Yetzer Hara (יצר הרע) — The Evil Inclination

Core definition

The yetzer hara is the soul's evil inclination — the inner force of darkness whose desire is to the physical. In the Noach discourse's battle-schema, the yetzer hara is darkness against the yetzer tov's light: his intellect is the nefesh habehamis (the animal soul), and his middos are love, might, and glory — the animal soul's drives turned to self [19800/maamar_012 :: Overview].

How the Rebbeim develop it

The battle and its arena. "The time of prayer is the time of battle": the war between the yetzer hara and the yetzer tov is fought in davening. Each side uses its greatest powers, with weapons for near and far. The yetzer hara's revealed (near) weapons are the permitted physical things — "the Rebbe: eaten for desire, the permitted becomes evil — a weapon of spiritual death"; his far weapons are unknowing sins — illustrated by the scholar in Liozna whose doubted faith was healed by a tikkun. The yetzer tov's near weapon is kabbalas ol (doing for Hashem's command, without "why" — unchangeable, above intellect's changes); his far weapon is yiras shamayim (caution in everything) [19800/maamar_012 :: Overview]. The two sides are Yackov and Esav — spirituality and physicality: "one people will be stronger than the other."

The yetzer hara's craft. He "invents proofs — even knowing lies." His desiring power grows with feeding — "whoever satisfies it starves it" — escalating to theft and murder (the ben sorer u'moreh) [19800/maamar_012 :: Overview]. His seduction is gradual and disguised: it begins in the permitted, even disguised as a mitzvah. The Bereishis maamar traces his ladder of delights — from taste (animalistic) through scent, voice, and sight, up through the middos to sechel and chochmah itself — showing that no level is immune [15966/maamar_004 :: Overview].

The Torah as its spice. "If you do good" — the Torah is the yetzer hara's tavlin (spice/antidote): "I created the yetzer hara, and I created the Torah as its spice." The practical rule is "sanctify yourself in the permitted" — every act weighed for its benefit in avodah — since the yetzer hara's foothold is precisely the permitted used for desire [15966/maamar_004 :: Overview].

The refutation of excuses. Two excuses are refuted: "natural heat" (it's just my nature) and "shogeg" (it was inadvertent). Against them stands the Divine soul's root, which is above the animal soul's root — Yackov over Esav, Tikkun over Tohu — and "they adjure him" as strength drawn from the root: "let the weak say: I am strong" [15966/maamar_004 :: Overview]. Even the elevated are not exempt: the subtle follies of the great — self-credit and arrogance (ga'avah = 15 = Kah) — are worse than the simple man's, whose kabbalas ol is the foundation [15966/maamar_004 :: Overview].

Key distinctions

Yetzer hara vs. yetzer tov. Darkness vs. light; the animal soul's intellect and middos vs. the Divine soul's kabbalas ol and yiras shamayim. The battle is not somewhere else — it is in davening, in the strange thoughts that come precisely when one stands before the King of kings (while in business, none come) [19800/maamar_012 :: Overview].

Near vs. far weapons. Near: the permitted physical things (the yetzer hara), kabbalas ol (the yetzer tov). Far: unknowing sins, yiras shamayim [19800/maamar_012 :: Overview].

The permitted as the battlefield. The yetzer hara does not begin with the forbidden; he begins in the permitted — eaten for desire, the permitted becomes evil. Hence "sanctify yourself in the permitted" is the front line [19800/maamar_012 :: Overview; 15966/maamar_004 :: Overview].

Related concepts

• Nefesh habehamis — the animal soul, the yetzer hara's intellect and seat.
• Yetzer tov — the good inclination; light against darkness.
• Kelipas nogah — the "shining husk," the permitted realm where the battle over desire is fought.
• Teshuvah — the return that breaks the yetzer hara's hold; "the light's advantage from the darkness."
• Kabbalas ol — the yetzer tov's near weapon: doing without "why."

Sources

• 19800/maamar_012 (Noach, Yiddish, "Tzohar ta'aseh lateivah"): the battle-schema — darkness vs. light; near and far weapons of both sides; the yetzer hara's invented proofs; "whoever satisfies it starves it"; the permitted eaten for desire; "the time of prayer is the time of battle."
• 15966/maamar_004 (Shabbos Bereishis, "Bereishis bara Elokim"): the yetzer hara and the Torah as its spice; "sanctify yourself in the permitted"; the ladder of delights; the gradual craft beginning in the permitted; refutation of "natural heat" and "shogeg"; Yackov/Esav and Tikkun/Tohu; the subtle follies of the elevated.