One of the themes of this week’s Torah reading is: the act of seeing: seeing on a physical level and seeing (or perceiving) on an intellectual, spiritual and/or feeling level. It is said by many psychologists, that one of the worst things you can do to a person is to ignore them.
Being in communication and seeing or “being seen” by the other, gives us a feeling of wellbeing, can help in problem solving, and help us know ourselves on a deeper level.
It is even said in the midrash, that God created the world so as to be in relationship with the creation, so as to “be seen”. Our Torah reading begins with Avraham and Sarah seeing three divine messengers, angels, from whom they receive a message that they will have a child, and Abraham receives healing after his circumcision. By seeing the angels they see God in a filtered manner.
It brings a question regarding whether they actually see God or see an angel or simply get in touch with a deep level of inspiration?
Sages such as Rashi state that communing with an angel connection is a metaphor for getting a good idea, being inspired. “I see!” is a typical comment made when having a revelation.
The theme of seeing is continued in our Torah reading, when Hagar is tragically wandering the desert with her son, Ishmael. God perceives their distress and hears the cry of Ishmael “from where he was”, in the state he was. Immediately an angel appears to Hagar and “opens her eyes”. She immediately sees the water-filled well that will save her and her son’s life and she receives a message that leads her on, to a hope-filled future. What does it mean to be heard from exactly where we are? Does it mean to be understood in the deepest of our pain? Does it mean to be seen even when we are not at our best? Is that when solutions can be seen? “
What does it mean to have our eyes opened?” asks Ramban, the 13th Century Sephardic commentator. When the angel opens Hagar’s eyes, she sees the water that will save her life and sees the panorama of her destiny.
In the arid basin of Mecca, surrounded on all sides by the bare mountains of the Arabian desert, stands a small, stone hut that Isalm refers to as the Kaaba: “the Cube”. Around The Cube, is the holiest Moslem site, Al-Masjid Al-Harām “the Sacred Mosque”. Its location determines the direction a Moslem stands when they pray (just as it is traditional for Jews to face Jerusalem). Near this sanctuary is an ancient well, called Zamzam. Fed by a bountiful underground spring, tradition claims this to have been the well that saved Hagar and Ishmael.
This week, may we receive the blessing of having eyes to see the Well of Hope that sustains us in life. May we be seen in compassion by others and may we see the depths of our loved ones with love.
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