Proverbs 27:19 - Part III - Tears

יט כַּמַּיִם הַפָּנִים לַפָּנִים כֵּן לֵב הָאָדָם לָאָדָם.
19 As face answers to face in water, so does one man's heart to another. (JPS Translation)
19. As the water of the face is to the face, thus the heart of man is to a man. (My translation)

My last thoughts on this piece are from my own interpretation. I interpret “water of the face” as tears, so the question becomes what is the relationship between tears and the face? It then follows to ask what that teaches us about the relationship of a man’s heart to a man?

Following on the earlier discussion, seeing tears on someone’s face is a quick way to feel compassion for someone. It represents an opening in their heart, and it causes an opening in your heart and allows an opportunity for real connection. Just as the tears open the face to compassion, thus a man’s heart opens the way towards compassion for another.

But that is based more on the prior interpretations rather than the text itself. The text would indicate that tears have a special relationship with the face. Tears often come of their own accord, and are expressions of strong emotions. We cry in great happiness or great sadness and the tears become the accent point on our face, no matter how demonstrative our faces are of what we are truly feeling.

The heart likewise has a way of showing itself through into our actions and being. No matter what choices we make with our minds about how to behave or act, our heart will always make itself known through our actions.

Another way of looking at it would be to work backwards by looking at the heart first. Our hearts give us direction, and show us the way in the world. Love and compassion come from God and flow through our hearts to teach us how to behave in the world. In this understanding, tears become the tool to teach us about our feelings and give us direction. We can learn about our gifts and what our tikkun is in the world by what moves us to tears. Compassion opens gates within us, so the tears can lead us forward to repairing the world.