The 10 Disguises of the Yetzer Hara

1. The Boulder

The first disguise of the Yetzer Hara we’ll examine is: the Boulder.

G–d has invited us to be His partner in creating this world every day through effort. The harder the effort, the sweeter the taste of achievement. Since good is meant to be brought into this world through our effort which elevates it to an even higher level, the job of the Yetzer Hara is to make the effort seem impossible.

The goal of the Boulder disguise is to get us to give up.

Our first step in overcoming the Boulder is to recognize and acknowledge these obstacles.
The second step is to break down the Boulder into little pieces called Action Steps.

2. The Fraidy Cat

The second disguise of the Yetzer Hara is the Fraidy Cat.
The goal of the Fraidy Cat is to get us to cower in fear so that we won’t take action.

Each fear points out to us the specific place where our faith needs to be encouraged, and helps bring out of us the particular inner strengths we need to face that fear or life challenge.

The job of the Fraidy Cat is to get us to take our fears, doubts and negative thoughts and turn them into positive statements that will help us calmly develop our faith and bring out our potential.

3. The Inner Brat

This disguise of the Yetzer Hara most often manifests as resistance, or its passive form, procrastination.

Just like a child, the Inner Brat wants what it wants and it wants it NOW!

Even if intellectually we know that something else is more important, sometimes we need to negotiate with our Inner Brat in order to proceed. Procrastination is a strange phenomenon. Its purpose seems to be to make our life more pleasant but instead it usually adds stress, chaos, and feelings of failure.

Avoidance takes up a lot of mental and emotional space, but when we acknowledge it and examine its root, then we can move forward into success

4. The Harsh Inner Critic

We all have an inner voice that watches us and keeps up a running commentary on our performance in life. Sometimes it cheers us on, but more often than not, it harshly criticizes us. Sometimes, just noticing the voice and separating yourself from it is enough to make it lose its negative power over you.

We can’t get rid of the voice but we can reprogram it. We can teach the Harsh Inner Critic to speak to us in a more respectful, positive, constructive way. With training, it can even become our greatest cheerleader!

5. The Perfectionist

The Perfectionist is the disguise of the Yetzer Hara that tries to convince you that you must be perfect or it’s not worth making the effort.

Many of us grow up with the idea that mistakes are bad. We become afraid of making mistakes, and because we know mistakes are inevitable, we become afraid to even try.

Chassidus teaches us that this is not the World of Perfection; this is the World of Fixing.

When we remember that every mistake is for the purpose of leading us to tap into our deepest potential, then when we fail instead of saying, “Oy vey!” we can smile and say, “Thank G-d!”

Every failure is for the purpose of achieving an even greater success.

6. Mr. Jealousy (and his twin sister Ms. Resentment)

Resentment and jealousy are two more disguises of the Yetzer Hara.

When we see people who seem to have more than we do, who seem to be succeeding more than we are, or who seem to be enjoying a better, easier, or more comfortable life than our own, we become overly focused on what they have and we lose consciousness of our own blessings.

We feel jealousy or resentment when we measure ourselves against others and find ourselves coming up short. If G-d hasn’t given us that thing that we want, that means having it at this point in time would not be in our best interests, because G-d always wants our highest good.

G-d doesn’t get our blessings and troubles mixed up and send them to the wrong address.

7. The Boat Sinker

The 7^th disguise of the Yetzer Hara is regret.

A regret is a hole, a gap in the heart where something important is missing.

Just as a hole in a boat will cause the boat to sink, regrets evoke in us a sinking feeling, a feeling of loss. If we don't take action to correct the lack that regret leaves behind, the vessel of holiness we are building with our positive actions, begins to leak.

When we use regret to change our choices and fix our mistakes, we remove the unholiness that has wrapped itself around the soul, and can purify ourselves.

8. The Guilt Tripper

The 8th disguise of the Yetzer Hara is the Guilt Tripper.

The Guilt Tripper tries to trip you up with classic Jewish guilt. As long as you feel like the world’s biggest loser, you really don’t have to accomplish anything meaningful.

Uncomfortable guilty feelings are signals that something is wrong and some action needs to be taken. If we feel guilty and don’t act to change what is wrong, the guilt could turn into action-suppressing depression or avoidance.

When you identify what is the cause of the guilt and take action steps to correct it, you can feel the new energy that this positive action restores to you.

9. The Distractor

The 9^th disguise of the Yetzer Hara is first cousin to the 10^th disguise.

The Distractor has an easy job in the 21^st century. The Distractor’s goal is to tempt you with all kinds of bright, shiny objects so that you will go chasing after them instead of staying focused on your divine mission and goals.

“Ooooooh…. Look over there!
That looks interesting.”

It is urgent that we learn techniques and use tools that will help us stay focused on our priorities. Then we can channel the full power of our thoughts, words and deeds into successfully completing what is most important to us.

If we don’t, we’re left in a continual stream of purposeless activity that might pleasantly distract us, but leads us in endless circles of, “What was I doing?” and , “Why can’t I ever get anything done?!”

10. The Overwhelmster

The 10^th disguise of the Yetzer Hara is probably the most common problem we face.
It’s so common and defeating, this entire course focuses on how to overcome it.

In this Joyfully Jewish Journey, you’ll get fun, creative tools you can use to gain control of your time.

You’ll get tips and techniques from Torah and Chassidus, and beautiful calligraphy Artnotes to help you reduce the stress and pressure of overwhelm.

You'll also have guided meditations to help you eliminate stress while you strengthen your faith and your connection to G-d

Some of them will even make you laugh.

And each adventure in this Soul Journey only takes 5 - 10 minutes (with a few longer mini-retreats) so you won't be overwhelmed (promise!).

So let's get started!