A person does not transgress unless a spirit of foolishness enters into him.’ (Sotah 3a)
Human beings want to be good. Almost above all else. It’s a fundamental need. So in order for us to do the wrong thing, it has to be that we got disoriented for a moment, we lost track of truth, of what matters to us, and followed something crazy in the heat of the moment.
It doesn’t mean we aren’t responsible for what we did. But it does mean that we don’t make ourselves ‘evil’ through our choices; we can simply brush ourselves off and start again.
For those who come to identify with their moments of foolishness as who they are can eventually create a new self that overrides their ability to see their inherent goodness. This people can turn themselves towards evil. But for most people “the wrong choice” can be considered a temporary moment of insanity.
Rabbi Michael Stern
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