02 Dec HIDDEN, PROTECTED, BLESSED

Time to go home. Many years have passed
since Yaakov left his parents’ home, in fear
of his brother Eisav. He lived in exile with
his uncle Lavan, working for him for twenty
long, hard years.
These years were also years of bracha,
during which Yaakov was blessed with
wives, children, and many flocks of sheep.
Yaakov gathers his family and is preparing
to embark on the journey to his homeland.
“Vayishlach Yaakov malochim, and Yaakov
sent messengers ahead of him” (Bereishis
32:4) Yaakov is worried. Is his brother Eisav
still harboring feelings of hate and animosity
towards him? Is Eisav still out to get him?
Will his family be endangered when they
meet up with Eisav?
Yaakov sends messengers ahead, “limtzo
chein, to find favor” in Eisav’s eyes. Rashi
tells us it was a mission of peace and
friendship. “Mevakesh ahavoscha, (that
Yaakov is) seeking your (Eisav’s) love”
The messengers returned with alarming

news. Eisav is heading towards Yaakov with
an army of four hundred men.
When my children were preschoolers, they
learned a little song.
Eisav is coming with four-hundred men…
Yaakov is davening to HaShem….
A little chant that is easy to remember. A
story of two opposing worlds. Eisav, and the
world of power and might; Yaakov, and the
world of Torah and tefilla.
Four hundred. An impressive number. It is
interesting to note that the gematria,
numerical value of the words ayin rah, evil
eye, is equal to four hundred (ayin=70,
yud=10, nun=50, reish=200, ayin=70). Eisav
was not only approaching with an army, but
with an ayin rah, an eye reflecting negativity
and hostility. An eye that looked upon his
brother with jealousy and envy.
Eisav never got over his feelings of jealousy
from years back. An emotion so deeply
embedded in him that he couldn’t “fargin”
his only brother. He couldn’t find it within
himself to be happy for Yaakov’s mazel. To
look at Yaakov’s family and say “I’m so
happy for you. I wish you only good. You

should have continued mazel and bracha.”
Instead, he looked at his brother with
daggers in his eyes. An ayin hara, an evil
eye.
To be a farginner means to be joyous for
another’s good fortune. It means when your
co-worker gets a promotion, and you’re
stuck in the same place, you wish
congratulations with a full heart. It means
that when your friend becomes a
grandmother, and you’re still hoping to see
your daughter married, you wish mazel tov
with sincerity and genuineness.
I have a friend whose daughter had a long
journey until she made it down the aisle. Yet,
my friend shared with me that her daughter
loved going to weddings, even when she was
an older single. She was just so happy to be
at a simcha and share in another’s happiness.
Having an ayin tov, a good eye, means
having a positive outlook towards others and
to be happy for their successes and
possessions. It not only makes one a better
person, it also serves as a protection from an
ayin rah, a non-farginning eye. If an ayin rah
contracts one’s heart and shrinks one’s
world, an ayin tov expands it—allowing a
person to rejoice in blessings that are not
their own.
In all the years that Yaakov was away,
nothing changed. Eisav was still Eisav.
Still jealous, still looking at his brother
with an ayin rah. Pirkei Avos teaches
“Rabbi Yehoshua says, an evil eye, an evil
inclination, and hatred of others, removes
a person from this world.” (Pirkei Avos
2:11).
An evil eye means to look at another’s
home, accomplishments, possessions and
family with jealousy. To have feelings of
envy that’s all consuming, to the point of
having no peace, never being satisfied with
what one has. To be in a frame of mind that
is filled with negativity.
The Torah tells us that Yaakov readies
himself for his encounter with Eisav in
three ways:
1. He prepares for the worst and divides
his family into two camps. This way, if
one group would be attacked, the
second group would be able to escape.
2. He sends gifts to Eisav, hoping to
placate him.
3. He cries out to HaShem with prayer.
The Talmud teaches that “bracha can only
be found in something that is hidden from
the eye.” (Bava Metzia 42a). To be hidden.
Not to be out there. There is no need to
flaunt one’s blessings in life. Yaakov
divided his camp into two, for Eisav need

not see all the children standing together.
We search for segulas, something that
protects us from harm, including an ayin
hara. People want a quick fix, an easy
answer, as if some magical words will do the
trick. But our rabbis teach that the best
protection is to live modestly, without
bragging or fanfare. Not to be in everyone’s
face. In our world of Twitter, Facebook,
TikTok and Instagram, we should be
sensitive and avoid posting all of our
amazing vacation shots, the results of our
latest shopping sprees, even family photo
spreads. Share with the nearest and dearest…
but don’t yield to the impulse to share
everything with your full list of contacts –
and even beyond. When tempted to share
publicly, ask: “Why am I posting this? Is it
necessary? Does it uplift or provoke envy?”
There is a beautiful tefilla that many recite
every day following the morning brachos.
“Yehi ratzon, may it be Your will, HaShem,
that You save me today and every day,
from…. an evil person, an evil inclination….
an evil eye…”
Yes, we need HaShem’s help with every step
in life. But first, we must take a lesson from
Yaakov. Not be out there. The Midrash
relates that when Yaakov sent his sons to
Egypt to obtain food during the famine, he
instructed them to enter through ten different
gates rather than all together. He was afraid
that people might be jealous and wish them
bad fortune if they would see ten healthy,
strong brothers together.
Even on his deathbed, when Yaakov blessed
Ephraim and Menashe, the negative power
of an ayin hara was on his mind. He blessed
them with the words “V’yidgu larov b’kerev
ha-aretz, to grow and multiply in the land.”
Yaakov used the term v’yidgu, let them grow
and multiply. The root of v’yidgu is dug,
fish, for fish are in the sea, covered by water,
hidden from the eye. While Yaakov blessed
Yosef and his children that they should be
many, he wanted them to be like fish, hidden
and protected from an ayin hara.
May the blessings of Yaakov be with us all.
May we, too, flourish and always be
protected from the evil eye.