My desires vs my Creator

Hi,

"The Torah describes the creation of humanity with the verb, 'Vayyitzer.' Why is the verb 'Vayyitzer' written with a, extra, doubled Yud (Vav-Yud-Yud-Tzadi-Reish)?

"R' Shimon ben Pazi said: Woe to me from my desires (Yitzri), Woe to me from my Creator (Yotzri)!"

(Talmud, Eruvin 18a)

The commentator Rashi explained: My desires pain me when I follow my Creator, but woe to me if I follow my desires!

Have a great day,

Mordechai

An animal's soul?

Hi,

"Why does the Torah say, ‘Vayyitzer [And Gd created],’ with two yuds? Because Gd created humans with two yitzrim [natures], the yetzer tov and yetzer ra.

"Rabbi Nachman bar Yitzchak asked: If so, then will you say that animals do not have a yetzer, since for them the Torah says Vayyitzer with only one yud? But we see that they damage and bite and kick!..."

(Talmud, Berachot 61a)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Who governs you?

Hi,

"The righteous are governed by their good nature...the wicked are governed by their evil nature...the deeds of the intermediate are governed by both simultaneously."

(Talmud, Berachot 61b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Woe

Hi,

"Rabbi Shimon Ben Pazi said: Woe is me from my created nature, Woe is me from my Creator!"

Rashi [12th century French commentator] explains: Woe is me from my Creator if I follow my natural inclinations, and woe is me from my natural inclinations if I listen to my Creator!

(Talmud, Berachot 61a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Be generous, good and friendly

Hi,

"Rabbi Yehoshua said: An evil [un-generous] eye, an inclination toward evil, and hatred of others, remove a person from the world."

(Pirkei Avot 2:11)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Eliminating the yetzer hara

Hi,

"'And they called out to Gd in a great voice (Nehemiah 9)' – What did they say?

"Rav or R' Yochanan said, 'Woe, woe! This [yetzer hara - inclination toward evil] is the one who destroyed the Temple, burned His sanctuary and killed all of the righteous people and exiled Israel from their land, and still he dances among us! You only gave him to us so that we could receive reward; we do not want him, or his reward!'…

"They fasted three days and nights and Gd gave him to them. Something resembling a lion of fire emerged from the Holy of Holies, and the prophet told Israel, "This is the yetzer of idolatry," as it says (Zecharyah 5), 'And he said: This is wickedness.'

"When they grabbed it, a hair of its beard fell out and it screamed, and its voice travelled 400 parsah. They said, 'What should we do? Maybe, Gd-forbid, Heaven will have mercy upon him!' The prophet told them, 'Put him in a lead container and cover its mouth with lead, for lead absorbs sound.' Thus it is written, 'And he said: This is wickedness. And he cast it into the ephah and he cast a piece of lead to her mouth.'

"They said, 'Since this is a time of mercy, let us ask for mercy regarding the yetzer for immorality.' They prayed and it was given into their hands. They said, 'See that if we were to kill it, the world would be destroyed!' They imprisoned it for three days and sought a fresh egg in Israel and couldn't find one.

"They said, 'What shall we do? If we were to kill it, we would destroy the world. Let us ask for mercy upon part – but the Heavens do not go partway!' They put alcohol in his eye and let him go, and this was effective to the point that people do not feel desire for their relatives.

"In Israel they explained [the above-cited words 'a great voice'] thus: Rav Gidel said, 'Great – They elevated Him with the great Name.' Rav Matna said, 'The powerful, the great, the mighty, the awesome.'"

(Talmud, Yoma 69b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Justifying evil as righteousness

Hi,

"One's [evil] inclination, particularly if he is a Torah scholar, does not suggest he commit an apparent and obvious sin; rather, it dresses up the sin in the guise of a mitzvah, and so it misleads even the greatest of the great. The primary example of this is the sale of Joseph; the brothers of Joseph were convinced that he had the status of a [malicious] pursuer."

(Rav Moshe Tzuriel, Otzrot haTorah pg. 228, as translated by R' Ezra Goldschmiedt in Toronto Torah)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The value of Seudah Shelishit (Shalosh Seudos)

Hi,

"When you sit at seudah shlishit [the third meal of Shabbat] in the company of the pious, do you not feel anything?

"The righteous say that the time of seudah shlishit is the time described [in Avot 4:17] as, 'A moment of teshuvah and good deeds is greater than all of the next world's life.' My great father-in-law told me that he heard from the Maggid of Koznitz that seudah shlishit is in the category of, 'The righteous sitting with crowns atop their heads, benefiting from the radiance of the Shechinah. [Berachot 17a]'...

"Certainly, your laziness seduces you further, saying, 'Who could compare to the Maggid and other righteous people?' But I have already told you that responses like this are the product of your yetzer hara."

(Rav Klonymus Kalman Schapiro, Bnei Machshavah Tovah, Seder Emtzaei v'Yesod haChevra 11)

Have a great day,
Mordecahi

Using wheat for matzah

Hi,

"Another reason why we use wheat, specifically, for matzah, is that the Talmud (Berachot 61) compares the inclination for sin to a wheat kernel. We grind up that wheat in a mill, like one who is humbling his inclination for sin."

(Taamei haMinhagim 493)

Have a great day,
Mordechai