Iraqi Jews in Diaspora and Evil Eye – يهود العراق وعين الحسود

An Evil Eye is a look or glance that is believed that is capable to cause harm and injury, or bad luck to whom it is directed for purposes of dislike or envy.  Evil Eye is known in Hebrew as ‘ain ha-ra’  (עין הרע), in Aramaic ‘Ena- Bisha’,(עינא בישא)  in Arabic ‘ain-el-hasud’  (عين الحسود), in Turkish as 'Nazar' from Arabic  نظر (Nathar), which means 'eyesight’. 

People hold that  a man with an evil eye  experiences  actual  distress  when others  prosper, and  will rejoice when others  suffer.  Its existence  is acknowledged by modern Arabs, Jews and Christians.

Babylonian Jews  holding  that  an  Evil  Eye  can  cause  injury, serious  health problems, wasting, or  even  death. They  believe  that  the main victims  are thought  to be  prominent  men, beautiful  women, infants  and  young  children, because  they are  so often praised and commented upon  by strangers, or, by childless women. If any of these mentioned by somebody with an evil eye, the listener will say: “without  an evil  eye” (בלי עין הרע). In Islam, it is usually to say: “God had willed it” ((ما شاء الله.

Belief  in The Evil Eye in Babylonian Jews mentioned  several  times in Pirkei Abot  (Ethics of Our Fathers). Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakai  said  to his students: “go  out  and  see  which  is a bad  way  which  a person should  avoid?  Rabbi  Eliezer  said:  A bad  eye” (Chapter 2, Mishna 14(a)).                                                                                   

It has  also  been suggested  the 10^th commandments in  the  Bible a law against  bestowing  the  evil eye on another  person: “Thou shalt not  covet  thy neighbor’s house, shalt  not covet  thy neighbor’s wife, nor  his manservant,  nor  his maidservant,  nor  his  ox, his ass, nor anything  that  is thy neighbor’s”.

Mentions of the Evil Eye (עין הרע) in the Bible, refer to the role that jealousy and envy play an important  part: “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an  evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats” (proverbs 23:6), or:       “A man with an evil eye hastens after  riches, and does not consider  that  poverty will come upon him” (proverbs 28:22).

In the Qur’an, Sura Al-Falaq and Sura Al-Nas are also used as a means of personal protection against Evil Eye:                                       سؤرة الفلق– قل اعود برب الفلق ومن حاسد اذا حسد(Al Falaq - Say: i seek refuge in the Lord of the dawn and from the evil of the envious when he envies).                                                                                    سؤرة الناس – قل اعود برب الناسومن شر الوسواس الخناس (Sura Al Nas – Say:  I seek  refuge  in  the Lord  of  men  and  from  the evil  of  the whispering of the sinking (Shaitan).                                                     

Among Babylonian Jews, as well  as in many other cultures, in order to attempt  to ward off the curse of the evil eye, they use “talismans”, which is believed to have magic power  to turn back harm. Oriental talismans often represent  a  hand with it’s five fingers spread to deflect  the rays emitted by the evil eye.