Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism

"He further said to them: Go and see which is the worst quality a man should shun. Rabbi Eliezer said, 'An evil eye (greed); Rabbi Yehoshua said, 'A bad friend (hatred); Rabbi Yosi said, 'A bad neighbor (discord); Rabbi Shimon said, 'One who borrows and does not repay. It is the same whether one borrows from man or from G-d as it is said: "The wicked borrows and repays not, but the righteous deal graciously and gives" Rabbi Eliezer said, 'An evil heart (selfishness). Said he to them: 'I prefer what Elazar ben Arach said to what you have said, for in his words yours are included'"

In order to explain this Mishna, we have to understand that in general the opposite of something good is something that we need to stay away from. On the other hand, there are a number of good character traits that the opposite of them is not bad. For example, the character trait of chasidus (benevolence).

If someone does not want to do acts of loving kindness for another they are not called evil but rather they are not considered generous.Still that leads us to the first statement of someone that has an evil eye. A person like that does not like to help others and although they don't steal they are not doing the right thing. A greedy person does things for his own benefit many times at the expense of others.

This leads one to be a bad neighbor and a bad friend. When one thinks of himself or what potentially they can get from someone else, they inevitably ruin the relationship between them. This self-centered person is only worried about himself and others will see that and not want to be friends with them.

The next part of the Mishna explains the terrible trait of one who borrows money and does not repay. Regardless if they can't pay and have a valid excuse, nonetheless they still owe the money and must repay it. This is a terrible thing because the person who lent you money did a great service and chesed and by not paying back the loan, the person shows his indifference for what his friend has done for him.

What we learn from here is how terrible a person can be by only looking out for themselves. They think that the world was created for them alone and not for others. They use and abuse others for the sake of their own gain. Even if this is not intentional, it gives a person a bad reputation that is hard to correct.

This is why that Judaism stresses the importance of doing acts of kindness and giving charity. When we give of ourselves we go against our evil inclination which helps us to envelop other good character traits. When we only look out for ourselves others will not be gracious and want to help us.