No Matter How Modest | Rabbi Shlomo Farhi

The angels come to visit Avraham Avinu and they ask Avraham Avinu, Where is Sarah, your wife? And it turns out that Sarah is באוהל. Our Chachamim explain to us the צניעות, the modesty of Sarah Imenu is on display because of the fact that she was באוהל when all these men were coming to visit Avraham Avinu. I want to ask you one question. Do you think for one second that Sarah Imenu was dressed inappropriately? Do you think Sarah Imenu didn't have her Sheitel on? Or Sarah Imenu’s knees weren't covered or elbows? Chas V’Shalom. Sarah Imenu was the paragon of modesty. And yet there was a question of where is Sarah? She is באוהל. Many times when you watch a video like this from Vayimaen, it's focusing on the fact that we need to exercise Shemirat Ha’einayim on the street, at work, on the train, etc. But sometimes we also need to be taking a look at how we are exercising Shemirat Ha’einayim within the confines of our own home, at our own weddings, Brit Milas, Bar Mitzvahs. Even if every single person there is dressed completely appropriately, to the height of צניעות, it still doesn't mean that a person's eyes are allowed to roam wherever they want. In fact, the Gemara tells us that even אצבע קטנה, even a finger of someone, if it's looked at in the wrong way, is already inappropriate. That doesn't mean that women have to wear gloves, but it means that we need to be sensitive as to how powerful the idea of Shemirat Ha’einayim actually is. I'll end with this one last point. In Masechet Baba Batra, we read about the fact that two neighbors have to make sure that there's a war between their property, because when I look into your backyard or you look into mine, not only is there a worry of Shemirat Ha’einayim, but there's a worry of היזק ראיה, that I can damage what you have with my sight. Just looking at something, wishing that I had that thing is enough to perhaps bring damage to that thing. And that's true whether it's their crops, but it's also true about anything else that I could be jealous of. There are people in this world who, in your own family, a sister in law, a friend's wife, they’re the people that you love, they’re people in your extended family. You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to them. And yet we read that there's something called היזק ראיה. When something is looked at not with the right eye, with the עין of ברכה, with an עין טובה, it already brings the opposite of blessing to that thing. We have to be careful not only of the damage that happens to us through our eyes, but also the damage that we bring to other people, when we look in a way which we should not. We have the power of Beracha in these two eyes. Let's make sure always to use it.