{"id":1088411,"date":"2020-01-09T22:30:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T22:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/%d7%9c%d7%9c%d7%90-%d7%a7%d7%98%d7%92%d7%95%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%94\/dr-emuna-the-evil-inclination-is-good\/"},"modified":"2023-05-28T12:02:13","modified_gmt":"2023-05-28T12:02:13","slug":"dr-emuna-the-evil-inclination-is-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/1088411\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Emuna – The Evil Inclination is GOOD?!"},"content":{"rendered":"
I received this\u00a0<\/span><\/span>question\u00a0<\/span><\/span>from a reader<\/span><\/span>\u00a0from the article\u00a0<\/span><\/span>The Secret Weapon<\/span><\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Rachel, look at this paragraph – I think it’s a TYPO: It says the job of the Evil Inclination is to make us connect to Hashem all\u00a0<\/span><\/span>day!!<\/span><\/span>\u00a0That typo was the Evil Inclination at work, no??\u00a0<\/span><\/span>….or<\/span><\/span>\u00a0did I read it wrong???!!!<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s a fantastic question, and the answer threw me by surprise the first time that I read it also! But i<\/span><\/span>t’s not a typo!!! You read it right.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If everything that Hashem creates is GOOD, then could it be that the Evil Inclination is BAD? Could that be? No. The Evil Inclination is a very good thing – or he wouldn’t be around. Remember, the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Gemara<\/span><\/span>\u00a0relates that the Sages got rid of the Evil Inclination for 3 days and saw that the world couldn’t continue…<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>
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So, yes, the point of the Evil Inclination IS to get you to connect to Hashem all day! To come to Hashem in prayer: \u201cHashem, help me!\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Hashem,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0help me overcome this lust!\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Hashem<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0help me overcome this bad character trait! Hashem, the Evil Inclination is trying to get me sad and down and that I have no hope – give me\u00a0<\/span><\/span>emuna<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in your mercy and my own potential!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If everything was easy, you would be filled with arrogance and never ask Hashem for help… which means your connection\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to G-d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>would be very weak. So yes – the Evil Inclination serves the amazing purpose of helping us get closer to Hashem!\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As a side note, the E<\/span><\/span>v<\/span><\/span>i<\/span><\/span>l Inclination i<\/span><\/span>s also very good because it makes our efforts worth it. If it was easy<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0there wouldn’t be so much reward –\u00a0<\/span><\/span>lefum<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>tza<\/span><\/span>\u2019a<\/span><\/span>ra<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>agra<\/span><\/span>. Rabbi Arush has talked about this<\/span><\/span>\u00a0many times<\/span><\/span>, that in our generation it is SO HARD t<\/span><\/span>o serve Hashem in holiness and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>emuna<\/span><\/span>, t<\/span><\/span>hat the simplest Jew serving Hashem on a simple level in our days is GREATER than the greatest Rabbis of previous generations<\/span><\/span>, and the simplest Jew guarding his eyes or guarding her modest is \u201cthe holy of holies\u201d!\u00a0<\/span><\/span>This is part of the secret of how Moshiach\u00a0<\/span><\/span>specifically\u00a0<\/span><\/span>comes in the lowest generation – because our merits are out of this world<\/span><\/span>\u00a0to serve Hashem on even the most basic level<\/span><\/span>, because it is SO HARD.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/span>
We are way too hard on ourselves!\u00a0<\/span><\/span>The tiniest desire,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0let alone action towards serving Hashem, praying and increasing our holiness is gigantic in our generation. We think that if we didn’t perform the mitzvah perfectly, then it was worthless. Not so, and certainly not in our generation! Hashem knows that there is a tidal wave against us, so every millimeter gained is beyond massive – and rewarded accordingly.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The key is to APPRECIATE even the tiniest improvement and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to\u00a0<\/span><\/span>thank Hashem for giving us the merit to achieve it, instead of complaining that we didn’t achieve more. This is the crux of everything.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0If you appreciate it and thank Hashem for it, ignoring all the flaws and faults and accept what you could achieve with humility, then your merit is gigantic!!!<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/span>
This concept is normal for me now, since I internalized this some time ago. When I translate Rabbi Arush, I don’t add in my own comments to be able to explain what he writes (otherwise you could never learn anything. Almost everything he teaches is interlinked with everything else. The more you learn and then review, the more you understand things you didn’t even realize that he was saying before…)\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But, yes<\/span><\/span>\u00a0–<\/span><\/span>\u00a0it’s mind-blowing! I find so much of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Rabbi Arush’<\/span><\/span>s teachings mind-blowing<\/span><\/span>, and oftentimes the exact opposite of what I thought. The truth he teaches\u00a0<\/span><\/span>is so simple\u00a0<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span>t it is easy to dismiss it, a<\/span><\/span>nd yet so deep<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>that we can forever continue to delve into them and find more and more life-changing advice.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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***<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rachel\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Avrahami<\/span><\/span>\u00a0grew up\u00a0in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>far off<\/span><\/span>\u00a0valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>The Garden of Emuna<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions and comments to her email:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I received this\u00a0question\u00a0from a reader\u00a0from the article\u00a0The Secret Weapon:\u00a0 Rachel, look at this paragraph – I think it’s a TYPO: It says the job of the Evil Inclination is to make us connect to Hashem all\u00a0day!!\u00a0That typo was the Evil Inclination at work, no??\u00a0….or\u00a0did I read it wrong???!!!\u00a0 \u00a0 It\u2019s a fantastic question, and the … Continue reading “Dr. Emuna – The Evil Inclination is GOOD?!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62109,"featured_media":1088412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[15389],"tags":[16369,23662,72740],"author_post":[15478],"new_serie":[86795],"class_list":["post-1088411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-physical-and-emotional-health","tag-emuna","tag-yetzer-hara","tag-thanking-hashem","author_post-rachel-avrahami","new_serie-dr-emuna"],"acf":{"intro_text":"

A reader asks: How could it be that the Evil Inclination is good for us? I thought the \u201cYetzer Hara\u201d was bad \u2013 isn\u2019t that his name, after all?<\/p>\n","special_content_in_the_post":"none","meta_title":"Dr. Emuna - The Evil Inclination is GOOD?!","meta_description":"A reader asks: How could it be that the Evil Inclination is good for us? I thought the \u201cYetzer Hara\u201d was bad \u2013 isn\u2019t that his name, after all?","landing_form":false,"paragraph_first":"","paragraph_second":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1088411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1088411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1088411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1088412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1088411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1088411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1088411"},{"taxonomy":"author_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author_post?post=1088411"},{"taxonomy":"new_serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/new_serie?post=1088411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}