treif meat | kosher meat | mikvah | kosher slaughter

BS”D

Rabbenu Yonah ZTK'L writes in Iggeret ha Teshuvah

“And the woman needs to be modest and she needs to be careful that no men will look at her except her husband, for those men who look at her hands or face descend to Gehinnom and she is punished according to the punishment that each one of the men who looked at her receives, for she made them sin and she did not conduct herself in modest ways and they stumbled because of her…” And this is a proper warning for those Rabbis who fear the word of Hashem to instruct the general public. All women are also encouraged to  show this warning to all her friends 

The Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah: LOOKING AT WOMEN MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO DO TESHUVAH

And there are five things that the one who does them finds no strength to do Teshuvah for them because these things are taken lightly by most people and the person transgresses them and he thinks that it is no sin…The one who looks at women thinks that there is no sin involved in this and he says: Have I had sexual relations with her or did I get close to her?” And he doesn’t know that the sight of his eyes is a great sin that leads to the sin of forbidden relations.   (The Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 4, 4)

  He who looks even at the small finger of a woman in order to derive pleasure from looking, is like one who looks at her private place and even to listen to her voice (Which is considered as looking at her nakedness) or to look at her hair is forbidden. (The Rambam Chapter 21, Hilchot Issure Biah)

LOOKING AT WOMEN IS A GRAVE PROHIBITION FROM THE TORAH

My dear friend you should know that a majority of people think that this prohibition is only words of Chassidut and are not careful to refrain from looking at women, You should know my friend that this is a grave prohibition from the Torah, and the ones who treat lightly this prohibition woe to their souls because they cause great evil for themselves. We have a verse that we repeat three times a day: “And do not go astray after your hearts and after your eyes” And it is written in the Talmud: “Why is it written (Kohelet 6:9) “Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the soul” Because it is more pleasurable looking at a woman than the actual sexual act. And Rashi commented: For the Yetzer ha Ra it is better to make a person sin through the sight of his eyes than to make him sin through the actual sin.  (Derech Pikudecha)

  IT IS BETTER FOR A PERSON TO BE CONSIDERED A FOOL THROUGHOUT HIS ENTIRE LIFE BY MAN, THAN TO BE CONSIDERED WICKED FOR ONE MOMENT IN THE EYES OF G-D   (MISHNA EDUYOT 5:6)

The true strength of a person's piety is demonstrated under the following circumstances: a devout person does not cast off his piety even when people ridicule him; whatever he does is for the sake of heaven; he does not look at women.

His piety is put to the test especially when he is in the company of other men in a situation where women are usually around-for example, in a wedding hall where women are dressed in elegant gowns, and all are gazing at the women, and he does not stare. For that, he will be rewarded with abundant good. Therefore, when a man meets a woman, whether she is single or married, gentile or Jewish, an adult or a minor, it is best for him to turn his face aside and not to look at her. And so do we read in Job, "I made a Covenant with my eyes not to gaze on a maiden" (Job 3 1: 1). The verse "He shuts his eyes against looking at evil" (Isaiah 33:15) refers to the person who does not look at women when they are doing their washing.' When they wash their clothes, they lift their skirts so as not to soil them and thus uncover their legs; and we know that a woman's leg is a sexual excitement. And so said the Sage, "There is no greater barrier to sexual arousal than closing one's eyes.   (Sefer Chassidim 9)

There are desires that are very difficult to control unless one has been taught from childhood like for example refraining from looking at women. Therefore, must a man teach and educate his sons on the right path so when they grow old they will not abandon it   (Sefer Chassidim 10)

G-D ONLY DESIRES THE MITZVOT THAT ARE PERFORMED WITH HOLINESS AND PURITY AND THE MITZVOT GO THE SITRA ACHRA WHEN YOU VIOLATE THE KEDDUSHA OF THE COVENANT

(He who doesn’t guard himself from forbidden relations) causes impurity on all his organs and over all his strength…And when this person does a Mitzvah, it is not considered thus because the Holy One, Blessed be He, doesn’t desire it, as it is written: “And unto the evildoer, G-d says, who are you to relate my statutes” and it is written: “The sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination” and it is written: “Don’t continue offering in vain, it is an abominable incense before Me” for G-d has no desire from his Mitzvot but only when performed with holiness and purity   (Ohr ha Chayim Ha Kadosh, Achare mot 18:20)

SEXUAL IMAGES BECOME FIXED IN THE MIND

When a person takes to heart the sins of his youth, he should be terrified and tremble for gazing at forbidden women causes those images to become fixed in his mind. The Accuser and the evil inclination bring them before his eyes continually, causing him to destroy his seed, which is a terrible sin. Do you not see? Er and Onan were eight years old, sons of the righteous Yehudah, grandsons of our father Yaakov, peace be upon him, the choicest of the patriarchs. Yet they were cut off, even though they were from elevated souls. This was also one of the sins of the generation of the Flood. Any man with a heart must consider how many times he has come to that, as a result of improper thoughts. The evil inclination deceives him by trying to make him think that it happened involuntarily. But his words are wrong; he is absolutely a sinner, for gazing at forbidden women led him to improper thoughts, and as a result of this, he further destroyed [seed, thus] killing his children, defiling the seal [of circumcision] of the King. But His mercies prevailed in being slow to anger, perhaps this person will return in repentance and will mourn bitterly in confession and regret, and will return and be healed. (Anthologized from Ethical books, Chok le Israel)

Who is a Tzaddik? He who guards the Brit. We learn this from Yoseph, who, by reason of his having guarded the Covenant, is known as "Yoseph the righteous" (Yoseph Ha Tzaddik)  ( Zohar ha Kaddosh, I, 59b)

Even when one has the need to talk to a woman, his eyes should look down and not look at her for any reason, because the life of a person depend on this, and this will be good for him in this world and in the World to Come.  (Tochachot Chayim, R Chayim Palaggi, Vaetchanan)

THE SIN THAT MOST PROVOKES THE ANGER OF G-D IS DAMAGING THE BRIT

R. Shimon Bar Yochai said - 'There is no sin in the world which so much provokes the anger of the Almighty as the sin of neglecting the Covenant, as we read, "a sword that shall execute the vengeance of the Covenant" (Lev. 26, 25). The proof is that in the generation of the Flood the measure of sin was not filled up until mankind became (sexually) perverted and destroyed their seed. And although they defrauded each other, as it is written, "And the earth was filled with violence",' and again "for the earth is filled with violence through them", yet it was because "the earth was corrupt before G-d" that the doom was finally pronounced, "behold I will destroy (lit. Corrupt) them". Thus they suffered measure for measure: they were doomed to corruption for having corrupted and perverted their ways.  (The  Zohar ha Kaddosh 66 –67)

BLEMISHING THE COVENANT BRINGS G-D’S
WRATH TO THE WORLD

If a person made a habit of the sin of blemishing the Covenant, his sin is too great to bear. These are the people who bring G-d’s wrath to the World, who bring epidemics and death of various kinds to the world. And this is especially true if his evil inclination incited him and he committed this evil act in front of other people or friends or if he incited other people to do the same. For he desecrated G-d’s Name, sinning and causing others to sin; his sin grew very, very severe, reaching up to the heavens. This is even more so if his thirst was not satisfied by this, and he went on to have homosexual or incestuous relations, for this is licentiousness; this is a horrible sin and an abomination before G-d. How can he raise his head? How can he eat or drink? How can he dress in beautiful clothes while the clothing that is upon him is filthy, every aspect of his soul, to the point that they drove him far away from the Master of the whole earth and the daughter of the glorious King [i.e., the soul], whose glory and honor is blessed and exalted. He made her filthy and treated her like a vile thing. How can he be happy and rejoice? How can he fill his mouth with laughter? How can he look upon other people’s laughter?   (Seder HaYom 37b)

THE GREAT PUNISHMENT FOR LOOKING AT FORBIDDEN PLACES

1- Three things created the Holy One Blessed be He in man, ears, eyes and the tongue, and to each one of them he created barriers and a wall to protect them…He put eyelids to the eyes in order to cover them and hide them from looking at something evil. And the man who transgresses and hears sin or if his eyes see sinful things and his tongue speaks evil things then the person did not keep what the Master of the World gave him to keep, he broke the fence and about him it is written: “He who breaks a fence will be beaten by a snake”  (Sefer Chassidim, Siman 148)

2- In the holy Zohar (Pekudde 263b) it is written that there exists a celestial being called PATOT, and he induces humans to look at forbidden places, where there is no need to look. And after the person dies, when he is already buried, this same PATOT comes to the grave, and gives the soul back to the person. Then he breaks the bones that surround the eyes, and takes the eyes, and afterwards he judges the person with heavy and severe judgments, G-d save us.  (Kav Ha Yashar 2)

MAKING MONEY vs. LOOSING YOUR SOUL

3- And the person should consider the following account on his soul: What he gains when he engages in buying and selling in the markets against the loss he has when he looks at forbidden things there and the evil thoughts he will have thereby. Even if he makes millions, all the money in the world, will it suffice to compensate for the loss of transgressing only one sin? (Shaar ha Tefillah, Shaar Nipol)

4- With the eyes he becomes a servant of the Yetzer ha Ra to look into all the forbidden and vain places in the world, and through them he will lose the possibility of enjoying the pleasantness of G-d in the future (The Chida, Devash le Fi)

5- The Chatam Sofer wrote (Chaye Sarah): “The Jews, they are holy and should not stumble through looking at women, G-d forbid, for all who do thus, are lost in this world and in the World to Come.

ALL THE MACHINATIONS OF THE EVIL INCLINATION RELATED TO SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ENTER THROUGH THE EYES

6- Due to our many sins, all the machinations of the Yetzer ha Ra concerning forbidden relations enter through the eyes, and through this the person comes to commit all sins in the Torah, therefore the angel of death is full of eyes, according to the work of the eyes of the person during his life (Yaarot Devash, Rabbi Yehonathan Eyibishutz, part 2, 9)

THE EYES OF THE ANGEL OF DEATH ARE OUR OWN EYES THAT SINNED THROUGH LOOKING AT FORBIDDEN THINGS

7- Our Master the Chatam Sofer wrote in The introduction to Parashat Bereshit the following: Our Sages, z’l said (Avodah Zara 20): “The angel of death is full of eyes and when the time for a person to die comes, the angel stands above his head, with his sword ready and a bitter drop hangs from the sword, when the sick person sees him, he shakes and opens his mouth and the drop enters the mouth, from it he dies, he rots and his face turns green” And this is difficult: “Why is he full of eyes? The Gaon Rabbi Natan Adler, zt’l said that when a person transgresses, G-d forbid, the prohibition of not going astray after one’s eyes, and savors the taste of looking at forbidden places, with this transgression he gives eyes to the Yetzer ha Ra, who is none other than the angel of death, and from this he is full of eyes, from those same eyes that looked at places that were forbidden for him to look at, and from this the person shakes when he realizes that he is the one who, by looking at forbidden things, caused the angel of death to have so many eyes. And also Rabbi Yehonathan Eybeshutz zt’l and the Chidda wrote thus.     (Sefer ha Brit, Shemirat Eynaim)

8- The one who damages the Brit, G-d forbid, has no share in the G-d of Israel, G-d forbid (The Holy Zohar, Shelach 158)

IMAGES BECOME FIXED IN THE MIND AND LATER THEY DISTURB OUR SERVICE TO G-D

9- Everything that a person looks at, the image penetrates and fixes itself in the mind, and when he comes to pray or to study Torah, those material images appear in the mind, and they damage and invalidate his thoughts, and he will not be able to concentrate as required, because the eyes only see through the power that resides in the soul and the soul receives those images that come through the eyes and if the person looks at nakedness, he causes nakedness to penetrate in a high place (Reshit Chochma, Shaar ha Kedusha)

10- When a man starts looking at forbidden things and forbidden women, he causes himself to enter into great impurity [Tumah] (Kav ha Yashar, ch 2)

11- All who look at married women diminish and destroy the power of his good inclination and his good turns to a destroyer (Bet Yoseph, Even ha Ezer 21)

WHEN ONE LOOKS AT WOMEN, ONE CAUSES PEOPLE TO DIE BEFORE THEIR TIME

12- The men who are not careful not to look at women when accompanying the dead person to and from the cemetery, are the ones who cause that most of the people in the world die before their time. (The Holy Zohar II, 196)

13- Whoever looks at women (t.n. Including pictures in a catalog, TV or the computer) to enjoy himself, then the spirit of that image comes when he passes away and hurts him and causes evil to befall upon him (Yearot Devash, Part a, b)

When the Jewish People do not guard the covenant of circumcision the nations of the world dominate them. (Tikunei  Zohar,  Tikun  13)

GUARDING THE HANDS

 Rabbi Abba said: “All those who pass their hands in front of the face of the membrum are considered as if they reneged on the Covenant of our father Avraham.    (Talmud Shabbat 41a)

Rabbi Eliezer said: It is written: “Your hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:15) This refers to people who arouse themselves with their hands. The words of the commandment "You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:13) imply: not with your hand and not with your foot  (Niddah 13b)

 The one who grabs his membrum is as if he brings the deluge to the world  (Niddah 13)

SO EVEN IF YOUR RABBI RIDICULES YOU FOR KEEPING THE SHULCHAN ARUCH YOU SHOULD BE STRONG AND GO AHEAD FOR IT MAY BE THAT YOUR RABBI BELONGS TO THE EREV RAV AND HE JUST DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KEEP THE TORAH AS IT SHOULD BE FOR MAYBE HE WOULD BE EXPOSED AS A FAKE IN THE EYES OF THE OTHER CONGREGANTS WHEN THEY SEE THAT A COMMON PERSON KEEPS THE SHULCHAN ARUCH TO A GREATER EXTENT THAN THE RABBI. AND WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT PIOUS PRACTICES BUT WE ARE TALKING HERE ABOUT KEEPING THE SHULCHAN ARUCH, ESPECIFICALLY CONCERNING THOSE AREAS WHERE THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF OUR TIME ARE LAX ABOUT. FOR EXAMPLE, TALKING IN THE SYNAGOGUE IN THE MIDDLE OF PRAYERS, DURING THE KADDISH, GIVING TORAH LESSONS TO MEN AND WOMEN WITHOUT A MECHITZA, HAVING A DEFICIENT MECHITZA IN SHUL, LOOKING AT WOMEN WHICH IS SOMETHING FORBIDDEN, ETC

There are three types of men who drive away the Shechinah from the world

making it impossible for the Holy One, blessed be He, to fix His abode in the universe, and causing prayer to be unanswered. [One is he who cohabits with a woman in the days of her separation. There is no impurity comparable with this. He defiles himself and all connected with him. The child born of such a union is shaped in impurity, imbibes the spirit of impurity, and its whole life is founded on impurity. Next is he who lies with a heathen woman, for he profanes herewith the sacred sign of the covenant which constitutes the support of the sacred Name and the essence of faith. As soon as “the people committed whoredom” with the daughters of Moab, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel (Num. 25,). The leaders of the people, who did not endeavor to prevent them, were the first to be punished (Ibid. 4), and in every generation it is the leaders who are made responsible for all the members of the community in regard to the profanation of the sign of the covenant, which is “sun and shield” (Ps. 84): as the sun gives light to the world, so does the holy sign give light to the body, and as the shield protects, so does the holy sign protect. He who keeps it in purity is guarded from evil. But he who transfers this sign of holiness into a strange domain, breaks the commandment, “Thou shall have no other gods but Me”; for to deny the king’s seal is equivalent to denying the king himself. Next is he who purposely prevents the seed from coming to fruition, for he destroys the King’s workmanship and so causes the Holy One to depart from the world. This sin is the cause of war, famine, and pestilence, and it prevents the Shekinah from finding any resting place in the world. For these abominations the spirit of holiness weeps. Woe to him who causes this: it were better that he had never been born. It was counted to the Israelites for righteousness that, although in exile in Egypt, they kept themselves free from these sins, and, more­over, fearlessly fulfilled the command to increase and multiply. This made them worthy to be liberated. R. Chiya found an indication of the purity of the Israelite women in Egypt in the text: [4a] “And he made the layer of brass, and the foot of it brass, of the looking-glasses of the women assembling at the door of the tent” (Ex. 38,  8). What was the merit of the women to have made them worthy of such honor that their looking-glasses should be used for the layer of the Tabernacle ? Their ritual ablutions on the one hand, and their eagerness to attract their husbands on the other...

Zohar ha Kaddosh 3b

When the Jewish People do not keep the covenant of circumcision the nations of the world dominate them. (Tikunei  Zohar,  Tikun  13)