See the Light

Rabbi Twerski tells the story of a 96 year old woman who stopped talking. They put a fourteen year old girl in the room with her, with the hope that she would get her to speak. One day the young girl asked the old woman what she was so focused on, out the window. She finally answered that she was enjoying looking at the light. She was not referring to objects, but to the light itself.

At the beginning of creation, Hashem commanded, “Let there be light, and there was light. And He saw that the light was good.”

Like the elderly woman, the focus was only on the light, because nothing else was created at that point, except for the light.

It is interesting how we refer to an intelligent person as, “enlightened.” We sometimes speak of someone who has a “bright” idea, or is simply, bright.

We generally associate light with goodness, and darkness with evil. Those who claim to have had near death experiences, referred to the beautiful bright lights that they saw. And when speaking of a criminal, we refer to him as a “shady” character.

We need to see the light and recognize what is holy and pure, and unholy and impure. Perhaps that elderly woman was on a high level for she saw the light, and recognized that it was good.