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The Rabbis Captured the Evil Inclination in a Jar

A fiery cub walked out of the ruined Holy of Holies. They sealed its mouth with lead. For three days no hen in the land laid an egg.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. Three Days with Empty Mouths
  2. The Second Capture
  3. Heaven Would Not Give Half
  4. The Small Snake Left in the Basket

They cried until their throats tore. The Temple was already ash. The righteous were already dead. Israel was already scattered. The thing they blamed still danced among them.

The Rabbis Captured the Evil Inclination in a Jar Click for full size

"This is what wrecked the sanctuary," they said to God. "You gave it to us so we could take a reward for resisting it. We do not want it. We do not want the reward."

A scrap fell from the sky. One word on it: emet (אמת), truth. Rav Hanina said, "Learn from this. Truth is the seal of the Holy One."

Three Days with Empty Mouths

They sat in a fast three days and three nights. At the end of the fast, heaven handed the thing over.

It came out of the Holy of Holies like a lion cub made of fire. The prophet standing with them, Zechariah in the old telling, named it. "This is the spirit of idolatry. This is what you asked for."

They seized it. A hair slipped from its mane. The cub screamed, and the sound ran four hundred parasangs. They froze. If heaven heard that voice, mercy might come down and take the prisoner back.

"Throw it in a lead pot," the prophet said. "Cover its mouth with lead. Lead swallows sound." They did. The scream stopped in the metal. Heat still pulsed through the sides of the pot. No one sat near it.

The Second Capture

While the hour of favor still held, they asked for the other drive, the one that bends bodies toward each other in the wrong hour and the right one. Heaven put that in their hands too.

A warning came with it. "See this. If you kill it, the world ends."

They locked it up anyway. Three days. Then someone went looking for a fresh egg, laid that morning, anywhere in the land of Israel.

Not one.

Hens sat still. Nests stayed empty. No mating, no clutch, no new life under a wing. Markets that always had a basket of eggs had dust. A woman turned a nest with her hand and brought up only straw. The drive they had jailed was the same drive that makes a house, a child, a field, a student who will not leave a page. They had thought they were bagging an enemy. They had bagged the engine.

Heaven Would Not Give Half

They could not kill it. The world would stop. They asked to take only half, to keep desire and cut its worst edge. Heaven does not split a living force that way. Half is not given from above.

So they put out its eyes and released it. The worst pull, the one that had sent Israel after foreign worship until the city burned, went dim. A man was no longer driven toward the relatives closest to him in that ruinous way. The rest of the hunger walked back into the streets on its own feet.

Rav had said the evil inclination sits like a fly between the two openings of the heart. Shmuel said it is like a grain of wheat at the doorway. Either way it had a body again. They had held the body in lead and had not been able to keep it there.

The Small Snake Left in the Basket

Rabbi Honya, in the name of Rabbi Dosa bar Tevet, gave the count. God created two evil inclinations in the world, one toward idolatry and one toward licentiousness. The first has been uprooted. The second remains. Anyone who masters the one that remains is credited as if he had mastered both.

A snake charmer, Rabbi Yehuda said, had two snakes. He charmed the large one and left the small. "Whoever can handle this small one, I will count it as both." That was the bargain they walked out with. The fiery cub did not go back into the Holy of Holies. The empty nests filled again once the pot was opened. Desire returned, half-blind, still able to build a house and still able to wreck one.

They had wanted it gone. They learned they could not live in a world where it was gone. The lead pot sat empty in the court. Somewhere a hen laid. The sound that had run four hundred parasangs did not come back. Other sounds did. A child cried in a doorway. A man reached for a woman who was his to reach for. The yetzer hara (יצר הרע), the evil inclination, went back to work under a different name, and they had to live with the work.

Yetzer HaraTalmudDesireTempleCreation
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Yoma 69bTalmud Bavli, Yoma

Translation of the source text.William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic + William Davidson Edition - English · CC-BY-NC

Sitting in the Temple courtyard is permitted only for kings of the House of David, as it is stated: “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord” (I Chronicles 17:16)? How, then, could the High Priest have been sitting? The Gemara explains: As Rav Ḥisda said in a similar context: This took place not in the Israelite courtyard, where the prohibition against sitting applies, but in the women’s courtyard.

Here, too, the reading was in the women’s courtyard, where it is permitted to sit. § The Gemara clarifies: And where was this statement of Rav Ḥisda originally stated? It was stated in relation to the following: The Sages raised an objection based on that which was taught in a baraita: Where did they read the Torah scroll in fulfillment of the mitzva of assembly, in which the Torah is publicly read on the Sukkot following the Sabbatical Year?

It was read in the Temple courtyard. Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: It is read on the Temple Mount, as it is stated concerning the public reading performed by Ezra: “And he read from it before the wide road that was before the Gate of the Water” (Nehemiah 8:3). And Rav Ḥisda said: The courtyard referred to by the first tanna is the women’s courtyard. Apropos the verse in Nehemiah, the Gemara interprets an adjacent verse homiletically.

It is stated: “And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God” (Nehemiah 8:6). The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of “great” here? Rav Yosef said that Rav said: It means that he ascribed greatness to Him by enunciating God’s explicit name. Rav Giddel said: He established that one should say at the conclusion of every blessing: “Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, from eternity to eternity” (I Chronicles 16:36).

Abaye said to Rav Dimi: Why does Rav Giddel interpret it this way? Perhaps the meaning of “great” is that he ascribed greatness to Him by enunciating God’s explicit name? Rav Dimi said to him: The explicit name may not be enunciated in the provinces, i.e., outside the Temple courtyard. The Gemara asks: And is this really not permitted?

Isn’t it written: “And Ezra the Scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose... and Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God” (Nehemiah 8:4-6); and Rav Giddel said: “Great” in this verse means that he ascribed greatness to Him by enunciating God’s explicit name. Since this event took place outside the Temple (see Nehemiah 8:3), it suggests that God’s explicit name may indeed be enunciated outside the Temple.

The Gemara answers: That cannot be proven from here because the permission to use God’s explicit name in that context was a provisional edict issued in exigent circumstances, since the people had uniquely come together in a prayerful commitment to God. The Gemara recounts the event described in the verses: The verse states: And they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God (Nehemiah 9:4). What was said?

Rav said, and some say it was Rabbi Yoḥanan who said: Woe, woe. It is this, i.e., the evil inclination for idol worship, that destroyed the Temple, and burned its Sanctuary, and murdered all the righteous ones, and caused the Jewish people to be exiled from their land. And it still dances among us, i.e., it still affects us. Didn’t You give it to us solely for the purpose of our receiving reward for overcoming it?

We do not want it, and we do not want its reward. We are prepared to forgo the potential rewards for overcoming the evil inclination as long as it departs from us. In response to their prayer a note fell to them from the heavens upon which was written: Truth, indicating that God accepted their request. The Gemara makes a parenthetical observation.

Rav Ḥanina said: Learn from this that the seal of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is truth. In response to the indication of divine acceptance, they observed a fast for three days and three nights, and He delivered the evil inclination to them. A form of a fiery lion cub came forth from the chamber of the Holy of Holies. Zechariah the prophet said to the Jewish people: This is the evil inclination for idol worship, as it is stated in the verse that refers to this event: “And he said: This is the evil one” (Zechariah 5:8).

The use of the word “this” indicates that the evil inclination was perceived in a physical form. When they caught hold of it one of its hairs fell, and it let out a shriek of pain that was heard for four hundred parasangs. They said: What should we do to kill it? Perhaps, Heaven forfend, they will have mercy upon him from Heaven, since it cries out so much.

The prophet said to them: Throw it into a container made of lead and seal the opening with lead, since lead absorbs sound. As it is stated: “And he said: This is the evil one. And he cast it down into the midst of the measure, and he cast a stone of lead upon its opening” (Zechariah 5:8). They followed this advice and were freed of the evil inclination for idol worship.

When they saw that the evil inclination for idol worship was delivered into their hands as they requested, the Sages said: Since it is an auspicious time, let us pray also concerning the evil inclination for sin in the area of sexual relationships. They prayed, and it was also delivered into their hands. Zechariah the prophet said to them: See and understand that if you kill this evil inclination the world will be destroyed because as a result there will also no longer be any desire to procreate.

They followed his warning, and instead of killing the evil inclination they imprisoned it for three days. At that time, people searched for a fresh egg throughout all of Eretz Yisrael and could not find one. Since the inclination to reproduce was quashed, the chickens stopped laying eggs. They said: What should we do?

If we kill it, the world will be destroyed. If we pray for half, i.e., that only half its power be annulled, nothing will be achieved because Heaven does not grant half gifts, only whole gifts. What did they do? They gouged out its eyes, effectively limiting its power, and set it free.

And this was effective to the extent that a person is no longer aroused to commit incest with his close relatives. The Gemara returns to its discussion of the verse in Nehemiah cited above: In the West, i.e., Eretz Yisrael, they taught the debate concerning the verse “the Lord, the great God” as follows: Rav Giddel said: “Great” means that he ascribed greatness to Him by enunciating God’s explicit name.

And Rav Mattana said: They reinserted the following appellations of God into their prayers: “The great, the mighty, and the awesome God” (Nehemiah 9:32). The Gemara comments: This interpretation that Rav Mattana said leans to, i.e., is consonant with, the exposition of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. As Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Why are the Sages of those generations called the members of the Great Assembly?

It is because they returned the crown of the Holy One, Blessed be He, to its former glory. How so? Moses came and said in his prayer: “The great, the mighty, and the awesomeGod” (Deuteronomy 10:17). Jeremiah the prophet came and said: Gentiles, i.e., the minions of Nebuchadnezzar, are carousing in His sanctuary; where is His awesomeness?

Therefore, he did not say awesome in his prayer: “The great God, the mighty Lord of Hosts, is His name” (Jeremiah 32:18). Daniel came and said: Gentiles are enslaving His children; where is His might? Therefore he did not say mighty in his prayer: “The great and awesome God” (Daniel 9:4). The members of the Great Assembly came and said: On the contrary, this is the might of His might, i.e., this is the fullest expression of it, that He conquers His inclination in that He exercises patience toward the wicked.

God’s anger is flared by the gentile nations’ enslavement of His people, yet He expresses tremendous might by suppressing His anger and holding back from punishing them immediately. Therefore, it is still appropriate to refer to God as mighty. And these acts also express His awesomeness: Were it not for the awesomeness of the Holy One, Blessed be He, how could one people, i.e., the Jewish people, who are alone and hated by the gentile nations, survive among the nations?

The Gemara asks: And the Rabbis, i.e., Jeremiah and Daniel, how could they do this and uproot an ordinance instituted by Moses, the greatest teacher, who instituted the mention of these attributes in prayer? Rabbi Elazar said: They did so because they knew of the Holy One Blessed be He, that He is truthful and hates a lie. Consequently, they did not speak falsely about Him. Since they did not perceive His attributes of might and awesomeness, they did not refer to them; therefore, they cannot be criticized for doing so. § It was taught in the mishna: And he reads from the scroll the Torah portion beginning with the verse: “After the death” (Leviticus 16:1), and the portion beginning with the verse: “But on the tenth” (Leviticus 23:26).

Although both of these portions appear in the book of Leviticus, they are not adjacent to one another. Perforce, the High Priest skipped the sections in between the two portions. The Gemara raises a contradiction: It is taught in a mishna in tractate Megilla: One may skip sections when reading the haftara in the Prophets, but one may not skip sections when reading in the Torah. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult: There, in the mishna in tractate Megilla that teaches that one may not skip, the intention is that one should not skip if the sections are so far apart from one another that the delay caused by doing so will be of such length that the translator who recites the Aramaic translation will conclude his translation before the next section is reached.

In that case, the community would have to remain in silence while waiting for the next section to be reached, which is considered disrespectful of the community’s honor. Here, in the case of the mishna, where it is permitted to skip, the delay caused is of such short length that the translator will still not conclude his translation before the new section is reached. The Gemara challenges this resolution: But it was taught concerning this statement in the continuation of that mishna: One may skip sections when reading in the Prophets, and one may not skip sections when reading in the Torah.

And how much may one skip? One may skip when the section skipped is of such short length that when the furling of the scroll is completed the translator will still not have concluded his translation. The baraita implies that the qualification for the length of the section that may be skipped applies only to reading the Prophets, but when reading the Torah, one may not skip at all. The Gemara’s resolution is therefore refuted.

The Gemara offers a different resolution. Abaye said: This is not difficult. Here, in the case of the mishna here, where it is permitted to skip, it is referring to when both sections pertain to a single topic, and therefore the listeners will be unaware that sections were skipped. There, in the mishna in tractate Megilla, which teaches that one may not skip, it is referring to when the two sections pertain to two different topics.

As it was taught in a baraita: One may skip sections when reading in the Torah when both sections read pertain to one topic, and in the Prophets one may skip from one section to another even if they pertain to two different topics. Both here and there, one may skip only when the section skipped is of such short length that when furling is completed the translator will still not have concluded his translation.

But one may not skip from one book of the Prophets to another book of the Prophets even if both pertain to the same topic, and even if the gap between them is short. However, among the books of the Twelve Prophets one may skip, as the twelve are considered one book for these purposes.

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Yoma 69bTalmud Bavli, Yoma

Translation of the source text.William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic · CC-BY-NC

"And they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God" (Nehemiah 9:4). What did they say? Rav said, and some say it was Rabbi Yochanan: Woe, woe! This is the one that destroyed the Temple, and burned the Sanctuary, and killed all the righteous, and exiled Israel from their land, and still it dances among us. Have You given it to us for any purpose other than to receive reward for resisting it? We want neither it nor its reward!

A note fell to them from heaven, on which was written "truth."

Rav Hanina said: Learn from this that the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He, is "truth."

They sat in fasting for three days and three nights, and it was handed over to them. A young fiery lion came forth from the Holy of Holies. The prophet said to Israel: This is the inclination toward idolatry, as it is said: "And he said, This is wickedness" (Zechariah 5:8).

As they seized it, a hair fell out from its mane and it let out a cry, and its cry traveled four hundred parasangs. They said: What shall we do? Perhaps, God forbid, they will have mercy upon it from heaven. The prophet said to them: Throw it into a leaden pot and seal its mouth with lead, for lead absorbs sound, as it is said: "And he said, This is wickedness, and he cast it into the midst of the measure, and he cast the lead weight upon its mouth" (Zechariah 5:8).

They said: Since it is a time of favor, let us pray for mercy concerning the inclination toward sin. They prayed for mercy and it was handed over to them.

He said to them: See, that if you kill this one, the world will be destroyed. They imprisoned it for three days, and they sought a day-old egg in all the land of Israel, and none was found. They said: What shall we do? If we kill it, the world will be destroyed. If we pray for mercy over half, half is not granted from heaven. They blinded its eyes and released it, and this helped, in that a man is no longer aroused to sin with his close relatives.

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Shir HaShirim Rabbah 8:1Shir HaShirim Rabbah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022 · CC-BY

Shir HaShirim Rabbah turns to Two Evil Inclinations God Created in the World.

Rabbi Honya, quoting Rabbi Dosa bar Tevet, tells us that God created two yetzer hara (יֵצֶר הָרַע) – two evil inclinations – in the world: the inclination towards idolatry and the inclination towards licentiousness. Think of them as those whispering accusers at your shoulders, constantly whispering temptations. Now, here's the kicker: the inclination toward idolatry, according to this teaching, has already been eradicated. But the one toward licentiousness? Still very much present.

The idea is that anyone who can overcome the urge towards licentiousness is given credit as if they had overcome both inclinations. Rabbi Yehuda uses the analogy of a snake charmer who neutralizes the large snake but leaves the small one. Overcoming the small one is seen as equivalent to overcoming both. It's a fascinating way to think about the challenges we face.

So, when was this inclination towards idolatry eradicated? That's where opinions diverge. Rabbi Benaya says it was during the time of Mordechai and Esther. The Rabbis, however, argue it was during the time of Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya – you might know them better by their Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three who were thrown into the fiery furnace.

The Rabbis challenge Rabbi Benaya, asking if an individual could truly eradicate such a force. Rabbi Benaya counters, were Mordechai and Esther just individuals? He backs this up with a quote from Rabbi Tanhuma, Rabbi Meyasha, and Rabbi Yirmeya in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Kahana, citing (Esther 4:3). The verse describes a multitude in sackcloth and ashes, showing that Mordechai and Esther weren't alone in their righteousness.

But the Rabbis stick to their guns. Rabbi Pinchas and Rabbi Hilkiya, quoting Rabbi Shmuel, point to (Ezekiel 6:9): "Your survivors will remember Me among the nations where they were taken captive." These survivors, they say, are Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya, who survived the fiery furnace, demonstrating the power of their devotion.

The text then quotes (Hosea 14:9), where God asks, "Ephraim: What do I have to do with idols anymore?" The Midrash interprets this as Israel declaring their rejection of idolatry.

But if the inclination towards idolatry was truly eradicated, why did the Jewish people face such peril during the time of Haman, as recounted in the Book of Esther? The Rabbis and Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai offer different explanations. The Rabbis say it was because Israel engaged in idol worship. Rabbi Shimon says it was because they ate food cooked by gentiles. He argues that all of Israel is responsible for one another, quoting (Leviticus 26:37): "They will stumble over one another," meaning one in the iniquity of his counterpart.

Rabbi Berekhya, quoting Rabbi Levi, says that Israel acted falsely with God in two key moments. At Sinai, when receiving the Torah, they spoke devotion but their hearts weren't fully in it, as (Psalm 78:36-37) says, "But they beguiled Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue…their heart was not steadfast toward Him." In Babylon, during Nebuchadnezzar's reign, they were loyal in their hearts but not outwardly, when forced to bow to idols.

This brings us back to Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya. According to the Rabbis, Nebuchadnezzar designated twenty-three people from each nation, including twenty-three from Israel, to bow down to an idol. Only Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya refused. Rabbi Shimon offers a different version: Nebuchadnezzar designated only three people from each nation, and Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya, the three from Israel, stood firm.

The story continues with them consulting Daniel and then Ezekiel. Ezekiel initially tells them that God won't stand by them, quoting (Ezekiel 20:3): "As I live, I will not acquiesce to you." Ezekiel weeps, lamenting the fate of the remnant of Judah. But Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya remain steadfast, declaring that whether God delivers them or not, they will not worship the idol.

Then, God reveals Himself to Ezekiel, saying He will stand by them, but that Ezekiel should say nothing. The three disperse among the people, declaring their defiance. This is why, the text suggests, people take oaths and say, "To the One who established the world on three pillars," referring either to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or to Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya.

Finally, the Midrash returns to the original verse: "This, your stature, is likened to a date palm [tamar]." Just as Tamar was decreed to be burned but wasn't, so too, Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya were decreed to be burned but were saved. The fire, according to Rabbi Elazar, was transformed into a planet, while Rabbi Shmuel bar Neḥemya says it became like the radiance of the heavens.

What does all this mean for us? Perhaps it's a reminder that the battles we fight, both internal and external, are often more complex than they seem. The struggles against temptation, against societal pressure, against compromising our values – these are ongoing, and sometimes, the greatest victories are the ones no one sees. The story of Hananya, Mishael, and Azarya is a powerful evidence of the strength of conviction, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. And maybe, just maybe, it suggests that overcoming our own "small snakes" can be a victory of truly epic proportions.

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Berakhot 61aTalmud Bavli, Berakhot

Translation of the source text.William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic · CC-BY-NC

Rav Nahman bar Rav Hisda expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written, "And the LORD God formed [vayyitzer] the man" (Genesis 2:7), with two letters yod? The Holy One, blessed be He, created two inclinations [yetzarim], one a good inclination and one an evil inclination.

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak objected to this: If so, then a beast, concerning which "and He formed" is not written, would have no inclination? But we see that it injures and bites and kicks! Rather, it is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon ben Pazzi, for Rabbi Shimon ben Pazzi said: "Woe to me from my Maker [yotzeri], woe to me from my inclination [yitzri]."

Or else it is in accordance with Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar. For Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: The Holy One, blessed be He, created two faces in the first man, as it is said: "Behind and before You have formed me" (Psalm 139:5).

Rav said: The evil inclination resembles a fly, and it sits between the two openings of the heart, as it is said: "Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment foul and putrid" (Ecclesiastes 10:1). And Shmuel said: It resembles a kind of wheat grain, as it is said: "At the door sin crouches" (Genesis 4:7).

Our Rabbis taught: There are two kidneys in a man, one counsels him toward good and one counsels him toward evil. And it stands to reason that the good one is to his right and the evil one to his left, as it is written: "The heart of the wise is at his right hand, and the heart of the fool at his left" (Ecclesiastes 10:2).

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