My take on ayin hara
In Parashas Lech Lecha, according to Rashi 16:5, we see the effect of ayin hara. After Hagar conceives, she loses her regard for Sarah. Sarah is very upset by the situation and comes down hard on her maid, who, consequently flees. She is then told by Divine messenger to return to her mistress and take whatever Sarah wishes to dole out to her. She is also assured that she will be pregnant. Rashi explains that Sarah had put ayin hara on her, which caused her to miscarry the first pregnancy. So what did Sarah do here? Did she make a voodoo doll of Hagar and stick her with pins? Did she cast a spell? Did she utter a curse? I don't think any of those actions can be ascribed to Sarah Immeinu.
What I think happened is that once Hagar ceased to treated Sarah with the respect she deserved, she became subject to strict judgment. Sarah's thought about her own ill treatment due to Hagar's lording it over her would have made an impression in the Heavenly court. That would have sufficed to arouse the din. The judgment would probably have been that Hagar does not deserve to hold a pregnancy that gives her a false sense of superiority, but it would be the fact that Sarah felt how wronged she was that provoked the retribution.. That doesn't mean, necessarily, that she really wished that Hagar would miscarry; after all, it was Sarah's idea that her husband take on Hagar in order to have children. Rather it is the impact of having wronged the tzadekes that brought about an act of judgment against Hagar. And it would seem that the judgment would remove protection from a situation that is in itself dangerous. Pregnancies are prone to miscarry. Hagar's actions caused her to lose the protection from the danger that was natural to her condition.
Today is the yatzheit of Rachel Immeinu, according to what has been popularized in the past few year. (I never heard of it as an even when I was a child, though my daughters' school now makes a bit of a to-do over the day. I have not yet ascertained how this date was derived. Perhaps there is some record of the birth dates of each of the shvatim.) Given that Rachel died after giving birth to Binyamin, his birth date would give us the day of her death. Her death was precipitated, according to Chaza by Yaakov’s declaring a curse on whoever stole his father-in-law’s Teraphim. Obviously, Yaakov had no wish for his beloved wife to die; nevertheless, the force of din set by his declaration was enough to cause her death when she was in the precarious situation of childbirth.
Another parallel is to be found in the story of R. Rechumi’s failure to return home to his wife, related in Ketubot 62b. His wife was so grieved by the delay that she cried. Subsequently, the roof he was sitting on collapsed, and he was killeds k illed as the roof collapsed.
What I think happened is that once Hagar ceased to treated Sarah with the respect she deserved, she became subject to strict judgment. Sarah's thought about her own ill treatment due to Hagar's lording it over her would have made an impression in the Heavenly court. That would have sufficed to arouse the din. The judgment would probably have been that Hagar does not deserve to hold a pregnancy that gives her a false sense of superiority, but it would be the fact that Sarah felt how wronged she was that provoked the retribution.. That doesn't mean, necessarily, that she really wished that Hagar would miscarry; after all, it was Sarah's idea that her husband take on Hagar in order to have children. Rather it is the impact of having wronged the tzadekes that brought about an act of judgment against Hagar. And it would seem that the judgment would remove protection from a situation that is in itself dangerous. Pregnancies are prone to miscarry. Hagar's actions caused her to lose the protection from the danger that was natural to her condition.
Today is the yatzheit of Rachel Immeinu, according to what has been popularized in the past few year. (I never heard of it as an even when I was a child, though my daughters' school now makes a bit of a to-do over the day. I have not yet ascertained how this date was derived. Perhaps there is some record of the birth dates of each of the shvatim.) Given that Rachel died after giving birth to Binyamin, his birth date would give us the day of her death. Her death was precipitated, according to Chaza by Yaakov’s declaring a curse on whoever stole his father-in-law’s Teraphim. Obviously, Yaakov had no wish for his beloved wife to die; nevertheless, the force of din set by his declaration was enough to cause her death when she was in the precarious situation of childbirth.
Another parallel is to be found in the story of R. Rechumi’s failure to return home to his wife, related in Ketubot 62b. His wife was so grieved by the delay that she cried. Subsequently, the roof he was sitting on collapsed, and he was killed
Comments
'Twould seem to me that "giving someone an ayin hara" should be translated as "causing someone to be punished for their conspicuous consumption, by allowing it to be the cause of jealousy". That is long and somewhat complicated, which would explain why the short-hand idiom emerged.
-micha