Seeing the Sounds

Scientists at Hebrew University have discovered a way to help blind people see, through a device that converts images into sound waves. With training, people who are blind from birth can learn to recognize faces, describe objects, identify letters and words, and even make fast and accurate movement towards a target. This process of converting sensory information from one system to another is called “sensory substitution.”

 It has long been believed that if someone is blind from birth and the visual cortex receives no stimulation, it will never develop properly. However, researchers were surprised to discover that blind people who learned to “see” with their ears were actually processing the information in their visual cortex. The adult brain developed in response to stimulation.

 “The adult brain is much more flexible than we previously believed,” says Dr. Amir Amedi, who directed the study. These findings give hope for restoring sight to people who have been blind for prolonged periods, through futuristic interventions like retinal transplant, or direct brain stimulation that bypasses the eyes altogether.  

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When the Jews received the Torah on Mount Sinai, it was accompanied by the sound of a shofar and the roar of thunder. The Torah describes it thus: “And all the people saw the voices and the torches, the sound of the shofar, and the smoking mountain.” Rashi in his commentary explains that the words “And all the people saw” indicate that all the blind were healed and were able to see. But what does it mean to see “the voices, the torches and the sound of the shofar”? On this Rashi says, “They saw what is usually heard.”

Chassidus interprets this statement as follows: In our usual state, we see the physical, while the spiritual is something that we only hear about – it is abstract, removed from our everyday experience. Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berdichev, the renowned “defender of Israel,” was known to say that if G-d had placed the Torah in the streets and the temptations of the world in a book, nobody would ever sin. But when the Torah was given, this was reversed: that which is usually heard was seen. The veil was lifted, and the people were able to directly see and experience G-dliness.

Since that day, we have been striving to keep alive the memory of our experience at Mount Sinai: to hear the physical and see the spiritual. To remember that there is a world beyond that which we can see with our physical eyes, which we can access through effort.

This process will be completed when Moshiach comes, when all the blind will once again be healed. We will no longer be blind to the spiritual radiance that lies just beyond our vision. It will become part of our daily reality.