Shovavim and Shmiras Einayim: Opening Spiritual Eyes Through Torah and Middos Tovos

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. As we read the parshiyos of Shemos vaEira, Bo, Beshalach, Yisro, Mishpatim, Terumah, Tetzaveh, these are the weeks that are kavua for shovavim, shovavim tat, which is Shemos vaEira, Bo, Beshalach, shovavim tat, Terumah, Tetzaveh. And these days are meyuchad set to work on, to be misaken inyanei kedusha, kedushas habris, shmiras einayim. I'd like to talk about shovavim, shmiras haguf v'einayim, and kedusha bichlal. What is our avodah? What should we focus on in the days of shovavim? Of course, there's a lot that is spoken in the sefarim about shovavim, but let's bring out one nekudah that we could focus on and that we could work to be misaken, that we could implicate in our daily lives. At the end of this week's parsha, Parshas Bo, we read in the Torah that Mitzrayim was smote with makas choshech. What is makas choshech, and why is makas choshech? Why this makah? Why did the Mitzriyim— Why were they hit with makas choshech? Every makkah has its purpose. Every makkah was targeted for a specific reason. Why choshech? Medrash Hagadol speaks in a few different places, a few different reasons. He brings in many places that the reason is many of Klal Yisrael were taken away. They died during makas choshech. They weren't roi to leave Mitzrayim. So in order for the Mitzriim not to see that Klal Yisrael is also burying their dead, people died by Klal Yisrael, so there was choshech, darkness. No one was able to see, and Klal Yisrael secretly, in hiding, were able to be mekaber, mekaber. The lashon of Medrash Hagadol is mekaber the reshaim, those that weren't fit and zoche to leave Mitzrayim. There's another pshat in the Medrash Hagadol. Medrash Hagadol says that the reason for choshech is the Ribbono Shel Olam was telling Paro, You were misloitzetz. You mocked me. I said they should leave, and you said they shouldn't leave. So what I'm going to do is also say day is night and night is day. I'm going to take and reverse sidrei hateva, because you reversed. You mocked me and reversed the sidrei retzoni, what I wanted. It's a deep yesod, something that we have to work on, maybe for a different time. Another pshat that the Medrash Hagadol brings is because whenever the reshaim are punished, they're punished with darkness. The Medrash HaGadol continues and says it was also midah k'neged midah, because they forced Bnei Yisrael, when they were partying, when they were doing their parties, and they forced Bnei Yisrael to stand still with a candle on their head. Like this, they would have light and they would also have fun from the fact that the Yid was not able to move. So Ribono Shel Olam paid them back and gave them darkness, and see, you can't move either. Midah k'neged midah for the vicious, for the vicious hanhaga that they had with Klal Yisrael. There's yet another pshat in the Medrash HaGadol, because choshech actually is twofold. It's darkness for the Mitzriyim, while it's also light in the darkness for the Yid. V'chol Bnei Yisrael hayu orim b'moshvosam. As the Yid, the Medrash says, as the Yid was going into the home of the Mitzri, light followed him. Says the Medrash HaGadol, this to symbolize that the goy lives in darkness in this world, while the Yid in the darkness lives in light. Light in darkness. The world is—

The dark world. Those that live in that world, and those that live in a world that's not connected to the Ribono Shel Olam, that's the orei sheloilam, live in darkness, while the Yid lives in this world, in the darkness of this world, with light, because he's attached to Torah, mitzvahs, which attaches him ultimately to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, orei sheloilam. The Steipler speaks in many places, Steipler, zecher tzaddik v'kadosh livrachah, how the inyan of shmiras habris is connected, connected directly to darkness and light, depression and happiness. Depression leads to all the aveiros. It leads to a lack of sanctity in shmiras habris, happiness, and we also are going to learn a little bit later, Torah is the tikkun. There's a Zohar that says that there's no tikkun for these type of aveiros, v'otzazer levatalah. There's no tikkun, there's no way to correct it. Yet there's another Zohar that says that there is a way to correct it. You could do teshuvah. Mefarshim say the difference is with Torah and without Torah. Without Torah, there's no way to do teshuvah on hotzaas zera levatalah. With teshuvah, with Torah, the teshuvah will be accepted. You see that Torah somehow is connected. To the tikkun of shmiras habris. It's interesting that even shovavim is through the parshiyos of shovavim, which means it's through the kriyas haTorah. It's connected to the Torah of these parshiyos. It's not just it's a zman miyuchad for shmira and tikkun in inyanei bris kodesh and shmiras einayim. You see that with the parshiyos themselves, Torah is a metaher, and the way the Steipler seems to be telling us and teaching us, you need simcha. Torah is simcha. Without Torah, there's darkness. There's choshech. Yavan, we know, was trying to take away Torah, Torah shebaal peh. Medrash says, V'choshech al פני תהום, zu Yavan. The galus of Yavan is no Torah, darkness. When there's no Torah, there's darkness. Darkness is depression. There's a darkness. There's a physical darkness, and then there's a ruchniyusdike darkness. And when you have the ruchniyusdike darkness, then pegam habris and shmiras einayim become issues. So let's discuss how a person is able to combat shmiras einayim problems, shmiras bris kodesh problems. There's an interesting Chasam Sofer. The Chasam Sofer in Drushim v'Agados, page mem-gimmel, he spells out the pasuk, V'tipachna einei shneihem. By Adam HaRishon, after he ate from the Eitz Hadaas, Bereishis gimmel, pasuk zayin, Vatitpachna einei shneihem vayeidu ki עירומים הם. The Chsam Sofer is medayek: why does it say, עיני שניהם? It should say, Vatitpachna עיניהם. We're going on Adam and Chavah who ate from the Eitz Hadaas, so it should have simply said, Vatitpachna עיניהם theirs. Why does it have to say עיני שניהם? It's an extra word. Says the Chsam Sofer a tremendous yesod, based on a Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim. I quote you the Rambam; it's in Moreh Nevuchim, chelek aleph, perek beis. The Rambam says, if you notice, it doesn't say, Vatitpachna עיני שניהם ויראו כי עירומים הם. It says, וידעו כי עירומים הם. Says the Rambam, the reason for this is because they actually saw before too, but what they saw they didn't see, explains the Rambam. I quote: There is two eyes that a person has. There's the physical and the spiritual. When—

The physical is working overtime. The spiritual eyes are weakening. And the reverse is also true. When the spiritual eyes are working properly and constantly, then the physical eyes are closed. In Gan Eden, the physical eyes were closed. The spiritual eyes were open. It was Gan Eden. They were to connect with the Eibishter, with the light of Gan Eden. The minute they ate from the Eitz Hadas, it's not vayiru they saw, because it was there all the time, what they saw. But now they started to understand because it reawoke the physical eye. I read the Rambam. Hisboinen oimroi, vatipachna einei shneihem vayeidu ki eiromim heim. Says the Rambam, loy amar vatipachna einei shneihem vayiru. It doesn't say vayiru, because the truth is, ra'u kodem. They saw this before also. But pshat is, nischadesh, something new came, and that is the physical eyes started to work. And he says, and that's why, says Rambam, vatipachna. Vatipachna always connotates that what was there was there, but now you started to realize that it was there. Like he says by Hagar, Vayifkach Elokim es eineha vateireh, the well was always there, but she realized it. Says the Chasam Sofer, that's pshat in the pasuk, vatipachna einei shneihem, their second set of eyes opened up. It's not eineihem, their eyes, Adam and Chava. But sheniyah means their second set of eyes, because originally only their ruchniyusdik eyes were open, and then their gashmiyusdik eyes opened up to a whole world of gashmiyus and taivas. And that's vayeidu. All of a sudden they started to realize what they were seeing before, but they weren't seeing it because those eyes were not working. Ruchniyus and gashmiyus is a constant hisnagdus. When the ruchniyus works, then the gashmiyus flutters and goes away. When the gashmiyus works, over time, then the ruchniyus is not properly working. And I saw a very big chiddush in the Chasam Sofer. The Chasam Sofer seems to say that we always think that if our eyes are not going to look at tumah, if our eyes are not going to look at things which are not clean, so we're good to have these eyes, our original set of eyes, our ruchniyusdik set of eyes, to see Torah. The Chasam Sofer says actually it's more than just that we can't see tumah, but if we don't constantly see kedushah, that weakens our ruchniyusdik eyes too. The Chasam Sofer shtells on the inyan of the menorah. It's in Parshas Behaaloscha. Why were the candles of the menorah, el mul פני המנורה, which means they were all lit wicks facing towards the middle, the middle stem, the middle light of the menorah. So we've spoken in the past. My Zeide zatzal brought a pshat, which brought already mentioned in different ways and shapes and forms in other sefarim. The shiva kanei menorah represent the shiva chochmos ha'olam, the wisdoms of the world. They have to be el mul pnei hamenorah. The middle of the menorah stood for chochmas haTorah. So if they're directed towards chochmas haTorah, then it's a good thing. And the shiva chochmos ha'olam, it to the menorah. It's part of the light of the menorah. It's part of the ohr of Torah when it's directed to the Torah. But when it's directed away from the Torah, towards the outside, so to speak, outside in the world, then the shiva chochmos become incorrect way of lighting menorah. The Chsam Sofer comes with an interesting, interesting insight. If the candles, the wicks, would be facing out, it would give more light to the room. Facing in, you're minimizing the light, and you're just condensing it in the place of the menorah. In order, says the Chsam Sofer, for the ohr of Torah and the ohr of kedusha to light, you need to darken the world and the room around you.

When there's choshech, which means that outside world is dark to you, that's when the Or HaTorah lights. But with the outside and the inside, that it's not me'ir properly. And he brings this pshat of that, tipakachna einei shneihem, that again, that when the ruchniyus, the ruchniyus eyes, the ruchniyus sight is properly working, it can't be together with the gashmiyus. And if the gashmiyus is the eyes you're using, then the ruchniyus, the eyes, are going to weaken and slow. And Aaron had to cut out the whole outside world, which is a chiddush. Pashut, you learn that as long as, as long as you're not looking at dvarim tameiim, everything is good. You see that it's more than that. It can't even be dvarim shel chol. The eyes have to be involved in dvarim ruchniyim and dvarim shel kedushah. The Chasam Sofer continues and he says this is the reason why we close our eyes by Kriyas Shema. Why do we cover our eyes by Kriyas Shema? Because in order to see Shema Yisrael, you need to close out the world around you. You got to close the physical eyes in order for the ruchniyusdike eyes to work. There's an interesting reishis chochmah, which really this is where it comes from. The Reishis Chochmah in Shaar HaKedushah, perek ches, os mem-vav, brings from the Ramak, Rav Moshe Cordovero, that it's b'shaas ha-tefillah you need to close your eyes in order for the eyes— To see and function in the ruchniyusdike sight that's needed for tefillah. The mashma'us is it's not only kriyas Shema; it's mashma that the entire tefillah, one needs to close the gashmiyusdike eyes in order for him to have his ruchniyusdike eyes work. Maybe it's a good, so to speak, shout-out: gotta close those phones. You gotta close the phones because if the gashmiyusdike eyes are in progress during tefillah, then the ruchniyusdike eyes are not going to work. You gotta block out the world, chasam sofer is saying, in order to properly be mechaven in Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. But it's interesting that he wants you to close your eyes by tefillah. We know Reb Chaim Volozhiner taught that in tefillah everyone should look in a siddur because of the osiyos, the words themselves. So I don't know if this ramak goes together with Reb Chaim Volozhiner: you have to close your eyes, do you look in the siddur, or maybe it's not a contradiction. Maybe looking in the siddur is another way of closing your eyes from the outside world. When we discuss tefillah, we could elaborate more on the topic. There's an interesting haflah, boysai. The haflah, in his p'sicha to Maseches Kesubis, os yud daled, he explains this is the reason why a child in the mother's stomach is taught the entire Torah, because he's in the stomach, he's disconnected from the outside world. He doesn't see even the outside world, and the meileh he's able to learn Torah. When the eyes, says the haflah. Is all over, it can't be in Torah. It's impossible. He even says a chiddush, a drash in the Gemara. The Gemara says that a child in the mother's stomach sees misof haolam v'ad sof haolam, from one end of the world to the other. What does that mean? He's able to see the whole world? He says pshat is he sees the world as sof v'ad sof, nothing in between. He doesn't see anything in this world. He looks at this world and he goes, There's nothing there I see. I see right through it. Let's use a terminology. He sees right through the whole world. He gets it. He sees that the whole world is nothing. Then he can learn Torah, says the Hafla'ah. It's a meirdike Hafla'ah. It's an hakdamah in Maseches Kesubos. So here we have a meirdike chiddush, rabboisai. Here, a man is created with eivarim. A man is created with eivarim, his gashmiyusdike eivarim and his ruchniyus eivarim, which are in those gashmiyusdike eivarim. If he uses his eivarim properly, ruchniyus, then his body with all his eivarim, his heart, his mind, his eyes, they'll see dvarim ruchniyim everywhere. They'll see in Torah, we say—

V'ho'er eineinu b'sorasecha, enlighten our eyes in Torah. What does that mean? I think it's this Chasam Sofer, rabosai. The eyes could see, yet be blind. The physical eyes could see, but the ruchniyus eyes are blind. We ask, V'ho'er eineinu, give us eyesight in Torah to be able to see, right? V'ho'er, give us light. What do you mean? What are you missing? And the Torah says, yeah, you're blind. You're spiritually blind. Imagine a guy who's walking around with a cane. What's wrong? I'm blind. Why? I can't see the Tosafos. I don't understand what Tosafos is saying. I'm blind. Yeah, that's what the Chasam Sofer is saying. It's either the physical eyes that are busy, and not only with that, if you see dvarim tameiim, you're ruining your spiritual eyes. Even if your eyes are busy with dvarim gashmiyim, then your eyes are not able to see. Gal einai v'abita niflaos miTorasecha. V'ho'er eineinu b'sorasecha. V'ho'er eineinu b'sorasecha. We could sit, unfortunately, sometimes by a Gemara, s'nishlichtig, s'nishlichtig. Why? Either because you're looking at dvarim tameiim, or even if you're not looking at dvarim tameiim, dvarim shel chol, you're busy with the whole outside world. You're not busy inside the Gemara, the Tosafos, the kedusha, the tefillah. You're not. We asked the Rabbeinu Shalom, V'ho'er eineinu b'sorasecha. I saw a very nice Chasam Sofer also in Parshas Korach, page pei beis. He discusses why the Rabbeinu Shloilam took the dor hamidbar that was mekabel the Torah and took them completely away from the whole world. The whole world, they were disconnected, and even food, parnassah, through the Eibishter man, says the Chasam Sofer, this chiddush, because if their eyes would be busy in the business, even though business is not a bad thing. Business, we're going to learn, and we spoke about this in the past, is a mitzvah. Parnassah is a mitzvah. But if the eyes are busy there too much, they can't be busy learning, says the Chasam Sofer. I quote, If you open your eyes too much in this world, too much to see and to learn all about this world, it's going to blind the spiritual eyes. It's a tremendous yesod. Man has ruchniyusdike eyes and gashmiyusdike eyes. There's an interesting halacha that the Rambam quotes in Hilchos Talmud Torah, perek gimmel, halacha yud gimmel: Af al pi shemitzvah lilmod bayom uvalayla, ein adam lomed rov chachmaso ela balayla. Torah is supposed to be learned by night. We've discussed it in the past. Many go to sleep at night and wake up early so they can learn Torah fresh, fresh mind in the morning. We'll discuss that at a different time. But the Rambam says clearly: Torah, night. Something special, a keser Torah comes from someone who learns Torah by night. Why? This is a Gemara. The Gemara says that the night was created for Torah. See, today we have night life because we have electricity. But before electricity, there was no night life. The day was over and you retired to the house, able to learn. So the night was created, says the Gemara, teach us Chazal for Torah. But maybe it's a little bit deep. There's a little bit more depth in this, and that is, when the world is choshech to you, that's the time to learn. World, this world, when it's light, it's olam asiyah, it's time to work and to do. You need olam choshech, that the world has to be dark to you, like what the Chasam Sofer is saying by Aharon HaKohen. The lights had to be not be me'ir the rest of the room. The rest of the room had to be dark. When that is dark out around you, light, Torah from within. The Mishnah Berurah brings down from the Shlah that, סוד לחבר יום ולילה. The Shlah kasav, סוד לחבר יום ולילה בתורה ובתפילה. You're supposed to connect the day and the night with Torah and tefillah.

What's this inyan of being mechaber? Could be it's a ruchniyusdike hasagah. There's a ruchniyusdike thing. The day is meant for work. It's meant for olam hazeh. The night is meant for—I'm sorry, the night is meant for Torah and ruchniyus. The seudah is l'chaber, to connect them, the yom and the laila. You need yom and you need laila, because you need the yom b'soch halaila. How? That in the laila to make yom. Pesach by night, the night became day and the day became night. The goyim had choshech, the Yidden had ohr. Light and darkness, light and darkness, rabosai. It's connected because, ilu lo yashavti b'choshech, lo hayah ohr li. Sometimes the light is the light in the darkness. The world is an olam. V'haaretz hayesah tohu vavohu v'choshech al pnei sehom. It started off as choshech, and the Ribbono Shel Olam said, Yehi or, in that choshech. The world is choshech. We could talk a different time. The goyim is darkness when there's no light. Mimeila there's darkness, or is darkness a metzius bifnei atzmo? It's relevant to our discussion, but we have to move along because of time constraints. Either way, the idea of this world, as Hafinster evolved, rabosai, rabosai, rabosai, developed, Hafinster evolved. Toirah is a lichtige velt. In the olam haTorah, there's light. And the trick is in their finster, to be able to do and to make ohr, soyd l'chaber yoym v'layla. Layla is meant to learn Torah in the layla. So we have tremendous hashkafah and mussar for shoyvevim, and that is: Nishnar daf men arbeten. Not only do we have to work on taharas einayim, fun a vade shmutzige shlechtige zachen, vos me kukt, dos is klar, dos is nisht k'shaylah. V'afilu di oygen darf nisht zen, un turn it zen, choyl mit choyl, mit vayter choyl. Di oygen, the eyes, they need to be involved. They need to be exercised, b'dvarim ruchniyim, in order for them to see ruchniyus, in order to see ruchniyus. Now, rabosai, there's another part of shmiras einayim that I'd like to discuss. Not only is shmiras einayim, like we spoke, to be shomer the einayim from ra, and not only is it to be shomer the einayim from choyl, and inyonei olam hazeh, and taanugei olam hazeh, and taavos olam hazeh, and even if they're, so to speak, kosher, aber vos darf men dos. People think because it's koshernet, vert es mutar. Vos darf men, we have to see everything that goes on everywhere in the world. What's wrong with Sura and Pumpedisa? That's a beautiful world, the world of Sura, Abaye, mitrav, voshe shlecht in Dervelt. Lig in Dervelt, cook in Dervelt, darftu cook in darkn. But I have a mesorah from my zeide that there's another angle and part of shmiras einayim, and that is einayim from middos ra'os. You got to protect your eyes from bad middos. Bad middos, kinah, sinah. That's also einayim ra'os, and that also stops the einayim from seeing devarim shebikedushah. I believe it's meduyak in the Gemara. Everybody knows, tzaddik yesod Yosef. Yosef was shomer einayim, didn't want to see Potiphar's, right? He didn't want to see the wife of Potiphar. He was shomer einayim. How does the Gemara talk about that act? Says the Gemara in Zevachim, kuf yud ches amud beis: עין שלא רצתה לזון ולהנות מדבר שאינו שלו. The eye that did not want to see what doesn't belong to him. It doesn't say the eye that didn't want to see tumah, arayos, ervah. It's a middos, not to see what doesn't belong.

That's called shmiras einayim. ... מפורש גמרא, רבותי. עבודת שמירת עיניים ... קוק שמוץ. It's not upkeirevos; ... קוק שמוץ. Shmiras einayim is also a nekiyus einayim, middos tovos. ... This is this Gemara, עין שלא רצתה, there's a ... בעל שם רב, רבותי. Bilam was a navi like Moshe. Lo kam navi k'Moshe b'Yisrael, aval b'umos ha'olam ... like a navi like Moshe. In Brisker Torah, ... whenever Bilam spoke, it became Torah like Moshe Rabbeinu spoke Torah. So Bilam was writing sifrei Torah, Gemara Bava Basra. Moshe kasav sifrei v'sefer, Bilam ... because when Bilam spoke, it became Torah. How could a kli tamei like Bilam have nevuos, see the Eibishter, learn Torah, ... to create Torah? Why? Es a kli tamei; he was a utensil which is completely tamei. ... unbelievable pshat. ... What does shesum ayin mean? Pashut means he was blind in one eye. Shesum, he's blind in one eye, yeah. You know, they always talk about ayin hara. Maybe he has two bad eyes. Why only one bad eye, ayin hara? So maybe pshat is even if he doesn't take both eyes, even with one eye already it becomes a problem. Maybe one eye. Well, maybe because the root of all ayin hara was Bilam, and Bilam only had one eye. He was like a pirate. He had only one eye. He was shesum ayin. Maybe he wore a patch, ich veis. Shesum ayin — he was blind in one eye. The Targum translates shesum ayin, deshaper chazi, that he saw good. He saw good. I mean, he's blind. Shesum means he's blind; it's covered up. So how could shaper chazi, that he sees good? We've spent many different pshatim in the past about this, but the Heilige Baal Shem says shesum ayin means, how did the Eibishter talk to him? How did he see the... how was he able to teach Torah? And the teretz is, he had a blind eye, and that eye was not doing aveiros. So through that blind eye that wasn't doing aveiros, he was able to see the Eibishter. He was able to be a navi. He was able to teach Torah and give over Torah. So shaper chazi, vaker, his eye saw good. When the physical, when the taiva, when the gashmiyus eye dies, the ruchniyusdik eye is able to take over. So shaper chazi, he saw very good through the blind eye. With his blind eye he saw nothing; he saw kinah, sinah, taiva. Rabosai, we want to see the Eibishter. We want to learn Torah. We want to get close to the Ribono Shel Olam. Every Yid wants. Every Yid wants to sit and learn and enjoy the learning and see. Hatzlachah is learning. What's the problem? And the answer is very simple. When the eyes are cataracts of, they have cataracts, the eyes. There's things blocking. Gashmiyus, at best, tumah at worst, lichluch hamidos, when the middos are not good. So how do you expect to see beautiful things? V'ho'er eineinu b'sorasecha. I end, rabosai, with a meyridike meyridike mashal. Reb Mordechai Pogromansky was considered from the gedolim of Telz, and he would say the following parable, the following mashal. He says there was once a person who was a great art dealer. They brought him into a big museum, and they started showing him, here, here, Van Gogh, I don't know the names of all the mechabrim of all the different—Van Gogh, Picasso, whatever the other names. You also know, Baruch Hashem, ... Okay, Van Gogh, with Picasso, with Chagall, Gauguin, whatever it was. They show him, he goes, ‘Ach, it's ugly. Look how—’ They show him another one. He makes all these faces. One by one they're showing him. Look, he's an art dealer. He doesn't see the beautiful art. So the person that was taking him around looked at him.

Takes off his glasses and he looks up. Okay, that's the answer. Putter milk, you know, putter milk. A malach Yidden used to like to drink buttermilk. It was pretty, pretty fermented, and a lot of times already past its due date, and it turned green. So his glasses from breakfast were full of green from the mold of the buttermilk. That's the reason why when he looks at the beautiful pictures, he sees green and ugly and rotten, because on his glasses there's rotten. That was the mashal of Mordechai Pogromansky. You know, rabosai, hashkafa mishkafayim. If you change your mishkafayim, your hashkafa will be completely different. If you're busy looking at the bad things, what do you expect? That the eyes, there's rotten, there's blat off the oigen, blat. You got to clean the eyes out. It's all in the eyes, rabosai. It's all in the cleanliness and healthiness of your eyes. If your eyes are not healthy, ruchniyus, how do you expect to see past five inches away? If there are cataracts on you, how do you expect to see even what's in front of you? This should be the inyan of shovavim. Shovavim is a time that through the Torah and through the parshiyos and through yetzias Mitzrayim, to work on the einayim, v'lechol bnei Yisrael hayah ohr b'moshvosam in the darkness of Mitzrayim. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.