Tehillim 119:37
הַעֲבֵר עֵינַי מֵרְאוֹת שָׁוְא בִּדְרָכֶךָ חַיֵּנִי
haaver einai merot shav bidrachecha chayeni
Turn away my eyes from seeing futility, and give me life in Your way.
The eye and the heart are the twin procurers of transgression. Having just pleaded to "incline my heart" (119:36), David Hamelech now pleads, "Turn away my eyes from seeing futility." If I shall not see it, then I will not stray after my heart and after my eyes, as You commanded (Bamidbar 15:39)
A man's "heart" is under his control, and he can incline it towards good or towards evil, even after he has beheld a "futility." Accordingly, David Hamelech said, "Incline my heart to Your testimonies." That is so for the heart, but what one's eyes see is not under his control, for it can happen that the eyes will suddenly and inadvertently behold something evil. Therefore, David asks that G-d should not let such thing happen. No such evil should ever come into his presence.
David Hamelech did not actually ask for evil to be turned away from him, for the world runs its usual course and there are many different sights. Rather, the principal effort in serving G-d consists in the person turning away his eyes from evil.
It is not surprising then, that some Amora'im chose to be blind so as to never see impure sights. However, they were an exception. From the rest of us, Hashem wants the rest of us to keep the amazing gift of eyesight, and use it to carry out His mitzvot.
Kabbalistic sources tell us of the cosmic effects of restricting one's eyes from grazing in foreign pastures. The three colours of the eye correspond to the three avot. This lofty concept and many more similar ones regarding the eyes are discussed in Reishit Chochmah (see Sha'ar Hakadushah, ch. 8) and other Sefarim, and though their true meaning may be beyond our grasp, they at least give an inkling of the colossal effects of our shmirat einayim (guarding the eyes) .
"Give me life in Your way," by granting me the high plane of visual purity that emulates the divine attribute. As it says, "You are of eyes too pure to behold evil, and You cannot look at iniquity" (Chavakkuk 1:13). Through that measure of purity, You "give me life."
The optimal method of growth is through concentration on one’s Torah study and davening. This avoids any contact and association with the wicked. In the words of David Hamelech, "Turn away my eyes from seeing futility, and give me life in Your way..” In other words, avert my eyes so that I will not need to observe the ways of the wicked in order to learn from them. Rather, guide me and sustain me in the ways of Torah and mitzvot—obviating any need on my part to pay attention to the wicked.
Reb Natan says that all of a person’s free choice is in his guarding his eyes. A person says, “I am religious. I put on tefillin. I get up for vasikin. I get up for chatzot.” These are all wonderful things, but they are not the essence of his free choice. The real free choice is in controlling one’s eyes. The moment that a person will guard his eyes he will achieve all the levels in the world. He won’t speak lashon hara. He won’t be intolerant of others. The moment that a person guards his eyes he returns to the level of before creation. He merits knowing Ain Od Milvado, that “There is nothing else but Him.” He merits knowing that Hashem is One and His Name is One.
Reb Natan says that even if a person has already merited closing his eyes physically, he needs to know that there is more work involved! He needs to close the eyes of his mind! Not only does he need to close his physical eyes, but he also needs to close all the types of eyes that he has. He needs to close the eyes of jealousy, the eyes of hatred and the eyes of honor, because even though he physically shut his eyes, he can still be yearning for honor. He wants honor! Because now that he is already closing his eyes, he thinks that he is a tzaddik. He wants to be given honor for doing this. The eyes of wanting to receive honor are the worst of all. So he needs to close all the types of eyes that he has, so that no element of looking at this world will remain in him. He needs to disconnect his senses from all the vanities of this world so that he shouldn’t have any interest in any subject in the world—only feeling for Hashem Yitborach. He needs to sanctify all his senses for Hashem Yitborach and to believe in Hashem’s hashgacha. When a person turns off his senses, he will automatically not have any feeling for anything other than Torah and prayer and clinging to Hashem Yitborach. He has no desire for anything physical. He has no desire for anything other than Hashem Yitborach in His honor alone. And then he will merit understanding all the wonders of the world, all the secrets of the world, as it is written, “Unveil my eyes that I may see wonders from Your Torah” (Tehillim 119:18). If a person merits closing all the different aspects of his eyes, then all the secrets of the Torah are revealed to him because all of the lights and all of the secrets are found in the eyes. All the secrets of creation will be revealed to him—how to create heaven and earth and how to change nature—all of the lights and all of the secrets will be revealed to him.
In V'chai Bahem from Horav Weiss, zl, the author quotes the well-known concept, posited by the Baal Shem Tov, that the faults a person notices in others are actually his own failings. Since Ein adam ro'eh nigei atzmo, "One does not perceive his own plagues/failings/shortcomings/indiscretions." We notice everything regarding others, but never that which applies to us. Thus, the pasuk is informing us that, whatever indiscretions one notices in others, are a mirror image of his own failings. Likewise, when we observe a fellow Jew committing a positive act, we should view it as a personal message: "You, too, can do the same."
This is the idea to which David Hamelech alluded when he said Haaveir einai mei're'os shav, "Turn away my eyes from seeing futility" (119:37). When David sees no evil in anyone else, it indicates that he, too, is pure of iniquity.
- Me'am Lo'ez, Kav Hayasher, Breslov
