The Eyes

We will begin by taking a look at a few ideas from the second chapter of the sefer Kav HaYashar: 

King David, peace be upon him, said in Tehillim (119:37), "Avert my eyes from seeing vanity, cause me to live in Your ways." A person must know that many things depend on sight. Therefore it seems to me that if upon arising from sleep one's gaze falls upon the house, one should reflect that the Holy one blessed is He gave us the mitzvah of affixing a mezuzah to the entryway and the mitzvah of making a ma'akeh (a parapet) around the roof, as it is written, "And you shall make a parapet for your roof" (Devarim 22:8).

And if upon going out the doorway he encounters clean animals, fit to be offered as sacrifices, let him reflect that the Holy One Blessed is He commanded us to offer sacrifices. And if he encounters impure domesticated or wild animals let him reflect that it is forbidden to consume them. Similarly, if he meets a gentile let him reflect that it is forbidden to intermarry with them.

In short, each person should engage in reflection according to his knowledge and learning. This is a very great matter, for in this way one clothes his eyes with sanctity regarding everything they behold.

The converse is also true. Just as one who gazes at holy matters creates a garment of sanctity for his faculty of sight, so too when a man allows himself to gaze at forbidden sights and strange women, he clothes himself in deep defilement, Heaven forbid.

A solid proof that sight has the power to cause harm to the viewer himself as well as others can be adduced from the bird called the bas haya'anah. This bird's eggs lie in front of the mother while she stares at them, piercing them with her gaze until a chick emerges from each one. In the chapters to come I will bring demonstrations of further insights into this matter.

For this reason our sages of blessed memory (Avoda Zara 20a) erected a protective fence forbidding a man from gazing upon anything that is liable to bring him to sin. For instance, he is forbidden from gazing at women and girls lest he be guilty of wasting seed. This is what King David had in mind when he wrote, "Avert my eyes from seeing vanity, cause me to live in your ways" (Tehillim 119:37). The numetical value for the word shav, "vanity,"

is 307, represented by the letters shin zayin, which is also the acronym for the term shichvas zera, "spilling seed." (Dovid prayed that his eyes should not behold anything that could lead to shichvat zera.) This is a bold hint.

It seems to me further that because Lilis and her cohorts are called "pangs of vanity" (shav) and also "pangs of death", as is mentioned several times in the Zohar (I:12b; II:33a), therefore David prayed, saying, "Cause me to live in Your ways." That is, he asked to be influenced by the side of life and not the side of death, Heaven forbid.

The authors of the ethical literature write of a wonderful strategy for avoiding this sin: Let a man envision to himself continually that Hashem's four letter name is written before him in black ink upon parchment, in keeping with the verse, "I have placed Hashem (i.e., the four-letter name) before me continually" (Tehillim 16:8). This is the principle that King David alludes to in the verse, "My eyes are always directed towards Hashem, for He will free my feet from the net" (Tehillim 25:15). The meaning should be obvious.

... Come take a look at what is stated in the Zohar, parashas Pikudei (263b). There it tells of an angel called Patos who seduces (mefateh) men to gaze at and examine that which is not necessary for them in an adulterous and wanton manner. After a man dies and is buried in the grave this angel then comes and restores to him his soul, after which he takes hold of him cruelly and brakes the sockets of his eyes and plucks out his eyes. Later on the man is sentenced to terrible afflictions and then lowered into a pit filled with snakes and scorpions, which attack him and execute upon him terrible judgments, Heaven spare us!

... It follows from the above that a person must be very protective of his faculty of sight.