Which of your senses is stronger, hearing or sight? You could argue back and forth, but the fact is clear: our sense of sight has the strongest influence on us. The pasuk says 9:12-17 – “Hashem said to Moshe, the people whom you took out of Mitzrayim has become corrupt. They have strayed quickly from the way that I commanded them. They made an eigel, release me and I shall destroy them ... Moshe came down the mountain with the luchos in his hand and broke it”.
The gemora says in Yevamos (62) that Moshe Rabeinu made a kal v’chomer to break the luchos: If the korban pesach, which is just one of 613 mitzvos, is forbidden for a gentile, then certainly the entire Torah cannot go to a nation that is straying. Moshe Rabeinu reasoned that he must break the luchos, and Hashem agreed with him.
Asks the Maharsha, why didn’t Moshe Rabeinu make the kal v’chomer right when Hashem told him that the yidden strayed? He should have broken the luchos right then and there, even before he descended! Asks the Maharsha: (he brings a midrash Shemos Raba 46-1) Is it possible that Moshe Rabeinu didn’t believe Hashem and that’s why he didn’t break the luchos right away? Says the midrash, no, of course he believed. But he wanted to teach klal Yisroel proper behavior, that even if a person hears a negative report from a reliable person, it’s forbidden for him to accept the testimony based on words alone. He can only accept such a report if he himself has seen the matter.
Another answer, says the Maharsha (based on the ha’ikarim mamar 4 perek 15) is that seeing is so much stronger than hearing. You might hear some painful news and feel pained, but it doesn’t compare to the agony you feel upon seeing it with your own eyes. This is a fact, that a person is moved by his sense of sight much more than his sense of hearing. This is true even if a person hears something from Hashem! And that’s why Moshe Rabeinu only broke the luchos upon seeing cheit ha’eigel with his own eyes.
Rav Yisroel Meir Druk offers yet another explanation as to why Moshe Rabeinu broke the luchos only upon seeing the sin and not when he heard about it. He says that when Moshe Rabeinu heard about the sin, he wasn’t concerned that it would affect him. Yet, once Moshe Rabeinu saw the sin, he was afraid that he would get negatively influenced and so he had to take action to combat that influence. And that’s why he broke the luchos.
We find the same concept regarding one who sees a sota being degraded. We are told that if one sees the sota disgraced, he should abstain from wine. He must do an action to counteract the negative influence that he might receive.
Rav Aron Leib Shteiman said that in our times, it’s possible to reach the level of ruach hakodesh through guarding your eyes. That is the real battle we face today. Rav Dan Segal said that if a person holds himself back from seeing one bad thing, he will get hundreds of zechusim. On the flip side, seeing even one bad sight can have an influence on you and your future children.
The Torah says in the parsha of krias shema, “uri’isem oso uzichartem es kol mitzvos Hashem...” Rav Mordechai Druk asks: We see our tzitzis many times a day and it doesn’t remind us of all the mitzvos Hashem. It doesn’t even remind us of the mitzva of tztizis! Why then does the Torah say that if you see your tzitzis, it will remind you of all the mitzvos? Says Rav Druk, before the pasuk of “uri’isem” it says “V’lo sasuru acharei levavchem v’acharei eineichem” – meaning, if a person has holy eyes and only looks at holy sights, then when he sees his tzitzis he will be reminded of all the mitzvos. However, if we use our eyes improperly, we chas v’shalom ruin our eyes and the segula of remembering the mitzvos doesn’t work.
The pasuk says in Parshas Ki Savo 27-26 “Cursed is one who will not uphold the words of the Torah”. The Ramban says that this refers to the one who receives hagba and does not raise up the Torah scroll to show all the congregants. As it says in maseches Sofrim 14,14 “that they raise the Torah and display the face of its writing to all the people standing on its right and left and one turns it to those in front and back of him. For it’s a mitzvah for all men and women to see the writing and say the pasuk v’zos hatorah asher sam Moshe and this the custom”. Comes out from the Ramban, that if the one who receives hagba doesn’t show the lettering to the congregants, then the pasuk of “cursed is one who will not uphold the words of the Torah” will apply to him. But it also implies that if you do show the words to the congregants, then you will be blessed! Blessed is the one who upholds the words of the Torah! Indeed, that’s why the Vilna Gaon was makpid to take hagba for himself.
Why is hagba so important that if you don’t show the words you are cursed? It could be that since seeing has such a great influence on a person, when raising the Torah properly, the one doing hagba is positively influencing all the the members of his congregration. As it says in Mishna Berura siman 134 se’if katan 11, “It’s good to see the lettering to the point that you can read it and that brings a great light on to people”. There is no greater influence than seeing, and that’s why if you misuse the opportunity of hagba you will be cursed, and if you use the opportunity properly you will be blessed.
I heard from Rav Daniel Glattstien a powerful technique to overcome a challenge in shemiras enayim. Let’s say you tell your child to go to bed now and he says no. You say it louder, and he still refuses. However, if you ask him “Do you want to stay up for five more minutes?” Probably, he’ll respond “Of course!” So then you ask him, “Are you going to go to sleep nicely then?” And he’ll say yes. Then he’ll play for five more minutes and go to sleep. What happened? Your son felt like you gave in a little so he softened up too. That’s the way it works in the psychological world, and it works in the spiritual world as well.
Whenever we wear tefillin, we have hairs sticking out of the shel rosh that come from the eigel. The metzudas David says that when a yid puts on tefillin he’s bringing the shechina down upon him. Do you think the satan will let a yid put on tefillin? We need to throw a bone to the satan to keep him satisfied. What we do is that we make believe we are giving in to him, we have the hair of the eigel on the tefillin so the satan thinks that we are reminding Hashem of the sin of the eigel. So he says, “Sure, put on the tefillin” and he backs off. Says the Michtav M’Eliyahu, this is an important technique to use whenever we are challenged in any area of avodas Hashem. The satan will say “Look, look, if you don’t look you will be missing out. It will be enjoyable and no one will ever know.” A piece of advice: Never tell the satan “no”, because if you tell him “no”, he’s going to say “yes”. And he could say “yes” a lot louder and a lot stronger than you can say “no.” Instead, tell the satan “Really? Okay, but not now. Next time.” The satan sees that you are “giving in a little”, and so he backs off. You threw him a bone. Says the Michtav M’Eliyahu, chances are that next time you go outside, the satan won’t even be there. He’s done with you. If you overcome him one time, then Hashem will give you siyata dishmaya and the urge won’t be there. Don’t say no; say next time. And next time he probably won’t be there. That is the most powerful technique in dealing with the satan.
