Kabbalah sa Mga Kawikaan 9:17: The Beginning

215. The agents of Sitra Achara have three functions: The first is to seduce man to sin, through which he becomes impure, as stated in Gemara (Yoma),²⁹¹Talmud Bavli, Yoma, 39a. “When man acts impurely below, He is made impure from above.” These forces, from which the Yetzer Hara – Evil inclination stems, draw man toward sin by causing it to appear sweet and pleasant [in his eyes], as stated,²⁹²Proverbs 9:17 “Stolen waters are sweet.” The Zohar refers to this as “The pleasure for impurities.” Nonetheless the purpose of their creation was to bring merit to the righteous. Through conquering the evil inclination, which seems insurmountable, the righteous are rewarded in direct proportion to their effort, as stated,²⁹³Pirkei Avot 5:21. “According to the difficulty is the reward.” All this is explained at length in the Zohar²⁹⁴Zohar pg. 166. through the allegory of the king who sent a harlot to seduce his son. He stipulated to her that if she succeeds, all the goodness that would have rightly been given to his son would be hers instead. But, if he shunned her advances, the prince would receive great reward and she too would be rewarded, since through her great efforts he merited this goodness. Throughout, the intent of the father was for the good of his son. Even the Harlot, though she appeared in the guise of a temptress, was the king’s agent and secretly desired the prince’s success.²⁹⁵Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin pg. 64.