Divine Eyesight

Among the Divine gifts we thank Hashem for every morning is the gift of sight:
 
Baruch ata Hashem, Elokeinu Melech Haolam, Pokeach Ivrim – Blessed are You G-d, King of the Universe, Who gives sight to the blind.
 
Why is the prayer worded like this?
 
Those who were blind yesterday are blind today. With the exception of a small minority, those who are blind today will most likely be blind tomorrow.
 
Are we thanking Hashem for granting us sight? Today we can see. Most likely, we will retain full capacity of our eyesight tomorrow. Thanking Hashem for our sight is acknowledging an open miracle. A good camera may last up to 5 years. Our eyes can function for over a century without ever needing maintenance. Still, we have no need to thank Hashem for removing a physical blindness we never had.
 
What if this prayer is relating to something deeper than physical sight?
 
In the totality of existence, there is so much we don’t see. At any given moment, over 8 million different visual stimuli hit our senses. We can only filter out a handful of images. All around us exist waves of light, particles, atoms, even angels, demons, and all types of spiritual beings – none of which we can detect.
 
Over 99% of what goes on right in front of our noses passes without the slightest bit of detection. Doesn’t that render us blind?
 
Hashem was, Hashem is, and Hashem will be. G-d operates in all phases of time. We don’t. Where Hashem was, is, and will be the entire timeline, we only occupy a single point. We don’t see who we were before our lives began. We have no perception of where we will be ninety years from now. Based on this information which we do not have, we can’t determine our mission on this earth. We know we have one, we simply don’t know what it is.
 
To all these uncertainties Hashem has the answers. For all these blind spots in our life, Hashem sees perfectly. We don’t see how our actions in this world enhance our place in the Next One, but He does. We don’t even see how our actions in this world effect everyone’s place in this one, but He does.
 
In answering our requests for revelation, which provide us with details on our mission in life, how well we are performing it, and where we need to improve, G-d is sharing His infinite sight with finite children. He is, in the truest sense of the word, giving sight to the blind.
 
Could this be what we are thanking G-d for?
 
In following His instructions, we trust that everything in this world is good because Hashem sees what we don’t. All of our life is based on His greater vision which He uses to act in our interests.
 
This is Emuna!
 
When we lose the ideal job we are devastated, even angry. We see a future with less prospects and more worry. Only Hashem can see how this job would have led us to become so obsessed with it we would neglect our daily learning, concentrate on the markets instead of Him during prayers, even, G-d forbid, break Shabbat.
 
If our soulmate decides that she will prefer to take her chances with chance and not what Hashem chose – it can be as agonizing as Gehenom itself. What if this is exactly what our soul needs? What if our place in the Next World is being cleansed with each sigh? What if the status of being “broken-hearted” lifts our prayers to the highest levels of the Heavenly Court and invokes Hashem’s Compassion to an even greater degree?
 
What we generally assume Hashem can visualize!
 
He Who gives sight to the blind is not giving us our own vision, but a glimpse of what He sees. He is blessing us with a moment of Divine Illumination to better guide us through the darkness of this world.
 
Every time we recite in the morning blessings the prayer pokeach ivrim, we are recommitting ourselves to Trusting in Him and the constant flashlight He gave us for all time – our Holy Torah.
 
 
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Dovber Halevi is the author of the financial book, How to Survive the Coming Decade of Anxiety. He writes for Breslev Israel and The Middle East Magazine. He lives with his wife and two children in Eretz Yisrael.