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Are We Inherently Good or Bad?

Riva Kent

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In this article, we will examine the question of whether our nature is inherently good, yet we  sometimes engage in wrongful actions, or if our inherent inclination is toward the bad, necessitating continuous effort to exchange our natural behaviors for better ones. To sharpen the question a bit more – in order to be a good person and do the right thing, must we become more in tune with our inherent nature, or is it necessary to resist and go against our inherent inclinations and rise above them? Letโ€™s start by presenting the two sides of this discussion:

The Impulse of Manโ€™s Heart Is Evil from His Youth

ื•ึทื™ึธึผึฃืจึทื— ื™ึฐื”ึนื•ึธื”ึฎ ืึถืชึพืจึตึฃื™ื—ึท ื”ึทื ึดึผื™ื—ึนึ’ื—ึทึ’ ื•ึทื™ึนึผึจืืžึถืจ ื™ึฐื”ึนื•ึธึœื” ืึถืœึพืœึดื‘ึผึ—ื•ึน ืœึนึฝืึพืึนึ ืกึดึ ืฃ ืœึฐืงึทืœึตึผึจืœ ืขึคื•ึนื“ ืึถืชึพื”ึธึฝืึฒื“ึธืžึธื”ึ™ ื‘ึทึผืขึฒื‘ึฃื•ึผืจ ื”ึธึฝืึธื“ึธึ”ื ื›ึดึผึ ื™ ื™ึตึฃืฆึถืจ ืœึตึงื‘ ื”ึธืึธื“ึธึ›ื ืจึทึ–ืข ืžึดื ึฐึผืขึปืจึธึ‘ื™ื• ื•ึฐืœึนึฝืึพืึนืกึดึฅืฃ ืขึ›ื•ึนื“ ืœึฐื”ึทื›ึผึฅื•ึนืช ืึถืชึพื›ื‡ึผืœึพื—ึทึ–ื™ ื›ึทึผึฝืึฒืฉึถืึฅืจ ืขึธืฉึดึฝื‚ื™ืชึดื™ืƒ

And the Lord smelled the sweet savour; and the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for manโ€™s sake; for the impulse of manโ€™s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done. (Bereishit 8:21)

The Soul Which You Bestowed In Me Is Pure

On the other hand, we recite in davening every morning:

ืึฑืœึนื”ึทื™ ื ึฐืฉึธืืžึธื” ืฉึถืื ึธึผืชึทึฝืชึธึผ ื‘ึดึผื™ ื˜ึฐื”ื•ึนืจึธื” ื”ึดื™ื

My God, the soul which You bestowed in me is pure

So which one is it? Are we inherently inclined toward the bad, necessitating efforts to overcome our nature by living in accordance with Torah and doing what is right? Or are we fundamentally good but occasionally diverted by negative tendencies?

An Intricate Blend

In Derech Hashem (1:3), the Ramchal explains:

Man is the creature created for the purpose of cleaving to God… However, man must earn his perfection through his own choice and free will. For if he were forced in his actions to choose perfection no matter what, he would not truthfully be called the master of itโ€ฆ It was, therefore, necessary that man be given free will, be balanced between good and evil, and not be compelled towards either. He has the power of choice and is able to choose either side, knowingly and willingly, and possess whichever one he wishes.ย 

Man was, therefore, created with both a Good Urge (yetzer ha-tov) and an Evil Urge (yetzer ha-ra). He has the power to incline himself in whichever direction he desires.

In order that Godโ€™s goal be best achieved, the Highest Wisdom decreed that man should consist of two opposites. These are his pure spiritual soul and his unenlightened physical body. Each one is drawn toward its nature, so that the body inclines toward the material, while the soul leans toward the spiritual.

The way that Hashem created human beings is spiritual neshamot (souls) in a physical body (guf). These two entities cannot coexist in harmony because they are total opposites. They canโ€™t coexist with their full potential being actualized at the same time – our neshama pulls us in the direction of the spiritual while our guf pulls us in the direction of the physical. There is an ongoing tension and battle for supremacy between them.

โ€œIโ€™m Happyโ€

The yetzer ha-tov is the โ€œvoiceโ€ of the neshama while the yetzer ha-ra is the โ€œvoiceโ€ of the guf – the proverbial angel and devil sitting on either shoulder. The question is, which voice speaks louder?

When we say โ€œIโ€™m happy,โ€ for example, – who exactly is happy? Which part of ourselves are we associating with and referring to, the neshama or the guf?

We are neshamot inside a guf – this is our essence, but the neshama often gets subsumed by the gufโ€™s influence. We get misled by the body and its senses, and thus, we end up identifying as a body – we misidentify. 

To give an analogy, imagine two concentric circles, the inner circle being the neshama and the outer circle being the guf. We are the inner circle, but we may misidentify as the outer circle since it is more apparent, it is what you can physically see. The guf is perceptible in a sensory way, and thus it is easy to misidentify with, unlike the neshama, which is not as readily perceived.

So yes, it is true that we are inherently good, but it is the neshama that is inherently good. If we misidentify with the guf and the voice of the yetzer hara then when we are referring to ourselves, we are referring to the guf, and the guf is not inherently good. In fact, by definition, since the guf is the polar opposite of the neshama, the guf must be inherently bad since it pulls us away from ruchniyus (spirituality) and toward gashmiyus (physicality). If we live life on autopilot, without putting in enough conscious choice about which voice it is that is speaking to us and which desires it is that we want to follow, we will inevitably end up identifying as a guf.
In conclusion, the question as to whether we are inherently good or inherently bad isnโ€™t quite as simple as we initially presented it. Complex questions like these often involve a thesis, an antithesis, and a synthesis, which combines and reconciles the two opposing perspectives. Thus, it is true that โ€œthe soul which You bestowed in me is pure,โ€ and our neshama, or soul, is inherently good and uncorrupted. However, the guf, or physical aspect of ourselves, tends to obscure this goodness and guide us in a different direction. Our role in this world is to constantly work at identifying as a neshama and not a guf in order to draw closer to Hashem and live the lives He intended for us.

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