T98 PNC - He Set His Eyes — Tzaddik's Gaze and Divine Truth (1 seg)

The Talmud (Berachot 58a, Shabbat 34a, Bava Batra 75a, Sanhedrin 100a) records the expression: 'He set his eyes on him and he became a heap of bones.' This phrase appears in multiple contexts about a great sage who gazed at someone with disapproval, and that person was immediately spiritually — or even physically — struck down, reduced to nothing. Rabbeinu here explains the deeper meaning: the tzaddik's eyes carry immense spiritual power. The eyes of the holy sage are vessels of divine light and judgment. When he 'sets his eyes' upon someone who is acting improperly, that gaze carries with it the full weight of divine truth. The person who receives such a gaze is confronted with ultimate reality — stripped of their illusions and self-justifications — and this confrontation can undo them completely, leaving only the bare, dry bones of their existence without the life-breath of self-deception.