What You See is What You Are

A convicting thought from this week's FFOZ.org eDrash, from the Torah Portion:

Vayetze - ויצא : "And he went out"
Torah : Genesis 28:10-32:3
Haftarah : Hosea 12:12-14:10
Gospel : Matthew 15-16

Commentary
So the flocks mated by the rods,
and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. (Genesis 30:39)

Laban agreed to give Jacob all the striped, spotted, speckled and dappled born among his flocks. Immediately after making the agreement, he removed all but the solid-colored animals, to eliminate the possibility that Jacob would receive any livestock.
Not to be so easily outmaneuvered, Jacob engaged in a genetic-engineering experiment. He peeled sticks to make spotted, striped, speckled and dappled patterns on them and placed the peeled sticks near the water troughs during mating season. It was a common belief that a vivid sight during pregnancy or conception would leave its mark on the embryo. Therefore, if the solid-colored livestock saw the sticks while pregnant, they would give birth to striped, spotted, speckled young. It seemed to work. Jacob became exceedingly prosperous.
From our modern perspective, this incident sounds dubious. Even Jacob was dubious about the trick. He later admitted to his wives that it was God's miraculous intervention that brought the results, not his stick-peeling trick:

If [Laban] spoke thus, "The speckled shall be your wages," then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, "The striped shall be your wages," then all the flock brought forth striped. Thus God has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me. (Genesis 31:8-9)

There is a lesson to be learned here. That which we place before our eyes impacts the inner person. Jacob believed that sheep looking at striped sticks would bear striped young. That may or may not be the case, but it is certainly true that when we view things that are shocking, disturbing, immoral, violent or perverse, those images leave an impact on us. Sometime later, we give birth, as it were, through deeds, action and speech patterned after the things we have been placing before our eyes.

For example, a person who watches television regularly cannot help but absorb the culture and values expressed on the television programs. The images he sees become a permanent part of his internal being because they are imprinted on his brain. The dialogue he hears begins to write new speech patterns in his mind. This is why King David declared, "I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil" (Psalm 101:3-4).