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SHEKALIM 5782
Is The Evil Eye Real?
Did you ever hear of the Yiddish word, kinahora, or if your family is from Galicia, Kainahora? It comes from the Hebrew, K’eyn ayin hara (Without the evil eye). It’s what my grandparents—who incidentally were from the Ukraine—would say to ward off the evil eye. Whenever there was good news, something to boast about or to be proud of, they would add the word, kinahora, in effect saying, “Let no evil eye focus on such goodness.” For example, when asked how is the family, one might respond: “Everyone is the family is happy and healthy, kinahora.” Or, if asked how is your father, “Kinahora, he’ll be 90 in 3 weeks.”
Another way to ward off the evil eye is to quickly spit 3 times. We’re not talking hawking a big loogie. This is more like lightly spitting a poppy seed off the tongue, as in, “My daughter is dating a nice guy and it looks as if he’s going to propose. Pu, pu, pu!”
There’s an old joke about kinahora:
An elderly Jewish man was on the witness stand. “How old are you?” asked the District Attorney.
“I am, kinahora, 88”
“What was that?”
“I said I am, kinahora, 88.”
“Just answer the question!” said the D.A. sharply. “Nothing else! Now, how old are you?”
“Kinahora, 88,” said the old man.
Now the judge said, “The witness will answer the question and only the question without additional comment or be held in contempt of court.”
Up rose the counsel for the defense who was obviously Jewish, “Your Honor, may I ask the question?” He turned to the old man and said, “Kinahora, how old are you?”
Said the man, “88!”
Kinahora, keep the evil eye at bay. The fear of the evil eye appears in many places in the Torah, and we see it prominently featured in this special Shabbos Torah reading—the parsha of Shekalim—the 1st of the 4 special Sabbaths before Passover. In ancient times, every year in the weeks before Passover, every Jew would contribute a half shekel to the Temple. This would help support the Temple’s offerings and the elaborate Passover ceremonies. The origin of this is found in this Torah reading: “When you take a census of the Children of Israel…This shall they give—everyone who passes through the census—a half shekel…The wealthy shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less.” When the coins were counted, the census was complete.
The obvious question is: Why count coins when it would have been much simpler to count heads? After all, the main purpose was not to raise funds, but to take a census. The Torah tells us why: v’lo y’hiyeh vahem negef bifkod otam (so that a plague will not descend upon them when they count them). What does that mean? Rashi explains: Shehaminyan sholeyt bo ayin hara (For the evil eye can affect that which has been counted). According to Rashi, counting with a half shekel instead of heads was a kinahora to keep the evil eye away for the evil eye then would go on the coins and not the heads.
This practice of not counting heads has continued in Jewish tradition to this very day. Some of our grandparents would count people: Nisht ayns, nisht zvay…not one, not 2. In this way, they believed that they could confuse the evil eye. When counting heads for a minyan it is customary to use a verse from the prayer book of 10 words: Hoshia et amecha, uvareych et nachaltecha, ur’eym v’nas’eym ad olam.
Do you believe in the evil eye? The Talmud surely did. The Talmud (B.M. 107b) relates that: Rav went to a graveyard and used an incantation to find out how those buried there died, and then said: “99 of these died by the evil eye, and only one died by entirely natural causes.”
Now what I’m going to share with you is a bit complicated so try to stay with me. The Hebrew alphabet ends with the letter taf. Each letter has a numeric value and taf is 400, which is also the gematria—numerical value of the letters—of ayin ra, “the evil eye,” as if to warn, that like the taf at the end of the alphabet, the evil eye brings things to an end.
If we want to remain outside of its influence, we must attach ourselves to another taf, the 1st letter of the word “Torah,” which saves and protects. Or better to look to the 1st letter of the alphabet, the alef, which is the 1st letter of Elokim, Gd, and the 1st letter of the 10 Commandments in the word Anochi, “I,” Gd.
The alef and the taf spell the most frequent word in the Torah—et—to emphasize this lesson: cling to the alef of Gd and to the taf of the word Torah and you can avoid the taf of the evil eye.
What is the evil eye? We live in a world of science and technology. Are we supposed to believe in old wives’ tales like the evil eye?
Let me try to explain from a different perspective. A person’s feelings, emotions of joy and grief, of love and hate can have tremendous effects in the physical world. We have the power to create moods, don’t we? In the presence of certain people, we can feel the energy of love or joy. And with others we can sense so much negative energy or even hatred that it’s hard to be around them. It’s as if at these times people send out waves of love or negativity. Scientists are even experimenting with photographing what they call Kirlian waves—different kinds of energy auras that emanate from people.
Judaism recognizes that feelings can have tremendous effects in the physical world. Emotions can be powerfully destructive. Jealousy and hate are powers of destruction more lethal than bombs and bullets. When one is fortunate enough to be blessed with unusual wealth, one can be in danger. If one flaunts his wealth, he can cause envy, jealousy, anguish and hurt. These feelings, although wrong, are natural. The effects of these feelings are what Judaism refers to as ayin ra, the evil eye. One must pay in one way or another, for causing pain to others. When people don’t find someone’s good fortune acceptable, they provoke Heavenly Justice to question whether the person is truly deserving or not of his wealth. The net result is usually harmful to the wealthy person. In other word: If looks could kill!
Joshua Tractenberg, in his classical work, Jewish Magic and Superstition, (p. 55) writes about the evil eye:
In order to counteract the evil eye it has become customary append a protective phrase, such as kinahora (no evil eye) [like the old Jewish man in the court room]. Rashi taught that members of a family were reluctant to follow each other in reciting the blessings over the Torah before a congregation. [People might look at the 2 of them over the Torah and be jealous. It was the same thing for a double wedding. And so…] A double wedding in one household was avoided.
There are 2 ways—according to Jewish sources—to avoid the evil eye. One is not to flaunt one’s wealth, but to hide it. The Talmud (Taanit 86) teaches: “The evil eye has no effect on things hidden from the eye.” The other, as we’ve said, is to attach oneself to Torah and Gd—to live and study the Torah and to be Gdly in your actions like judging others favorably. Those who give others the benefit of the doubt are less likely to suffer from a jealous eye. Others will be happy for you and your good fortune if you are happy for them and others in their good fortune. And be careful of your own jealousy because our sages say that the evil eye can deaden the soul of the one who gives it.
So, is the evil eye real? Certainly, the destructive power of jealousy is real. In any case let us pray with the words of our Siddur: Ut’neynu hayom uv’chol yom l’cheyn ulchesed ul’rachamim b’eynecha, uv’eyney chol ro-eynu, “Gd grant us today and everyday grace, kindness and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who look upon us.” Pu, pu, pu…Amen!
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