Seeing and hearing are often metaphors for understanding. Is there a difference in the Hebrew language when sight is used, versus hearing, to connote perception and knowledge of events?

Our Gemara on Amud Beis reflects on the danger of incurring the wrath and disapproval of the Sages.  

וְתַנְיָא: כׇּל מָקוֹם שֶׁ״נָּתְנוּ חֲכָמִים עֵינֵיהֶם״, אוֹ מִיתָה אוֹ עוֹנִי

It is taught in a baraisa: Wherever it says that the Sages set their eyes on a particular individual, the result was either death or poverty.

What is the significance of this metaphoric glare, and that it involves the eyes?  Recanti on the Torah (Balak 7) notes that Bilaam constantly sought to obtain a line of sight toward the Jewish people prior to his numerous attempts to curse them. Recanti explains that a person who is attached to God can channel Godly eyes through the human eyes.  For example, Rabbi Yochanan glared at a scoffing student, turning him into “a heap of bones” (Bava Basra 75a)  The Godly eyes represent judgment and middas Hadin.

In contrast, Recanti says that hearing is symbolic of mercy and Middas Harachamim (Vayetze 24).  Why so?  Seeing something is blunt and superficial.  Literally, what you see is what you get.  But listening is subtle.  It involves mentalizing and imagining the idea that is being communicated without being distracted by the quick judgments of mere appearance.  He cleverly relates this to Leah’s prayerful choice of names for her children.  She starts with Reuven, which has the Hebrew root of “see”, hoping that she can be accepted and find love through Middas Hadin (Bereishis 29:32).  She then appeals to Middas Harachamim with her next son’s name, Shimon, whose root is “Hear” (ibid:33).

It is not a coincidence that Avraham our forefather, who was renowned for kindness to all wayfarers, also distinguished himself by renouncing the visual and concrete god-statues and forms in favor of an invisible, abstract idea of God. His ability to embrace the infinite by not going after plain vision, but instead listening to the subtle signs of the existence of a transcendent Creator, allowed him to “hear”.  That same middah arouses kindness because there the mind and heart is trained to not be distracted by shiny objects, but instead to be open to more subtle messages.  

Our ability to be kind toward others can be greatly enhanced by avoiding snap judgements and following what our eyes see at first glance. Instead, we must listen.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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