Parshat Balak 5779 - Who sees what?

(ב) וַיַּ֥רְא בָּלָ֖ק בֶּן־צִפּ֑וֹר אֵ֛ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לָֽאֱמֹרִֽי׃

(2) Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

(ב) וַיַּרְא בָּלָק בֶּן צִפּוֹר, מָה רָאָה... וַיַּרְא בָּלָק, נוֹחַ לָרְשָׁעִים שֶׁיִּהְיוּ סוּמִין, שֶׁעֵינֵיהֶם מְבִיאִין רָעָה לָעוֹלָם, בְּדוֹר הַמַּבּוּל כְּתִיב (בראשית ו, ב): וַיִּרְאוּ בְנֵי הָאֱלֹקִים, וּכְתִיב (בראשית ט, כב): וַיַּרְא חָם אֲבִי כְנַעַן, וּכְתִיב (בראשית יב, טו): וַיִּרְאוּ אֹתָהּ שָׂרֵי פַרְעֹה, וְכֵן כֻּלָּם, וְכָאן וַיַּרְא בָּלָק.

Bamidbar Rabbah 20:2

(2) "And Balak the son of Zippor saw"- What did he see?...it is convenient for the wicked to be blind, for their actions bring evil to the world, [for instance] of the generation of the Flood it is written, "The sons of God saw...", and "Ham, father of Canaan saw..." and "Pharoah saw Sarai..." and so is the case with Balak.

במדבר כ״ב:כ״ג

(כג) וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָאָתוֹן֩ אֶת־מַלְאַ֨ךְ ה' נִצָּ֣ב בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ וְחַרְבּ֤וֹ שְׁלוּפָה֙ בְּיָד֔וֹ ...

Numbers 22:23

(23) when the ass caught sight of the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand...

רש"י על במדבר כ״ב:כ״ג

(א) ותרא האתון. וְהוּא לֹא רָאָה שֶׁנָּתַן הַקָּבָּ"ה רְשׁוּת לַבְּהֵמָה לִרְאוֹת יוֹתֵר מִן הָאָדָם, שֶׁמִּתוֹךְ שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ דַּעַת, תִּטָּרֵף דַּעְתּוֹ כְּשֶׁיִּרְאֶה מַזִּיקִין:

Rashi on Numbers 22:23

(1) ותרא האתון AND THE SHE-ASS SAW [THE ANGEL] — but he did not see him, for the Holy One, blessed be He, gave an animal power to see more than the man, since he possesses reason, his mind would become perturbed if he sees dangerous divine beings.

במדבר כ״ג:ט׳

(ט) כִּֽי־מֵרֹ֤אשׁ צֻרִים֙ אֶרְאֶ֔נּוּ וּמִגְּבָע֖וֹת אֲשׁוּרֶ֑נּוּ הֶן־עָם֙ לְבָדָ֣ד יִשְׁכֹּ֔ן וּבַגּוֹיִ֖ם לֹ֥א יִתְחַשָּֽׁב׃

Numbers 23:9

(9) As I see them from the mountain tops, Gaze on them from the heights, There is a people that dwells apart, Not reckoned among the nations,

רש"י על במדבר כ״ג:ט׳:א׳

(א) כי מראש צרים אראנו. אֲנִי מִסְתַּכֵּל בְּרֵאשִׁיתָם וּבִתְחִלַּת שָׁרְשֵׁיהֶם וַאֲנִי רוֹאֶה אוֹתָם מְיֻסָּדִים וַחֲזָקִים כְּצוּרִים וּגְבָעוֹת הַלָּלוּ עַל יְדֵי אָבוֹת וְאִמָּהוֹת (תנחומא):

Rashi on Numbers 23:9:1

(1) כי מראש צורים אראנו FOR FROM THE TOP OF THE ROCKS I SEE HIM — I look at their origin and at the beginning of their root (descent), and I behold them strongly founded as yonder rocks and mountains through their ancestors and ancestresses

Emmanuel Levinas, from Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority
Neither possession nor the unity of number nor the unity of concepts link me tothe Stranger [the Other], the Stranger who disturbs the being at home with oneself. But the Stranger also means the free one. Over him I have no power. He escapes my grasp by an essential dimension, even if I have him at my disposal. He is not wholly in my site (i.e. location).
Emmanuel Levinas, from Otherwise than Being: Or Beyond Essence
But in the responsibility for the Other, for another freedom, the negativity of this anarchy, this refusal of the present, of appearing, of the immemorial, commands me and ordains me to the other, to the first one on the scene, and makes me approach him, makes me his neighbor.