Life’s Greatest Challenge 

The divine “experiment” in creating human beings did not unfold as planned, at least not if the expectation was for perfect behavior. From the creation of Adam and Ḥava (Eve) through the story of Noah and beyond, humanity faltered time and again, leaving God disillusioned at best. At almost every turn, God is portrayed as regretting His creation, repeatedly wondering whether His experiment would ever prove worthy.

Eventually, God concluded that His expectations of perfection were illusory, as reflected in His words after Noah offered a sacrifice upon being saved from the flood that destroyed all of sinful humanity except for Noah and his family:

And the Lord smelled the fragrant odor, and the Lord said to His heart (el libo): “I will not again damn the soil on humankind’s account, for the devisings of the human heart are evil from youth. Nor will I ever again strike down all living things as I did.” (Genesis 8:21)

God’s self-reflection in this episode inspired the sages in the following midrash to meditate deeply on the nature of humanity and the roots of its failings. In the first segment, the midrash observes that the verse says “to His heart” rather than “in His heart,” prompting a reflection not on God’s mindset but rather on what distinguishes the righteous from the wicked. The midrash goes on to describe the inner dialogue of each group differently:

“The Lord said to His heart” – The wicked are ruled by their hearts: “The scoundrel says in his heart” (Psalms 14:1); “Esau said in his heart” (Genesis 27:41); “Jeroboam said in his heart” (I Kings 12:26); “Haman said in his heart” (Esther 6:6).
But the righteous rule over their hearts: “Hannah was speaking to her heart” (I Samuel 1:13); “David said to his heart” (I Samuel 27:1); “Daniel placed [resolve] in his heart” (Daniel 1:8); and “the Lord said to His heart.” (Bereshit Rabbah 34:10, Theodore-Albeck ed., p. 320)

Here the conclusion is clear: righteousness lies in exercising mastery over one’s inclinations, while the wicked are mastered by them.

In the second segment, the midrash uses two parables to explore God’s own predicament with His creation:

Rabbi Ḥiyya Rabbah said: “Pitiful is the leaven (yeast) whose baker testifies that it is spoiled – ‘For the devisings of the human heart are evil from youth.’”
The Rabbis said: “Pitiful is the sapling whose planter testifies that it’s inferior nature, as it is stated: ‘The Lord of Hosts, who planted you, has spoken evil of you’ (Jeremiah 11:17).” (Ibid.)

In the first parable, yeast symbolizes the internal ferment that can lead to sin. These parables suggest that even God concedes that humanity, though endowed with good, carries within it an inherent inclination toward wrongdoing. One might even see in them an attempt to shift some responsibility for human frailty onto the Creator Himself (see the Yefeh To’ar commentary).

This leads to a fascinating dialogue, said to have taken place between a certain Roman aristocrat named Antoninus and Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi (the Patriarch), about the source of this moral flaw:

Antoninus asked our Rabbi: “At what point is the evil inclination placed within a person?”
He replied: “Before he emerges from his mother’s womb.”
Antoninus said: “Impossible! If that were so, the fetus would dig through her innards and emerge [by force].”
Rabbi conceded to him, agreeing that Scripture supports Antoninus’s view: “For the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). (Ibid., pp. 320–321)

This exchange encapsulates an early version of the “nature versus nurture” debate. Initially, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi contends that the yetzer hara, the impulse that leads a person astray, is innate, while Antoninus maintains that it develops only after birth. Again, here the Patriarch follows the previous argument, laying part of the blame at God’s doorstep, but the Patriarch ultimately concedes, since Scripture seems to support Antoninus’s position, placing the onus on the individual. Of course, in classic rabbinic fashion, in our day, we continue to assume that both nature and nurture play a role.

Implicit in this entire discussion is the recognition that human beings are profoundly complex. Life’s great struggle lies in mastering who we are and making the most of our time in this world. God, it seems, has come to terms with the fact that this is no easy task, neither for us nor for Him. Yet, with divine guidance, perhaps we can work at achieving a measure of success.