Sukkah 52a Part 2/4

AI summary (may contain mistakes)

Why does the yetzer hara carry seven names? A name is the essence of a thing, so the yetzer hara has seven guises and seven places to hide. The Gemara goes through who called it what: Ra, Arel, Tamei, enemy, michshol, stone and Tzefoni. A Midrash reads tov me'od as the yetzer hara, and we learn that the yetzer hara is our drive, to be channeled toward good.

Key points

• In the Gemara, Moshiach ben David asks only for life, and Dovid HaMelech already asked it for him.
• Rashi reads Shlomo's hungry enemy as the yetzer hara, to be fed the bread and water of Torah.
• Learning Torah is the surest antidote to the yetzer hara, though the hardest step to take.
• The yetzer hara is our drive, like a car's engine, with the yetzer tov driving.
• Rearranged, me'od spells Adam, and its aleph joins a yud of each yetzer.

In this shiur

1. 0:00Moshiach ben David asks for life
2. 3:58Seven names of the yetzer hara
3. 8:02Shlomo calls it an enemy
4. 12:56Michshol, stone and Tzefoni
5. 17:09The Midrash on tov me'od
6. 20:21Mashal of the car
7. 23:26Me'od, Adam and the aleph
8. 26:53Question on a strong yetzer hara

Topics

• Yetzer Hara
• Moshiach ben David
• Talmud Torah