The Red String

What’s so important about a little red string?  In a word – Protection.

Have you ever heard of the Evil Eye?  In Colonial America it was called the Stink Eye.  In Hebrew it’s called ayin ha’ra.  In Italian, mal ochio, in Spanish, mal ojo, in Farsi (Iranian), bla band.  All of these cultures and hundreds of other have an expression for it.  But what is it really? 

It’s the power to inflict fatal harm with the look of an eye.

The Red String is used for protection against the Evil Eye. The Evil Eye is a very powerful negative force. It refers to the unfriendly stares and unkind glances we sometimes get from people around us. Envious eyes and looks of ill will affect us, stopping us from realizing our full potential in every area of our life.

According to Kabbalah, the critical need to confront the problem of negative influences cannot be underestimated. People who fail to understand this and activate a protective shield through positive and proactive behavior can become victims.

Kabbalah teaches us that we can remove intrusive negative influences and, more importantly, that we have the potential to eradicate negativity forever. The power of the eye, when understood from a Kabbalistic perspective, becomes as powerful a healing instrument as it can be a devastating channel of destruction.

Rachel and The Red String

An ancient tradition is to wind a Red String seven times around the tomb of Rachel, the great Matriarch. Rachel, wife of Jacob, gave birth after many barren years to two sons, Joseph, and later Benjamin. During the birth or Benjamin, Rachel passes away, and is buried on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the Land of Israel.

After the Red String is wound around the tomb, it is endowed with mystical powers. The Red String is then cut into pieces and worn on the left hand's wrist. The left hand is considered by Kabbalah to be the receiving side for the body and soul. By wearing The Red String on our left wrist, we can receive a vital connection to the protective energies surrounding the tomb of Rachel.

It also allows us to take Rachel's powerful protective energy with us and draw from it anytime.

Kabbalists believe that by seeking the Light of holy persons, such as Rachel, we can use their powerful influence to assist us. According to Kabbalah, Rachel represents the physical world in which we live. Her greatest desire is to protect and defend all of her children from evil. When we tie the Red String to our left wrist, while reciting the powerful Ana Be'Koach prayer, we seal her powerful protective energy within as it intercepts negative influences intended to cause us harm.

The Evil Eye in the Zohar

“A person possessed of an evil eye carries with him the eye of the destroying negative force; hence it is called "destroyer of the world," and people should be on their guard against them and not come near them so that they should not be injured by them!
”- Zohar I, p.

How to Wear the Red String 

Have someone you love to tie the Red String to your left wrist. First, have them tie the string closely around your wrist with a simple knot. Repeat by knotting the string six more times for a total of seven knots. Now make a promise to yourself that you will refrain from negative thoughts or talk about others.

This harmful behavior will interfere with your effort to gain personal fulfillment and protection. Then have the person finish by saying the Ben Porat Prayer which prevents others from giving you the evil eye.

What Makes Kabbalah Centre Red String Unique

Every year students and teachers go to great lengths to power and distribute this tool.  Our efforts include:

▪    Dying white wool to red. Red corresponds to the desire to receive for the self alone, and this red color we wear serves as an antidote to the selfish desires that seeks their way into our minds and hearts. 

▪    Hiring an armed guard to escort our team to the tomb of Rachel the Matriarch, located in a dangerous part of Israel.

▪    Wrapping the Red String seven times around the tomb.

▪    Reciting various kabbalistic prayers, most notably the mystical prayer

▪    Cutting the string into bracelet size lengthsAna b'Koach.

Also known as the Ana b’Koach, this ancient prayer which was composed by Rav Nehunia Ben Hakannah, has been revived by the Kabbalah Centre. The Ana b’Koach is built around a sequence of 42 letters that are encoded within the first 42 letters of the book of Genesis. The kabbalists explain that this seven sequence combination of letters takes us to the time of Creation. Each time we meditate on a particular sequence, we return to the original uncorrupted energy that built the world. The seven lines of the Ana b’Koach correspond to the seven days of the week and seven specific angels. Each sentence also corresponds to a particular heavenly body. By performing the Ana b’Koach mediation, we enrich our lives with unadulterated spiritual Light and positive energy.