Utilizing Your Da'as - 05 Rectifying The Eyes

“The Eye Sees and the Heart Desires”

Let us study more about what went on with the Eitz HaDa’as, which contains the entire subject of da’as, for it shows us when da’as is good and when it is evil.

Previously, we discussed the fact that the fruit tasted good. Now we will discuss the second aspect: the fact that the fruit was “desirable to the eyes.”

Desire (taavah) is an emotion experienced through our heart; how does the “eye” have desire? We know that the eye sees, but it is the heart which desires something. “The eyes see, and the heart desires.” Our eyes do not have a desire; our eyes see something, and then our heart can desire it, but the eyes don’t desire. So why does the possuk then say that she felt a desire for the tree in her eyes?

To know the answer to this, we must know what “desire of the eyes” is. It was a desire to know of the “da’as ra” (the evil da’as) contained in the Eitz HaDa’as. When there is a desire for “da’as ra”, this prompts “desire” in the eyes. So if we understand what “da’as ra” is, we can understand what “desires of the eyes” is.

Where Is Our Da’as Located?

In which part of the body is da’as associated with?

Our chochmah is located in our brain. Our desires are located in our heart. Where is our da’as? It is a very lengthy discussion amongst the works of our Rabbis. Some say it is in the brain, and our brain contains three parts: chochmah, binah and da’as. Some say it is located in the forehead. Others say that is in the back of the neck. Others say that it is in the mouth, for the Zohar says, “da’as ganuz b’pumei”, (the “da’as is hidden in the mouth”).  Others say that is in the place of the Bris Kodesh. Others say it is in the heart, because of one of the abilities of the heart is da’as. Others say that is in the shoulders.

All of these views are correct, but we are discussing where our “good da’as” and where our “evil da’as is.” It is actually very complicated to know where our da’as is.

“The tree was good for consumption” – this was referring to “da’as ra”. “The fruit was desirable to the eyes” – this was also part of da’as ra. “And the fruit was appealing to the intellect” – this was also part of da’as ra. They were each three factors of the fallen da’as that began since Chavah laid eyes upon the Eitz HaDa’as and desired it.

In our seichel\intellect, we have da’as, and it is merely upon us to know what good da’as and what evil da’as is; this is clear to all. The fact that da’as is in our mouth is also clear; it means simply that da’as is in the mouth.

But it is hard to understand how da’as can be in our eyes. There is no opinion in Chazal that da’as is in the eyes. So what does the possuk mean that the fruit was “desirable to the eyes”?

When Da’as Falls Into The Eyes

We find that by tefillin, it must be placed “in between” the eyes, so we see that da’as can be “in between” the eyes. Where do we put the tefillin? On top of the eyes. Yet, it is still called “in between” the eyes in the possuk.

Thus, “good da’as” is really above the eyes (between them), and “evil da’as” is when that da’as falls into the eyes themselves. That is when it becomes “desire” of the eyes. But there is no da’as in our eyes. The da’as is really in the forehead, above and in between the eyes; that is where the tefillin is placed.

Da’as is always the middle point. We have explained how da’as separates, decides, and connects, so it is always between two points. When da’as falls from in between the eyes, it falls into the eyes, and it then becomes “desire of the eyes”.

This is the depth of “da’as ra” – when da’as has fallen from “above” the eyes, into the eyes themselves.

Moshe is called “tov ayin”, one who has a “good eye”. For all good that exists, there is an equally evil force to counter it, and the one equal in evil to Moshe’s holiness is the wicked Bilaam. Bilaam had “da’as ra”, and he is called “stum ayim” – “closed-eyed”; he had “ayin ra”, an “evil eye.” Moshe is also the epitome of “da’as tov”, and Bilam is the epitome of “da’as ra”.

Here we can begin to see the concept of how da’as can be in the eyes. But we need to understand that the eyes themselves do not have da’as. In between the eyes there is da’as, but not in the eyes. Bilam had an “ayin ra” in his eyes - because his da’as fell into the eyes.

This is the concept of da’as in the eyes, and we will try to slowly understand it.

Desire of the Eyes

What is “desire of the eyes”?

When da’as is “in between” the eyes, it is good and holy, and this is also referred to as the concept of ratzon (will) by Chazal. Moshe personified da’as, and the gematria (numerical value)of “Moshe” is “ratzon”. Thus, a true “bar da’as” is someone whose da’as is connected to his inner ratzon. We are referring to the true inner ratzon of the soul, “Our will to do Your will”, and not to the other retzonos we have. This is called the da’as “in between” the eyes.

When da’as falls from above the eyes into the level of the eyes, the da’as becomes a ratzon in the eyes, and this is taavah (desire) of the eyes. Every taavah in the eyes is rooted in this.

Again, the eyes themselves do not desire. The heart is what desires, for the heart is the source of all ratzon. But ratzon of the heart is rooted in the brain, which is the da’as\ratzon of the forehead, and when this falls into the eyes, there is ratzon in the eyes, and then a person wants what the eyes see. That is “desire of the eyes”.

Thus, ratzon does not really begin in the heart – it begins in the eyes. The ratzon\da’as falls into the eyes, and here is the root of all difficulty that we recognize.

The Sages say that there are two tools of sin – the eyes and the heart. The eye starts the desire, the heart already can will something (and this is the nature of the heart). When the eyes desire something – which resulted from the Eitz HaDa’as, because it was not initially created like this – here comes the root of all the difficulties we know of that are related to guarding our eyes.

Here we come to a new point: “desire of the eyes”, which begins in the eyes. If not for the sin with the Eitz HaDa’as, desire would remain in the heart. The desire which began in the eyes, ever since the Eitz HaDa’as, is a novelty, and this is what started all the difficulties related to guarding our eyes. It is all rooted in the desire of the eyes which began ever since Chavah laid eye upon the Eitz HaDa’as.

When Da’as Falls Into The Eyes

Now we can understand better the following.

What is the purpose of our eyes? A person can see holiness, but what is the avodah of the eyes after that? Its role is to imprint this information onto our mind. The eyes are called by our Sages as the “lens of the brain”, because the eye is ayin, from the word iyun (analyze); it puts the vision into the brain, and the brain analyzes it. The eye sees something, and the heart sees when the eye sends the information to the heart; this leads to sin. This is the meaning of the eyes see and the heart desires.” This is also the meaning of “A person does not sin unless a ruach shtus (spirit of folly) enters him.”

The role of the eyes is to send the information to the brain so that the brain can analyze what it’s seeing. Otherwise, the eyes send the information to the heart, and the heart desires what the eyes have seen, and this leads to all sin.

But when da’as falls to the eyes, the eyes attempt to analyze using the da’as that has fallen into it, and this is what leads to sin. The da’as ra of the eyes analyzes what it has seen and isn’t able to register that there is something improper here.

Whenever a person sees something, he is always thinking about it. The eye really wants to put the information into the brain, and that is its role. When it sees holiness, it imprints it into the brain, the brain analyzes it, and it becomes clarified. But when da’as falls into the eyes, a person sees something and he attempts to analyze it through his da’as, but it is da’as ra, for it has fallen into his eyes. That is what leads a person to sin. It sends the information to the heart, and then what happens? As the Sages say, “The eye sees, the heart desires, and the tools of action complete.”

This is a subtle point. Whenever we use our physical vision, it always includes da’as. The da’as is in between the eyes, so the eyes and the da’as are always interconnected.

If it remains above the eyes, the eyes see something and then it returns the information of what it has seen to the da’as of the brain, and then the heart won’t desire what the eyes have seen, because the brain has already analyzed it and realized that it has seen something improper.

But when a person sees something when his da’as has fallen into the eyes, the vision doesn’t get sent to the brain – it is evil da’as, and then the heart desires it, and this leads to sin.

This is the depth of “desire in the eyes”. It is not simply that desire becomes created in through the eyes; the deeper aspect of the problem of seeing improper sights is that da’as falls to the eyes, which doesn’t return the vision of the eyes to the brain, and this leads to the heart desiring what it has seen.

Our Current Level of Da’as Is First In The Eyes

Thus, the da’as that we know of and experience is da’as of the eyes, and not da’as of the forehead. Even when it comes to holiness, our da’as has been downgraded to the level of the eyes. Chazal say that “a judge only sees what his eyes see” – this is about seeing holiness, and it is a halacha, that a judge is allowed to rule based on what he has seen with his eyes and understood.

Our da’as is currently in the eyes. Initially, da’as was above the eyes. Ever since the sin with the Eitz HaDa’as, even our good da’as has been lowered to the level of the eyes. It is used for evil when a person desires what he sees, and it is used for holiness in the case of a judge in Beis Din who sees what his eyes see. But it’s still not the initial level which we need to return to.

Thus, the depth of all our free will (bechirah) on this world is if we will choose to have an ayin tova (good eye) or an ayin ra (evil eye). Our free will, simply put, is to choose. But the depth of it is that our entire da’as is currently in our eyes, which is not the ideal level. Our free will is to choose to listen to the da’as in our eyes or not.

When we stood at Har Sinai, the zuhama (spirit of impurity) that was upon us since the sin with the Eitz HaDa’as was removed, and we returned to our da’as that was above the eyes. It fixed not only the da’as ra that we fell to after the sin, but it fixed even the da’as tov that fell to the eyes and placed it back into the forehead, above and between the eyes. [After the sin with the Golden Calf we once again fell from our purified state].

“A prisoner cannot free himself from his own prison.” When da’as is in the eyes, a person can’t clarify what he sees and try to sort out what’s proper and improper in what he has seen, because his da’as is da’as ra. The da’as is being experienced through the eyes, which cannot clarify a vision and take it apart like the brain can.

Evil Da’as: Connecting To An Evil Vision

Now we will return to discuss what we began discussing, in connection with what we have just explained.

We explained earlier about chochmah, binah and da’as. In binah, there is higher binah (generally called binah), which is when you make an accurate comparison in between information. Lower binah is called tevunah, also called medameh - the imagination, c a result of erroneous comparisons in the mind. We explained that the way to differentiate between an accurate comparison, binah, and imagination, tevunah, is to use da’as d’havdalah - to separate between what I actually saw (chochmah) and what I ideas of my own that I have formulated (binah).

Now we can understand the following.

The eye sees, but what does it see? It cannot see through higher chochmah. It sees through the seichel, the basic intellect, which is really lower chochmah. It sees what the eye sees.

We explained earlier that there are three levels of chochmah – there is lower chochmah, higher chochmah, and highest chochmah. The highest use of chochmah is to see holiness through the seichel\intellect and clarify it. The intermediate level of chochmah is what we learn from a teacher, and lower chochmah is to see the actions of our teachers. So lower chochmah sees through the physical eyes. Tevunah, which is lower binah, sees imagination; the eyes don’t see imagination. The eye sees something, and the mind imagines about it.

When a person has da’as ra – when his da’as has fallen into the eyes – what happens? The da’as ra in his eyes essentially takes the power of da’as d’chibbur (connecting knowledge) and connects a person with what one has seen. That is “desire of the eyes” – it uses the power of da’as d’chibbur for evil!

Lower chochmah sees through the eyes, and lower binah is to imagine and compare erroneously – the imagination is being confined to what one has seen.

To say it even clearer, a person sees a certain improper vision, and he fantasizes about it. It is his tevunah\medameh which has fallen. That is how it becomes taavah (desire), and dimyonos (fantasies) start. When da’as connects a person to an improper vision he sees, this is the meaning of “Attached to the sin like a dog.” This is the depth of “desire of the eyes.”

So da’as ra is essentially when the power of da’as d’chibbur becomes lowered, and then the entire mind will be stuck to the imagination, in what a person has seen. The imagination will continue, the heart will desire it, and this leads to sin.

When Hisbonenus\Mental Reflection Is Evil

Another point we come to with this is as follows.

As we explained, there are three levels of binah: lower binah is to compare through imagination, intermediate binah is to compare through logic, and higher binah is to see detail after detail until one sees the tahalich (path) of the information. Intermediate binah is essentially hisbonenus – to analyze.

If a person looks at and reflects on something evil – for example, if he looks at a wicked person, or the rainbow (which we are not allowed to look at), he brings down his binah to the level of tevunah, which is imagination. This is not just dimyonos (fantasies) - it is that he reflects deeply on something evil. He misuses the power of hisbonenus, and his deep power of hisbonenus falls into reflecting into a physical vision that is improper.

This is another way of describing how da’as d’chibbur falls from its level and is misused to take a person and connect him to the evil vision he has seen. This is the depth of da’as ra.

We have explained what taavah (desire) in the eyes is, and how it gets formed. This is the root of all the difficulties we have when it comes to guarding our eyes.

Rectifying Evil Desires of the Eyes

The question is: How indeed do we escape the desires of our eyes, which we have fallen to ever since the sin with the Eitz HaDa’as?

As we know, all of the middos are good in their essence; there is no such thing as a bad middah. Taavah\desire as well is not evil in its essence; the only question is how it is used. For example, Hashem has “taavah”: He “desired” to have a dwelling on this world.

The eyes themselves do not desire; rather, desire falls into it. The things our eyes have seen are fed by what has fallen into them, thus, the root solution is to bring our eyes back to the way it was before. Superficially, this means to close your eyes from seeing evil. But the deeper meaning of it is to close your eyes not just from seeing evil, but to make sure you don’t have an “ayin ra”. It isto return your ayin ra (evil eye) to an ayin tov (good eye).

This is the depth behind the concept, “Oitzem einav m’liros ra”, “closing the eyes from seeing evil.”

Revealing our Ratzon

When we reveal the inner power of ratzon, the desires of the eye are removed. At Har Sinai, we said “Retzonenu Liros Es Malkeinu” - “It is our will to see our King.” What is the depth of this? In this lies the depth of fixing desire of the eyes.

Our eye itself has no ratzon to see Hashem; the eye itself has no ratzon. If our ratzon enters the eyes – in other words, when our da’as falls from above the eyes into the eyes (which is our current state) – it becomes taavah, and such a ratzon will not wish to see Hashem, because it is fallen da’as. But when we reveal the da’as “in between” the eyes, we reveal the will to see our King.

Without revealing our ratzon to do the will of Hashem, we can’t reveal the will to see the King. So first we need to reveal our ratzon to do Hashem’s will, retzonenu laasos retzoncha, “It is our will to do Your will.” Then, when we close our eyes from seeing evil and we concentrate on the concept of retzonenu liros Es Malkeinu – the “desire to see our King” – that is what fixes the desire of our eyes to see evil, and it returns the eyes to its root - which only desires to see the King.

So our ratzon to do Hashem’s will is not in our eyes; it is in between our eyes. When ratzon falls into the eyes, the eyes will simply have ratzon for taavah - and they will not be able to desire to see the King.

Thus, if a person reveal his ratzon to want to do Hashem’s will, and he encounters an improper sight, he has gotten in touch with his inner ratzon, and the ratzon above his eyes can now push away the vision that his eyes have seen. Why do people have a hard time pulling away from the vision they see? The eye sees, the da’as has fallen into the eyes, and the ratzon has fallen into the eyes - so the ratzon of a person will desire taavah, and he will “be tied to it like a dog”.

The superficial solution that people employ when they encounter forbidden sights is hesech hada’as from what one has seen – they take their mind off it. That is only advice that can work when a person has already fallen very low. The inner solution is to develop your holy ratzon already beforehand, so that when you encounter a forbidden sight, your holy ratzon to do Hashem’s will overpower the eyes’ desire.

The Raavad writes that the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch) are rooted in the brain. Now we can apply this in a more subtle way. Our eyes see something and have a desire. Do our eyes desire to see a sound? It desires to see something tangible. It cannot see sound. The Sages say that a blind person cannot enjoy his food, because the whole desire for food comes from taavah (desire), which begins in the eyes, now that we live after the sin. This is because a person initially eats on the level of taavah, thus, he cannot be satisfied unless he sees it.

The Kotzker zt”l said that the people complained by the manna because it was lacking in texture, even though it tasted good. This further brings out this point, that since eating is initially experienced on the level of taavah, it has to be desirable to the eyes, and it is not satisfying if it tastes good. So there is no desire to see sound. Our sight cannot see sound, because our sight is based on taavah.

Returning From ‘Vision’ Mode To ‘Intellect’ Mode

Thus, the way to fix our desire of the eyes, is as follows.

Our eye sees and it cannot desire, in the original state before the sin. After the sin, the ratzon fell into the eyes, and now the eye desires. Based on this understanding, the way to return to the original state is that a person can return the vision to the intellect.

For example, a person encounters a forbidden sight, so the problem is, he’s stuck in a certain vision his eyes are looking at. The remedy is therefore to leave the very mode of vision and enter into the thoughts of the mind. The thoughts of the mind can then come and inspect what one has seen, sending a message to a person that the sight is improper to look at.

This does not simply mean to run away from vision into thought; that is the simple advice that most people use when they encounter a forbidden sight, and it is superficial. The point is to get busy thinking so that the mind can inspect the vision and it registers that the sight is improper, and in this way, a person returns the very vision into his thought.

There is a problem, however, with using this solution: if someone has a very strong imagination that fantasizes about images, if he gets busy thinking, he might imagine even more about the sinful image, and this will lead to sin. But if someone has worked to purify his mind somewhat, however, then by entering his thoughts, the thoughts can disconnect a person from the vision he has seen.

Returning To Ratzon

The other way to fix the eyes is to return our fallen ratzon to the root of our ratzon, which is Retzoneinu Laasos Retzoncha, “It is our will to do Your will” – to remind ourselves of our inner ratzon to always do Hashem’s will.

We all had this by Har Sinai completely; after the sin with the Golden Calf we fell once again from that level, and now we cannot return to it completely. But we can all somewhat return to this root ratzon, albeit not fully.

The Superficial and Deeper Ways To Use “Hesech HaDa’as”

In the first solution, when a person takes his thoughts off what he has seen, hesech hada’as (removal of one’s thoughts from the subject), he can return the vision into his thoughts. This reveals the higher da’as which comes and inspects what one has seen, and shows a person that it is improper.

Another way of describing this is as follows; it is based on what was said above, but it is more subtle. The eyes see, while the thoughts are utilized when our intellect reflects. This is not simply to take your mind off a vision and instead get busy thinking. It is to leave the prism of the eyes and instead enter into the prism of your intellect. These are really two different viewpoints in our soul – the view through the eyes, and the view though our intellect.

For example, when a person sees something forbidden, he can distract himself with a picture of a tzaddik and think about it. This is the simple method which people employ hesech hada’as. But if a person is faced with a very tempting sight in front of him, it is very difficult to take his eyes off what he’s seeing and get busy with his thoughts. For this, the solution is to imagine something that you like to think about, and the vision of your imagination will then overpower what you’re seeing. In this way, you use a picture to cancel out the other picture.

When a person encounters a forbidden sight that he’s very pulled towards, he should take with him a holy picture he can focus on, and imagine to himself a picture of the Kosel, Kever Rochel, the Me’aras HaMachpailah, the grave of Rashbi – each to his own taste. This is how you can employ imagination techniques to counter a forbidden sight in front of you.

However, using this method is all within the mode of “vision”. It is simple advice that can help a person who doesn’t know how to use the deeper way to use hesech hada’as.

Others try something even simpler, by trying to distract themselves with doing something else, because it’s hard for them to get busy thinking anything at all. This is an even more superficial method than the aforementioned one, because it barely involves any thought at all.

The higher way use any of these two solutions is to do so with the underlying intention to leave the mode of “vision” and enter into intellect.

The Deeper Solution: Awakening Your Inner Ratzon

An even higher way to use the solution is to return your ratzon to its source. When you encounter something improper, you can tell yourself, “It is impossible for me to look at this.” Your inner ratzon recoils from forbidden sights. In this way you awaken your inner ratzon and you return the desire of your eyes to where it came from, which is the ratzon above the eyes.

Summary

Thus, the depth of “da’as ra” is that it is desire which has fallen into the eyes. “Desire in the eyes”, as we have explained, is when all of the abilities in the mind (chochmah, binah, and da’as, all the way until da’as d’chibbur) has fallen into the eyes, and the general outline of the remedy, we said, (without getting into the rest of the details) is to leave the mode of mental ‘vision’ and instead enter into the realm of the purely intellectual which is non-visionary [and the deeper way to do this is by awakening your inner ratzon to do Hashem’s will].

“Eyes of the Intellect”

If a person merits to purify his eyes as much as he can – (let us emphasize here that no one is perfect, but a person can still purify himself as much as he can), he can merit the higher kind of vision. At Har Sinai, Hashem revealed all the heavens and showed us all that He is One. He “showed” it to us, so we all saw it. A person can merit a higher kind of vision, einei haseichel, “eyes of the intellect” – as the Chovos HaLevovos describes.  

(The Chasam Sofer said that there are two forms of revelation of Eliyahu HaNavi. One way is to actually meet him, and the other way is to see him through the mind; but even when one sees him, he is not seeing Eliyahu through the eyes, but through the mind. The eyes never see; rather, the intellect is seeing, and the eyes are just the lens of the intellect).

So when one leaves “desire of the eyes”, he enters into holy vision, and these are “eyes of the intellect”. Such a person lives in a world in which he sees G-dliness!

(Before the sin, all Adam saw was G-dliness. After the sin, Adam didn’t see G-dliness anymore; he had to hide. The depth of his hiding was that he stopped seeing G-dliness after the sin.)

When a person merits to leave desires of the eyes and he enters holy vision (again, no one reaches this perfectly, because we live after the sin of the Snake; but we can all merit it to a prominent extent, albeit partial, and all the tzaddikim throughout all the generations reached it), he enters the “eyes of the intellect”.

There are two parts to this. Part of this is “Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world” – he sees wisdom of Torah through his lens of a higher intellect, and in addition, he can see G-dliness.

At Har Sinai, both of these revelations were present. The Torah was revealed, and Hashem revealed Himself there, when he opened up all the heavens. This implies that one can see the Torah revealed through a higher intellect, which is his higher da’as – the da’as in between the eyes, which is the higher source of the da’as – and through that perspective, one can come to see creation through the lens of Torah.

This is a perspective that came even before the Torah was given at Har Sinai – it is based upon a perspective that comes from the Torah that was already around before Creation, in which there was nothing but Ain Od Milvado (There is nothing besides for Hashem). It is an amazing point when you think into it.

The eyes see G-dliness in this way. This is the way to fix the desires of the eyes – when the eyes see the wisdom of Torah, and when the eyes see G-dliness.

In Conclusion

We open our eyes all the time. What do we see when we open our eyes? We see a room, a bed, a menorah, etc. When we open our spiritual eyes, what do we see? We see what is really there. And what is there? Hashem, and the Torah. This is how a person lives all the time with Hashem and the Torah, the root of all Jewish souls, which are all interconnected. But this vision is all that the “eyes of the intellect” sees – Hashem and His Torah.

May we merit from the Creator to return to the state of Har Sinai, and that we not be among those who were scared of death if Hashem speaks to us – may the full revelation of the Creator be revealed.