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Why do we remember the yetzer hara's influence but forget the yetzer tov's help? The yetzer hara controls us externally, making us do what we know is harmful, so we recognize and blame this outside force. The yetzer tov connects us to our true selves, enabling genuine choice—but when we act wisely, we feel we decided correctly on our own and forget the yetzer tov's role.
Rabbi Zweig begins with a profound question that puzzled his Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Ruderman, in 1958: Why do Hasidim maintain multi-generational loyalty to their rebbes while Lithuanian Talmidim don't show the same devotion? The answer emerges through analyzing Koheles 9:14, which describes a small city saved by a poor wise man who is subsequently forgotten. The Rabbis interpret this as a mashal for the human condition: the body is a small city, the yetzer hara is the great king attacking it, and the yetzer tov is the poor wise man who saves it but is forgotten. The key insight is that the yetzer hara controls us externally - it makes us do things we know are harmful but feel compelled to do anyway. We recognize this external control and thus 'remember' the yetzer hara's influence, often blaming it for our poor choices. In contrast, the yetzer tov doesn't control us but rather puts us in touch with our true selves, enabling us to choose what's genuinely good for us. When we act according to the yetzer tov, we feel like we made the right choice ourselves, so we don't credit an external force.
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Koheles 9:14
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