May these words of Torah serve as a merit le’iluy nishmat Meira Chaya Nechama Beracha bat David Mordechai, sheyichyeh. 

What is the root of the evil urge?

Rav and Shmuel argue on our daf about what the evil urge should be compared to. Rav teaches that the yetzer hara is like a fly who is sitting between the two openings of the heart, and Shmuel says that the evil urge is like a kernel of wheat. What is the lesson to us from their argument? Avnei Nezer suggests that they are arguing about the essence and foundation of the evil urge. According to Rav, the primary driver of the evil urge is his desire for lowly matters. The evil urge advocates indulgence in physical urges and pleasures, for he drags man down; just as a fly seeks dirt and filth, the lowly aspect of man tries to degrade the being who carries the image of God. Shmuel argues that the primary characteristic of the evil urge is his resistance to following the wisdom of the sages and his insistence on listening to his own thoughts. Wheat is a symbol of wisdom. The Gemara teaches that a baby only knows to refer to his parents as Abba and Ima once he has tasted wheat and grain. Wheat is therefore a symbol of understanding and knowledge; the evil urge is symbolized as a wheat kernel for he insists on following his understanding and thoughts and he is not willing to submit to the counsel and ideas of the sages and elders.

Shem Mishmuel added that the two opinions do not really argue. Shmuel agrees with Rav that the evil urge advocates lowly matters. Shmuel is teaching that the drive for the lowly matters derives from a prior source. The root of all evil is the insistence on independence and a refusal to submit to the guidance of sages who are greater and more knowledgeable than the person. The Rebbe of Peshis’cha once told a free-thinking skeptic that the results of his questions and challenges to traditional belief will be lowly behavior. The man was greatly offended. He considered himself a great intellectual who was in no way bestial; however, ultimately the prediction of the Rebbe came true. A person who refuses to submit himself to the wisdom of Torah will ultimately allow himself to be drawn to lowly urges and will perform animal-like acts and sins. Our Gemara contains a most powerful lesson: We should submit our thoughts to the Torah sages, we should accept their decisions and guidance, and with such faith we will stay safe from the entrapment of the evil urge.

Ben Ish Chai derives other lessons from the argument between Rav and Shmuel. Rav compares the evil urge to a fly. A fly afflicts all and it always seeks a place where there was a cut or wound. Just as a fly might alight on a king just as it would land on a commoner, the evil urge afflicts all. The lesson that the fly seeks wounds and blood is a lesson that whenever a person sins there is a mark and it enables the evil urge to set in and lower the person further. Shmuel compares the evil urge to a kernel of wheat. Bread is produced from wheat and it is the foundation of human nutrition and meals. The evil urge is also needed; without physical urges and desires the world would not exist. Shmuel did not say that the evil urge is like a loaf of bread. He said that the evil urge is like a kernel of wheat. A person must toil to grind the wheat into flour and then knead the flour with water to make a bread out of wheat. This is a lesson about physical urges. Man must toil to refine them and limit them. Most of all he needs to add the water of Torah to the wheat of the evil urge. When a person blends Torah study to his natural physical urges he merits to transform the material and to elevate the evil urge to its correct purpose and role. (Margaliyos Hashas quoting Shem Mishmuel, Shavuos 5677, and Ben Yehoyada, Chelek Aleph page 54)

Rabbi Zev Reichman teaches Daf Yomi in his shul, East Hill Synagogue.