A Medieval Jewish Version of Original Sin: Ephraim of Luntshits on Leviticus 12

Abstract

i Judaism and the Concept of Original Sin There is a widespread popular misconception that Judaism and Christianity have radically divergent anthropologies, primarily because Jews supposedly do not believe in original sin. The Jewish view of human nature, according to the popular dichotomy, is that from the time of creation, there have been two innate tendencies in every person, one inclining the person to good and the other to evil (=I'7 1:' and D'I 1', respectively). The life of each individual is a continual state of struggle between the two opposing inclinations, but the righteous person can overcome the evil inclination by an act of will. The Christian view, on the other hand, is alleged to be that the first humans were created in a state of perfection, which they themselves willfully corrupted. As a result, they compromised their former physical and moral perfection. The corruption that the progenitors of the human race originated is then passed on genetically to all of their descendants, and can be overcome only by divine grace. Two texts will serve to illustrate the poles of this popular dichotomy. Perhaps the best-known literary expression of the Jewish view is a midrash in b. Ber. 61 a, commenting on the unusual spelling of a Hebrew word in Gen 2:7: Why is the word 11'1 in the text 'Then the Lord God formed ( il) man' written with two yods? To show that God created two inclinations ( 's'), one good and one evil. The Torah serves as a bulwark against the evil inclination, as another passage in