Get Smart TB Berachot 61

Today’s daf TB Berachot 61 teaches us that in one very important way how we human beings are very different than the angels. Angels have no free will and can only do God’s bidding. When God created humans, He gave us free will to choose to obey or disobey.

“Rav Naḥman bar Rav Ḥisda interpreted homiletically: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Then the Lord God formed [vayyitzer  וַיִּ֩יצֶר֩] man” (Genesis 2:7), with a double yod? This double yod alludes to that fact that the Holy One, Blessed be He, created two inclinations; one a good inclination and one an evil inclination. With regard to one’s inclinations, it was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yosei HaGelili says: The good inclination rules the righteous, as it is stated: “And my heart is dead within me” (Psalms 109:22); the evil inclination has been completely banished from his heart. The evil inclination rules the wicked, as it is stated: “Transgression speaks to the wicked, there is no fear of God before his eyes” (Psalms 36:2). Middling people are ruled by both the good and evil inclinations, as it is stated: “Because He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from them that rule his soul” (Psalms 109:31).” (Sefaria.org translation)

This past year I read David Jaffe’s book Changing The World From The Inside Out: A Jewish Approach To Personal And Social Change. Of all the definitions of the good and evil inclination, I like his the best. “A literal translation of yetzer harah is ‘evil/bad inclination,’ although the ‘evil/bad’ part is not exactly accurate because it is a morally neutral force. It is simply the drive for instant gratification depending how we direct the drive, it can build and create or tear down and destroy.” (Page 39)

The Midrash Genesis Rabbah 9:7 recognizes the positive aspect of the yetzer harah. Without it the world would not be able to exist. “Rabbi Nahman said in Rabbi Samuel's name: 'Behold, it was good' refers to the Good Desire; 'And behold, it was very good' refers to the Evil Desire. (It only says 'very good' after man was created with both the good and bad inclinations, in all other cases it only says 'and God saw that it was good') Can then the Evil Desire be very good? That would be extraordinary! But without the Evil Desire, however, no man would build a house, take a wife and beget children; and thus said Solomon: 'Again, I considered all labour and all excelling in work, that it is a man's rivalry with his neighbour.' (Ecclesiastes 4:4).” (Sefaria.org translation)

Concerning the other inclination, the yetzer hatov Jaffe writes “In Jewish sources the yetzer harah lives intention with the yetzer hatov, the ‘good inclination.’ The yetzer hatov functions in a similar way to what neuroscientists call the ‘prefrontal cortex,’ the part of the brain that weighs priorities, makes decisions, and engages in rational thought. Again, ‘good’ is a bit of a misnomer because too much yetzer hatov can also be destructive. The ideal is a balance were both inclinations work together toward prosocial goals. Achieving such a balance is the art of living well if the yetzer harah is all about ‘me’ the  yetzer hatov is other focused and puts the ‘me’ in the context of relationships in the world at large. (Page 40)

Growing up I was a big fan of the popular TV show Get Smart starring Don Adams. Maxwell Smart captured the challenge of channeling our yetzer harah when he used to say after defeating the villain, “If he had only used his evil for good.”