Verified answer

Your take on the Jewish take on hasahtan and angels in general is pretty much on spot,

Judaism teaches that humans are born good but with the ability to do both good and bad with the gift of free will to choose between the two. Nothing can make a person choose to do bad, it is strictly each individual's choice. There are different reasons as to why we have this ability to do both bad and good. The simplest reason is that without the ability to do both, the gift of free will is pointless. What's the point of having free will if we don't have the options to use it?

Another point is that doing good doesn't have the same level of significance if there is no option to do bad also. In truth, doing good is meaningless if that is our only option.

On a deeper level, it is through our bad choices that we learn and grow as individuals and communities. When we make mistakes (the word in the Tanach most commonly translated as sin is an archery term meaning 'to miss the mark') and work to fix the damage we do in combination with striving to not repeat those mistakes, we become closer to HaShem. Anyone who has spent time with children has seen how they learn from their mistakes and advance. This process never ends for humans regardless of age. The ability to do bad is just another tool used in this process.

Note: The Christian concepts of 'The Fall' and 'Original Sin' are strictly Christian in origin. These concepts do not exist in Jewish teachings and texts.

Exorcisms are performed if anybody is "demon possessed." As the other consumer wrote, in ultra-modern times the Catholics are those who do this. In old instances, some Jews did participate in a type of exorcism however now not the form that is noticeable in movies. The suggestion Devils / Fallen Angels / satan's minions does no longer exist in Judaism due to the fact both just right and evil are G-d's construction (Isaiah forty five:7) Some argue that an evil spirit (Demon) are actual, others that they're subjective. I am extra for the latter. Take a look at the enclosed web sites for more element.

Judaism seems to be more comfortible with exploring the questions without giving pat answers.

I find this very difficult to communicate especialy with Christians and ex-Christian Atheists.

The major point of the book of Joab is specificaly to say

Yes - it is troubling - we don't have an easy pat answer.

After everyone gives their ideas,

God comes out and says (rhetoricaly) "Where you there when I built the world?"

In relation to "God" -- the universal, eternal, creative conciousness -- we are fundamentaly limited in information and understanding

==

Of course, that does not stop us trying.

So

putting the above,

together with Isaiah's shocking assertion --

"I create ... light and darkness ... and evil - I am God"

and with Ecclesiastes --

"to everything

turn

turn

turn

there is a season

turn

turn

turn

a time for every purpose under heaven"

We get this story the sages told in the Gemarah --

"One day the sages prayed for God to remove the evil impulse

The next morning the roosters failed to lay eggs."

ie: "evil" in nature is realy largely an error of human perception

In the world at large -- earthquakes, tzunamis ... supernovas ... exploding suns

These are all the healthy workings of the universe in the manner God designed it.

An interesting thing about Jewish mystics is that they say that "evil" is God's atribute of justice --- ie: when God judges purely (unmercifully) -- the result will be perceived as evil by us (death, destruction...)

Thus -- in the story of Noah -- humanity bolloxed up the world so badly that it was going to implode upon itself. Many Jewish sages say that the flood was the "mercy" -- that God stopped the total destruction and caused a "controlled Abend" (to borrow from my professional lingo)

and the same can be said as we bollox up the world today --

the death caused through depletion of the ozone layer, the thawing of the ice caps... the new and more massive hurricanes ... etc. -- these are all natural responses of a healthy universe.

But they do in fact act as judgements against us

through the basic rules of cause and effect.

==

The only -actual- "evil" is the immoral actions of human beings.

But again -- remember the story of the roosters!

So - what we call "the evil inclination" is realy the driving impulses of our material (animalistic) nature.

And these are also necessary.

(if you're a Star Trek fan, you should call to mind the story where Kirk is split into "evil Kirk" and "good Kirk" -- and it turns out that "good Kirk" is a useless dishrag)

So, realy -- the only time we have "evil" is when we surrender our higher will-power to the animal instincts.

As the imprecation of Noah to his sons goes (if you translate the sons' names into what they realy mean)

"wisdom shall dwell in the tents of beauty and the emotional impulses shall be their slave"

Your description of HaSatan in Judaism is spot on.

In Judaism there is NO fall of man. Everyone is believed to be born 100% innocent, not with a neutral slate but with a slate 100% in the good column. Nor can a person begin to "sin" until they are old enough and have enough understanding to understand their actions and their consequences. This is the real reason for the designation of Bar/Bat Mitzvah- the age at which a person is considered to be responsible for their actions and thus the age at which they begin to be able t ne punished for their sins- interestingly Jewish writings on the subject indicate that we start earning merits for our good deeds from the age of 7, but we do not sin until we are Bar/Bar Mitzvah. This is one of the ways in which G-d is merciful to us, we have years in which we can do only good and not sin at all!

But one also needs to understand the nature of sin in Judaism- there are two main terms for sin: "Chet" and "aveirah". "Chet" shares a root with the term for an archery target, aveirah comes from the root which can be used to indicate pulling away or the past. What these terms indicate is that sinning is us missing out on an opportunity to draw closer to G-d, to "hit the target", and us pulling away from G-d through actions which move us away from the "target". What is the target? As the Torah states: we must be holy because G-d is holy. Following the laws in the Torah draws s closer, must us holy, not following them is the opposite, drawing us away from the G-d, away from holiness.

What is evil? It is a drawing of us away form holiness and G-d, something causing us to do this. At a macro level, a societal level, things like the holocaust are not easily explained. Yes they are evil- but at a societal level we can only say that it was G-d's will for such a thing to happen. We do not know why G-d allowed it or why G-d would permit it. We can only accept that ultimately everything G-d does is for the best and ultimately for the good

Yay. Sincere question from someone who has a clue and good answers from people I respect.

This is a lovely way to start Shabbes early. Gut Shabbes everyone. :-)

The yetzer hara - the evil impulse - is the cause of evil, and it's something that lies in wait, something we must always be watchful of. However, this evil impulse is not metaphorically personified.

The fall of man is the cause of all evil in the world, not Satan.

The fall of man was caused by our own free will. Satan made us do nothing.

@kaganate -- excellent answer!!!!

Gut Shabbes

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The route of all evil is the LOVE of Money not money but the love of money