We all know you're supposed to search for chometz the night before the Seder. As the Mishna in Pesachim says:
(א) אוֹר לְאַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר, בּוֹדְקִין אֶת הֶחָמֵץ לְאוֹר הַנֵּר.
(1)On the evening [or] of the fourteenth of the month of Nisan, one searches for leavened bread in his home by candlelight.
While most of us only think of the physical aspect of searching, there is also a spiritual aspect. We have to find the Yetzer Hara in our lives (and make sure to burn him/not to eat him). A question arises though, how do we find the Yetzer Hara?
... וְאַעַ"פִּ שֶׁנִּתְּנָה בוֹ דֵּעָה לִקְרוֹת לוֹ שֵׁמוֹת, לֹא נִתַּן בּוֹ יֵצֶר הָרָע עַד אָכְלוֹ מִן הָעֵץ וְנִכְנַס בּוֹ יֵצֶר הָרָע וְיָדַע מַה בֵּין טוֹב לָרָע (בראשית רבה):
... Although he (Adam) had been endowed with knowledge to give names to all creatures, yet the evil inclination did not become an active principle in him until he had eaten of the tree, when it entered into him and he became aware of the difference between good and evil.
According to this Rashi, the Yetzer Hara only became pertinent in Adam (or any person) once he [they] sinned for the first time. This begs the question, how did Adam (or us) sin for the first time if he [we] felt no desire to?
According to "Getting to Know the Yetzer Hara" by Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann on Torah.org, Adam never would have sinned if the Yetzer Hara hadn't breached his "pure" Neshamah (through the snake). Once he did that, the Yetzer Hara had free reign over Adam.
Maybe have to think about this differently. Maybe we aren't searching for the Yetzer Hara, but we're really searching for the pure Neshamah that lived (and still partially lives) inside of us.
Maybe have to think about this differently. Maybe we aren't searching for the Yetzer Hara, but we're really searching for the pure Neshamah that lived (and still partially lives) inside of us.
Have a zissen Pesach.