Printable PDF available here.
Last year’s post on Parshat Vayechi can be found here.
Rav Kook (Ein Ayah, Gemara Berachot 55b)
One who enters a city and fears ayin ha’ra should… recite the following: “I, so-and-so son of so-and-so, come from the descendants of Yosef, over whom the ayin ha’ra has no dominion.” As it is stated: “Yosef is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a fountain [lit. alei ayin]; its branches run over the wall” (Bereishit 49:22). Do not read it as alei ayin; but rather olei ayin, “who rise above the eye.” That is, ayin ha’ra has no dominion over Yosef… [Alternatively], this can be derived from Ya’akov’s blessing to Yosef’s sons: “And let them grow like fish into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (Bereishit 48:16): Just as fish in the sea are covered by water and the ayin ha’ra has no dominion over them [as they cannot be seen], so too the offspring of Yosef, the ayin ha’ra has no dominion over them.
The precise mechanics of ayin ha’ra – literally, the ‘evil eye’ – are beyond our ability to comprehend, but they are not entirely inscrutable. Ayin ha’ra is rooted in the spiritual reality that one soul can be influenced and affected by others. We all know that the way we feel or think can be swayed by outside influences, whether for good or bad, and ayin ha’ra is simply a deeper manifestation of this reality.
However, a person is not susceptible to ayin ha’ra unless his soul is weak and lacks a healthy self-worth. This person’s choices are not grounded in a deep inner resolve, but rather from a constant outward gaze for approval and validation. This is a state of profound servitude, and it makes a person vulnerable to all types of spiritual corruption. The more that a person is weak, and lacking an inner wealth and confidence, the more vulnerable he will be to ayin ha’ra over his thinking, his emotions and his actions.
The Torah wants each person to rise above this smallness and find true wealth and pleasantness, repose and strength, in an inner world permeated with love and fear of G-d, unencumbered by servitude to the influences and demands of other people. Someone with spiritual authenticity is immune to ayin ha’ra, because the ‘eye’ of others is not part of his reality. It simply doesn’t exist for him.
Does this mean that respecting consensus, avoiding machloket and abiding by communal standards are all unimportant? Does the Torah want us all to be radical non-conformists? No, that is not the Torah’s vision of spiritual authenticity. The Torah wants us to come together as a collective –to ‘enter the city’ (in the terminology of the gemara in Berachot we started with) – and form a healthy society, permeated with benevolence and pursuit of the common good. The Torah wants us to follow the standards and expectations of our broader communities.
But bending to outside standards has to be done from a sense of inner conviction. It has to come from a realization that sometimes, G-dly morality (lit. yosher v’tzedek) dictates that we surrender our ego and participate with the collective. In other words, true spiritual authenticity means living in accordance with G-d’s desires, not one’s own idiosyncrasies. That is the path of the Torah and G-d’s supernal will.
We now understand why Yosef epitomizes immunity from the scourge of ayin ha’ra. Yosef remained faithful to his inner convictions, despite the external pressures and influences of life in Egypt. The outside challenges that he faced were abundant – family estrangement, slavery and imprisonment, a foreign land, a foreign culture, sexual temptation, extravagant wealth and power, among others. But none of these succeeded in leading Yosef astray. Even at the moment of his most intense trial – resisting the seductions of Potiphar’s wife – he was steadfast in his inner conviction. He declared “How could I do this great evil and sin to G-d?’ Yosef was an active participant in the outer world of Egypt, but Egypt did not touch his inner world or define who he was.
Food for Thought
Social Media’s Impact On Self-Esteem (Huffington Post): Social media has been linked to higher levels of loneliness, envy, anxiety, depression, narcissism and decreased social skills… The narratives we share and portray on social media are all positive and celebratory. It’s a hybridized digital version of “Keeping up with the Joneses”. For some… it appears everyone you know are in great relationships, taking 5-star vacations and living their dream life. However, what is shared across our social networks only broadcasts the positive aspects of our lives-the highlight reels… Research has also shown that Facebook users are becoming increasingly depressed from comparing themselves to their own profile. Meaning that if a person’s reality does not match the digital illusion they post on their profiles, emotionally, one may feel they are not living up to the “best” form of themselves.
Rav Soloveitchik (Shiurei HaRav – HaDarom 61):The matter of the ayin ha’ra is crystal clear to me. There are people whose lives are entirely dependent on the thoughts of others – whether they approve of them, forget about them, or praise them. At the moment they realize that others no longer approve of them or care about them – this immediately destroys their spiritual strength and self-confidence… People like this see themselves exclusively from the perspective of others, without recognizing their independent abilities. For people like this, the ayin ha’ra can be devastating. When others gaze upon them with an ayin ha’ra, meaning some degree of opposition or disapproval, their very humanity can be completely destroyed. This was the meaning of [Yosef’s immunity to ayin ha’ra.]… Yosef understood his spiritual strengths from his own recognition, not from the perspective of others. And without this recognition that he had of his own abilities, independent of the values of others, in this case his brothers, Yosef would never have amounted to anything, and his dreams would have immediately ceased.
Morning Berachos (Siddur):May it be Your will, Hashem, the G-d of my fathers, that you protect me on this day and every day… from ayin ha’ra.
Chida (Tziporen Shamir 172):One who speaks the praises of a person’s wisdom, wealth, children, and the like, is obligated to bless him that an ayin ha’ra should have no power over him.
Gemara Bava Metzia (107b):The Torah states: “And the Lord will take away from you all sickness” (Devarim 7:15). Rav interpreted this as a reference to ayin ha’ra. Rav went to a cemetery, and used an incantation to find out how those buried there had died. He reported that ninety-nine percent had died by the evil eye, and only one percent of natural causes.
Rav Dessler (Michtav M’Eliyahu):What exactly is this ayin ha’ra which is spoken about in different places? It is clear that if one causes his friend to become jealous of him, he is responsible and liable for the pain he caused him. And this could even cause him to ultimately lose his wealth. He, therefore, needs to do mitzvot to protect himself from difficulties. The mechanism of the ayin ha’ra is rooted in the spiritual reality of all people being connected to one another. Ayin ha’ra means that one is jealous of another, is bothered by his very being, and [therefore] wants only bad for him. Since all people’s lives are mutually dependent on one another, it’s possible that this will cause the [successful] person’s life to be limited, and thereby more susceptible to injury or damage…
When one is jealous of another and gazes upon him with an ayin ha’ra, this can cause damage. However, justice demands that this will only happen if the recipient of the ayin ha’ra had previously done something to make himself vulnerable to the ayin ha’ra. One possibility would be that he had caused the first person to be jealous of him in a very specific manner. It is clear and well-established that one who is not self-focused, is a giver and not a taker, in all of his matters, will not arouse any jealousy. This is why the descendants of Yosef are not susceptible to the ayin ha’ra – because Yosef was so selfless. Chazal are thereby teaching us that one who lives out of the public eye, and whose aspirations are completely separate from those of the street, will not arouse jealousy.
TorahOnTheGo.com: Some make spitting sounds “poo, poo, poo” to ward off an ayin ha’ra. While it may seem silly, this practice is sourced in Torah. Midrash Rabbah recounts a story of a woman who would attend Rabbi Meir’s Torah classes. Her husband was upset about this practice and warned her that he wouldn’t let her into the house until she spat in Rabbi Meir’s face. Understandably, she was hesitant to do so and stayed away from her home. Rabbi Meir discovered this, and to ease her discomfort acted as if an ayin ha’rahas seized him, and requested that she spit at him as a remedy. While the story is cited to emphasize the importance of promoting shalom bayis, it serves as one of several sources for the concept of spitting in order to ward off an ayin ha’ra.
Questions for Discussion
- Do you find Rav Kook’s explanation of ayin ha’ra convincing? Why or why not?
- What is ironic about Yosef being identified as of immune from ayin ha’ra? (Think about his brothers…)
- How can we use social media in a way that avoids (or minimizes) ayin ha’ra as understood by Rav Kook?
- To what extent is authenticity a value in Torah Judaism?
- When should a person should not follow the standards of his/her community?
- How did Yosef strengthen his resolve to the point that he was immune to ayin ha’ra as understood by Rav Kook?
- Is ayin ha’ra the same thing as ayin ra? See the second chapter of Pirkei Avot.
- Would Rav Kook agree that you can take off ayin ha’ra with molten lead and a lady in B’nei Brak?
- How do you think Rav Kook would understand the concept of ayin tovah?
