We learn from the above that even for Eisav, it would be an embarrassment and disgrace if he weren't cautious with his eyes.
Chasidim tell the following story: 150 years ago, Slonimer chasidim were traveling from Teveria to Yerushalayim for Shavuos. Among the chasidim was the renowned chasid, Reb Noach Weinberg zt'l. (He was from the respected Yidden in Teveria, the leader of the Slonimer chasidim in Teveria, and he established the yeshiva Or Torah. He was also a member of the Slonimer dynasty; his brother was the Divrei Shmuel of Slonim zt'l, and he was the father of the Birkas Avraham zt'l of Slonim.)
The chasidim hired a wagon driver (baal agalah), a simple Yid, to take them to Yerushalayim. This simple wagon driver had a worry, each year, during the days of Sefiras Ha'Omer. His fear was that he might get confused, and count the wrong day. He came up with a solution. He tied a knot, for each day he counted, on the rope he used to tie his donkeys. When he counted the knots on the rope, he knew which day of the sefirah it was.
On this long trip to Yerushalayim, the donkeys needed to rest and to eat. He tied them to a tree with a rope and gave them straw. One donkey started nibbling at the rope, and chewed at it until there was no way to know how many knots were on it. The wagon driver cried, "The donkey ate my entire sefirah... I don't know where I am in the world! I don't know the day of the Omer!"
Reb Noach saw this and said to his friends, "Understand what we can learn from this episode. Everyone has his donkey, his yetzer hara, and we must be very careful that the donkey doesn't eat our knots, barriers, and safeguards that we erect to protect ourselves from the yetzer hara. One must avoid bad friends, unnecessary technologies, and looking where he shouldn't (either according to halachah or according to chassidus) because even if thinks that nothing bad will come from it, it isn't so. When the wagon driver tied his donkey to the tree, he had no idea he was about to lose all his knots."
Preparation for Tefillah
Rebbe Ber'inyu zy'a of Sadigura would say that preparation for tefillah is thinking about the following four pesukim that have the word מה in them: (Tehillim 8:2) בכל שמך אדיר מה הארץ, (Tehillim 8:5) תזכרנו כי אנוש מה, (Devarim 10:12) מה ליראה אם כי מעמך שואל אלקיך 'ה, (Tehillim 31:20) רב מה לראיך צפנת אשר טובך.
To explain, he told a mashal of a king who went hunting with his servants. The servants brought whatever the king might need to the forest, such as arrows, guns, food, drink, and a gold pipe, because the king liked to relax and smoke a pipe while outdoors. But they forgot one thing. They forgot to bring matches to light the pipe. When the king stopped to relax on the forest floor and smoke a pipe, he was agitated to discover that there weren't any matches. He asked his servants to look for any passersby and ask him for a match.
The servants found one. There was a person relaxing, smoking his pipe. He had matches, but he refused to give a match to the king. The servant said, "Think about who is asking for the favor. It is the great king! And think about who you are, a poor, powerless person. Think about what he is asking, just for a match that costs a few pennies. And think of the reward the king can give you for giving him a match. How can you say no?"
Similarly, before one davens, he should think about before Whom he will be davening. Before the Mighty Hashem, as it states (Tehillim 8:2) הארץ בכל שמך אדיר מה, "How mighty is Your name throughout the earth." Also, one should consider who he is. Behold, it states (Tehillim 8:5) תזכרנו כי אנוש מה, "What is a frail man that You should remember him." Also, one should think (Devarim 10:12) 'ה מה ליראה אם כי מעמך שואל אלקיך, "What does Hashem, your G-d, ask of you? Only to fear Hashem..." The request isn't so large. Furthermore, contemplate (Tehillim 31:20) צפנת אשר טובך רב מה לראיך, "How abundant is Your goodness that You have stored away for those who fear You." This tells us about the strength of tefillah. It has the potential to transform nature, and you can fulfill all the desires of your heart. So, who wouldn't run at the chance to daven with kavanah?
Teshuvah Begins with Guarding the Eyes
It states (Tzfania 3:20) שְׁבוּתֵיכֶם אֶת בְּשׁוּבִי 'ה אָמַר לְעֵינֵיכֶם. Rebbe Moshe Kobriner zt'l explains: שְׁבוּתֵיכֶם אֶת בְּשׁוּבִי when you want to do teshuvah, the first step is לְעֵינֵיכֶם, to guard the eyes. With teshuvah, you can rise to very high levels, and the first step is to guard the eyes.
Chazal (Sotah 3a) tell us, "A person doesn't do an aveirah unless a ruach shtus comes into him." A person first receives a drop of insanity, r'l, and then he commits an aveirah. It states (Devarim 28:34) וְהָיִיתָ מְשֻׁגָּע מִמַּרְאֵה עֵינֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּרְאֶה, "You will go insane from the vision before your eyes that you will behold." חושב מחשבות (from the Mishnas Chasidim) explains that וְהָיִיתָ מְשֻׁגָּע means a foolish, insane spirit came to him. This is terrible, as it leads to sin. This occurs מִמַּרְאֵה עֵינֶיךָ when you aren't cautious with your eyes.
It states (Yeshayahu 27:6) יִשְׂרָאֵל יָצִיץ וּפָרַח. Tzaddikim (see Beis Aharon, Likutim, יציץ ה"ד) explain יָצִיץ if a person looks where he shouldn't, וּפָרַח יִשְׂרָאֵל, his holiness, the attribute of Yisrael that's in him, flies away, r'l.
עינים מחזה (written by the Magid of Brisk, printed 120 years ago, ב"תרס) asks why tears come from the eyes and not from any other limb. Even when a person has pain in a particular limb, that limb doesn't cry; only the eyes do. What is the explanation? He writes, "This is because the eyes of man are the beginning of all aveiros, and the aveiros result in punishment, r'l. Therefore, when a person has pain or a bitter problem, it is the eyes that cry. This is because the eyes are the limbs that brought about all these tzaros and problems."
It states (Tehillim 119:136) פַּלְגֵי מַיִם יָרְדוּ עֵינָי עַל לֹא שָׁמְרוּ תּוֹרָתֶךָ, "Rivulets of water ran down from my eyes because they did not keep Your Torah." The pasuk begins in singular tense, עֵינָי, "my eyes" and concludes in plural, לֹא שָׁמְרוּ "they didn't keep". It seems it should state לֹא שָׁמַרְתִּי עַל תּוֹרָתֶךָ, "I cry because I didn't keep your Torah." Why does it state "לֹא שָׁמְרוּ עַל תּוֹרָתֶךָ", "I cry because they didn't keep the Torah?" The answer is that the pasuk is referring to the eyes. They didn't keep the Torah. They looked where they shouldn't, and this is the source and root of all aveiros. Therefore, particularly my eyes, cry – and no other limb.
The Kedushas Levi on Guarding the Eyes
The Kedushas Levi (Likutim אותיות ה"ד) explains the sequence of the letters: סמ"ך ע"י פ"ה צ"ד ק. The letter סמ"ך is a round letter, closed from all sides. So, פ"ה ע"י סמ"ך means he should close his eyes and his mouth. He should close his eyes from seeing what he shouldn't and he should close his mouth from speaking what he mustn’t. This brings us to the next letter, צ"ד ק, this will render him a tzaddik. Because it is impossible to be a tzaddik if he isn't cautious with his eyes and with his speech.
