Noach 5773

By Rabbi Daniela Szuster
B´nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica

On God and Evil in Human Beings

In last week’s parashah, Parashat Bereshit, after having created the world and all living beings, including humankind, God saw all that He had made, and found it “very good” (Gen. 1:31).  Just ten generations later, between Adam and Eve and that of Noach, the Creator’s appraisal was quite different:  “The Lord saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time” (6:5).

What could have happened during that time, to cause God’s radical change in His perception of human beings?  Did He lose control?  Didn’t He think they would act the way they did?  Is it that He knew what would happen but ran out of patience?  The divine anger was to the point of His regretting their creation, and wishing their being “blotted out” from the earth (6:6-7).


In Parashat Noach, after the flood and Noach’s survival, along with his family and living beings, the Lord promised that He would never again try to destroy humanity; He made a covenant and said that the rainbow would serve as a sign thereof throughout the generations (9:11-17).  What can have occurred in God, to make Him repent from the evil He caused on earth, to the extent of His promising never to do it again?  Undoubtedly, we see here a changeable and thoughtful God, whose model can teach us how we ourselves should act, trying not to be too harsh with the people around us, and if we are, being able to repent.

Following the divine appreciations concerning human beings, God also affirms in our parashah:  “The Lord … said to Himself: ‘Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings of man's mind are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done’” (8:21).  This sentence poses several questions and thoughts.  What did God mean with this assertion?  That human beings are hopeless, that their wickedness is stronger than their will, and that there is no reason to destroy the rest of the world because of them?  Is He saying that human beings are evil even in the womb, that their wickedness is congenital, or is it acquired?   And if it is acquired, when does it appear?  In childhood, in adolescence, or in adulthood?  What is the meaning of mine’urav, “from his youth”?

Different commentaries arose from these and many other questions regarding the link between humanity and evil.

There is a Midrash that discusses whether human beings are born with the evil inclination or whether it appears later on, as a result of culture and education.  Yehuda HaNasi maintains that the Yetzer Hara, bad impulse, lodges in human beings after their birth, based on the verse quoted above: “… the devisings of man's mind are evil from his youth” (8:21); from his youth and not before birth.  Rabbi Yudan interprets the word ne’urim not as youth but as “jolts”, meaning from the moment babies jolt their way out of the womb (Bereshit Rabbah 33:10).  This discussion leads us to reflect on whether God created human beings with the impulse to do evil or whether it appears later on.

The Chumash Etz Chaim commentary understands ne’urav as “from youth” and not from conception or birth, which means that the tendency to do evil can be reversed, can change and improve through discipline and law.  Furthermore, it maintains that this term only refers to the time when the person leaves childhood behind and enters adolescence, for it is in that stage when we can actually speak of awareness about good and evil.  Children are just obedient or disobedient.  That is why our tradition sets the age for commitment and responsibility with the mitzvot on 12-13 years of age, in the passage from childhood to adolescence.

When faced with the human conflict of Yetzer Hara, several scholars maintain that the Torah constitutes its antidote, since the purpose of the mitzvot is the purification of people and the release of the negative impulses that dwell in their hearts.  Next, let me quote two sources from the Talmud related with this idea:

“The Lord told Israel, ‘My children, I have created the Evil Inclination, and I have created the Torah as an antidote against it… As long as you are engrossed in the Torah, you will not be controlled by the Evil Inclination’” (Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 30b).

“It was taught in the school of Rabbi Ishmael: ‘My son, if this disgusting creature (the Yetzer Hara) meets up with you, drag him into the study hall.  If he is a rock he will dissolve, if he is iron he will explode” (Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 30b).

The thought hidden behind these sources is that God knows human reality, accepts it and offers us “the perfect medicine.”  So, in some sense, this nature of humanity was included in the divine plans from the start, and it was not something that suddenly emerged and took God by surprise.  God understands people’s inner conflicts and He wants us to learn to improve ourselves.

An important aspect related to this subject is the one presented by Rabbi Mordechai Edery in his commentary, based on the verse quoted above, “… every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time” (6:5).  According to him, the Torah does not affirm that the heart of humankind was bad but rather that the inclination of the human heart was bad all the time, which means that God is aware of the negative impulses present in the human heart, but does not accept their permanent nature.

This teaches us, on the one hand, that we cannot affirm that someone is totally wicked or good, but that their impulses, actions and conduct are sometimes good and sometimes evil.  We are not so polarized; we present different shades during our life, and therefore, we should not stereotype people, forgetting that a possibility exists for them to change, to repent, to transform their negative impulses.  At the same time, we should make an internal evaluation regarding our percentage of impulses; whether for good or for bad.

What a relief it is, to know that our father does not want to blot us off of the planet for our wickedness and that He understands our impulses and conflicts, but at the same time, we have the challenge to prove – to Him and to ourselves – that our having been created was worthwhile.  We have enormous capacities and potential to build, to love, and to make this world a better place.

Shabbat Shalom!