Our Gemara on Amud Beis notes that while most sin offerings are slaughtered to the north (tzafon) of the Altar, the chattas Nachshon—the sacrifices offered by the princes during the inauguration of the Mishkan—is not. Rashi explains that this is because the chattas Nachshon was not for any particular sin.
Though Rashi does not explain why, we see a link between the North side of the Temple courtyard and sin offerings. How does the North come to symbolize sin?
The Gemara (Succah 52a) discusses various “names” for the evil inclination. In mystical terms, a name is not just a label but expresses the essence of the thing.
“Rabbi Avira, and some say Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, taught: The evil inclination has seven names.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, called it evil, as it is stated: “For the inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth”(Genesis 8:21).
Moses called it uncircumcised, as it is stated: “And circumcise the foreskin of your hearts” (Deuteronomy 10:16).
David called it impure, as it is stated: “Create for me a pure heart, O God” (Psalms 51:12); by inference, there is an impure heart that is the evil inclination.
Solomon called it enemy, as it is stated: “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21–22). Do not read it as: And the Lord will reward you [yeshalem lakh]; rather read it as: And the Lord will reconcile it to you [yashlimenu lakh]. God will cause the evil inclination to love you and no longer seek to entice you to sin.
Isaiah called it a stumbling block, as it is stated: “And He will say: Cast you up, cast you up, clear the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of My people” (Isaiah 57:14).
Ezekiel called it stone, as it is stated: “And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
Joel called it hidden one, as it says: “But I will remove the northern one [hatzefoni] far off from you” (Joel 2:20). The Sages taught concerning the verse: “But I will remove the northern one [hatzefoni] far off from you,” that this is referring to the evil inclination. And why is the evil inclination referred to as tzefoni? It is due to the fact that it is always hidden [tzafun] in the heart of man. (Linguistically, the Hebrew word for north tzafon and tzafun hidden are related. The North side is where the sun is least seen.”
The Aroch Laner (Sanhedrin 108a) explains these seven names as levels of experience or induction into sinful distortion. The first name is simply “evil” or “bad”, as the Yetzer Hara drives the person away from God causing loss of life force and spiritual as well as physical death. There is nothing that can be worse than that, so the name is a simple description.
The second name is arel uncircumcised. This represents the ways in which the evil inclination acts as a barrier to proper perception, as in the verse (Devarim 10:16) Cut away the thickening about your hearts (Arlas) and stiffen your necks no more. The Yetzer Hara, our ambitions and lusts can block our perception of our flaws or deranged thinking.
The third name, “impure”, is because the Yetzer Hara can reach a point where not only does it block perception but also contaminate on a deeper level. Contamination is not absolute but a blending, a corruption, but not total. The person‘s ideas, wants and needs are sometimes good and sometimes evil, but he can’t tell and they become corrupted.
The fourth name, “enemy” is a further escalation of this negative metamorphosis. At this point, the Yetzer Hara is not just a passive state of various distortions or impurity. Rather, like an enemy, it is in full force out to destroy the person. Think of an addict on a binge, he or she are determined to ride the addiction down to the bottom, to get the fix, no matter who it destroys.
The fifth name “stumbling block” is that it can manifest as an unknown sudden road hazard that trips a person up.
The sixth name “stone” or rock represents something more akin to a boulder. A large obstruction that has become seemingly impossible to move.
The seventh name, “hidden one” is the stage where the Yetzer Hara is so hidden, it isn’t perceived as anything unfriendly but rather providing good and helpful advice. How is this stage different than the stage we described as impure? Here the totality of the evil is so obscured that the enemy is a friend, what feels intuitively right is actually evil.
It is one thing to be blind to a flaw but if it is pointed out and perceived, the person will be remorseful. The Yetzer Hara can even make sin seem like virtue, make an enemy seem to be a friend, what is evil to be good. That is when the impurity goes deep and ruins a part of self.
Each of the seven names represent a deeper corruption: from basic misdirection to total moral inversion, where evil masquerades as good. This final stage—“the hidden one”—is the most dangerous, for the Yetzer Hara disguises itself as virtue.
As Yirmiyahu (5:20) warns:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who present darkness as light and light as darkness; who present bitter as sweet and sweet as bitter!”
The final name is the most intense, for when evil hides beneath righteousness, it becomes nearly invincible.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com