Malbim (HaCarmel) The concept of the "evil eye," as explained by scientists is that when an envious person gazes at an object, then harmful sparks and poisonous vapors—derived from bodily excesses which are expelled naturally and which are rooted in the lowliness of his soul—emanate from his eye. These act like deadly darts upon the object of his gaze; their venom affects whatever is susceptible to such influence, instilling a curse and a blight, much as the gaze of a viper can kill those vulnerable to it. It has even been noted that if a person possessing the evil eye gazes steadily at a loaf of bread, that bread can become a source of death and destruction. It is regarding this that the Wise man warned: "Do not eat the bread of him who has an evil eye, nor desire his delicacies, for there is death in his offering."
I'd love to have a talk with some of those "scientists"
ReplyDelete"Scientists" is an inaccurate term for whomever he is citing.
ReplyDeleteאַל-תִּלְחַם--אֶת-לֶחֶם, רַע עָיִן; וְאַל-תִּתְאָו, לְמַטְעַמֹּתָיו. 6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties;
ReplyDeleteז כִּי, כְּמוֹ שָׁעַר בְּנַפְשׁוֹ-- כֶּן-הוּא: אֱכוֹל וּשְׁתֵה, יֹאמַר לָךְ; וְלִבּוֹ, בַּל-עִמָּךְ.
Firstly, this is not ayin hara, but RA ayin.
Next, I once complained to a rabbi that i am not able be kind to people I hate - his response was to take the following attitude: " I hate you, but you are invited to my house".
The meaning of the pasuk is exactly to avoid the type of false mussar espoused - ie being two faced.
Yes it is Tisha b'av, the point is we cannot have ahavat chinnam for everyone, nor should we accept a dysfunctional hybrid love-hate form people who want to tick off mitsvos on their diary page.