Rabbi Rael Blumenthal

In the years when pirates would roam the seas preying off unsuspecting merchant ships, people learned to fear men wearing an eye patch. Today we assume that this image was due to pirates losing eyes in fights, but recent ophthalmological research yields another answer:

Dr. Jim Sheedy, a doctor of vision science and director of the Vision Performance Institute at Oregon's Pacific University explains:

The eyes adapt quickly when going to the light—emerging from a tunnel into the sun, say—but going to the dark “requires the regeneration of photo pigments, and that takes some time to reach full dark-adaptation.” Adjusting to the dim light next to your bed should only take seconds. But when going from bright light to maximum darkness, studies have shown, eye sensitivity continues to change for up to 25 minutes.

Pirates would historically wear eye patches to ensure that one of their eyes was not exposed to light. That way, when they moved quickly from the sunshine to below the deck, from sunlight to near total darkness, they would uncover the “dark eye”, and not need to wait for their vision to acclimate to the darker environment – thus giving them an advantage over their victims.

This phenomenon can be observed in the spiritual world too. Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz, the Chozeh of Lublin, was known to have the ability to “see” more than what meets the eye. Chassidim tell many stories of his capacity to discern a person's history, motives and thoughts simply from glancing at their face. His many followers were often nervous of visiting their rebbe, for fear that he would read them like a book, peering into the recesses of their souls.

It happened once, that the chassidim asked their Rebbe – how is it that he possessed such tremendous insight and vision? The Rebbe responded that it was no supernatural gift. “When I was younger, he explained, I would walk through the market place with my eyes covered so as not to see anything that I shouldn't. I can see what your cannot because eyes are simply more sensitive than yours.”

There's an uncomfortable question which researchers in psychology have been attempting to address for decades: What is the effect of repeatedly exposing ourselves to images of violence, cruelty, negativity and promiscuity on screens large and small?

The effects of personally experiencing something shocking or horrifying can result in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD. This condition is well known and documented – it can severely hinder a person’s ability to function in a normal and healthy way.

But what of our consumption of bite-size trauma? Dr Jessica Hamblen from the VA writes that:

Research generally finds an association between watching media coverage of traumatic events and stress symptoms. However, most studies cannot answer the important question of whether watching television of the event makes people worse or if people who have more severe stress reactions are the ones who choose to watch more television coverage of the event.

Of course, exposing people in controlled experiments is unethical – so research is inconclusive.

If we're honest with ourselves, we know that once we've seen something or heard something, it's hard to un-see or un-hear it. As our consumption of media becomes both more immersive and more frequent, we are risking our ability to think and dream without the intrusions. But perhaps the most significant damage is the dulling of our sensitivities – the more we see, the less we feel about anything.

This insight is expressed in a strange debate of translation in our parsha:

Bilaam refers to himself as ”הַגֶּבֶר שְׁתֻם הָעָיִן”. What exactly does this phrase mean? Chazal (סנהדרין ק״ה א) explain: סומא באחת מעיניו היה – He was blind in one of his eyes. The Targum Unkelus, however, renders the phrase as גַּבְרָא דְּשַׁפִּיר חָזֵי – one who sees very well.

It appears that we a contradiction. Was Bilaam endowed with unique visual capacities or was his vision severely limited?

The Ba'al Shem Tov (בלק ד׳) explains: Both are true. Bilaam’s blind eye was the only part of him pure enough to truly see.

וזאת ידוע דלמעלת הנבואה היו צריכין קדושה יתירה, והנה האדם יש לו ה' חושים, חוש הראייה וחוש השמיעה וחוש הטעם וחוש הריח וחוש המישוש, וכנגדן יש לו חמשה חושים רוחניים כמו שכתב (קהלת א׳:ט״ז) ולבי ראה הרבה חכמה, (מלכים א ג׳:ט׳) ונתת לעבדך לב שומע, (ישעיהו י״א:ג׳) והריחו ביראת ה', וכן יתר החושים (כמבואר במדרש רבה קהלת א׳:ט״ז בפסוק דברתי אני עם לבי) וצריך האדם לטהר ולקדש את החושים החיצונים הגשמיים, ועל ידי זה חלה הקדושה על חושים הפנימיים הרוחניים, ותחול עליו רוח הנבואה, אכן בלעם הרשע היה היפך מזה, כי טימא את החושים ההחיצוניים, כמו שאמרו רבותינו ז”ל (סנהדרין דק”ה) שבא על אתונו, ועוד היה מעונן ומנחש ומכשף וקוסם קסמים, והאיך היה יכול לשרות עליו רוח הנבואה, ולא היה זה אפשר מצדו כלל, אבל ההכרח היה עצום מאוד לעשותו נביא,

This, you must know: Achieving prophecy requires heightened Kedusha. Each person has five senses; sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Correspondingly, there are five spiritual senses, as we see in Tanach. A heart that sees wisdom (קהלת א׳:ט״ז). A heart which can hear (מלכים א ג׳:ט׳). The ability to smell with fear of Hashem (ישעיהו י״א:ג׳), as well as the other senses. By purifying our physical senses, Kedusha rests on the internal spiritual senses as well. But Bilaam was an unrepentant, habitual sinner. How then could he achieve prophecy at all? Let alone the level of prophecy that rivaled Moshe Rabbeinu?! It must be then, that his prophecy was achieved through his blind eye – the only part of his body which had not been sullied with impurity.

Chazal tell us that while prophecy has ceased in our day, children can still experience it – they are more responsive to the subtleties of the world – they can still hear Hashem’s voice.

In many ways, Judaism’s entire mandate is to bring a person to a point in which their body is attuned to it’s highest purpose: Ratzon Hashem.

When we shield our ears from hearing Lashon Hara, we might become sensitive enough to hear the pain and suffering of someone in need. When we refrain from overeating, we can enjoy the taste of Shabbos without guilt or resentment. Of course, when we keep tabs on what we are watching, avoiding mindless scrolling and damaging content, we train our eyes to see a little further.

All of this is to say that if you are feeling a little desensitized, overexposed, and sullied by the constant assault on our senses, this summer might be a good opportunity to consider a some kind a detox. Hashem should help us to find the “eye-patch” for whichever senses need the protection; with the tefillah that we should get a little closer to each other, and a little better at feeling Hashem in our lives.