Yetzer harah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yetzer harah is the inclination to good or evil in Judaism.

Yetzer HaTov is the inclination towards good.

Yetzer HaRah is the inclination towards evil.

Judaism teaches that by doing good or by overcoming temptation to do evil humans prove their value to G-d.
According to Judaism human beings have a dual nature. Humanity is neither fundamentally good nor evil but had a tendency in both directions. This is seen as a dual nature. The greatest battle in Judaism is with ourselves rather than with the outside world. We need to control the bad side of our nature and encourage the good side. Judaism accepts free will. For example allegedly Hitler and Schindler both had a choice.