One of the many perks of being Jewish, is that we are guided every single step of the way, and each and every occasion has its own set of halachos. Bein hazmanim [summer vacation] is no different, and it comes with many unique halachos. I would like to take this week’s opportunity to discuss a number of interesting halachos that are likely to arise when visiting the seaside during bein hazmanim. Although doing so is not obligatory, there is a very strong custom to do so, and I am sure that many of us will make sure to fulfill it – hopefully in the most kosher way possible.
Protecting Ourselves
The Mishnah in Shabbos (31b) teaches:על שלש עבירות נשים מתות בשעת לידתן על שאינן זהירות בנדה בחלה ובהדלקת הנר - “For three transgression women die during childbirth. For not being careful with niddah, challah and lighting candles”. The Gemara (32a) asks: שנא בשעת לידתן אמר רבא נפל תורא חדד לסכינא ומאי – “And what is different about childbirth? Rava said: If the ox fell, sharpen the knife to slaughter it.”
Rashi explains:נפל תורא לארץ שהוא עומד לשחיטה הכל אומרים חדדו לסכינא עד שלא יקום ויהא טורח להשליכו כך הואיל ואיתרע מזלה מזומנת פורענותה לבא – “When the ox falls to the ground on which it is destined to be slaughtered, they all say, sharpen the knife before it rises and it is more difficult. Similarly, one whose luck has been diminished, is destined for punishment.”
It’s clear from the above Gemara that the reason a woman is judged during childbirth, is because childbirth is a time of danger, and for everything to run smoothly a miracle is required. When miracles from Shomayim are needed, they double check in Shomayim if the recipient is indeed worthy. If a woman isn’t meticulous in these three mitzvos (which are primarily given to women), we must be concerned that she won’t merit to see miracles from Shomayim, and she may end up dying during childbirth.
The Gemara in Shabbos continues and cites a number of examples where we find that one who is subject to bad mazul [luck], is left in his bad state and is left to fall completely. For example: שבקיה לרויא דמנפשיה נפיל – “Leave the drunk, as he falls on his own”. Similarly, a woman during childbirth needs lots of mercy, and if she isn’t careful with these three mitzvos, then they may not have mercy on her in Shomayim, and she will be left in her endangered state, and be left to die during childbirth.
The Gemara then asks: וגברי היכא מיבדקי – “And when are men examined?” (i.e. when are men vulnerable to judgment and held accountable for their actions?). The Gemara answers: בשעה שעוברים על הגשר – “When they cross a bridge”. The Gemara wonders: גשר ותו לא – “A bridge and no other time?”, rather: כעין גשר – “Anything like a bridge” (i.e. any place where danger is commonplace). Rashi explains: A bridge is non-specific, and any dangerous place, such as when walking under a rickety wall or going on the roads.
We see from this Gemara that when a person is in a dangerous situation, and requires a special miracle to be protected, the Sotan tries to be makatreig [make problems], and if the persons actions are not up to scratch, he may not be worthy of a miracle and is likely to be harmed. For women, this is likely to happen during childbirth, whereas for men any time they enter dangerous places they are at risk. When one enters a dangerous place he needs extra merits, and the Sotan tries to be makatreig. If one doesn’t have enough merits, he stands a high chance of being harmed.
Entering Dangerous Places is Strictly Prohibited
The Rambam (Hilchos Rotzeach U’Shemiras Hanefesh 11:5) writes:הרבה דברים אסרו חכמים מפני שיש בהם סכנת נפשות וכל העובר עליהן ואמר הריני מסכן בעצמי ומה לאחרים עלי בכך או איני מקפיד על כך מכין אותו מכת מרדות – “Many things Chazal forbade because of sakonas nefoshos [danger to life]. Anyone who violates them and says, ‘I am going to be dangerous, I don’t care’, we give him rabbinic lashes (makas mardus).”
The Rema (Yoreh De’ah 116:5) rules in accordance with the Rambam and writes: וכן יזהר מכל הדברים המביאים לידי סכנה כי סכנתא חמירא מאיסורא ויש לחוש יותר לספק סכנה מלספק איסור ולכן אסור לילך בכל מקום סכנה כמו תחת קיר נטוי או יחידי בלילה וכו' כי דברים אלו יש בהן חשש סכנה – “One should be careful from all things which are likely to bring about danger, as matters of danger are more severe then prohibitions. One must be more worried about a doubtful danger than a doubtful prohibition.
Therefore, it is forbidden to enter dangerous places, such as under a slantly wall, or to walk around alone at night etc. These things are considered dangerous”. It's clear from the above, that there is a prohibition to enter a place which is considered dangerous. Even if one is brazen enough to say “I don’t care”, it doesn’t make a difference, and it is still strictly prohibited.
The reason for the above, is, that a person doesn’t own himself. We don’t own our bodies. Our bodies are given to us from the Ribbono Shel Olam to look after, and we must do a good job of it. We don’t have the right to do what we want with them. There are strict halachos of what is allowed and what is prohibited. If halachah dictates that entering a particular place is dangerous one is halachically bound by this, and it’s forbidden to enter such a place.
A Raging Sea
The above is particularly relevant when it comes to traveling to the seaside. Many times, people arrive at the seaside, and they notice that the sea is raging and not as calm as they ambitioned, and according to the lifeguard it is dangerous to enter deep inside.
Based on the above, regardless of whether one must listen to the lifeguard or not, it is prohibited to enter deep into the sea, as it is forbidden for one to enter himself into a dangerous situation.
In Hilchos Yom Kippur (Orach Chaim 613:5) the Mechaber says:ההולך לבית המדרש או להקביל פני אביו או רבו או מי שגדול ממנו בחכמה או לצרכי מצוה יכול לעביר במים עד צוארו ...והוא שלא יהיה המים רודפים דאם כן אף בחול אסור מפני הסכנה אפילו אם אינו מגיעים אלא עד מתנים – “One who is going to the beis hamedrash or to visit his father or rebbe, or one who is greater than him in chochmah [wisdom] or for a mitzvah, may enter into the water up until his neck etc. provided the water isn’t raging, as if it is, then even during the week it’s a problem, even if the water only goes up until his loins”. We see, that even when traveling for a mitzvah, it is forbidden to enter dangerous places.
Consequently, when the sea is raging it is forbidden to enter deep inside, and one must listen to the lifeguard. Even if one manages to find a place off to the side out of sight of the lifeguard, it doesn’t make a difference. The sea is considered a place of danger and it is forbidden to enter deep inside. Even if the lifeguard can’t see, the Ribbono Shel Olam can. If one enters such a place, the Sotan will be makatreig, and in Shomayim they will check to see if he has enough zechusim and is worthy of being saved.
One shouldn’t say, “Och, I wasted my time schlepping all the way here, I simply must go in”. One must listen to the lifeguard from a halachic standpoint, and he must guard himself from entering dangerous places. Instead of being upset, he should be happy at the opportunity to fulfil another mitzvah.
Sadly, almost every single year there are tragic stories that go around of people drowning at sea and people don’t understand why these things happen. However, the answer is very simple, if one doesn’t listen to the lifeguard, he is putting himself in danger and he needs extra zechusim to be saved, and unfortunately very often people simply aren’t worthy. When the sea is raging, it is dangerous and forbidden to enter.
This year unfortunately, we must add, that for those who merit to be in Eretz Yisroel there are many locations which are at danger from rocket attacks. One must be careful to check before heading out that where he is going is considered safe. Although this is important every year, this year it’s of even more importance, and one must be careful not to succumb to peer pressure. Many people mistakenly assume that if the area is dangerous, buses and trains won’t be going there. Although in many countries this may hold true, in Eretz Yisroel it doesn’t quite work like this, so one must be extra vigilant this year before setting out on a trip.
Shemiras Hanefesh [Protecting the Soul]
There is another thing which one must be extremely careful with when going to the seaside. Just like one must be careful to guard his physical body from entering harmful places, one must be careful to guard his neshomah from entering places which may be harmful for the neshomah. One must be extra careful to ensure that he doesn’t enter places where he may end up seeing things that a yiddishe neshomah [Jewish soul] isn’t supposed to see. If one isn’t extremely careful with this, it’s very easy to stumble, especially when travelling to the seaside during the summer. If one doesn’t stay on guard for even a second, he may stumble and end up ruining his holy neshomah.
In Sichas Chofetz Chaim (pg. 94 ois 30) it says: The following pasuk was always on his tongue: אל תהי חכם בעיניך ירא את ה' וסור מרע – “Don’t be wise with your eyes, fear Hashem and steer away from bad”.
Tzadikim explain bederech remez [by way of hint], אל תהי חכם בעיניך - don’t do tricks with your eyes, the eyes need constant guarding. Sometimes, one thinks that in a such and such a place I don’t need to guard my eyes, or that for someone like me it won’t make a difference. However, the truth is, this is the yetzer horah speaking. In truth, in any situation, in any place and at any time, one must be careful to guard his eyes. The eyes are holy and pure, and we can’t afford to do tricks with them. We must constantly be on guard making sure to watch and protect our eyes. Then and only then, will we be able to protect out soul, and hopefully ensure that we don’t stumble and end up seeing forbidden sights.
Unfortunately, nowadays, especially in the summer, we need to be extremely vigilant with the above. Even going for a short walk in the street is a problem. There is a strong obligation upon us to be careful and plan as much as possible to ensure that we don’t come to stumble.
For example: If one needs to cash a cheque in a cash machine outside a shopping mall, he could go early in the morning whilst it is quiet, or he can go late at night, when the pritzus is absolutely terrible, one should forward plan and make sure to go early in the morning.
Shemiras Einayim [Guarding Our Eyes]
The Gemara in Pesachim (113a) teaches:אמר רבי יוחנן שלשה מכריז עליהן הקדוש ברוך הוא בכל יום - “Rabbi Yochanan said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, proclaims about the goodness of three kinds of people every day”. The first one is:על רווק הדר בכרך ואינו חוטא – “A bachelor who lives in a city and does not sin with women”.
The Gemara relates: “When the Tanna taught this beraisa before Rava and Rav Safra, Rav Safra’s face lit up with joy, as he was listed among those praised by Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Rava said to him: This does not refer to someone like the Master. Rather, the statement applies to people like Rav Chaninah and Rav Oshiya, who were cobblers in Eretz Yisroel, and they would sit in the marketplace of zoinois [promiscuous women] and fashion shoes for them. And the zoinois would enter their shops and look at them. However, due to their piety, these Sages did not raise their eyes to look at the women. And those zoinois were so impressed with this behavior that when they swore, they would say as follows: By the lives of the holy Sages of Eretz Yisroel.”
We see from this Gemara that one of the people that Hashem proclaims about his goodness, is one that doesn’t stumble with shemiras einayim. If one is in place where there is a big yetzer horah to stumble and he stays strong and doesn’t, Hashem proclaims about his goodness every single day.
We see how far one can reach with shemiras einayim. The Gemara says that such a person is known as: רבנן קדישי דבארעא דישראל – “A holy sage from the land of Eretz Yisroel”. With shemiras einayim one can attain very lofty levels.
There is a letter from R’ Zevulun Gross zt”l that was written to R’ Shmuel Felman zt”l (the father of R’ Ben Tzion Felman). At the beginning of the letter, he quotes an incredible insight from the Saba MiKelm.
In Tehillim (19) we have the pasuk: מאירת עיניים מצות ה' ברא – “The mitzvos of Hashem bring light to the eyes”. The word, ברא, seems to be extra. The pasuk would seemingly have the same meaning without the word ברא, what is this word coming to add?
The Saba MiKelm explains: The truth is, there are many things that bring light to one’s eyes, for example, the sun gives tremendous light to our eyes. If so, what does the pasuk mean when it says that מצות ה' ברא מאירת עיניים – “the mitzvos of Hashem bring light to the eyes”? Why does the pasuk specifically praise the mitzvos?
The Saba MiKelm explains that this is why the pasuk adds in the word ברא, as the pasuk is coming to differentiate between light that comes from the sun and the moon etc. and light that comes from mitzvos. The sun, the moon and other worldly light sources, only provide light if one has eyes, when one has eyes and he looks at the sun or the moon, then the light source adds light to his eyes. If, however, chas vesholam one doesn’t have eyes, then the sun or the moon won’t add anything.
However, when it comes to the mitzvos of Hashem, they are intrinsically בורא מאירת עיניים – they create light for the eyes. The mitzvos of Hashem create bright eyes, pure and holy eyes. If one keeps the mitzvos of Hashem, then he merits to see new things, things that couldn’t be seen before. This special vision only comes from keeping the mitzvos. Unlike the sun and the moon, mitzvos themselves have the strength to create spiritual eyes, that are able to see things that one who doesn’t keep mitzvos isn’t able to see. (This is one of the many reasons people go to gedolim and tzadikim for advice. They have pure eyes and can see things, that a regular Yid simply can’t see.)
Placing Hot Nails in the Eyes
The Reishis Chochmah (Sha’ar Kedusha end of Perek 8) speaks at great length about the danger of ruining the eyes. He quotes the Yalkut in Parshas Vayechi which relates an incredible story involving Rebbi Masya ben Cheresh who went so far as to stick hot nails into his eyes, in order to stop himself from stumbling at seeing forbidden things.
The story goes as follows: Rebbi Masya ben Cheresh was sitting in the beis hamedrash learning Torah, with his face shining like the sun, and countenance similar to that of the malachoy hashores [angels that serve Hashem], as he had never lifted his eyes to look at a woman. One time the Sotan came and was very jealous.
The Medrash speaks at great length about all sorts of tricks that the Sotan did to try and cause Rabbi Masya to stumble. However, he always withstood the test and never stumbled.
In the end, Rebbi Masya said, “I am very scared that the yetzer horah will overcome me and end up causing me to sin”. Rebbi Masya then called to one of his talmidim who was serving him to bring him fire and nails. The talmid brought the fire and nails, and Rebbi Masya heated up the nails and then placed the hot nails into his eyes.
Upon seeing this, the Sotan got such a shock and fell backwards. At that moment, Hashem summoned maloch Refoel (the angel in charge of healing) and He told him to go and heal Rebbi Masya. The maloch went, and Rebbi Masya refused to be healed. The maloch returned to Hashem, and Hashem said, “go and tell him that I guarantee that he won’t stumble with the yetzer horah”. Rebbi Masya then agreed to be healed.
Such a story should send shivers down our spine, and should help us realize to what extent we must go to avoid looking at forbidden things. Rebbi Masya was prepared to blind himself in order not to stumble. We may not be expected to blind ourselves, but we must do something.
Complete Eyes
In the year 5738 there was an incredible story with a bochur from Yeshivas Kefar Chasidim who drowned out at sea. They searched for him for many days, until eventually he was found. When eventually he was found, they noticed something incredible. Generally speaking, when a person drowns out at sea, the fish come and eat the eyes. However, with this particular bochur, although he had been out at sea for a number of days, his eyes remained intact.
During his hesped for the bochur, his Rosh Yeshivah said that this bochur was meticulous in two areas. He was meticulous when it came to shemiras hapeh [guarding the mouth], and when it came to shemiras einayim [guarding the eyes], therefore, it’s no surprise that his eyes remained intact. Since he was always careful to guard his eyes and not look at anything Jewish eyes shouldn’t see, Hashem rewarded him middah k’neged middah [measure for measure] and made sure to protect his eyes from being eaten by the fish.
We find a similar thing with Izevel who was one of the most wicked people in Tanach. Eventually she was punished, and dogs came and ate her flesh after she died. However, when they buried her, they noticed that her skull, feet and palms of her hand were intact (see Melochim 2, Perek 9).
The Yalkut explains, that the reason the dogs never ate those parts of her body was because she used them for chesed. Since these parts were used for chesed, middah k’neged middah, Hashem ensured that these parts were kept intact.
We see that when one does a mitzvah with a certain limb, the limb stays protected. In the case of the bochur who protected his eyes, the same thing happened, and his eyes were protected.
Some Shemiras Einayim Tips
Below are some tips for those who are going on trips, and want to be protected from issues of shemiras einayim:
- Staying Home: The easiest thing is to stay home, like we find: אשרי יושבי ביתך – “Happy is one who is sitting at home”.
- Research: Before setting out, one should make sure he knows where he is going, and make sure to avoid potential problematic places. One should also research the quietest times in these places.
- First Thing in the Morning: If one wants to go somewhere with a pool of water, or the beach, it’s best to go first thing in the morning after davening neitz, as then it is normally quiet.
- Tefillah: One should daven a simple heartfelt tefillah to be saved from stumbling.
- Mezuzah: Some advise to say the pasuk כי מלאכיו יצוה לך וכו', to give tzedokah and to then kiss the mezuzah.
- Torah: One should think in learning, and think about a deep complicated sugya, this helps remove bad thoughts. However, one must be careful not to talk in learning opposite an ervah.
- Glasses: If one wears glasses he can remove them, or wear mirky lenses (Orchos Rabbeinu)
- Fire: When sitting in an air-conditioned bus you are not obligated to look out the windows and observe everything going on outside.ברענט אפייער אינדרויסען - outside a fire burns, and one doesn’t need to see and observe everything, especially the immodest women. One should warn his family members about this as well.
