Baba Batra 118 The evil eye

William Shakespeare in his play Othello warns that jealousy is a green-eyed monster. “The “evil eye,” ayin ha’ra in Hebrew, is the idea that a person or supernatural being can bewitch or harm an individual merely by looking at them. The belief is not only a Jewish folk superstition but also is addressed in some rabbinic texts. The term is also sometimes used to describe evil inclinations or feelings of envy.” (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/evil-eye-in-judaism/)”

Today’s daf TB Baba Batra 118 is one of the rabbinic texts that warns us against the evil eye. The children of Joseph cried out that their portion of the land of Israel was insufficient to meet their needs they were among the larger tribes. Even though their complaint wasn’t satisfied, Joshua gave them good advice “That a person should be wary of the evil eye. And this is what Joshua said to them, as it is written: “And Joshua said unto them: If you be a great people, go up to the forest, and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim” (Joshua 17:15). Joshua said to them: Go and conceal yourselves in the forests so that the evil eye will not have dominion over you.” (Sefaria.org translation)

They told Joshua that being the descendants of Joseph, the evil eye had no control over them. Nevertheless, many commentators wrote even though the evil eye doesn’t have dominion over them, they should be careful and not rely on miracles.

This superstition even plays a role in halakha. “Two brothers may be called up [for an aliyah], one after the other, and [so too] a son after a father. But we refrain from doing so only because of "Ayin Hara" ("Evil Eye"). And even if one was [called up for] the seventh [aliyah] and the other was [called up for] maftir, the second one should not be called up by his name because of "Ayin Hara"”. [Mahari"l] (Shulkan Arukh, Orekh Hayim, 141:6, Sefaria.org translation.) We still follow this tradition not calling one brother after another or a son after a father, lest the green-eyed monster is conjured up. A practice we still follow to this day.

Nevertheless, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein writes concerning the evil eye “one should be wary of it, but not overly so for in matters like these there is the principle ‘you should not make this the main thing in life’… Both Rambam and the Meiri agree that one should be wary of the evil eye, but one should not run his life with this consideration. Also the evil eye only applies to those things that are not common in the way of the world and not to normal life.” (My translation, Egeret Moshe, volume 5, Even Ha’ezer,  part three, 26)