When I was a child I noticed something very interesting . . .
One never truly sees anyone.
Just as when we read, once we have familiarized ourselves with the image of a certain word, we cease to read it - rather we merely take in the image of the entire word, using it as a sign to pull up the word.
I stood on the kickball field, in the depths of what must have been fourth grade. I looked across the face of a classmate, not a particularly close friend, but someone I saw on a regular basis. Looking at his face, I become rather unsettled - it looked so different.
I realized I had never seen him before. I had seen around him . . . I had surmised his basic shape and form in my minds eye . . . but I had never looked upon his face in its entirety.
Who do we see? What do we see of them? Do we ever see anyone - or are we only seeing ourselves?
From the Mouth of Babes:
One never truly sees anyone.
Just as when we read, once we have familiarized ourselves with the image of a certain word, we cease to read it - rather we merely take in the image of the entire word, using it as a sign to pull up the word.
I stood on the kickball field, in the depths of what must have been fourth grade. I looked across the face of a classmate, not a particularly close friend, but someone I saw on a regular basis. Looking at his face, I become rather unsettled - it looked so different.
I realized I had never seen him before. I had seen around him . . . I had surmised his basic shape and form in my minds eye . . . but I had never looked upon his face in its entirety.
Who do we see? What do we see of them? Do we ever see anyone - or are we only seeing ourselves?
From the Mouth of Babes:
Camper Lukas: English is so hard languageTechnorati Tags: Childhood, Life, Thoughts, Memories, Lithuania, Chabad, Yiddish
. . . I hear English everywhere I turn my head but still don't know where to use haven't and didn't.
[forgive the 'Yiddish']
Me: Hostu amal gehert fun rogatshover goan?Student Levi: nen
Me: Er is geven a zeir groise goan a rov in dvinsk vas is yetzt in Latvia.Er iz geven a shtickle lubavitcher . . .Levi: vi ken zain a shtikele lubevicher?
6 comments:
We see gilui. It protects us from the essence of a who a person is.
Cute.
I remember the first time I accidently looked into the eyes of my mother's second ex-husband.
It was one of the most disturbing experiences of my life. No joke.
which always makes me wonder if a rabbi will recognize me when I straighten my hair..
This happens to me a lot. In fact, I will often spend a great deal of time looking at someone -- on the bus or train or plane or while waiting somewhere -- and I look away and look back only to realize that the person looks nothing like what I thought they did. It confuses me and blows my mind. Greatly.
I'm glad I'm not alone on all of this!
Oh and Sef, he won't recognize you . . . though your Rabbi aint no Beinoni - there is a story about a rabbi who freaked out when some strange lady started speaking to him on the street . . . turns out it was his daughter in law.
A better story would be if it was his wife who just bought a new sheitel.
Post a Comment