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RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:SATAN:TALMUD YERUSHALMI:BAVLI:YETZER HARA:ROSH HA SHANA
Shalom:
Both of our Talmuds, Talmud Yerushalmi and Talmud Bavli discuss Satan. Talmud Yerushalmi speaks of Satan as a prosecutor. If we didn't do the 'crime', the 'sin', to begin with, we would not be contending with Satan, in the Sages of Judea's view. Bavli sees Satan in a more active, as our actual evil inclination, our yetzer ha ra.
Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Shabbat 2:6 records; "Rav said: He who dwells in a shaky house turns the angel of death into his creditor who comes to visit on him all his sins….In three situations Satan is waiting to prosecute: he who makes a trip all by himself, he who sleeps by himself in a closed-up house and he who sets sail on the Great Sea (the Mediterranean)….If you have to make a sea voyage, when you bind up the branches of your lulav at the end of Sukkot, bind your feet together, too, and do not go out on the sea in winter. ''
The concept of free will, and not original sin, is paramount in Talmudic Judaism. It is up to us to decide to negate our will and do to God's. It is up to us to pick up the yoke of God. We are born with a Yetza Ha Ra and a Yetza Ha Tov. Without the Yetza Ha Ra the Talmud teaches we would never marry or go to work or build a house. We are to try to align our Yetza Ha Ra with doing good. Hence Satan in Judaism is different than that which we see in secular culture, as we have to daily fight with Satan, our yetzer ha ra, and we can win.
Judaism accepts the fact that man is flawed. We are not saints. Proverbs says that no man walks amongst us that has not sinned, and indeed a righteous man sins seven times a day. A righteous man however does his best to try to not sin again. A righteous man fights his yetzer ha ra, the Satan within him. He may loose the battle some times, but not the war. A non-righteous person just gives into his own will. Worse yet he lies to himself that he is doing good, and may even lie to himself that he is doing God's will or even is a man of God.
Some of our prayers are about self judgment. The derivation of the word tephila actually means such. If we know that we are weak in some area, than we must refrain from placing ourselves in an area that is tempting us to sin. The concept of the "devil made me do it," is not Judaic. We decide what our actions are, and we are responsible for teshuvah and correcting our misdeeds.
The Talmud understands, using modern terms, that some people are obsessive- compulsive and may even have addictions, and have such a strong Yetzer ha Ra, they cannot stop their behaviors. The Talmud tells these people to go to another city, where no one knows them to commit these sins. This may sound horrid to us living in the third millennium telling a pedophile for example to go bother little kids 50 miles away, but do we really have much better answer for these people now?
Talmud Yerushalmi is telling us that doing physically risky pursuits can make Satan stronger in our lives. I am too old for physically risky pursuits. Eating matzah brie is a risky physical pursuit.
But for the spiritual realm I must stay spiritually fit. Regardless of what halakah says, I am at the stage in my life that I need to begin and end my day with prayer and meditation and have a break mid day for the same. I cannot combine minka with ma'ariv. I have some chronic diseases that make my mind not as clear as it once was and makes my frustration not as tolerant as it once was. Asking God to give me love and tolerance through out the day, helps me a great deal.
Yet what do we do when we need to take physical risks to protect ourselves not only from bodily harm but from physical harm as well? For me, perhaps only in helping to save the life of another, and even then the Talmud asks me is my blood more or less red than the person I am trying to save? I am protected Spiritually trying to keep in constant contact with God all day, and thinking before I act. Does it work all the time? No. I still can say the stupidest things to my wife, and then have to amend.
Understanding God and understanding the true meaning of Rosh ha Shana, for example, from a Talmudic point of few, means that when we are angry at someone else, or hurt someone else, we are really hurting ourselves, as we are all connected, all brother and sisters, of one human set of parents and one heavenly Parent.
Basically, I try not to give Satan, or my Yetza ha Ra much of a chance to be 'feed.' "Withhold not good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it" (Talmud Bavli Tractate Bava Kama 81b). The Talmud tells us these instructions to avoid Satan given by the timeless Elijah to one of the Talmudic sages: "Do not become angry and you will not sin; do not become intoxicated and you will not sin; and when you depart on a journey, beg leave of your Creator and then set out." Our sages explain that begging leave of God refers to the wayfarer's prayer (Talmud Bavli Tractate Berachot 29b-30a).
Rabbinic Literature gives two accounts for the origin of Satan. The first is that Satan was created on the sixth day at the same time as Eve. This ties in with the tradition that Satan played some part in the fall of man as defined in "popular culture.' The second and more prevalent tradition is that Satan is one of the fallen angels. Satan is identified with Sammael and his deeds.
In Talmud Bavli Tractate Bava Batra 16a, Satan is identified with the Yetzer ha Ra, which is the 'evil impulse' in man. This is what I am referring to above. I believe that in every person, there is a spark of God and a spark of Satan, and who we chose to kindle that flame inside us, is up to us. The Talmud distinguishes between the personified Satan outside man, and the Yetzer ha Ra that exists within man. It is this evil impulse within man that allows Satan the opportunity to work his will against man.
Rabbinic writings also foreshadow the destruction of Satan. Talmud Bavli Tractate Succah 52a talks of the destruction of the evil angel, while the Yalkut Jesaj (359) implies that Satan will be overthrown at a future time by the Messiah, referring to Psalm 36:9.( O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.)
In Talmud Bavli Tractate Bava Batra 16a, Satan is identified with the Yetzer ha Ra, which is the 'evil impulse' in man. This is what I am referring to above. I believe that in every person, there is a spark of God and a spark of Satan, and who we chose to kindle that flame inside us, is up to us. The Talmud distinguishes between the personified Satan outside man, and the Yetzer ha Ra that exists within man. It is this evil impulse within man that allows Satan the opportunity to work his will against man.
Rabbinic writings also foreshadow the destruction of Satan. Talmud Bavli Tractate Succah 52a talks of the destruction of the evil angel, while the Yalkut Jesaj (359) implies that Satan will be overthrown at a future time by the Messiah, referring to Psalm 36:9.( O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.)
If you are interested in some good books on the evolution of the concept of Satan in Judaism, from an obedient prosecuting attorney angel to a full-fledged Lord of Hell, especially in the Kabbalah, there are:
1. "A Gathering of Angels" by Rabbi Morris B. Margolies, which has several chapters on Satan and the dark angels (demons):
2. "Kabbalah" by Gershom Scholem, which has a chapter on "Samael" (Satan) plus innumerable other references to the evolution of his role as the rule of the Sitra Achra (the Other Side);
3. "Everyman's Talmud" by A. Cohen, which has a chapter on demonology in the Talmud, and many references to Satan as "Samael" and Satan;
4. "Collected Stories" of Isaac Bashevis Singer, which show how the concept of Satan was regarded by the Hasidic Orthodox Jews of Poland in 1900. The stories contain a lot of Jewish mystical theology and folk beliefs about Satan.
4. Satan also shows up in the Orthodox prayerbook, such as in the "Foundation of Repentance" essay at the beginning of the Rosh Hashanah machzor:"for the seducer [Satan] lurks like a fly at the entrance of the heart. He renews his offensive every day. He scrutinizes and seeks ways to trip a Jew up and convince him of this evil counsel."
1. "A Gathering of Angels" by Rabbi Morris B. Margolies, which has several chapters on Satan and the dark angels (demons):
2. "Kabbalah" by Gershom Scholem, which has a chapter on "Samael" (Satan) plus innumerable other references to the evolution of his role as the rule of the Sitra Achra (the Other Side);
3. "Everyman's Talmud" by A. Cohen, which has a chapter on demonology in the Talmud, and many references to Satan as "Samael" and Satan;
4. "Collected Stories" of Isaac Bashevis Singer, which show how the concept of Satan was regarded by the Hasidic Orthodox Jews of Poland in 1900. The stories contain a lot of Jewish mystical theology and folk beliefs about Satan.
4. Satan also shows up in the Orthodox prayerbook, such as in the "Foundation of Repentance" essay at the beginning of the Rosh Hashanah machzor:"for the seducer [Satan] lurks like a fly at the entrance of the heart. He renews his offensive every day. He scrutinizes and seeks ways to trip a Jew up and convince him of this evil counsel."
Lastly, trying each day to learn humility helps. Studying our great texts, like the Mishna , helps to truly put me in my place: "3:1. Akavya ben Mahalalel said: Reflect upon three things and you will not come to sin. Know from where you came and where you are going and before whom you are destined to give account and reckoning. From where have you come?--from a putrid drop. Where are you going?--to the place of dust, worms, and maggots. Before whom are you destined to give account and reckoning?--before the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He."
Shalom,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hilton Head Island, SC
Bluffton, SC
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