In the Talmud there is the legend about the yetzer ha-ra and the yetzer ha-tov. Yetzer means impulse. Yetzer ha-tov is the impulse for goodness, harmony, ethical behavior, and cooperation. Yetzer ha-ra is the impulse for darkness, self interest and mischief, and sometimes downright evil. The story goes like this: One day the pious people got together and decided that they would gather up all the Yetzer ha-ra and corral it, so it could be controlled. They did, but, it turned into the law of unintended consequences. With yetzer ha-ra out of the picture things started to go bad, cows wouldn't calf, the fields lay fallow, eggs couldn't hatch, and there was widespread marital disharmony. It seems that the darker dimensions of life are important in their own way as are the light. According to this legend, the darkness is just as important to leading a creative productive, life affirming existence as are our more attractive qualities.

Let’s look a little further. Almost everyone remembers the old TV show Star Trek. One of my favorite episodes is "The Enemy Within." In this episode a transporter accident splits Captain Kirk into to two persons, a good Kirk and bad Kirk. Good Kirk is sweetness and light. He is congenial, thoughtful, rational, sensitive, and respectful of others. The only problem is that he no longer has the capacity to command a starship. He is completely ineffective. Nice but ineffective. The bad Kirk, on the other hand, is slinking around the ship creating mayhem where ever he goes. He is a force for destruction. He is irrational, mischievous, sexually indiscriminate, and thinks only of gratifying his immediate needs. The problem is solved when the good Kirk and bad Kirk are reunited in the transporter. This story seems to be saying the same thing our Talmudic legend is saying. We need to embrace and make room in ourselves for our darkness if we want to lead fructifying lives. Yetzer ha-ra is just as an important part of ourselves as is the yetzer ha-tov.

Let’s look a little closer. Natalie Portman won an Oscar for her portrayal of Nina in the 2010 movie Black Swan. Nina is a very talented but troubled ballerina. She is selected to dance the parts of both the white and black swans in a production of Swan Lake. The only problem is that Nina has lived her life as a good girl to satisfy the needs of a controlling mother, who is herself a ballerina with little talent but much drive. Nina dances the white swan (yetzer ha-tov) perfectly. Unfortunately, she does not have the emotional inventory to dance the part of the black swan (yetzer ha-ra). Only as she descends into madness, and encounters her own dark twin, is she able to bring emotional power and creative energy to the role.

So what is the bottom line for us? What are an old legend, an old TV program, and an Oscar winning movie saying to us? I think these stories are saying that to fully embrace and live life vitally and creatively,we must fully embrace the darkness that is within.When we do not clearly see and manage our own potential for evil, it runs amok in our psyches and in the world. When we do not own our own darkness we not only lose its creative potential, but, it is projected onto others -- the democrats, the republicans, the Muslims, the communists, our neighbor who lets his dog run in our yard, etc. -- thus creating real evil and real bloodshed.

So, have you hugged your yetzer ha-ra today?

Jim