BAIS HAVAAD ON THE PARSHA 5772 ~ PARSHAS BALAK ~DAMAGING EYES

This week's parsha relates the episode of Balak and Bilam who attempted to harm the Jewish people by means of a curse. After Bilam made his first request to Hashem for permission to go with Balak's messengers, Hashem replied "don't go with them [and] don't curse them." The Sforno explains that Hashem was telling Bilam two things: that he shouldn't curse the Jews and that heshouldn't even go along to place an ayin hara, "evil eye", upon them. Chazal already told us that Bilam had an evil eye, as the Mishna in Pirkei Avos (5:23) teaches us. We are told that Bilam had an evil eye, a desire for money, and that he was very boastful. We find that halacha takes the concept of ayin hara very seriously. For example, the Gemara (Bava Metzia 107a) states that it is forbidden to stand next to another person's field when it is fully grown, as gazing at his fully grown crops may cause damage through ayin hara.(AUDIO HERE) PRINT VERSION HERE