Taming the Fire and The Cost of Desire: The Dramatic Talmudic Story of the Quelling of Human Inclinations for Idolatry and Sex (Yoma 69b = Sanhedrin 64a)
Set at the beginning of the First Temple period, during the time of Nehemiah and Zechariah
This Talmud sugya narrates a dramatic episode in which the Jewish people,1 during the time of Nehemiah, prayed for the removal of the inclination for idolatry. Their prayer was answered when a fiery lion cub appeared in the Temple, an incarnation of this inclination. The prophet Zechariah advised trapping it in a lead container to silence its cries.
Following this success, the people also sought to remove the inclination for sex, but faced a dilemma: eliminating it entirely would end procreation, leading to extinction of all life. Instead, they weakened its power to prevent incest without destroying all sexual inclination.
Outline
Jewish Cry for Relief from Enduring Idol Worship Temptation at the beginning of the Second Temple period
Supernatural Message from Heaven Leads to Fasting and Fiery Confrontation with the Incarnation of the Temptation of Idol Worship
Prophet Zechariah's Solution: Trapping the Evil Inclination in a Lead Container to Silence its Cries
Confronting the Consequences of Quelling Sexual Desire: The Ceasing of All Reproduction
Dilemma: Limiting Sexual Desire Without Destroying the World
The Passage
Yoma.69b.6-12 = Sanhedrin.64a.3-9
Jewish Cry for Relief from Enduring Idol Worship Temptation at the beginning of the Second Temple period
The sugya starts with quoting a verse in Nehemiah where the Jewish people cry (ויצעקו) out to God. Rav, or possibly R’ Yoḥanan, homiletically interprets their cry as lamenting the evil inclination for idol worship, which led to the destruction of the First Temple (597 BCE), the mass murder of righteous individuals, and the Babylonian exile.
Despite these tragedies, this entity2 continues to influence them. They pray, stating they no longer want this inclination or the reward for resisting it, preferring that it be removed entirely.
״ויצעקו אל ה׳ אלהים בקול גדול״.
מאי אמור?
אמר רב, ואיתימא רבי יוחנן:
בייא בייא
היינו האי ד
אחרביה למקדשא
וקליה להיכליה
וקטלינהו לכולהו צדיקי
ואגלינהו לישראל מארעהון,
ועדיין מרקד בינן.
כלום יהבתיה לן אלא לקבולי ביה אגרא?
לא איהו בעינן, ולא אגריה בעינן!
The Gemara recounts the event described in the verses: The verse states: And they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God (Nehemiah 9:4).
What was said?
Rav said, and some say it was Rabbi Yoḥanan who said: Woe, woe.
It is this, i.e., the evil inclination for idol worship, that
destroyed the Temple,
and burned its Sanctuary,
and murdered all the righteous ones,
and caused the Jewish people to be exiled from their land.
And it still dances among us, i.e., it still affects us.
Didn’t You give it to us solely for the purpose of our receiving reward for overcoming it?
We do not want it, and we do not want its reward. We are prepared to forgo the potential rewards for overcoming the evil inclination as long as it departs from us.
Supernatural Message from Heaven Leads to Fasting and Fiery Confrontation with the Incarnation of the Temptation of Idol Worship
In response to the prayer, a note3 descended from the sky (רקיעא) with the word "Truth," (presumably signifying that their request had been accepted, in some sense).4
The people then fasted for three days and nights, and the evil inclination was delivered to them: A fiery lion cub5 emerged from the Holy of Holies of the newly-built Second Temple, and Zechariah the prophet explained that this was the inclination (יצרא) for idol worship.6
נפל להו פיתקא מרקיעא, דהוה כתב בה ״אמת״.
[...]
אותיבו בתעניתא תלתא יומין ותלתא לילואתא,
מסרוהו ניהליהו.
נפק אתא כי גוריא דנורא מבית קדשי הקדשים,
אמר להו נביא לישראל: היינו יצרא דעבודה זרה, שנאמר: [...]
In response to their prayer a note fell to them from the heavens upon which was written: Truth, indicating that God accepted their request.
[...]
In response to the indication of divine acceptance, they observed a fast for three days and three nights,
and He delivered the evil inclination to them.
A form of a fiery lion cub came forth from the chamber of the Holy of Holies.
Zechariah the prophet said to the Jewish people: This is the evil inclination for idol worship, as it is stated in the verse that refers to this event: [...]
Prophet Zechariah's Solution: Trapping the Evil Inclination in a Lead Container to Silence its Cries
The story continues with how, when attempting to capture the incarnation of the evil inclination for idol worship, one of the hairs from its mane (ביניתא ממזייא) fell out, causing it to emit a yell7 that could be heard for 400 parasangs.8
Concerned that Heaven might show mercy due to its cries, they sought a way to kill it. The prophet Zechariah advised them to place it in a pot (דודא) made of lead (אברא) and seal it with lead, as lead absorbs sound. Following this advice, they successfully rid themselves of the evil inclination for idol worship.
בהדי דתפסוה ליה
אשתמיט ביניתא ממזייא
ורמא קלא,
ואזל קליה ארבע מאה פרסי.
אמרו:
היכי נעביד?
דילמא חס ושלום מרחמי עליה מן שמיא.
אמר להו נביא:
שדיוהו בדודא דאברא,
וחפיוהו לפומיה באברא,
דאברא משאב שאיב קלא,
שנאמר: [...]
When they caught hold of it
one of its hairs fell,
and it let out a shriek of pain
that was heard for four hundred parasangs.
They said:
What should we do to kill it?
Perhaps, Heaven forfend, they will have mercy upon him from Heaven, since it cries out so much.
The prophet said to them:
Throw it into a container made of lead
and seal the opening with lead,
since lead absorbs sound.
As it is stated: [...] They followed this advice and were freed of the evil inclination for idol worship.
Confronting the Consequences of Quelling Sexual Desire: The Ceasing of All Reproduction
After successfully subduing the evil inclination for idol worship, they decided to pray for the removal of the evil inclination for sex. Their prayers were answered, and the inclination was delivered into their hands.
However, the prophet Zechariah (alternatively: the incarnation of the inclination itself; only a pronoun is is used) warned them that eliminating the inclination for sex would “destroy the world” (meaning, would lead to the extinction of life), as it would end procreation. Convinced by this argument, instead of killing it, they imprisoned (חבשוהו) the inclination for three days, during which time no eggs were laid in all of Eretz Yisrael, illustrating the essential role of sexual desire.
אמרו: הואיל ועת רצון הוא, נבעי רחמי איצרא דעבירה.
בעו רחמי, ואמסר בידייהו.
אמר להו: חזו, דאי קטליתו ליה לההוא, כלי עלמא.
חבשוהו תלתא יומי,
ובעו ביעתא בת יומא בכל ארץ ישראל ולא אשתכח.
When they saw that the evil inclination for idol worship was delivered into their hands as they requested, the Sages said: Since it is an auspicious time, let us pray also concerning the evil inclination for sin in the area of sexual relationships.
They prayed, and it was also delivered into their hands.
Zechariah the prophet said to them: See and understand that if you kill this evil inclination the world will be destroyed because as a result there will also no longer be any desire to procreate.
They followed his warning, and instead of killing the evil inclination they imprisoned it for three days.
At that time, people searched for a fresh egg throughout all of Eretz Yisrael and could not find one. Since the inclination to reproduce was quashed, the chickens stopped laying eggs.
Dilemma: Limiting Sexual Desire Without Destroying the World
They then faced a dilemma: If they killed the powerful force of sexual desire, life would go extinct. If they prayed to reduce its power by half, nothing would happen, as Heaven grants only whole gifts.
Their solution was to weaken its power by blinding it9 and then setting it free, which successfully diminished its influence, particularly in preventing people from being sexually aroused (מיגרי) by relatives.10
אמרי:
היכי נעביד?
נקטליה — כלי עלמא,
ניבעי רחמי אפלגא — פלגא ברקיעא לא יהבי.
כחלינהו לעיניה, ושבקוהו,
ואהני דלא מיגרי ביה לאיניש בקריבתה.
They said:
What should we do?
If we kill it, the world will be destroyed.
If we pray for half, i.e., that only half its power be annulled, nothing will be achieved because Heaven does not grant half gifts, only whole gifts.
What did they do? They gouged out its eyes, effectively limiting its power, and set it free.
And this was effective to the extent that a person is no longer aroused to commit incest with his close relatives.
Throughout the Steinsaltz translation of this story, the terms "rabbis" or "sages" are added, even though the Talmud itself does not mention these specific terms—רבנן or חכמים. As in many Talmudic stories, main figures are unnamed, referred to only by pronouns like "they." Even God is not explicitly named here (added in by Steinzaltz).
האי - literally “this one”, meaning, the evil inclination. Only later in the story is the word yetzer - יצרא - explicitly used. Notably, although this story is told in the Talmud in the context of idolatry, and the drive for idolatry is how the story is understood by commentators, idolatry (עבודה זרה) is never mentioned explicitly in the story, or even strongly indicated. However, there doesn't seem to be any other way to understand it.
פיתקא - from Greek pitakon.
See my previous piece here for another example in a talmudic story of a message from Heaven arriving via a pitakon falling from the sky.
גוריא דנורא - compare the heavenly פולסא דנורא - “fiery lashes” (mentioned in talmudic passages discussed by me here and here).
And see here for Story of Elijah guiding an ascension of an unnamed sage to the Heavenly Yeshiva (מתיבתא דרקיע), who improperly looks at R' Ḥiyya's chariot and is blinded by fire (בוטיטי דנורא):
אתו תרי בוטיטי דנורא, ומחיוהו לההוא גברא, וסמונהו לעיניה.
.Two fiery flames came and struck that man, i.e., me, and blinded his eyes.
Compare also the “Fiery River” in the Book of Daniel and Talmudic literature, see Hebrew Wikipedia: נהר די-נור
רמא קלא - literally: “it raised/threw its voice”.
Compare my previous piece here, where a single roar (ניהם חד קלא) of the legendary “the lion of Bei Ila’ei” was heard 400 parsangs away in Rome:
כי הוה מרחיק ארבע מאה פרסי, ניהם חד קלא
אפילו כל מעברתא, ושורא דרומי נפל
When it was 400 parasangs away from Rome, it roared once,
and all the pregnant women miscarried, and the wall of Rome fell.
Preventing people from committing incest.
This lack of sexual attraction to relatives is explained in modern science by the “Westermarck effect “, see Incest taboo - Wikipedia > “Origin”:
The most widely held hypothesis proposes that the so-called Westermarck effect discourages adults from engaging in sexual relations with individuals with whom they grew up.