The Secret of Guarding the Eyes: The Battle for the Holiness of the Soul

Shiur No. 179 | Monday, Parashas Yisro, 15th of Shevat 5759 - Shiur at the 'Shaarei Torah' Yeshiva

A piercing discourse on the power of guarding the eyes and the spiritual battle for purity of thought. Through the story of the warriors of Midian and the mighty men of King David, it is explained how overcoming the fire of desires transforms a person into a pure soul, and how one must conduct themselves in the street against the temptations of the evil inclination.

In the war against Midian, Moshe Rabbeinu chose the most righteous and holy men in the Jewish nation. "A thousand from a tribe, a thousand from a tribe" – he took from each tribe only those who had never opened their eyes to look at forbidden things. When the nation would go out to war with such holiness, not a single man was missing. They could fight against millions of gentiles and win without any casualties.

They went to war with their eyes closed. They threw ordinary dirt – and it turned into swords. They threw straw – and it became arrows. The arrow would fly on its own and hit the target, because they went with the power of Moshe Rabbeinu. When a person walks with the power of the tzaddik, he can throw a piece of straw and it turns into an atomic bomb. The Jewish people are a holy of holies, and all that is needed is to walk with one's eyes on the ground.

The True Fear of the Warriors of Midian

Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian zt"l explains that these warriors were not afraid of the Midianite soldiers at all. Their terrible fear was of only one thing: entering the homes of the Midianites and failing in guarding their eyes. Not a single one of them said, "I am a tzaddik, it won't harm me, it doesn't affect me."

In order to take the captives, they entered the houses only in pairs, with their eyes closed, and each one took a bucket of soot with him and poured it over the Midianite women so that their eyes would not open and stumble even for a single second.

Despite all the precautions, they returned to Moshe Rabbeinu weeping terribly. They said: "It is true that not a single man among us was missing in the war, but do not ask what we went through when we had to take them captive." They immediately brought sacrifices to atone for their souls. This is what made their hearts ache—the slightest fear of a blemish in their eyes.

The Angel of Death Made of Eyes

The Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zarah states:

"They said about the Angel of Death that he is entirely full of eyes" (Avodah Zarah 20b).

Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian explains: The Angel of Death is composed of the person's own eyes. If a person fails in a thousand forbidden gazes, his Angel of Death will have a thousand eyes. If he fails in a million gazes, it will be an angel of a million eyes. The eyes with which a person stumbles—from them the Angel of Death is created, who comes to take his soul.

Conversely, when a person merits to sanctify and purify himself, and especially when he builds a home in holiness with a kosher wife, he can reach all the spiritual levels in the world.

The Sons of Tzeruyah: Souls Without a Body

The holy book Megaleh Amukos asks: Why are King David's greatest warriors—Yoav, Avishai, and Asael—always called the "Sons of Tzeruyah" after their mother, and not after their father?

Yoav was a tremendous warrior who, when he wanted to breach the wall of Rabbas Ammon, used a tree as a sort of catapult and launched himself over the wall. Asael, as the Yalkut Shimoni says, was so light on his feet that he would run on the tips of the ears of grain without breaking them. He was entirely spirit, a soul without a body.

How did they merit such holy souls? The Megaleh Amukos explains that they are called the sons of Tzeruyah from the word "tzur"—a rock. As it is said about the holy Patriarchs:

"For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him" (Bamidbar 23:9).

They were born from absolute holiness and purity, without any desires, as if they were born from stones. When parents are holy and pure, they can bring down to the world souls that are pure Divine light, tzaddikim who are a soul without a body.

Extinguishing the Fire of Desires

A person's primary spiritual work is the internal struggle within themselves. The Kotzker Rebbe expounded on the verse, "In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night" (Genesis 31:40) – a person must be like "frost by night," cooling down the raging fire of desires. If the evil inclination is burning, get up and say Tehillim (Psalms), learn Gemara (Talmud), and cry out to Hashem in the field.

The Midrash states that in the future, Hashem will draw fire out from within the person themselves, and this will be their Gehenna (purgatory). The fire of desires that a person did not extinguish in this world, and did not transform into a holy fire of enthusiasm for Torah and prayer – that is what will burn them.

Do not say, "What can I do? The desires are raging, this is just how I am." Who knows what kind of wicked person you were in a previous incarnation? Perhaps you were Achav or Menashe? Now, in this lifetime, you have been given the opportunity to rectify this and extinguish this fire. Lie down on the floor, cry, and scream out to Hashem: "Take me out of this fire! Transfer me to a holy fire!"

Going Out to the Street Like a Battlefield

The conclusion from all of this is an absolute commitment to shmiras einayim (guarding one's eyes). Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian warns that the Angel of Death roams the streets. Do not deceive yourself and say, "It doesn't harm me, I don't pay attention." If the Israelite warriors who fought Midian, who saw Hashem face-to-face at Mount Sinai, were afraid of the Angel of Death – how can you not be afraid?

When a person walks out the door of the Beis Midrash (study hall), they must know that the Angel of Death is waiting for them outside to burn up all the Torah they learned over many long hours.

A person going out into the street must feel as if live fire is being shot there. Just like a person who must go to the grocery store to get bread during a war – they crawl on the floor, cling to the walls, and duck so the bullets won't hit them. This is exactly how one must go out into the street: with a settled mind, a bowed head, and closed eyes.

Before leaving the Beis Midrash, the house, or the mikvah, we must devise a strategy for how to be saved from the Angel of Death lying in wait for us. Only through this strict guarding will we merit to be saved from every evil thought from now until eternity, and in this merit, we will merit the coming of our righteous Mashiach in the blink of an eye, Amen.

Lesson No. 179