The-Secret-to-Change.html?s=mpw. Accessed 20 Jul. 2023.

Meir, Rabbi Asher. “Balak: Blessings and Curses.” OU.org. ou.org/life/torah/mm. blessings. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.

Mitterhoff, Rabbi Eliyahu. “Are the Jews Blessed or Cursed- Pressure and Free Will.” Global Yeshiva. 14 Aug. 2015. globalyeshiva.com/069-jews-blessed-cursed-pressure-free-will. Accessed 20 Jul. 2023.

“Parsha Re’eh in Depth.” Chabad.org. chabad.org/parshah/in-depth/default_cdo/aid/52751/jewish/Reeh-In-Depth. Accessed 20 Jul. 2023.

Rosenblum, Yonoson. “Missing the Bestin Those Different from Us.” Mishpacha Magazine. 25 Jul. 2021. mishpacha.com/missing-the-best-in-those-different-from-us. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.

Rosenfeld, Rabbi Dovid. “Evil Eye-Ayin Hara.” Aish.com. aish.com/evil-eye-ayin-hara. Accessed 21 Jul. 2023.

Siegelbaum, Rebbetzin Chana Bracha. “Discovering Our Personal Mission in Life.” Woman on the Land. berotbatayin.org/discovering-our-personal-mission-in-life. 31 Jul. 2013. Accessed 21 Jul. 2023.

Touger, Rabbi  Eli. “The Power of Sight: Re’eh.” Chabad.org. chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/82733/jewish/In-the-Garden-of-the-Torah-Reeh.. Accessed 20 Jul. 2023.

Winston, Rabbi Pinchas. “The [‘]Eye[’] Generation: Parshas Reeh.” Torah.org. 7 Jun. 2002. torah.org/torah-portion/perceptions-5761-reeh. Accessed 21 Jul. 2023.