Above the Evil Eye | Rabbi Chaim Meir Roth

The Torah says in Parshas Vayechi, Yosef is a person that had חן. When people saw Yosef, they were attracted to him, they wanted to have a שייכות with him, they wanted to be close to him. He had חן. What was the secret to Yosef’s חן? The pasuk continues and it says, Chazal in Masechta Brachos say that Rabbi Yochanan used to sit outside of the בית הטבילה. Why did he sit there? Says the Gemara, He wanted that when the people came out of the בית הטבילה, they should see him. And when they saw him and Rabbi Yochanan’s beauty, and Rabbi Yochanan’s יראת שמיים, he wanted that when they see that, their children should also be יראי שמיים and beautiful like Rabbi Yochanan. So the Chachomim asked Rabbi Yochanan, Are you not afraid of עין הרע? When people see someone that's so beautiful, they become jealous. They may say: Why don't I look so good? And when עין הרע goes on somebody, it could cause them damage. Are you not afraid of that? So Rabbi Yochanan said: No, I'm not afraid, because I am מזרעו של יוסף. I’m one of the children, I'm a descendant of Yosef HaTzaddik. And therefore, by Yosef it says: בן פורת עלי עין. He's a בן that's greater than the eye. עולי עין He's on top of the eye. That means that an עין הרע is not שולט on Yosef HaTzaddik. What is the secret? Why does an עין הרע not have an influence on the descendants of Yosef? What was Yosef’s specialty, that the eye does not have any שליטה on him? And the answer is, because we know that Yosef HaTzaddik was a person who was tempted and controlled what he saw. His eyes did not have control over him. He was in control of his eyes. When a person is in control of his eyes, מידה כנגד מידה, eyes do not have control over him. And when an eye wants to see bad in him, he's on top of that, he's greater than that, because he's greater than his eye, because he controls it, then he's also greater than the עין הרע that looks at him. And when an eye sees him and somebody sees him, that person finds him pleasant because he's in control of other people's eyes, to see him in a positive light. One who controls his eyes, becomes someone that when people see him, he has חן בעיניהם. He's somebody that אין עין הרע שולטת בו. He's a blessed person. He's a person that is zoche to the Bracha of Yosef.