Poor Vision Can be Compensated by Great Perception

Wesley Walker played for the NY Jets from 1977-1989 and is considered one of Jets all-time great receivers. He averaged 19 yards per reception over the course of his career and was named twice to the Pro Bowl. And Wesley is legally blind in one eye.

At the time, Walker was considered a medical miracle. How could he catch a football on the run so well without the use of both eyes? In a 1983 newspaper article, a doctor from the Institute of Sports Medicine put it this way: “The most intriguing thing for me, is what this means for young people who have handicaps. The brain has ways to overcome them that are as yet inexplicable” I am sure that the ophthalmologists in our shul can do a better job explaining the miracle of sight. But what I learned from Wesley Walker is that sight and perception are two different things, similar to hearing and listening. Wesley Walker was able to compensate his handicapped vision through the power of perception.

In this morning’s Parsha, Bilam refers to himself as “Shetum Ha’ayin” (24:3). Rashi explains that since the phrase only refers to one eye, we learn from here that Bilam only had one working eye. As we saw by Wesley Walker blindness in one eye need not be a debilitating handicap, so long as one works to sharpen his perception. But this is woefully lacking from Bilam’s bio and can be understood as the root of his downfall.

In the very next Pasuk Bilam claims to be “one who sees the vision of G-d” and yet the Torah describes time and again a lack of perception on the part of Bilam. This is most clearly illustrated when we read how Bilam’s donkey was able to perceive The Angel of G-d while Bilam was not. But there are other examples of Bilam’s lack of perception. For example at the very end of the narrative, after Balak and Bilam’s plan has been thwarted, the Torah says (24:25): “And Bilam got up and went and returned to his place.” Bilam just witnessed G-d’s salvation of the Jewish People, transforming his intended curses into blessings. He just witnessed the supernatural miracle of a donkey talking (remember this was before the series of Shrek movies). And what is his response? Nothing. He may have seen these things but it did not affect his perception of G-d, the world or his role in life. Wesley Walker proves that one can compensate vision deficits by working hard on perception. Bilaam is a cautionary tale of all that we can miss when we merely give a casual glance at the world around us instead of perceiving what is really in front of our eyes.

We look forward to the day that we pray for every morning right before Shema: Or Chadash Al Tzion Tair” May Hashem shine a new light on us to, a light of both vision and perception onto us and all of humanity. “V’Nizkeh Chulanu Meheira l’Oro” and may our efforts at perception positively transform ourselves and the world around us.