יצר לב האדם - מהו, ומאימתי הוא?

Rabbi Yehoshua would say: The Evil Eye, the Evil Urge, and the hatred of others take a person out of the world. The Evil Eye. How so? This teaches that a person should regard his friend’s household just as he regards his own household. And just as a person does not want people to say disparaging things about his wife and children, so he should not want people to say disparaging things about his friend’s wife and children. Another interpretation: The Evil Eye. How so? A person should not look askance at his friend’s learning. There is a story of someone who looked askance at his friend’s learning, and his life was cut short, and he reached his end prematurely and passed on from the world. The Evil Urge. How so? They say that for the first thirteen years [of a person’s life] the Evil Urge is greater than the Good Urge. There in his mother’s womb, a person’s Evil Urge grows with him. [After he emerges into the world,] he starts breaking the Sabbath, and nothing is there to stop him; [killing people, and nothing is there to stop him; going out to sin, and nothing is there to stop him.]
After thirteen years, the Good Urge is born. Then when he breaks the Sabbath, it says to him: Empty one! Isn’t it written (Exodus 31:14), “One who breaks it will surely die”? When he kills, it says to him: Empty one! Isn’t it written (Genesis 9:6), “One who spills the blood of a person, his own blood will be spilled”? When he goes out to sin, it says to him: Empty one! Isn’t it written (Leviticus 20:16), “Both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death”?
When a person heats himself up, and then goes to commit some act of lewdness, all of his limbs will obey him, because the Evil Urge rules over all 248 limbs. When he goes to perform a mitzvah, his limbs begin to grow lazy, because the Evil Urge in his stomach rules over all 248 of a person’s limbs. The Good Urge, meanwhile, is like someone trapped in a prison, as it says (Ecclesiastes 4:14), “From the prison, he comes forth to rule” – that is the Good Urge.
Some say, that verse refers to Joseph the Righteous, when that wicked woman came and tortured him with words. She said to him: I will lock you up in prison! He said to her: But God releases the bound. She said to him: I will poke out your eyes! He said: God gives sight to the blind. She said to him: I will bend you down! He said to her: God straightens the bent. (She said to him: I will make you into a wicked man! He said to her: God loves the righteous. She said to him: I will make you an Aramean! He said to her: God protects the strangers. Until finally he said [Genesis 39:9], “How can I do this evil thing?”)
And do not be surprised at Joseph the Righteous. For behold, Rabbi Tzadok was the greatest of his generation when he was captured. And a matron took him and presented before him a beautiful maidservant. When he saw her, he turned his eyes to the wall so he would not see her. And he sat and recited his learning the whole night. In the morning, the maidservant left and complained to her mistress: I would rather die than be given to that man! The matron sent for him and said to him: Why didn’t you do with this woman as all people do? He said to her: What can I do? I come from the lineage of the high priest, from a great family! I said to myself, Perhaps I will sleep with her and increase mamzerim in Israel! When she heard this, she commanded he be released with great honor. (And they say:) Do not be surprised at Rabbi Tzadok. For behold, Rabbi Akiva was greater than him! When he went to Rome, informers slandered him to a local prefect, who then presented before him two beautiful women. [The prefect] bathed and anointed them dressed them up like brides, and they fell upon [Rabbi Akiva] the whole night. This one said: Come to me! And that one said: Come to me! But he sat between them and spat, and would not turn to them. They went before the prefect and said to him: We would rather die than be given to that man! He sent for [Rabbi Akiva] and said to him: Why didn’t you do with those women as all people do with women? Weren’t they beautiful? And weren’t they human beings just like you? Didn’t the One who created you create them as well? [Rabbi Akiva] said: What could I do? Their scent was worse to me than carcasses and vermin! And do not be surprised at Rabbi Akiva. For behold, Rabbi Eliezer the Great was greater than him. For he raised his sister’s daughter until she was thirteen, and she slept in bed with him until she began puberty. Then he said to her: Go, and marry a man. She said to him: Am I not your woman? Should I be given as a maidservant to wash the legs of your students? He said to her: My daughter, I am already an old man. Go and marry a young man like yourself. She said to him: Didn’t I already say to you, Am I not your woman? Should I be given as a maidservant to wash the legs of your students? When he heard her words, he got permission from her to marry her, and then had sexual relations with her.

MISHNA: The mishna continues to explain the rules of intimations of vows. If an individual states that he accepts an obligation upon himself like the vows of the wicked, he has vowed with regard to becoming a nazirite, or bringing an offering, or taking an oath. This is considered a real formulation of a vow, just as the wicked customarily take vows. If he says: Like the vows of the virtuous, he has not said anything, because virtuous people do not generally take vows. If he says: Like their gift offerings, he has vowed with regard to becoming a nazirite or bringing an offering. GEMARA: The Gemara asks a question with regard to the first clause of the mishna. And perhaps this is what he is saying: I am not making a vow like the vows of the wicked, in which case he does not intend to take a vow. Shmuel said: It is referring to one who said: Like the vows of the wicked I am hereby, or: I accept upon myself, or: From it. If he says: I am hereby, he is referring to his acceptance of naziriteship. If he says: I accept upon myself, he is referring to an offering. If he says: From it, he means to restrict himself from a particular activity through an oath. The Gemara challenges this explanation: If he says: I am hereby, does he necessarily intend to accept naziriteship? Perhaps he is saying: I am hereby accepting upon myself to fast. Shmuel said: This is not a case where he simply said: I am hereby like the vows of the wicked; rather, it is a case where a nazirite was passing in front of him, and the meaning of his statement is understood based on that context. Shmuel had also stated that if he says: I accept upon myself, he is referring to an offering, and if he says: From it, he means to restrict himself by means of an oath. The Gemara asks: If he says: From it, does he necessarily mean to restrict himself through an oath? Perhaps he is saying: I will eat from this loaf, rather than: I will not eat from it. Rava said: The case is where he said: I will not eat from it. The Gemara asks: If so, he has explicitly clarified his intent, so what is the purpose of stating that this statement constitutes an oath? The Gemara answers: Lest you say that since he did not utter the term oath from his mouth the oath does not take effect, this teaches us that this is nevertheless considered a valid intimation of an oath. § It was taught in the mishna that if one states that he accepts an obligation upon himself like the vows of the virtuous, he has not said anything. However, if he says: Like their gift offerings, he has vowed with regard to becoming a nazirite and bringing an offering. The Gemara asks: Who is the tanna according to whom there is a difference between a vow and a gift offering? Shall we say that this is not the opinion of Rabbi Meir and not the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda either? This is as it is taught in a baraita with regard to the verse “Better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay” (Ecclesiastes 5:4), that better than both this and that is one who does not take a vow at all. This is the statement of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: Better than both this and that is one who vows and pays. Consequently, Rabbi Meir advocates abstaining from all vows and Rabbi Yehuda advocates making vows and fulfilling them, but neither of them distinguishes between vows and gift offerings. The mishna, however, indicates that virtuous people do not make vows but do bring gift offerings. The Gemara answers: You can even say that it is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Meir.

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren; and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them: ‘Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and bowed down to my sheaf.’ And his brethren said to him: ‘Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?’ And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said: ‘Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream: and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.’ And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him: ‘What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down to thee to the earth?’