The Evil Eye Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught… Take care, there is much power in a glance. If accompanied by a malicious thought, it can cause harm. This is what is known as the evil eye. (The Empty Chair, p. 58*) What does this mean to me? Rebbe Nachman and Reb Nosson emphasize on numerous occasions that the force that we call “the evil eye” is more attitudinal than mystical. Because our souls are sourced in the loftiest place in heaven, our highest faculties of judgment and will can have either positive or negative effects. Once, a wonderful tzaddik named Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was invited to a students’ new home to celebrate G-d’s kindness with Torah study and a meal—we call such a festive gathering a chanukat habayit. After the rest of the guests went home, the aged rabbi asked his student to show him around, and he insisted on seeing every square inch of the apartment—something that even the most forward guest would never ask. Before leaving, Rabbi Auerbach said to his perplexed student, “I’m sure that you’re wondering why I wanted to see the entire apartment. Usually, it’s important to keep the blessings that G-d gives us away from the eyes of others, because their judgments can be so damaging. But I can promise you, I have only joy for you in this wonderful new apartment that you’ve received. The verse says, ‘A person with a good eye is blessed,’ and this means that a blessing rests wherever he sets his glance. If you have the opportunity of having someone with a good eye in your new house, let him rest his eye on every surface!” A prayer: G-d, it is oh so simple To find the evil, the ugly, the bad. Help me learn to discount all that is negative in the other. Show me the goodness, the beauty, the kindness in everyone I meet. (The Gentle Weapon, p. 46*)
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 16:08:09 +0000
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