yetzer hara

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Pronunciations

yetzer hara (YEH-tzer HUH-ruh) listen
yetzer hara (yet-TZER ha-RAH) listen

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Definitions

  • n. The evil inclination.

  • n. Temptation; lust.

Example Sentences

  • A thesis advisor in regard to working on one's thesis: "The yetzer hara is particularly strong during thesis work."

  • "The yetzer tov is good, but the yetzer hara is very good, because without it a man wouldn't marry, procreate or go into business." (Talmud Ber 61b)

  • "He was going to give up smoking—but his yetser ha-ra got the better of him." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH יצר הרע yetser hara > Y יצר־הרע yeytser hore

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Australia / New Zealand
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).

      Alternative Spellings

      yeytser hore, yetser ha-ra, yeytser ha-ra, yetzer ha-ra, yetzer hara

Notes

  • See also yetzer ha-tov.

    Commonly used to refer to sexual urges.

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