Escaping the Effects of Evil
Once, on an overseas flight, I was beset by foreign thoughts. No matter how hard I tried, I could not rid my mind of them. I began wondering how this trip was different from countless others that I should be plagued by such negative thoughts.
Suddenly, I remembered Chazal’s advice in such a situation (Eliyahu Zuta, Ish Shalom, Parashah 16): Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: Whoever involves himself in words of Torah removes negative thoughts from his mind. He is spared thoughts of sin, of sword, of subjection to the government, of nonsense, of the Yetzer Hara, of immorality, of wicked women, of idolatry, of subservience to others, of inanities… as it says (Devarim 28:47-48), “Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart, when everything was abundant. So you will serve your enemies whom Hashem will send against you, in hunger and in thirst, in nakedness and without anything.”
Words of Torah have the power to chase away unwanted thoughts. I immediately put this advice into action. The negative thoughts finally fled my mind. After a while, I stood up. I finally discovered the cause of my problems. A man sat directly behind me, behaving most inappropriately.
I immediately decided to change my seat, as our Sages exhort us in Avot (1:7), “Distance yourself from a bad neighbor.” I did not want his negative behavior to rub off on me any longer.
