With Open Eyes: Bereishit
Sep 26th, 2010 by Rabbi Simcha Weinberg in Portion of the Week
Opening a book I hadn’t seen in nine years, I found an inscription from a former student: “Thank you for opening my eyes to see Torah, Mitzvot, life, and myself, as never before. Your student forever, and with eternal thanks. S.”Less than a year later, as I was dying in a hospital in Germany, he called to tell me that life is too painful to be lived with open eyes. He hasn’t spoken with me since.
Open eyes have allowed me to see painful realities about life and people, but I hope to never close them. Leonardo Da Vinci ‘s cosmology, which he called “Saper vedere,” – knowing how to see – was a blunt instrument that he used to assault the fatuity of his times, but it also empowered him to design plans for tanks, submarines, parachutes, the first revolving stage and much more. His knowing how to see gave us the Mona Lisa, and his study of anatomy. He suffered for his vision but he never shut his eyes and the world continues to benefit from his knowing how to see.
Our eyes have been open since Elul. Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur & Succot were toothpicks holding them open. What will we do now? Will we keep our eyes wide open even when we will see things we would rather not? Or, will we keep them open to see everything around and about us with a fresh perspective and clarity? Have we fallen right back into ‘regular’ life without a festival every few days? Have we succeeded in leaving our new lenses in our eyes, watching everything with joy & anticipation?
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It is told of the legendary Seer of Lublin that physically he had one eye larger than the other and that originally he could see from one end of the world to the other.
He saw so much pain in the world that he begged the One Above to limit his gift.So, in G-d’s infinite kindness, the Seer’s sight was limited to a 400 mile radius.
I don’t really know what to make of this story. However, with all the technological advances made, each one of us can literally see from one end of this world to the other. There is sooo much suffering in the world;yet at the same time there is sooo much opportunity to do good and to see the miracles G-d has put into the world.
Geeloo bi’r'ada-Be joyful with trepidation-seek the joy in reality,but remember ‘HaZor’im b’dim’ah b’reenah-b’reenah yiktzoru’the old Chassidic teaching R’Shlomo gave over=> those who sow with tears mixed with joy, will ultimately reap with joy.
The challenge after the round of Tishrei holidays is to keep, as the Holy Rhizhiner explains MarKheshvan ===> m’rakhashei ree’khooshei=that soft whisper of all the spiritual elevations enhanced during Tishrei to underlie and color our daily living experiences going forward.
We must strive to maintain our heightened sensitivity to hear G-d’s calling to each one of us -What does G-d want me to do NOW! at THIS given moment!