Men who Prey

Emanuel Feldman, rabbi emeritus of Beth Jacob Atlanta

The view of Judaism is expressed at the beginning of the Torah, in Bereishis 8:21: “Yetzer lev ha’adam ra mine’urav — the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” (See also Bereishis 6:5.) That view is that man, in the words of Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), “left to his own instincts and in his natural state, is a potential brute ready to devour anyone or anything that stands in the way of his passions and desires, for whom there is no justice or injustice, no right or wrong, no mine and yours [because everything is mine]”

It is only the Torah and its disciplines that elevate man into a civilized being. “Barasi yetzer hara, barasi Torah tavlin,” say the Sages in Kiddushin 30b: “I have created the Evil Inclination; I have created the Torah as antidote.” Sensitivity training and therapy centers are useful, but without the safeguards of halachah, man remains unchanged.  

Is this a negative view of man? No. Is it an unvarnished view of man? Yes — and the daily scandals underscore this. Man’s essential nature has not changed. (See Kli Yakar on Bereishis 6:5.) An unbiased look at Jewish tradition will demonstrate how its gender guidelines protect man from himself and ultimately respect and protect women.