The Jewish View of Our Differing Inclinations or Drives of Our Behavior: Yetzer Hatov and Yetzer Hara Part III

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

Yetzer Hatov is often referred to as our good inclination and Yetzer Hara our evil inclination.  Yetzer Hara is frequently used in a restricted sense to refer to the sexual urge.

Good means:  pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.

For the rabbis, adults are distinguished from children by the yetzer hatov, which controls and channels the drives that exist unchecked in the child. Thus children may seek pleasure and acquisition, but they are not able to create a sanctified relationship or exercise the responsibility to engage in business.                                 

                 Which will be my snack today?  I'm still dieting. How many of us are faced with this choice every day?   

Evil means:  displeasing in the eyes of the Lord.  

Yetzer hara is not a demonic force that pushes a person to do evil, but rather a drive toward pleasure or property or security, which if left unlimited, can lead to evil (cf. Genesis Rabbah 9:7). When properly controlled by the yetzer hatov, the yetzer hara leads to many socially desirable results, including marriage, business, and community.  It provides the energy of life.                          

King David had the largest yetzer hara of all say the rabbis.  He had the chutzpa to challenge the enemy's greatest fighter.  

Good and Evil in a wider sense are what the Divine order has determined as ultimately advantageous or harmful to man (Deut. 30:15.  

The story in Genesis  2-3 concerning the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil is explained by Rabbi Golub, see below in References.   

How we develop a moral sense is like this:

The classical text that describes how children are born with a yetzer hara but only later develop a yetzer hatov comes from Avot d’Rabbi Natan, a third-century midrashic companion volume to the more well known Ethics of the Fathers.  (The Midrash is a book that has formulated certain rules to deduce such hidden and new meanings, sometimes established the law, other finding scriptural support for laws already accepted). (Ethics of Our Fathers (Avot) contains the sayings and religio-ethical teachings of the sages from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE, read in Ashkenazi communities every Shabbat afternoon during the summer.  Sephardim recite it at home on the Sabbath between Passover and Shavuot.  

At 13 a boy is bar mitzvahed, as well as girls who get bat mitzvahed.  (one who is obliged to fulfill the commandment.  It's a ceremony marking the initiation of a boy or girl at age 13 into the Jewish religious community and into observance of the precepts of the Torah).  

The yetzer hara is 13 years older than the yetzer hatov. While still in the mother’s womb, the yetzer hara begins to develop in a person. After birth, If he begins to violate the Sabbath, nothing stops him. If he commits murder, nothing stops him. If he goes off to another sin, nothing stops him.

Developing a sense of right and wrong after age 13: age of Bar Mitzva

But 13 years later, the yetzer hatov is born. When he violates the Sabbath, it rebukes him, “Airhead [literally: “empty one”]! Don’t you know it says ‘Everyone who violates it will surely be put to death’ (Exodus 31:14)?” If he is about to commit murder, it rebukes him, “Airhead! Don’t you know it says ‘Whoever sheds a man’s blood, by man will his blood be shed’ (Genesis 9:6)?” If he is about to engage in a sexual sin, it rebukes him, “Airhead! Don’t you know it says ‘Both the adulterer and the adulteress will surely be put to death’ (Leviticus 20:10)?” (Avot d’Rabbi Natan 16).

Our Sages teach1 that we each have two yetzers (inclinations) within us, one that seeks to serve our soul and spiritual drive, and one that caters to our ego and physical appetites. Our highest potential is achieved when we are able to channel both of these resident energies in the direction of the greatest possible health and holiness. This requires us to actively engage the positive inclination and work to transform the negative inclination.

How do we avoid evil within ourselves?  Here's 2 thoughts:

Rabbi Aryeh Leib quoted King David: Turn from evil and do good, which he explained to mean that they must be in that order—first turning from evil and only then concentrating on doing good. The scriptural proof for this opinion is commonly bolstered with a simple analogy: “Does it make sense to bring ornate furniture into a home without cleaning it first? What’s the point of beautiful furnishings if they sit in filth?”

Rabbi Schneur Zalman disagreed; he argued in support of a more “offensive” strategy. He taught that by focusing and building on the good qualities already present within us, we can shift the momentum and diminish the magnetic pull of our negative feelings. Rather than putting one’s ego under a microscope, which only brings us into closer contact with the evil inclination, Rabbi Schneur Zalman suggested instead that we should go straight for the soul, so to speak. As he wrote pointedly in the Tanya: “One who wrestles with a dirty opponent becomes dirty himself.” Most political campaigners can attest to this. I take this as don't associate with people who are doing the wrong things you're trying to end in yourself.

  The Kabbalists of the 12-16th century taught in Safed by Isaac Luria's doctrine (1534-1572)  that evil is ultimately grounded in the manifestations of the Divine essence known as the 10 Sephirot of potencies or emanations through which the Divine manifests itself. Isaac was born in Jerusalem but educated in Egypt, then moved to Safed in 1570.  He led an ascetic life which was not considered to be very Jewish.  His teachings caused mystical thought. His teachings have become very popular again by people of other religions.       

Resource:

https://jbstv.org/archives/2862  Rabbi Golub's video on Yetzer hatov and Yetzer hara,  about in middle of video to end. Jewish 101, Episode 18, Human Nature 

https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/4405214/jewish/Chapter-14-How-Not-to-Fight-Evil.htm