Believing is Seeing

Parshat Shelach begins and ends on the topic of sight. The Parsha opens with the episode of the spies. Moshe sends ten distinguished Jewish leaders to tour the Land of Israel (perhaps the first Jewish leadership mission to Israel):

וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח אֹתָם֙ משֶׁ֔ה לָת֖וּר אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן

Moses sent them to scout the Land of Canaan

The mandate was clear: go and see the land firsthand and report back to the people 1) the beauty/bounty of the land and 2) strategies for victory in the anticipated wars with the current inhabitants.

וּרְאִיתֶ֥ם אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ מַה־הִ֑וא וְאֶת־הָעָם֙ הַיּשֵׁ֣ב עָלֶ֔יהָ הֶֽחָזָ֥ק הוּא֙ הֲרָפֶ֔ה הַמְעַ֥ט ה֖וּא אִם־רָֽב:

You shall see what [kind of] land it is, and the people who inhabit it; are they strong or weak? Are there few or many?

The plan here is in line with the expression “seeing is believing”. Moshe’s hope was that by seeing the land, the spies, and subsequently the entire nation, would believe in the goodness of God’s plan. The power of seeing something is well documented within Jewish tradition. At Har Sinai the nation saw a manifestation of God unlike anything in history. Right after the Ten Commandments, Hashem says:

אַתֶּ֣ם רְאִיתֶ֔ם כִּ֚י מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם דִּבַּ֖רְתִּי עִמָּכֶֽם:

You have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you.

According to the Talmud, only eyewitness testimony can be accepted by a Beit Din. As to why hearsay cannot be accepted by a court, the Talmud explains: “Eino Domeh Shemiya L’Re’iya”, seeing is much better than hearing. My family and I will, please God, be going to Israel this summer on family vacation. This is the first time my children will be in Israel. I am making our itinerary, and my goal is to foster a Chibat HaAretz, a love for the Land of Israel, through the sites that they see. They’ve read and learned about Israel, but nothing beats being there and seeing the Land up close.

And yet we all know that our eyes can deceive us. Obi-Wan Kenobi was right when he told young Luke Skywalker, “Your eyes can deceive you, don’t trust them.” Neuroscientific research has shown that “People rely on their eyes for most tasks – yet the information provided by our visual sensing system is often distorted, unreliable and subject to illusion.”

This is what actually happened with the spies. Because of their fears/ low self-esteem/ ulterior agendas, the spies twisted what they saw into an evil report- leading to catastrophic results.

Which brings us to the very end of the Parsha; a selection that we read as the third paragraph of our daily Shema. In it we are warned:

ולֹֽא־תָת֜וּרוּ אַֽחֲרֵ֤י לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַֽחֲרֵ֣י עֵֽינֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם זֹנִ֖ים אַֽחֲרֵיהֶֽם

and you shall not wander after your hearts and after your eyes after which you are going astray.

Rashi notes that the same word is used here and by the spies, hinting at the fact that the sin of the spies, or other sins, can occur when we allow our eyes to deceive us.

While our Parsha rejects the notion that seeing is always believing, I think that the inverse is true much more often: believing is indeed seeing. What we believe, our assumptions, perspectives and disposition, will greatly impact how we see/ perceive people and events around us.

Barry Neil Kaufman in his book Happiness is a Choice tells the story of a young girl named Katie. Katie had severe disabilities, and after years of medical testing had been brought by her parents to Kaufman’s institute in a last-ditch effort for help.  Instead of discussing Katie’s history with his staff or showing them her thick file, Kaufman told the staff to make their own assessment and recommendation, basing themselves primarily on their first-hand interactions with Katie.

At the end of the day, one of the staff members was reviewing her notes with Katie’s parents. She mentioned that she had held one of Katie’s favorite puppets at arm’s length, and encouraged the child to come and get it.

“She took almost five steps to reach me,” the staff member said. “She’s a real plugger.”

Katie’s father leaned forward aghast and said, “But my daughter doesn’t walk.”

“Oh,” the staff member said respectfully, “I didn’t know.”

While we should never judge someone until we’ve been in their shoes, it appears that this man viewed his daughter’s limitations as an unalterable fact. Whatever the cause, the father’s pessimistic attitude became a self-fulfilling prophecy, and did not reflect reality. Katie had the ability to walk, but her father would have difficulty seeing it on his own, because he was unable to perceive that possibility.

Believing is indeed seeing. Let us develop the necessary attitudes that will enable us to see the great blessings and potential in our lives, and in our community.