Demonic Desires
"Yetzer Hara" and the Problem of Evil in Late Antiquity
Publication Year: 2011
In Demonic Desires, Ishay Rosen-Zvi examines the concept of yetzer hara, or evil inclination, and its evolution in biblical and rabbinic literature. Contrary to existing scholarship, which reads the term under the rubric of destructive sexual desire, Rosen-Zvi contends that in late antiquity the yetzer represents a general tendency toward evil. Rather than the lower bodily part of a human, the rabbinic yetzer is a wicked, sophisticated inciter, attempting to snare humans to sin. The rabbinic yetzer should therefore not be read in the tradition of the Hellenistic quest for control over the lower parts of the psyche, writes Rosen-Zvi, but rather in the tradition of ancient Jewish and Christian demonology.
Rosen-Zvi conducts a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the some one hundred and fifty appearances of the evil yetzer in classical rabbinic literature to explore the biblical and postbiblical search for the sources of human sinfulness. By examining the yetzer within a specific demonological tradition, Demonic Desires places the yetzer discourse in the larger context of a move toward psychologization in late antiquity, in which evil—and even demons—became internalized within the human psyche. The book discusses various manifestations of this move in patristic and monastic material, from Clement and Origin to Antony, Athanasius, and Evagrius. It concludes with a consideration of the broader implications of the yetzer discourse in rabbinic anthropology.
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Cover
Title Page
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pp. iii-
Copyright Page, Dedication
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pp. iv-v
Table of Contents
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pp. vii-
Introduction. The Riddle, or: How Did the Evil Yetzer Become a Mighty King?
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pp. 1-13
Shortly before coming to a close, Ecclesiastes tells us of a small city that was besieged by a great king. The city was saved by the wisdom of a “poor wise man,” who, however, was forgotten a short while later. Ecclesiastes dryly comments: “So I observed wisdom is better than valor, but a poor man’s wisdom is scorned and his words are not heeded” (9:16). This critique of urban...
Chapter 1. “The Torah Spoke Regarding the Yetzer”: Tannaitic Literature
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pp. 14-35
Tannaitic midrashic literature is divided by scholars into two major schools, named after two teachers associated with them: Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael.1 In the case of the yetzer this division yields a systematic, significant difference. I thus begin the study of the tannaitic yetzer by analyzing each school independently. The following three chapters are one continued inquiry...
Chapter 2. Yetzer and Other Demons: Patristic Parallels
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pp. 36-43
In the previous chapter I used the term “demonic” to describe the tannaitic (Rabbi Ishmaelian) yetzer. While this term can be employed in various ways, and with varying degrees of literalness, I use it here in the strictest and most literal manner possible. Rabbinic yetzer is a demon that inhabits the human heart. In order to substantiate such a bold claim one may choose either to show that...
Chapter 3. Yetzer at Qumran: Proto-Rabbinic?
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pp. 44-64
Comparison of the rabbinic yetzer and its biblical roots reveals a conceptual gap that should be accounted for. How did yetzer, which denotes thoughts or plans in the Bible, become a reified being? How did a rather marginal biblical term come to the heart of rabbinic anthropology? What are the origins of the phrase “yetzer ra”? Most of tannaitic literature, as we have seen, presents yetzer...
Chapter 4. Coming of Age: Amoraic Yetzer
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pp. 65-86
In Palestinian amoraic literature,1 Rabbi Ishmael’s yetzer has clearly won the day. Most sources develop the model of one evil yetzer further,2 refine it and deck it out with all manner of sinister attributes. A comparison of Sifre Deuteronomy 45, discussed above, with a homily in Genesis Rabba can exemplify both the differences and similarities between the tannaitic yetzer and the amoraic one:...
Chapter 5. Refuting the Yetzer: The Limits of Rabbinic Discursive Worlds
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pp. 87-101
Being fully internalized, the evil yetzer cannot use direct coercion, as other demons do. It is restricted to inner, dialogical means in its attempts to achieve the sinister goal of leading its host astray. Various arguments are thus cited in the name of the yetzer in rabbinic literature, and these are the focus of this chapter. Ascribing an argument to the yetzer has an immediate discursive effect....
Chapter 6. Sexualizing the Yetzer
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pp. 102-119
Thus far, this book has signaled a sharp departure from the prevailing yetzer discourse. Students of the rabbinic yetzer usually discuss it in sexual terms, so much so that “yetzer” has become almost synonymous with “sexuality.”1 In fact, I suspect that the rabbinic yetzer has come to the forefront of scholarship in recent years precisely because of the interest in sexuality and the body...
Chapter 7. Weak Like a Female, Strong Like a Male: Yetzer and Gender
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pp. 120-126
Do women have a yetzer? The question is far more complex than it might sound. Most rabbinic sources do not use gender-specific language, but their usage might nonetheless imply some sort of gendering. Sources that use the word adam ( אדם ) are especially tricky: Rabbinic Hebrew usually uses ish ( איש ) in opposition to isha ( אשה ; woman), thus marking men specifically.1 Adam, on the...
Afterword: Toward a Genealogy of the Rabbinic Subject
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pp. 127-134
Let us return to where we began. The central argument of this book is that recent scholarship mistakenly contextualized the rabbinic yetzer as part of the Hellenistic discourse of self-control and self-fashioning. It should instead be read as part of the biblical and post-biblical search for the sources of human sinfulness, closely linked at least since Second Temple times with demonological...
Notes
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pp. 135-214
Bibliography
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pp. 215-237
Subject Index
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pp. 239-242
Source Index
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pp. 243-253
Acknowledgments
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pp. 255-256
E-ISBN-13: 9780812204209
Print-ISBN-13: 9780812243390
Page Count: 280
Publication Year: 2011
Series Title: Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion
