Random questions.

[imayid2]

When you say the heart desires, are you talking about the physical organ?

I am. I assume there are spiritual aspects as well.

[Lurker]

I am. I assume there are spiritual aspects as well.

If someone has a heart transplant, do they get the donor's desires?

[imayid2]

If someone has a heart transplant, do they get the donor's desires?

There are pretty crazy stories about that btw. I remember reading about a woman who after her transplant found herself loving a certain beer, which she later discovered was favored by her donor. (I have no idea if the story is true)

Anyway, let’s leave open the option of a reconfiguration to the person who had the transplant.

[Lurker]

There are pretty crazy stories about that btw. I remember reading about a woman who after her transplant found herself loving a certain beer, which she later discovered was favored by her donor. (I have no idea if the story is true)

Anyway, let’s leave open the option of a reconfiguration to the person who had the transplant.

I guess a better question is, do you think desire is a physical, tangible thing?

[imayid2]

I guess a better question is, do you think desire is a physical, tangible thing?

Yes. It isn’t seen or touched, but it is felt.

[Lurker]

Yes. It isn’t seen or touched, but it is felt.

Feelings are physical?

[imayid2]

Feelings are physical?

I think it’s fair to classify them as such. They aren’t necessarily spiritual. How would you classify “feelings”?

[Lurker]

I think it’s fair to classify them as such. They aren’t necessarily spiritual. How would you classify “feelings”?

Psychological. Anything physical can be measured in some way - mass, movement, weight, resistance, etc.

[imayid2]

Psychological. Anything physical can be measured in some way - mass, movement, weight, resistance, etc.

Ok sounds good to me

[Lurker]

Ok sounds good to me

So G-d gave us this psyche and the ability to tap into it at will in order to desire. Is this psyche in each person? If yes, then each person has "good" (which isn't a physical thing) in them, no? If it's not in them, how do they have the potential good?

[imayid2]

So G-d gave us this psyche and the ability to tap into it at will in order to desire. Is this psyche in each person? If yes, then each person has "good" (which isn't a physical thing) in them, no? If it's not in them, how do they have the potential good?

Gonna have to sleep on it…GN!

[YitzyS]

After the Leiby Kletzky tragedy, Rav Avrohom Schorr gave a powerful speech in which he said that every one of us has it within us to commit murder, and it is our obligation to learn mussar and perfect our middos so that we never sink to that level of allowing our inborn evil to dominate us.

[EliJelly]

So G-d gave us this psyche and the ability to tap into it at will in order to desire. Is this psyche in each person? If yes, then each person has "good" (which isn't a physical thing) in them, no? If it's not in them, how do they have the potential good?

A refresher in Tanya תניא סוף פרק ו׳ is in order. "המדרגה התחתונה היא שלוש קליפות הטמאות ורעות לגמרי ואין בהם טוב כלל" and the rest of that perek.

[Lurker]

A refresher in Tanya תניא סוף פרק ו׳ is in order. "המדרגה התחתונה היא שלוש קליפות הטמאות ורעות לגמרי ואין בהם טוב כלל" and the rest of that perek.

IINM, it was explained to me that it means that they have no expression of good at all, not that the good doesn't exist in them at all. How that translates here is beyond me. Page the experts on this, cuz I ain't one.

[mevinyavin]

Woke up to this. Wow!
A few points from my Rebbe, Rav Yitzchok Berkovits:
1. When Chazal use "heart" they refer to the brain. (Ask him if you want a source, but he's been saying this for thirty years at least.)
2. The source of one's desire to do good is the soul. The soul's desire to do good is a combination of logic and knowledge of the true metzius.
3. The source of one's desire to do evil is the body that the soul is encased in. In almost all (but not all) cases, even when one's desire for evil is dominant, the soul retains its desire to do good. It is rare, though possible, for constant evil to erode the soul until it is impossible for the process of Gehennom to heal it. For everyone else, Gehennom is there to heal the soul of the damage that sin creates.

Hope this adds some clarity, and I hope I am not mutilating anything RYB said (always a possibility).
You know, the optimist in me wants to relabel this thread "Random Answers."

[imayid2]

So G-d gave us this psyche and the ability to tap into it at will in order to desire. Is this psyche in each person? If yes, then each person has "good" (which isn't a physical thing) in them, no? If it's not in them, how do they have the potential good?

The heart can desire evil too.
Potential good is because of free choice to do good which is many times about overcoming desires which would lead one to the contrary.

[Lurker]

The heart can desire evil too.
Potential good is because of free choice to do good which is many times about overcoming desires which would lead one to the contrary.

But the good, whether potential or actual, needs to have a source. Nothing is created from nothing. Everything needs to have a source somewhere. You said G-d put it in each person. Ergo, each person has some good in them, even if it's just the spark from which the potential can be drawn from. Without a source for good within a person, there would be no potential for good.

[imayid2]

But the good, whether potential or actual, needs to have a source. Nothing is created from nothing. Everything needs to have a source somewhere. You said G-d put it in each person. Ergo, each person has some good in them, even if it's just the spark from which the potential can be drawn from. Without a source for good within a person, there would be no potential for good.

A source for this idea would be appreciated.

[CountValentine]

Can someone give me Judaism's view/meaning of Genesis 1:26 and 27?

[imayid2]

Can someone give me Judaism's view/meaning of Genesis 1:26 and 27?

There are myriads of explanations just how and what being created in the image of God means.