Eyes that Shine

Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody

Did you ever stop and think why Hashem takes an exquisite little soul, which is really a tiny part of His very own Divine essence, and sends it down to this lowly physical world? What's down here that is lacking up in Heaven? Very much…

The Yerushalmi Talmud teaches us that the neshama (soul) doesn't enjoy nahame d'kisufa, literally "free bread", in other words, a free meal. The Zohar tells us that there are souls in Heaven that are pure, but they've never been down to this world. They haven't been tested. They don't enjoy their lofty place in paradise, because they're ashamed to be in the proximity of the holy heroic souls who have been down here on a "tour of duty" and have passed the rigorous tests of emuna and holiness. These untried souls beg Hashem for a chance to prove themselves too.
 
Some people complain and say, "I didn't ask to be born, to come to this world!" If your neshama was one of those untried neshamas, you begged for the opportunity of coming down to this world. You begged Hashem to let you prove yourself. Hashem warned you that the tests would be difficult, even grueling. Your neshama said that it didn't care. If the other neshamas could fight the war of emuna and personal holiness, and win battles too, then so can you. Hashem consented, so here we are!
 
The Zohar and the Talmud are teaching us that first of all, we came to this world to be tested. To paraphrase King David (Psalm 34:16), our test is in two areas: Sur mera, to rid ourselves of evil, and aseh tov, to acquire good. This is our prime mission in life and the rationale behind the tests we must withstand. This is what our souls are meant to do down here on earth. We're not here to watch TV or to kick a soccer ball; we're not here to drink beer in a bar or dance in a disco. We're here to rid ourselves of evil and to acquire good.
 
Rebbe Nachman says that the root of all evil is promiscuity, the breach of personal holiness. And the root of all good is emuna. Succinctly, we can say that we have a two-pronged mission on earth, namely, to acquire emuna and personal holiness.
 
Superb. Now that we know what we're doing here on earth, we're already better off than the vast majority of mankind, who has no inkling of what they're supposed to be doing down here. But how do we do it?  How do we acquire emuna and personal holiness? Both require desire and loads of prayer. There are no limits to desire and prayer, the more the better. We also attain emuna and personal holiness by immersing ourselves in Torah, for Torah is the very light of Hashem. There are no limits also to the scope and depth of Torah – the more we give our souls, the more they can handle and the more they want.
 
Imagine that the body is a fortress and the soul is the king's daughter, the princess, who is protected deep inside the fortress. The enemy, the evil inclination, wants to capture the princess, but first he must enter the fortress. The fortress's walls are very high and strong, but there are two week points – the double main gates. These are the two eyes. The evil inclination knows that he can't convince you to bow down to an idol or to eat a piece of pork. He doesn't even try. He knows that all he has to do is tickle your curiosity a bit and to get you to open your eyes. “What's the big deal?” you ask. It's a very big deal, for as soon as you open your eyes, the enemy – with his venom – walks right in the front gates and begins poisoning the entire fortress with lewd thoughts and desires, all resulting from that one image that entered your eyes. In time, the fortress is so poisoned that the princess tries to escape, whwreby she quickly falls into the hands of the waiting enemy.
 
Rebbe Nachman teaches us that personal holiness is a prerequisite for emuna. A promiscuous person won't be able to learn and internalize pure emuna. Let's go one step further – shmirat eynayim – guarding one's eyes – is a prerequisite for personal holiness. It turns out that guarding our eyes is the key to both personal holiness and emuna. Since personal holiness and emuna are our mission in life, one cannot fulfill his mission in life until he starts guarding his eyes. Guarding our eyes is therefore the key to our success on this earth!
 
I feel sorrow for those people who can't feel the true holiness of Shabbat or the true pleasure of a page of Gemara. Why are they so insensitive? They don't guard their eyes.
 
We are still in the weeks of the Shovevim – now is the best time of the year to begin guarding our eyes like we should. For every little bit of effort we make down here, Hashem helps tremendously from above. Life for one who guards his eyes is paradise. Wait and see how your marriage improves and your income as well. And if you're not yet married, guarding your eyes from looking at unwholesome images will assure you a wonderful match. May we only hear good news from everyone, amen!