Rashi, Ralbag, and Shadal on "The Evil Eye"

Rashi, Ralbag, and Shadal all believe in the concept of "the evil eye" (I was surprised about the last two), but all very differently.

Rashi believed that the evil eye was the effect of a mystical entity that damages people who single out either themselves or their possessions.

Ralbag, as a rationalist, attempted to explain the evil eye naturally, saying that there is a physical negative reaction when someone who is jealous looks at the object of his jealousy, like a poisonous gaze.

Shadal believed not so much in the evil eye, but in the concept behind it, that when someone who has something singles it out, it creates arrogance in its possessor, and God wants to knock him down a peg. He calls this a concept that the Torah is founded upon. Instead of being a mystical force, Shadal believes it is God's providence in this world, to prevent us from being haughty and becoming overly confident in our own strength and possessions, thereby forgetting God. However, he says, God didn't want to throw away this great concept, even though the masses attribute it to the evil eye. So He commands them to count themselves by giving coins to the Mishkan, showing them that not only will nothing bad happen to them when they do it this way, but they can always use the Mishkan as a place for atonement to avoid what they believe is the evil eye, but is really God's providence. However, Shadal says, God is saying that counting the people like this must be for a purpose. David, at the end of his life, decided to count the people out of sheer arrogance of power, and he brought plague upon the people. For this reason, he was inspired to begin the building of the Holy Temple, a direct outgrowth of this concept of the Mishkan as a way to atone and not get the wrath of God's providence when one gets haughty.