“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 1998
Well, who are you?
I really want to know
Tell me who are you?
Because I really want to know
- The Who, 1978
(ה) וַיַּ֣רְא יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י רַבָּ֛ה רָעַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְכָל־יֵ֙צֶר֙ מַחְשְׁבֹ֣ת לִבּ֔וֹ רַ֥ק רַ֖ע כָּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃ (ו) וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם יְהוָ֔ה כִּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃ (ז) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה אֶמְחֶ֨ה אֶת־הָאָדָ֤ם אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֙אתִי֙ מֵעַל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה מֵֽאָדָם֙ עַד־בְּהֵמָ֔ה עַד־רֶ֖מֶשׂ וְעַד־ע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם כִּ֥י נִחַ֖מְתִּי כִּ֥י עֲשִׂיתִֽם׃
(5) Adonai saw how great was humankind’s wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by their mind was nothing but evil all the time. (6) And Adonai regretted that Adonai had made humankind on earth, and Adonai's heart was saddened. (7) Adonai said, “I will blot out from the earth the men whom I created—men together with beasts, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I regret that I made them.”
(Hezekiah ben Manoah, France, 1250-1310)
[One could posit that] seeing that God has foreknowledge of all that humans will do, creating them had been an exercise in futility to start with; [therefore], why had God bothered?
(כא) וַיָּ֣רַח יְהוָה֮ אֶת־רֵ֣יחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־לִבּ֗וֹ לֹֽא־אֹ֠סִף לְקַלֵּ֨ל ע֤וֹד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ בַּעֲב֣וּר הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֠י יֵ֣צֶר לֵ֧ב הָאָדָ֛ם רַ֖ע מִנְּעֻרָ֑יו וְלֹֽא־אֹסִ֥ף ע֛וֹד לְהַכּ֥וֹת אֶת־כָּל־חַ֖י כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִֽׂיתִי׃
Adonai smelled the pleasing odor, and Adonai said: “Never again will I doom the earth because of humankind, since the devisings of a human’s mind are evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done.
(ב) וְאִם תֹּאמַר, אֵין אָדָם יָכוֹל לִשְׁמֹר אֶת עַצְמוֹ? אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אַתָּה עָשִׂיתָ אוֹתוֹ רַע. לָמָּה? תִּינוֹק הָיִיתָ וְלֹא חָטָאתָ, נִתְגַּדַּלְתָּ וְחָטָאתָ. וְכַמָּה דְבָרִים קָשִׁים יֵשׁ בָּעוֹלָם יוֹתֵר מִיֵּצֶר הָרַע וּמָרִים מִמֶּנּוּ וְאַתֶּם מְמַתְּקִין אוֹתוֹ. אֵין לְךָ מַר מִן הַתּוּרְמוּס וְאַתָּה שׁוֹקֵד לְשָׁלְקוֹ וּלְהַמְתִּיקוֹ בַמַּיִם שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים עַד שֶׁהוּא נַעֲשָׂה מָתוֹק, וְכֵן חַרְדָּל וּצְלַף וּדְבָרִים הַרְבֵּה. וּמָה, מָרִים שֶׁבָּרָאתִי אוֹתָן אַתָּה מְמַתְּקָן לְצָרְכֶךָ, יֵצֶר הָרָע הַמָּסוּר בְּיָדֶיךָ עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה.
If you should insist that no person is able to guard him- or herself from the evil inclination, the Holy One, blessed be God, replies: That is not so. YOU caused YOURSELVES to become evil. When you were a child, you did not sin, but when you grew up, you did sin. There are many things in this world that are harsher and more bitter than the evil inclination, yet you know how to alter them. For instance, there is nothing more bitter than lupine [a plant], yet when you boil it in water seven times it becomes sweet and edible. Similarly, you sweeten mustard and capers and numerous other things. If you are able to sweeten the bitter things that I have created to satisfy your needs, how much more so are you able to control the evil inclination within you.
Rava said: Initially, the verse called the evil inclination a traveler coming from afar. Subsequently, the verse calls it a guest, as one welcomes it. Ultimately, the verse calls it man, indicating significance, as it became the homeowner.
Yael Melamede - The Dangers of Little Lies (The Forward, 2016)
The yetzer ha’ra privileges our short-term goals over what might be sounder long-term goals. This inclination uses our powers of rationalization to sneak or smuggle things right under our yetzer hatov. The yetzer ha’ra acknowledges that selfishness is universal, not the act of an evil few.
Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness, pp. 24 – 26
Your inner adversary, your yetzer ha’ra, come[s] at you with challenges that are uniquely tailored just for you. You’re only going to be tempted or pushed in regard to traits and choices that are personally challenging for you. Perhaps you know you should be more patient with your spouse or children, and you want to be, but as soon as you set that resolution, whose inner voice is it that points out to you how outrageous it is that they are slow or late? You want to open your hand in charity, but as soon as you make the first move to reach into your pocket, where does the thought originate that wonders whether you will have enough for yourself? You decide to lose a few pounds, so who is it who tells you that having only one more won’t matter?
The yetzer ha’ra will do everything in its power to subvert your higher self and to influence you to indulge your desires. Hence the goal is not to try to destroy the yetzer ha’ra but to control it, and to apply it for good. Ben Zoma asked, eizeh hu gibbor? Who is strong? His answer is: Ha’kovesh et yitzro, the one who controls their evil inclination.”
The answer is that everything is under the control of heaven except humankind’s decision to live in awe of the Creator or to defy God. Seeing that God had decided to create a creature equipped with free will, God had simultaneously abrogated the right to interfere as long as humankind’s use of his freedom did not threaten to undo God's universe.