Avital Hochstein. In this week’s parashah, we learn an important lesson about the difference between seeing and hearing, both in the context of the specific relationship between Hagar and God and in terms of human relationships more broadly. Seeing connects with the concrete; to see people means to accept their presence, to reject the possibility of avoiding them. Moreover, the experience of being seen can help a person to see, thus creating the possibility of a mutual relationship. The third of Rabbi Avital Hochstein's weekly Divrei Torah for 5777.