Demonic Desires "Yetzer Hara" and the Problem of Evil in Late Antiquity - Rosen-Zvi, Ishay (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011)
Biographical note: Ishay Rosen-Zvi is Associate Professor of Hebrew Culture at Tel Aviv University, where he serves as the head of the Talmud and late antiquity section. He is also a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute for Advanced Studies
Main description: This study examines the concept of yetzer hara, or evil inclination. Analyzing the some one hundred and fifty appearances of the yetzer in rabbinic literature, Rosen-Zvi contends that the term should not be read under the traditional rubric of sexual desire, but rather in the context of ancient Jewish demonology