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

An Unbidden Sight: The Verse at Once

Some sights come without being sought: animals mating, an uncovered body, one's own wife in her time of separation. A person cannot always avoid seeing. R' Elimelech prescribes one verse for that moment. Which verse, and what is it meant to protect?

7When an improper sight happens to come before him, Heaven forbid (domestic or wild animals or birds mating, for example, or an uncovered handbreadth of a woman in a place that must be covered, or the form of his wife while she is niddah, in her time of separation, and the like), he should say at once the verse “And you shall not stray after your heart,”¹ so that he does not defile his mind.

ז. כְּשֶׁיָּבֹא ח"ו לְיָדוֹ בְּהִזְדַּמְּנוּת כְּנֶגְדּוֹ הִסְתַּכְּלוּת רָעָה ח"ו, כְּגוֹן בְּהֵמָה וְחַיָּה אוֹ עוֹף שֶׁנִּזְקָקִין זֶה לָזֶה, אוֹ טֶפַח מְגוּלֶּה בְּאִשָּׁה בִּמְקוֹם עֶרְוָה, אוֹ בְּצוּרַת אִשְׁתּוֹ נִדָּה וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן, יֹאמַר תֵּיכֶף וּמִיָּד הַפָּסוּק "וְלֹא תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם", וְלֹא יְטַמֵּא אֶת שִׂכְלוֹ ח"ו:

Bamidbar 15:39. He quotes only the first words; the verse goes on, “and after your eyes.” ↩

In shortAn improper sight that comes his way unbidden is answered at once with “And you shall not stray after your heart,” so the mind stays pure.

The maamar as a whole

The seventh practice deals with an improper sight that comes before a person by chance: animals or birds mating, an uncovered handbreadth of a woman where she must be covered, his own wife while she is niddah, and the like. The sight came unsought, and R' Elimelech asks for a response at once: the words of the tzitzis verse, “And you shall not stray after your heart.” Said immediately, the verse keeps his mind from being defiled. With item 6 it forms a pair: a verse ready for the unbidden thought and another for the unbidden sight, each said before it can settle in.

Takeaway

Keep “And you shall not stray after your heart” ready on your lips for the sight you did not choose, since saying it at once keeps your mind from being defiled.

Learn this in the merit of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk. His yahrzeit and life ›

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Sources he cites