Ben Porat Yosef - A Prayer Against the Evil Eye From the Torah

Ben Porat Yosef - a prayer against the "ayin hara" (evil eye) from the Torah

- "Ben Porat Yosef, Ben Porat alei ayin, Banot tza'ada alei shur" — (A fruitful bough is Yosef, a fruitful bough by a fountain, whose branches run over the wall). (Bereishit 49:22) This prayer is connected to Yosef HaTzadik - one of the twelve sons of Yaakov Avinu. Midrash Bereishit Rabbah explains the reason Yaakov blessed Yosef with the words "Ben Porat Yosef." The Torah describes Yaakov's family meeting Esav as follows: "And the maidservants came near, they and their children... Then Leah also came near with her children... and after came Yosef and Rachel, and they bowed down." Yosef thought: "This wicked man has a greedy eye - lest he see my mother's beauty" - so he grew up in front of her and shielded her. Therefore it is said of him: "Ben (offshoot) Porat (of a fruitful tree) Yosef" - (meaning Yosef grew up) - "ben porat alei ayin (over the fountain)" - he grew up over the fountain "ayin" (concealing his mother from view). In Hebrew, "ayin" can mean both "fountain/spring" and "eye" - the words are homonyms. Elsewhere, Bereishit Rabbah (99:12) adds that "Ben Porat Yosef" also means "through cows" (cows - parot), meaning that through interpreting Pharaoh's dream about the cows, Yosef achieved greatness and honor. The Arizal (may his merit protect us) examines the connection between the phrase "Ben Porat Yosef" and prayer. Yosef, who guarded his brit, merited the quality of prayer "For the sake of My Glory." Yosef is called "Ben Porat" (a fruitful bough). The word "Porat" has the same gematria as "Tarpo" - 686 - representing the number of types of light that emanate from the 7 different derivatives of the holy Names of G-d (the four-letter Name and the Name Ehyeh). G-d constantly bestows "Shefa" (material and spiritual abundance) upon this world. But in order to receive and retain it, a Jew must possess a vessel. And prayer is precisely the tool that helps create this vessel.   Prayer is likened to a firstborn. The Arizal teaches that the first intimacy between husband and wife makes her a vessel for receiving his abundance, and that the birth of all their children - especially their firstborn - is predetermined by their first contact, with the firstborn receiving the spiritual energy of that contact and imparting it to the rest of the children. - "Ben Porat Yosef, Ben Porat alei ayin, Banot tza'ada alei shur" - (A fruitful bough is Yosef, a fruitful bough by a fountain, whose branches run over the wall). (Bereishit 49:22)   Segula - how to recite "Ben Porat Yosef" It is said in (Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 55b, ch. 9): "Another sage began to speak, and said: "One who enters a city and fears the evil eye should take the thumb of his right hand into the palm of his left hand, and the thumb of his left hand into the palm of his right hand, and say: - "Ana (name and mother's name) mi zar'a de Yosef ka'atina d'lo shalita bei eina bisha shene'emar: Ben Porat Yosef Ben Porat alei ayin" - (I, so-and-so, son of so-and-so, am a descendant of Yosef, over whom the evil eye of others had no power. As it is said: "Ben Porat Yosef, Ben Porat alei ayin." Explanation of the verse: do not read it as "alei ayin" (by a fountain), but read it as "olei ayin" (those who rule over the eye), meaning those upon whom the evil eye has no effect. Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Chanina, said: "We learn this interpretation from the verse: 'veyidgu larov bekerev ha'aretz' (Bereishit 48:16) - (may they multiply abundantly in the midst of the earth). Here the verb used means 'to multiply like fish.' Just as fish that dwell in the sea are covered by water - and the evil eye has no power over them, so too the evil eye has no power over Yosef's descendants." Thus, among Jews, the verse "Ben Porat Yosef" became a formula that protects against the evil eye and all negativity.   Segulot 1. It is a good segula to recite this verse wherever you fear the evil eye, performing the action described in the Talmud: take the thumb of your right hand into the palm of your left hand, and the thumb of your left hand into the palm of your right hand, and say in Aramaic: "Ana (name and mother's name) mi zar'a de Yosef ka'atina d'lo shalita bei eina bisha shene'emar: Ben Porat Yosef Ben Porat alei ayin" - (I, so-and-so, son of so-and-so, am a descendant of Yosef, over whom the evil eye of others had no power. As it is said: "Ben Porat Yosef, Ben Porat alei ayin, Banot tza'ada alei shur." 2. Chazal advise reciting these words at the mezuzah when leaving the house.   (Sha'arei HaKavanot, Tzitzit 1, Bereishit Rabbah (78:10)