Lesson 037 · posted Sat Sep 12 2026

Feeling Invisible?

What Judaism says about being seen: five ideas, each with its source.

5 things Judaism can teach us about being seen. Unnoticed by people is not unseen. The God of a runaway servant knows your name.

1. 1

   Hagar named God 'the One who sees me.'

   אל ראי

   “the God who sees me.”Genesis 16:13

   A runaway servant in the desert gave God a name no one else had: El Ro'i — "the God who sees me." — Genesis 16:13

2. 2

   Leah, the unloved, was seen.

   ראה ה׳ בעניי

   “The Lord has seen my affliction.”Genesis 29:32

   "The Lord has seen my affliction." — Genesis 29:32. The wife nobody chose named her first son for being seen.

3. 3

   You were known before you were born.

   ראו עיניך

   “You knew me before I was formed… my unformed shape Your eyes saw.”Psalm 139:15-16

   "You knew me before I was formed… my unformed shape Your eyes saw." — Psalm 139:15-16.

4. 4

   Not in the fire. In the whisper.

   קול דממה דקה

   “a still small voice.”1 Kings 19:12

   Elijah looked for God in wind, earthquake, fire. God was in "a still small voice." — 1 Kings 19:12. Quiet people are where He shows up.

5. 5

   He calls every star by name.

   לכלם שמות יקרא

   “He counts the stars and calls each one by name.”Psalm 147:4

   "He counts the stars and calls each one by name." — Psalm 147:4. If the stars aren't anonymous, neither are you.

Art on the slides: British Painter, Eye Miniature · Marie Guillemine Benoist, Madame Philippe Panon Desbassayns de Richemont (Jeanne Eglé Mourgue, 1778–1855) and Her Son, Eugène (1800–1859) (1802) · François Meuret, Portrait of a Woman, Said to Be Marie de Mautesson (ca. 1830) · Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée), Sunrise (possibly 1646–47) · William Michael Harnett, Still Life—Violin and Music (1888) · Johan Christian Dahl, Copenhagen Harbor by Moonlight (1846) · Gustave Courbet, Madame Frederic Breyer (Fanny Hélène Van Bruyssel, 1830–1894) (1858). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, open access.