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The Evil Inclination Is Born with Man "The evil inclination is born with man, and grows with him his whole life." ( Midrash Tehilim [Psalms], Psalm no. 34 ) "The inclination in a man's heart is evil from his youth, and always grows in all the lusts." ( Rabbi Chaim Thirer, A Well of Living Waters, Toldot [Generations], Chapter 25) However, Moses' method of correction, the laws which we call "the Torah," remained intact through the first, and second Temples, and even through the exile in Babel. A Man's Heart Is Evil from His Youth This arouses the need for "equivalence of form," that is, to be like the Creator, having a nature of giving. Regrettably, the vast majority among us have no desire for it; we vehemently resent giving unless we have some underlying profit, an ulterior motive to do so. RASHI, the great commentator on the Bible, wrote that the verse, "The inclination of a man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21), means that "As soon as one is shaken out of his mother's womb, He [the Creator] plants in him the evil inclination..." ...which is egotism, the desire to receive for ourselves. The Creator Is Benevolent Therefore, considering that the Creator is benevolent, and that we are the opposite, the clash between man and God seems inevitable. How can we ever attain Him if He has made us inherently opposite from Him? The remedy to egotism lies in what is described as "the point in the heart." That thirst to understand what life is about, what makes the world go around (and it is not money), is the yearning that enabled Adam, Abraham and his progeny, Moses, and the entire nation that arose out of the pariahs from Babylon to develop a correction method that turns the evil inclination into goodness. Symbols of an Inner Clash One may argue whether or not the Bible, the Old Testament, is a genuine historic documentation of events. But the great sages of Israel throughout the ages had no concern for the historic relevance of the Bible. They rather viewed the Bible as an allegory that depicts internal, spiritual processes that one experiences along the path of correction. To them Nimrod, king of Babylon represents meridah [Hebrew: rebellion], defiance against the quality of bestowal, the Creator; Pharaoh stands for the epitome of the evil inclination; and so does Haman, albeit at a later stage in one's spiritual development, namely acquisition of the quality of bestowal. According to RASHI and Others… This is why RASHI interprets the Babylonian Talmud: "His name was Nimrod for he Himrid [incited] the whole world against the Lord." ( Babylonian Talmud, MasechetHulin, p 89a ) Regarding Pharaoh, Maimonides explains affectionately: "You should know, my son, that Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is in fact the evil inclination." ( Maimonides, The Writings of Rambam [Maimonides], "The Ethics of the Rambam to His Son, Rabbi Abraham) Elimelech of Lizhensk, author of Noam Elimelech (The Pleasantness of Elimelech), simply wrote: "...Pharaoh, who is called 'the evil inclination." ( Elimelech of Lizhensk, Noam Elimelech (The Pleasantness of Elimelech), ParashatBeshalach [Portion, "When PharaohSent"] Rabbi Jacob Joseph Katz added depth to the distinction regarding Pharaoh. He explained that the words, "Pharaoh had let the people go" (Exodus 13:17), designate the stage in one's spiritual development when a person breaks free from the evil inclination's heavy shackles. In his words: "And when Pharaoh had let the people go - when one's organs exit the authority of the evil inclination, as during the exodus from Egypt, they came out of the forty-nine gates of Tuma'a [impurity, egotism] toward sanctity [bestowal]." ( Rabbi Jacob Joseph Katz, Toldot Yaakov Yosef [The Generations of Jacob Joseph], BeShalach [When Pharaoh Sent], item 1) And now I would like to invite you to receive FREE Instant Access to Like A Bundle of Reeds: A must-Read book on the current global crisis and the gift the Jews have to give to the nations of the world. You can access this FREE eBook anytime at: http://www.BundleofReeds.com
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