Yetzer hara

Yetzer hara

In Judaism, "yetzer hara" ( _he. יצר הרע for "evil inclination") refers to the inclination to do evil, by violating the will of God. The "yetzer hara" is not a demonic force, but rather man's mis-use of things the physical body needs to survive. So the need for food becomes gluttony due to our yetzer hara. The need for procreation becomes sexual abuse. . .and so on. Judaism teaches that humans are born with a yetzer hara (physical needs that can become "evil"), but that we don't acquire a yetzer tov ("good" inclination) until an age of maturity -- 12 for girls and 13 for boys.

Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, also known by the Hebrew acronym RaMCHaL, wrote in Derekh Hashem (The Way of G-d) "Man is the creature created for the purpose of being drawn close to G-d. He is placed between perfection and deficiency, with the power to earn perfection. Man must earn this perfection, however, through his own free will.…Man's inclinations are therefore balanced between good (Yetzer HaTov) and evil (Yetzer HaRa), and he is not compelled toward either of them. He has the power of choice and is able to choose either side knowingly and willingly…"

It is believed among some that, where as Christianity identifies evil with Satan, Judaism does not. However, in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Baba Bathra, Folio 16b, Rabbi Resh Lakish asserts that "Satan, the evil inclination, and the Angel of Death are all one.”

A yetzer hara is an over indulgence of physical needs. The Hebrew word "satan" merely means "adversary" and the Jewish bible has both human and angelic adversaries (satans) to man. Judaism considers angelic adversaries (satans) to be fulfilling God's will by testing men's faith. This is consistent with the general Jewish view of angels, in which they are deemed incapable of defying God's will because they do not possess free will / free choice. However, Job 15:15 implies otherwise, as does Isaiah 14 which suggests that Lucifer was cast down from heaven for willing to be like God.

External links

* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/lifecycle/Bar_Bat_Mitzvah/AboutBarBatMitzvah/HowOld/barmitzvahpsychology.htm "The Birth of the Good Inclination" at My Jewish Learning]
* [http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/yz.htm Judaism 101 - A Glossary of Basic Jewish Terms and Concepts]
* [http://www.headcoverings-by-devorah.com/TheRoleOfYetzerHaRa.htm The Role of the Yetzer HaRa]
* [http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/27/Q2/ Ohr Somayach - Ask The Rabbi / Is man intrinsically evil?]

Resources

** [http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/mekorot/shaar-2.htm Hebrew Fulltext of Derekh Hashem (The Way of G-d)] , daat.ac.il
**"The Way of God", Transl. Aryeh Kaplan, Feldheim 1997. ISBN 0-87306-769-X


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