The Jewish concept of the yetzer hara is similar to the Christian notion of "fallenness" or a corrupted human nature, known in the Augustinian tradition as concupiscence, humanity's alienation from God and the image of God in oneself and others, resulting in spiritual ignorance and rebellion, the progressive loss of divine likeness, and a tendency to entertain evil thoughts and commit evil acts.
The problem, however, arises when one makes a willful choice to "cross over the line," and seeks to gratify their evil inclination, based on the prototypical models of right and wrong in the Hebrew Bible.
The Bible states that every person on some occasion succumbs to their evil inclination: "For there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
[12] Maimonides gave instructions for how to view the evil inclination and ensuing hardships on that account: ...Therefore, let a man prepare his own mind and request from God that anything that should ever happen to him in this world, whether of the things that are by God's providence good, or of the things that are by Him evil, that the reason [for their occurrence] is so that he might attain true happiness.
[14]Moshe Chaim Luzzatto wrote in Derech Hashem that "Man is the creature created for the purpose of being drawn close to God.
This inclination is viewed as an inherent aspect of human nature, leading people away from divine worship and towards the veneration of false gods.
According to a well-known legend from the Talmud, the rabbis at the beginning of the Second Temple period recognized the destructive power of the yetzer hara for idolatry and decided to eliminate it.
However, the aftermath of this act showed the complexity of their decision; the absence of the yetzer hara also diminished the human drive for other essential aspects of life, such as procreation (see below).
[35][clarification needed] Many of the enactments made by the rabbis throughout the centuries are actual "safeguards" to distance a person from their natural inclination and make it harder for them to sin.
David's prohibition against yichud (the decree which forbids a man to be secluded in a room with a woman unrelated to him), and the rules outlining the conduct of Jews when entering a public bath house, are a just a few examples.
[36] Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook explains that the allowance of a 'beautiful captive woman' makes use of the psychological principle of "one that has bread in his basket," (a euphemism for one who is married and is able to engage in sexual relations with his wife at his own discretion) according to which the mere knowledge that something is permitted enables the soldier to exercise restraint and to overcome his inclination.