This is a difficult punishment. Losing one’s mind and the ability to be a rational human being is a frightening punishment. The Torah’s text however, is puzzling. It adds, “from what your eyes see.” One who becomes insane suffers an emotional breakdown as a result of all the suffering, pain and affliction. The enslavement and degradation ultimately wear him down until he no longer can take it. Physical and emotional anguish can torment a person to the point that he loses his mind. But what does the Torah mean when it says you will go mad from what your eyes see?
HoRav Akiva Eiger, z”l, explains that the word, eineinu, translated as eyes, has a different connotation in this pasuk. He supports this from the tefillah we recite daily, V’haeir eineinu b’Sorasecha; “and illuminate our eyes in Your Torah”. How can that refer to our personal vision? This prayer is recited by all Jews, some of whom have had no connection whatsoever with Torah learning. Many cannot even read Aleph Bais. Torah is very distant from them, almost intimating that this tefillah is unrealistic. How can this be?
Thus, he explains that einayim refers to the einei ha’edah, the eyes of the congregation, the spiritual elite, leadership, who guide us in our spiritual endeavors. They “see” far beyond what we common folk are able to perceive. The rabbanim, poskim and spiritual leaders are able to navigate life by using the Torah as their lodestar to illuminate the path.
We pray that Hashem illuminate the einai ha’edah, the gedolim, with His Torah, so that no obstacle causes them to stumble in their interpretation of the law. The curse is when we see einai ha’edah, leadership, who call themselves spiritual leaders- when in fact, they are neither leaders nor spiritual. Their belief in Hashem and His Torah is at best questionable, their demeanor certainly does not align with Torah dictate. The advice and direction they issue ‘and their followers’ do not contribute to Torah and Jewish destiny. When we see such einei ha’eidah leading Jews, it is definitely a reason to become so filled with pain and anguish that it can affect one’s cognitive reality.
Furthermore, when we see Jewish children and adults straying from the path of Torah– the vision alone can cause deep heartache and despair. If it does not, then the person’s problem is far beyond insanity. It is smug indifference to the plight of fellow Jews who are spiritually dysfunctional.
