Ask The Rabbi!!

[TomHagen]

Originally Posted by MithShrike

Rabbi,

Perhaps you can enlighten me on a religious point. I have studied as much as I can find at the used book store and the library which isn't nearly as much as I wish. My background is Christian, Baha'i, and now a cynical agnostic. My question is about the nature of Satan. From what I've read, the duality of good and evil was greatly changed once the Jewish nation came in contact with Zoroastrians in their exile in Babylon. From what little I have read, Satan was Ha-Satan or the greatest servant of G-d and tested the servants of G-d. He was not a diametrically opposed being of once angelic origins. The story of Job makes a lot more sense to me when I heard about this context. For some reason there is a... misconception or evolution of the character of Satan from greatest servant to diametrically opposed evil incarnate a la Zoroastrian Angra Mainyu at least in the modern Christian view of Satan. Is there a fall of Satan in pre-Babylon writings?

Sounds like you have been reading Harold Bloom... not that that is a bad thing.

The scenario you portrayed about "Satan's fall" is not something discussed in any Torah-true Jewish text that I have come across, mystical or otherwise. HaSoton (with an 'uh' not an 'ay' as it is pronounced in hebrew) is merely the name for the evil inclination that resides within a person, which they must overcome and transform to do good.

Great story...

When G-d was creating the world and He created the evil inclination (aforementioned) He had to come up with a name. So first G-d called him the "yetzer horah" - evil inclination. He came back to G-d and said no one will listen to me if I am called that, who wants to really do EVIL - Rah? So G-d sent him back with the name "soton" - that didn't work either, they all new it was a negative proper name. uh-uh they said. So G-d called him the "nefesh habahamis" - the animal soul. But still he came back saying no one wanted to associate with him because they are people, not animals, why get involved with something below us. Then he was called the "sitra achra" - the other side, Oy! who wants to be on the "other side", I want to be on the right side!! So this went on and on until he got the name "Yesh" - literally to exist, but meaning ego. He said "Aha!" - this is a good name I can trick people into doing wrong with, everyone wants to exist and be validated and hold themselves as independent (especially from G-d). People will say "I AM SOMETHING" and their ego and self-aggrandizement will lead them astray, and so it was...

We can't see ourselves a independent from G-d or immediately we fall down the slippery slope.