A few years back, I met the Tzadik (righteous person) Rav Dan Segal, shlit"a (may he live and be well). And it was the beginning of the Shovavim weeks, when people are a little more careful about Inyanei Kedushah, holiness and purity, and things of that sort. So I asked the Mashgiach (spiritual supervisor), “Is there something that I could tell my congregation that maybe will motivate them to be a little more careful in their behavior?” A lot of these people go to work, they travel, they're out there, and they're confronted with Nisyonot, with challenges and all sorts of tests. What can I tell them to motivate them, to give them an incentive to succeed, to pass the Nisyonot, to overcome the challenges?
So he thought for a second, and he put his hand on my hand, and he said, “Does your community and your people, do they like money?” So I said, “Yeah, I think that's fair to say. I don't think we're different than any other community. They like money, they like good things.” I said, “Good. Well, there's a certain way. There's a certain way to guarantee a Beracha (blessing) and prosperity materially.” I said, “Okay, what is it?” So he quotes me a Gemara. And this Gemara, I knew it. It's a famous Gemara. But the way he explained it was novel.
The Gemara says that if a person wants a Beracha, you need to really protect yourself from the ayin hara (evil eye). You know, you don't want people to look at what you're doing. So the Gemara says, if you keep them hidden beneath the radar, covered up and quiet, the ayin hara won't be able to affect it negatively, and there'll be a Beracha. That's the simple peshat (plain meaning) in that Gemara. But he said, “Tell the people, when you close your eyes at the time of a temptation, when you have the urge to look, and you samui min ha'ayin, you close your eyes and you refrain from that moment of looking, then you already have a Beracha.” How many things do we do to try to make money? And everybody's looking for the edge, and everybody's looking for the angle, and everybody's looking for the advantage. It's not so easy to make money. It's not so easy to make Parnasa (livelihood). There's a lot of competition. But here's a sure-fire way. And if you're in business, you can fulfill this Segulah (auspicious practice) countless times a day. At the moment that you had the temptation and you close your eyes, samui min ha'ayin, the Beracha is not that far behind.