EVIL INCLINATIONS

Parashat Acharei Mot

Nisan 29, 5782 / April 29-30, 2022

Torah: Leviticus 16:1 – 18:30

Haftarah: 1 Samuel 20:18-42 (Machar Chodesh)

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This d'var torah is offered in memory of Susan Arbetman, mother of Marilyn (Martin) Lee, who passed away on Friday. Susan was one of the last remaining survivors of Auschwitz. Thursday, April 28 is Yom Hazikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah, The Day of Remembering the Shoah and the Heroism, colloquially known as Yom Hashoah. 

I offer the following in her memory as well, and as a caution to us all.

"Memory is redemption; forgetting is oblivion." This quote from the Besht (Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism), found at the entrance to Yad Vashem, the Shoah Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, can be read in different ways. First, remembering the dead is a form of tichiyat hameitim - giving life to the dead - a form of redemption - while forgetting them is consigning them, their lives, their accomplishments, their aspirations, to oblivion. This is what the Nazis hoped to accomplish against an entire people. Second, remembering is a way in which the rememberer redeems him/her self and the world from oblivion. As the well-known Santayana quote says, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". This is what will happen if those who tire of remembering, or worse, those who deny the events, should ever take over. By remembering, we save ourselves and our world from oblivion.

Y'hi zekherah barukh - May the memory of Susan Arbetman be a blessing to her family and friends.

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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Feigel bat Kreina and D'vorah bat Feigel.

Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at: https://bnaihayim.org/  

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Lunch and Learn is going on hiatus for the month of May, as I will be traveling quite a bit. We meet Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live, and may be going back to in-person as well starting in June. We’ll be continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov. On June 7, we'll be at page 5 (my pagination) of Chapter 6 of BT Berakhot (40a) - "Raba the son of Samuel said in the name of R. Chiya:...” The reading may be found at: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QOGujnXBhbJalQbfp3vPpK7TeeZejXZo/view?usp=sharing 

Previous chapters of Ein Ya'akov are available as follows:

Chapter 1: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jt-NLamlIiAGpBhU7WNrCVZGBYhHHWCN/view?usp=sharing  

Chapter 2: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vJHoKQJwoObg2ygnnXc7qIV5Adgcvswc/view?usp=sharing 

Chapters 3 and 4: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TpQwHh2XyWT9XYQ5OAjwxDbuVpXbzIDY/view?usp=sharing 

Chapter 5: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18naYXIfd37WqagfJ5UfJoH84amqt2-tA/view?usp=sharing 

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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you can read here: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com   
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source. 
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EVIL INCLINATIONS

“And he will take from the congregation of the Children of Israel two kids of goats for a sin offering …” Leviticus 16:5

Rabbi Israel Salanter (founder of the ethical self-discipline movement Mussar) taught that there are two kinds of yetzer hara (evil inclination): 1. that which comes from bodily lust; and, 2. that which entices a person to sin as an act of defiance. He cites a teaching from the Talmud (Berakhot 54), which says that the unusual Hebrew formation in the Sh’ma of “with all your heart” (בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ - b’khol l’vav’kha instead of בְּכָל לִבֶּךָ -  b’khol libekha - two “beits” instead of one) means that we can and should use the first type of yetzer hara in combination with our yetzer hatov (good inclination) for good purposes – e.g., utilizing one’s lust for power to channel it into accomplishing much for the benefit of society. On the other hand, with regard to the second type of evil inclination, that of defiance, one should flee as far as possible from it.

The commentary Tzvi Yisrael says that Rabbi Salanter’s teaching is borne out by the two kids that are the sin offerings of Yom Kippur. Regarding the evil inclination coming from lust, Lev. 16:9 says, “Aaron will sacrifice the goat”, meaning this evil inclination must be channeled into service of God. Concerning the other kid, representing the evil inclination of defiance of God, Lev. 16:10 says it must “go for a scapegoat into the wilderness” – one must drive it away and stay as far as possible from it. (From Itturei Torah)

The difficult part of all this is recognizing which evil inclination we are dealing with. For that, we must really know ourselves – and that is what Mussar and cheshbon hanefesh (accounting of the soul) are all about. Who says that Yom Kippur only comes once a year?

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom - Rabbi Emeritus

Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RabbiRichardFlom 
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT Yevamot 88a
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