[Avodah] Yetzer HoRa Issues

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, December 14, 2006 3:22 pm, R Zvi Lampel wrote:
: Would it help if we would translate the "nevuah-type" of "dimyon" as
: "visualization [of reality]," rather than "imagination"?

Except that dimyon includes our ability to produce mental (re)constructions of
sounds too. It was the original meaning of the word "imagination", and I do
not know of an equivalent in colloquial English. Let's just leave it "dimyon",
as a term of jargon.

That said, if dimyon is the vehicle for nevuah, how can it be identical to the
yeitzer hara? Or is that why trapping the YH for AZ -- complete with the fiery
lion leaving the qadosh haqadashim, a dimyon! -- coincided with the end of
nevu'ah?

Ever notice how we often end up teitching YH in ways that don't make it
inherently evil? Why?

One problem I have with the concept of YH as literally being a drive to do
evil is that it presumes an innate knowledge of good and evil. In which case,
why be softer on the tinoq shenishba? So I'm perfectly fine with such shitos;
as long as one can explain why then we misname it.

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org        your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
http://www.aishdas.org   and it flies away.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter