Noam Elimelech · Tzetel Katan · Maamar ה From the Torah ofRebbe Elimelech of Lizhenskרבי אלימלך מליז'נסקProfile ›

Bad Middos and the Eyes: Words and Guarded Sight

Stubbornness, pride, laziness: everyone knows the bad traits that stir in him again and again. R' Elimelech prescribes an unexpected list of names to say the instant one stirs, then turns to guarding the eyes at home, in shul and outside. Which names, and what can saying them do?

5When one of the bad middos he is used to, his bad character traits, begins to stir in him, Heaven forbid, such as stubbornness, the shame that comes from pride, laziness, the idleness that leads to listlessness,¹ and the like, he should at once say these words with all his strength: “HaKenaani, haChiti, haEmori, haPerizi, haChivi, vehaYevusi, vehaGirgashi,” the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivvite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite,² and he will be saved.³ He should accustom himself to narrow his sight and not look beyond his own four cubits, even at home, and especially in the synagogue and in the room where he learns. When he is walking outside and a woman happens to come before him, even his own wife or his own small children and the like, he should picture before his eyes the Divine Name Adnus, אדני.

ה. כְּשֶׁיַּתְחִיל לְהִתְעוֹרֵר בּוֹ מִידָּה רָעָה ח"ו מִמִּידּוֹת רָעוֹת שֶׁהוּא רָגִיל בָּהֶם, כְּגוֹן עַקְשָׁנוּת וּבוֹשֶׁת שֶׁל גַּאֲוָה וְעַצְלוּת וּבַטָּלָה הַמְּבִיאָה לִידֵי שִׁיעֲמוּם וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶם, יֹאמַר תֵּיכֶף וּמִיָּד בְּזֶה הַלָּשׁוֹן וּבְכָל כֹּחוֹ: "הַכְּנַעֲנִי הַחִתִּי הָאֱמוֹרִי הַפְּרִיזִּי הַחִיוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי וְהַגִּרְגָּשִׁי" וְיִנָּצֵל. וְיַרְגִּיל אֶת עַצְמוֹ לְצַמְצֵם רְאִיָּיתוֹ שֶׁלֹּא לְהִסְתַּכֵּל חוּץ לְד׳ אַמּוֹת אֲפִילּוּ בִּהְיוֹתוֹ בְּבֵיתוֹ, וּבִפְרָט בְּבֵית הַכְּנֶסֶת וּבְחֶדֶר שֶׁלּוֹמֵד. בְּדֶרֶךְ הִילּוּכוֹ בַּחוּץ וּבְהִזְדַּמֵּן לְפָנָיו אִשָּׁה אֲפִילּוּ אִשְׁתּוֹ וּבָנָיו הַקְּטַנִּים וְכַיּוֹצֵא, יְצַיֵּיר לִפְנֵי עֵינָיו הַשֵּׁם אדנ"י:

The phrase is the Mishnah's: Kesubos 5:5. ↩
The seven nations of Canaan (Devarim 7:1). The first six are in the order of Shemos 3:8 and 3:17; the Girgashite, missing there, comes last. ↩
Editor's note: R' Elimelech gives no reason. It seems he may be drawing on the understanding that the seven nations of Canaan stand for the seven bad middos within a person, so that naming them, as Israel was commanded to drive them out, is a way of driving out the trait. ↩

In shortA familiar bad trait is answered the moment it stirs with the names of the seven nations, and the eyes are guarded within four cubits and with the Name Adnus.

The maamar as a whole

The fifth practice meets the bad middos a person is used to, such as stubbornness, the shame that comes from pride, laziness, and the idleness that leads to listlessness. The moment one stirs, he says with all his strength the names of the seven nations of Canaan, and R' Elimelech promises that he will be saved. He gives no reason; the edition's note suggests that the nations stand for the bad traits within, which Israel was commanded to drive out. The second half turns to the eyes: narrowing one's sight to one's own four cubits, even at home and above all in shul and the room of study, and, when a woman comes before him outside, even his own wife or small children, picturing the Divine Name Adnus before his eyes.

Takeaway

The moment a familiar bad trait stirs, say the names of the seven nations with all your strength, for R' Elimelech promises that the one who does so is saved. Guard your eyes too, within your own four cubits, with Hashem's Name before them when a woman comes your way outside.

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