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When does the evil inclination begin—at conception or birth? The Gemara (גמרא) and Midrashim seem contradictory on this fundamental question. Rabbi Zweig resolves this by distinguishing two distinct types of yetzer hara: the drive for independence (which begins in the womb) and physical lust (which begins at birth).
This shiur addresses fundamental contradictions in Jewish sources regarding when the evil inclination takes hold in a person. The Gemara (גמרא) in Sanhedrin records a debate between Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and Antoninus, concluding that the yetzer hara begins at birth, not conception. Yet other sources, including the story of Yaakov and Esav fighting in the womb and Talmudic accounts of pregnant women on Yom Kippur, suggest the evil inclination exists even before birth. Rabbi Zweig proposes that there are actually two distinct types of evil inclination. The first is the drive for independence and autonomy—the desire to be free from any external control, even God's. This fundamental need to assert one's existence and make autonomous choices began with Adam before his sin and manifests from the moment of conception. The second type involves physical desires, lusts, and bodily drives, which only emerged after Adam's sin and begins at birth.
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Sanhedrin
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