07 Jan VAYECHI: HUMILITY PROTECTS AGAINST THE EVIL EYE

When Yaakov gave
his Bracha to Ephraim
and Manashe he said,
“May the Angel who
redeems me from all
evil bless the lads, and
may my name be
declared upon them,
and the names of my forefathers, Avraham
and Yitzchak, and may they reproduce
abundantly like fish within the land.”
[Bereishis 48:16] The expression “v’yidgo
l’rov” [may they reproduce abundantly like
fish] is a strange expression. Rashi explains:
“And may they reproduce like these fish that
proliferate and become numerous and the evil
eye has no effect on them.”
Why are fish not affected by the evil eye
(Ayin haRah)? The Gemara says in Tractate
Brochos [20a; 55b]: “Just as fish are covered
by the sea (i.e. – they are ‘out of sight’) and
the Evil Eye cannot rule over them, so too the
Evil Eye will not be able to rule over Yosef’s
descendants. Yosef and his descendants have
the bracha of “alei ayin” [Bereishis 49:22] –
they are above the eye and not affected by
Ayin HaRah.
There is another fascinating aspect as to why

fish are not subject to the Evil Eye. It is based
on a Chizkuni, which is further elaborated
upon by a sefer called the Pa’aneach Razah.
These two sources point out that Adam never
gave names to the fish “because they are
hidden from the eyes of man.” The Torah
mentions that the Almighty brought all the
animals to Adam and he gave them names.
The Torah mentions names of various animals
– both the Kosher and non-Kosher animals –
in various contexts in the Torah. We even
know the names of various reptiles and
insects. However, names of species of fish are
not mentioned anywhere in the Torah.
There are many different kinds of fish. There
are thousands of species of fish in the world.
If someone does not believe me, they can go
down to the National Aquarium in Baltimore
and see the unique fish and their names.
Nonetheless, the Torah does not specify fish
names! This is a strange thing.
That is why fish are not subject to Ayin
HaRah. It is because they are anonymous.
Ayin HaRah only affects people and things
that stand out. This is what the Chizkuni and
the Pa’aneach Razah are alluding to. The
reason that the fish in the sea are not subject
to Ayin HaRah is not only that they are under

water and hidden. More than that – from
the time of Creation they have been
anonymous. They are not glaring. Such a
situation protects from the Evil Eye.
If we extrapolate this idea to human
beings, does it mean that because we all
have names, we are all doomed to Ayin
HaRah? That is not the case. Rashi writes
[Sanhedrin 19b D.H. Tokfo shel Yosef]:
“Anavah – davar she’ayn lo shem,
she’adam oseh lefi tumo” [Modesty –
something which has no name, a person
acts simply]. This means if a person has
the ability to stay out of the public eye and
not stick himself into everyone’s face –
then even within the context of being a
human being who does have a name – he can
still achieve a certain amount of anonymity
and meld in with the rest of the society. This
is a “segulah” for avoiding the Evil Eye.
Anonymity does not necessarily mean that a
person is nameless, but if a person is humble,
he too has protection.
The Chidah states this explicitly. The Chidah
believes that a person with humility can
escape the Evil Eye. Someone who is humble
does not prance around and try to attract
attention to himself. It is specifically such

attention-grabbing actions that attract the
Evil Eye. The Chidah points out that the
Hebrew word Anavah (ayin nun vov hay) has
the same numeric value as Ayin (ayin yud
nun) plus one, indicating that Anavah
(modesty) transcends the (Evil) “Ayin” (Eye).
The Gematria of Ayin is 120; that of Anavah
is 121. Thus, the Chidah says that one with
Anivus “is above” the (Evil) Eye!
This is the same message the Chizkuni and
the Pa’aneach Razah are teaching us – fish
are hidden and anonymous and therefore they
are not subject to the Ayin HaRah.