Q:
You said tonight that included in the concept of tzelem Elokim is that Hashem is looking at us through other people’s eyes; that’s how we should look at people’s faces. Does Hashem look at us through the eyes of gentiles also?
A:
It’s a good question.
Now listen to what I’m telling you. Absolutely! Hashem is looking through the eyes not only of gentiles, He’s looking through the windowpanes of the stores that you pass by. He’s looking from the clouds. ה’ משמים השקיף על בני אדם – He’s looking down from the skies (Tehillim 14:2). He’s everywhere. Only why do we say He looks through the eyes? לסבר את האוזן – to make it easier to feel. That’s all.
It’s much easier that way; when a pair of human eyes is gazing at me, I can feel more readily that Hashem is looking at me. But the truth is, He’s looking through this wall too – only it’s more difficult for me to feel. But even if nobody’s present, מלא כל הארץ כבודו – He’s present.
That’s why when you’re putting on your clothing in the morning, be careful not to be naked; while you’re changing, let’s say, from your pajamas to your underwear, cover yourself up.
You say, “Who is present? Nobody’s looking.” No, Hashem is מלא כל הארץ כבודו, the Tur says. Hashem is there, He’s looking. He’s looking!
Only that if somebody is present, somebody with eyes, so you surely feel that He’s looking. So the eyes make it more effective.
Only we’re not going to utilize the eyes of gentiles for that noble purpose because to look in a gentile face is not going to do us much good. And even the face of a nonreligious Jew, it doesn’t pay to look in his face much.
Look in the faces of the good people, of tzaddikim, frum Jews. Look in their faces and try to love them as much as you can. See the nobility in the faces.
A man’s face is a noble thing. There’s nothing in the world as noble as a human face. But don’t waste effort on non-Jewish faces. Let them worry about that for themselves. We put in our efforts on Jewish faces, on frum Jewish faces. I look at your face, I see nobility in your face. I see aspiration. I see great ideals in your face. Your face is like a screen on which is projected the nobility of your mind. Your mind, your soul is a projector that casts an image on your face. As long as you’re alive, your face is a tzelem Elokim.
August 1988
