Seeing the Letters

In the last twenty years of his life, when Reb Chanoch Henoch was totally blind, he would always stare into the sefer Torah before saying Birkas HaTorah, as if he were scrutinizing its words. One Sukkos, someone asked him the reason for this strange custom.

After entering his sukkah, Reb Chanoch Henoch seized the man's hand and said to him, "Listen carefully, I'm not going to lie in the sukkah. Believe me that I never say Birkas HaTorah without seeing the letters of the sefer Torah before my eyes."