אות - רמב

The Rebbe spoke of the concept of the evil eye: 344 See Bava Batra 2b; Eruvin 64b; Rashi ad loc., “ Ba'al "; Pesachim 26b, 50b; Bava Metzia 30a; Zohar III, 211b. Also see Avot 2:11, 5:19. There is power in a glance. It can reach another and harm him.

The power of sight actually exists and can touch the visualized object. When the eye is evil, this glance can do actual damage.

It is for this reason that the look of a menstruating woman can cause a mark of blood to appear on a mirror ( Ramban on Leviticus 18:19) .

The specific remedy for an evil eye is to smoke the fin of a fish.

The Hebrew word for fin is SNaPIR . Turn the letters into numbers and the gematria gives you RA AYiN – the evil eye. 345 SNaPIR is spelled Samekh (60), Nun (50), Pei (80), Yod (10), Resh (200), which has the numerical value of 400. RA AYiN is spelled Resh (200), Ayin (70), Ayin (70), Yod (10), Nun (50), which also has the numerical value of 400. Especially good for this is a fish called the Shelein . Shelein sounds like Shel Ayin ("of the eye"), and the similarity of pronunciation indicates a deeper relationship.

I also heard that the Rebbe said that the fin of a Shelein fish should be worn by an adult or child who may be affected by an evil eye. This will protect him.

I heard the following from the same source in the name of the Rebbe: The evil eye’s power comes from the four hundred men that Esau brought with him to fight against Jacob. It is written that Esau had “four hundred men with him” (Genesis 32:7) .

These four hundred came to place an evil eye on Jacob’s camp. Four hundred is the gematria of RA AYiN – the evil eye. 346 See previous note. The four hundred men are the source of the evil eye. Four hundred is also the gematria of SNaPIR , the fin of a fish. This opposes the four hundred men of Esau and protects against the evil eye.

The Rebbe also mentioned a number of other things that add up to four hundred.