[Avodah] Avodah Digest, Vol 5, Issue 2

[akiva.atwood at gmail.com]

> 
> 6.     What happens at thirteen that makes the yetzer ha'tov come to 
> life?  Is it biological? Is it related to sexual development? 
>  Is it social?

Both (at least that's what we learned in cultural anthropolgy).

Throughout history (until the early 20th century) people were married
shortly after puberty. 

Puberty -- and the social expectations on the "soon-to-be" husband/father --
force the person into a more responsible course of action.

Societies where marriage is later have a much higher teen crime rate.

Akiva
 
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There are two kinds of speeches and two kinds of silences. Speech is either
truth or a falsification, and silence is either fruition or heedlessness. If
one speaks the truth, his words are better than his silence, but he who
invents falsifications, his silence is better than his speech.