Jewish Sexuality dot Com

Question:

I was reading your website and discovered that is forbidden to gaze at women and admire them for their beauty. Does this to apply to non-married men also?

Answer:

Most certainly. While a man must look at a potential marriage partner to see if he likes her, he shouldn't go around gazing at women on the street, in the movies or TV, on the Internet, or in magazines. The eyes are the windows to the soul and they must be guarded in holiness.

Keep your eyes on the pavement or rooftops

O fleeting beauty,
Your glance has given me sudden rebirth,
Shall I see you again only in eternity?

As explained on other pages of this website, this momentary rush of passion is destructive to the Jewish man, his household and family.

A Jew must walk the streets with his eyes focused on the few yards of pavement in front of him or on the rooftops, but not at the "fleeting beauties."

Initially, you will find it extremely difficult to ignore curiosity's calling to see who is out and about, to glance in the car passing by, etc. But, once you practice the guarding of your eyes for several days, you will begin to sense control over the intake of your eyes. Your sense of sight will no longer be given over to chance and happenstance, but rather you will be the master. You will feel a new dimension of strength and self-control.

You may ask: By not looking at those around me, I may miss seeing a person who needs help.

Rabbi Aharon Rata answers this by quoting a tradition that G-d arranges events in such a way, that you will see things and people that you need to see. If there is a need to see, you will see it.

This mitzvah of not "going astray after your eyes" is one of the hardest, but one of the most rewarding.