A Close Call
A woman once asked me for my blessing. She skipped into my office in a state of cheer and lightheartedness. Her happy-go-lucky, carefree deportment gave me pause to suspect her entire lifestyle. I suspected her level of tzeniut as I observed her blithe, relaxed attitude.
This woman sat herself down opposite me. She tried to pull her chair closer to mine, but was unable to. A few days earlier, I had connected the chairs to the floor so that they could not be moved.
The woman’s smile suddenly faded from her face. Instead, she displayed shock and disappointment. For my part, I offered a silent prayer of gratitude for the idea to nail the chairs to the floor, thereby preventing the woman from coming too close.
Chazal teach us that no one is guaranteed security from sin in matters of immorality (Ketubot 13b). There is no difference between a Torah Sage and an ignorant boor, a wealthy man and a pauper. In matters of tzeniut, everyone must be stringent so that he does not stumble, chas v’shalom.
The Midrash in Yalkut Shimoni (Vayechi 49a, Remez 161) relates an incident concerning Rabbi Mattia ben Charash. He sat in the Beit Hamidrash, engrossed in Torah study. One day, the Satan passed by and saw him steeped in his study. The Satan thought, “Could this man never have sinned?” Disguised as a beautiful woman, he walked in Rabbi Mattia’s range of vision. Rabbi Mattia looked the other way. But the Satan walked wherever Rabbi Mattia looked.
Rabbi Mattia was terribly distraught at the thought of sinning. What did he do? He blinded himself. The Satan saw this and collapsed. Hashem instructed the angel of healing, Refael, to cure Rabbi Mattia. Hashem guaranteed that he would not fall into the web of the Satan.
Another tale is related in the Gemara (Kiddushin 81a). Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Akiva ridiculed the sinners. The Satan wished to trip them up in immodest sightings, but the merit of their Torah study prevented him.
Every person, no matter what level he is on, must be careful in matters of modesty. One who comes to be purified is helped by Hashem to avoid falling into the snare of the Yetzer Hara.
