The Secret of Guarding the Eyes: A Person's True Battle in the World
Class No. 194 | * Tuesday, Parashas Nasso, Eve of the 4th of Sivan 5759 - Class for the 'Shaarei Torah' Yeshiva for Youth
A piercing discourse on the immense importance of guarding the eyes, which is a person's primary test in the world. Through the words of the Rambam...
The generation that received the Torah were all holy and pure. When they went out to the war against Midian, not a single one of them said, "This won't harm me." They entered the homes of the Midianites with buckets of ash, poured it over the Midianite women from head to toe, and only then bound them in handcuffs. And despite all this, they brought an offering to Hashem to atone for their souls, out of fear that perhaps there was some slight issue, even a single drop of a blemish.
If the Tanna'im (Mishnaic sages) and the previous generations, who were like angels, had a deathly fear of these things—more than entering a blazing fire—how much more so must we.
A Deathly Fear of Forbidden Sights
Rebbe Nachman says that a person's entire test in this world is in these matters. The Vilna Gaon writes in his book Even Shlema that a person's entire descent into this world is solely to break these desires. A person can be a tremendous Torah scholar, learn diligently, and score a hundred percent on exams, but the real question is how he guards his eyes. A person is tested solely on how he fights not to look and how he closes his eyes. Since this matter is extremely difficult and the evil inclination is strong within it, every person must increase his safeguards more and more.
A person must know that when he looks at a forbidden sight, he is simply falling into Gehenna (Hell) in broad daylight. The Sefer HaChinuch writes terrifying words about this:
"And if a man would think, upon encountering a woman, that Gehenna is open between her eyelashes... and a constant fire burns there."
The eyes and the face in a forbidden sight are a blazing fire of seventy realms that will burn a person's mind and heart. Anyone who draws near to it will be burned by billions of flames. Only when a person directs all his thoughts back to these matters and believes in this with complete emunah (faith), will he succeed in distancing himself and being saved.
The Obstacles to Teshuvah
The Rambam in Sefer HaMadda (Laws of Teshuvah, Chapter 4) lists twenty-four things that hold back teshuvah (repentance). One of them is the sin of causing the masses to sin. Sometimes a person has an evil inclination that reaches up to the heavens, but he must remain silent! Do not speak with a friend about these things, because by doing so, you cause him to stumble and teach him bad things. One who causes the masses to sin loses the opportunity for atonement, and this is as severe as one who says, 'I will sin and then repent.'
The Rambam continues and lists another thing that holds back teshuvah: "One who gazes at forbidden relations and imagines in his mind that there is nothing wrong with it." Every person knows deep down that it is forbidden to look. The soul cries out and tells him that it is damaging and burns the mind and the heart, but instead of fighting the evil inclination, it is comfortable for him to ignore it. He says to himself: "What did I even do? What sin did I commit? And who even saw that I looked?"
The Rambam rules that even if a person does teshuvah for all the other sins in the world, but ignores the sin of forbidden sights and says that there is nothing wrong with it—no teshuvah will be accepted from him.
Who Sees Me in the Innermost Chambers?
Regarding the thought, "Who saw that I looked?", the holy Baal Shem Tov answers (in Parashas Kedoshim) based on the verse:
"These seven are the eyes of Hashem, which roam throughout the entire earth" (Zechariah 4:10).
The Baal Shem Tov explains a situation where a person is inside a closed apartment, surrounded by innermost chambers, with the windows and doors locked. And despite this, when he thinks about committing a sin, he looks to the right and to the left, gets startled by every rustle, and imagines that someone is entering. He is gripped by a sudden fear and feels that everyone is watching him.
The Baal Shem Tov explains: Why is he afraid? Because he is truly being watched! An entire battalion of angels enters to stop him from the sin. "The eyes of Hashem" are the seven shepherds, the tzaddikim who follow a person and watch every detail, every step, and every movement of his.
Immediate Vidui (Confession): The Way to Be Saved from Impurity
A person who does not understand that forbidden sights are a great sin, does not understand that the entire receiving of the Torah depends on this. In order to merit hearing the Torah with thunder and lightning, we must guard ourselves from looking at any forbidden sight. And if, Heaven forbid, a person stumbles, he must do teshuvah (repentance) and Vidui (confession prayer) immediately.
Even on Shabbos, even on Yom Tov, and even on the night of the Seder—if a person stumbles with a forbidden sight, he must immediately confess in a whisper: 'Ashamnu, bagadnu (we have sinned, we have betrayed)'. The immediate Vidui (confession prayer) removes the kelipah (spiritual impurity) and prevents the defilement and the sin from clinging to him.
The Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) initially appears as thin as a spider's web, but if one says, "It's not so terrible," it becomes as thick as a wagon rope. Therefore, the tikkun (rectification) must be immediate, in order to purify the heart and truly prepare ourselves to receive the Torah.
Part 2 of 3 — Lesson No. 194