Ayin Hara: A dangerous spiritual force or behavioural guide?

 few days ago, I received a Whatsapp message advertising the services of an “Ayin Hara lady” who could, it promised, banish any unwanted afflictions caused by the Evil Eye. Molten lead included. All for the small fee of $101!

The advertisement prompted me to recall an excellent Shiur I heard from Rabbi Aubrey Hersh a few years ago on the subject. I also noted that it has relevance to yesterday’s Torah reading, with Bilaam characterised by the sages as having possessed an “Evil Eye”.

Rabbi Hersh’s unexpected source for the concept of Ayin Hara was a series of verses towards the end of Parashat Mishpatim in which we are warned not to oppress or taunt strangers, widows and orphans. If such vulnerable people are mistreated, the passage continues, there will be a measure-for-measure punishment: “My wrath will be kindled, and I will slay you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children orphans.” (Shemot 22:23).

Without entering into the many questions that this raises concerning the nature of divine justice, there is a very clear message which can be taken from these verses. If you are fortunate enough to have been blessed with family, health and wealth, then these are blessings which God has showered upon you in order for you to have the wherewithal to improve and develop yourself and help those around you. But what of someone who has been blessed by God and subsequently uses their position in order to taunt and oppress those who are lacking and vulnerable? “If you oppress him, [beware,] for if he cries out to Me, I will surely hear his cry.” (Shemot 22:22).

This then is the reason why one should not flaunt one’s blessings in front of others. Proudly talking of one’s children and grandchildren – or one’s investments and vacations – in front of others in a way that might lead to jealousy and resentment. If people are oppressed because you are blessed, then the “Evil Eye” will cause it to be divinely redressed. It is not a dark or evil force that can be offset by strange rituals of molten lead. It is divine punishment for a severe character failing and misuse of divine blessings which can be set right by, as the Haftarah concluded yesterday, “walking modestly with God”.

Many of the traditional teachings concerning Ayin Hara also fit this model. Yosef was understood to be immune to the effects of Ayin Hara. This imparts an important principle since Yosef did achieve a position of wealth and prominence in his later years but, in contrast to (and perhaps in response to) the behaviour of his youth, his blessings were used to benefit those around him rather than engender jealousy.

The notion that fish symbolise some form of antidote or exception to Ayin Hara likewise makes sense without viewing them as magical creatures imbued with special protective powers. While fish are “blessed with multitudes of offspring” – the prayer recited Rosh Hashanah night asks God to make us as fertile as fish – their blessing is concealed beneath the water and thus not considered to be flaunted at others.

One prominent example of Ayin Hara found in the Midrash is found in the context of Sara and Hagar, where Sara is understood to have “placed an Evil Eye” on Hagar after she conceived, causing her to miscarry. Setting aside the implications for peshat and how literally we approach such a Midrash, this certainly fits the teaching presented here since Hagar, as a result of conceiving where Sara could not, now looks down on and mocks her mistress causing her to cry out in pain to God.

The evil eye here, again, is not about magical or demonic powers but rather it is a profound metaphor for character development, the proper approach to blessings and training oneself to consider the feelings of others.

Bilaam’s association with the Evil Eye is a little more complex. Judaism Reclaimed develops a theory, based on Midrashic interpretation sprinkled with a few hints from the verses, that Bilaam primary complaint against the Jewish nation arose from a form of jealousy. He recognises that they have ancestral merit working in their favour from the Avot and he is constantly attempting to argue that they are not worthy of this special assistance. He wants to present the nations as unjustifiably slighted as a result of Israel’s blessings and cries out to God in prayer as a result.

However, there is an additional dimension to Ayin Hara which is particularly pertinent to our discussion. Rambam, in his commentary to the 5th chapter of Avot (5:19), discusses the reasons why those with “Ayin Ra” are labelled students of Bilaam. There he contrasts the behaviour and attitudes to materialism displayed by Bilaam and Avraham. Bilaam, he points out, was so motivated by the wealth promised by Balak that he rushed over from Syria to curse the Israel; Avraham in contrast, even having fought in the battle of the 4-5 kings to rescue Lot, refused to take even a shoe strap as compensation.

We can right ask ourselves whether a person demanding $101 to perform some magical rite in order to “cure Ayin Hara” is actually perpetuating the very ill that she is claiming to heal.

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