Editing Jewish principles of faith (section)

===Human nature===
{{See also|Jewish views on sin|Yetzer hara|Free will in theology #Judaism}}
Jewish tradition mostly [[Free_will_in_theology#Judaism|emphasizes free will]], and most Jewish thinkers reject [[determinism]], on the basis that free will and the exercise of free choice have been considered a precondition of moral life.<ref name="Determinism">Determinism, in ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion'' (ed. Adele Berlin, Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 210.</ref> "Moral indeterminacy seems to be assumed both by the Bible, which bids man to choose between good and evil, and by the rabbis, who hold the decision for following the good inclination, rather than the evil, rests with every individual."<ref name="Determinism"/> Maimonides asserted the compatibility of free will with foreknowledge of God.<ref>Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Teshuvah 5</ref><ref name="Determinism"/> Only a handful of Jewish thinkers have expressed deterministic views. This group includes the medieval Jewish philosopher [[Hasdai Crescas]] and the 19th-century Hasidic rabbi [[Mordechai Yosef Leiner|Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica]].<ref>Louis Jacobs, ''A Jewish Theology'' (Behrman House, 1973), p. 79.</ref><ref>Alan Brill, ''Thinking God: The Mysticism of Rabbi Zadok of Lublin'' (KTAV Publishing, 2002), p. 134.</ref>

All is necessary for God because He is perfect but for mankind all is possible by virtue of choice; the two types of view are true with knowing about the prophet who is in [[Devekut]] with God to be wise and to perform [[miracle]] for Him.<ref>”[[Or Adonai]]” by [[Hasdai Crescas]]</ref>

Judaism affirms that people are born with both a ''yetzer ha-tov'' (יצר הטוב), an inclination or impulse to do good, and with a ''[[yetzer hara]]'' (יצר הרע), an inclination or impulse to do evil. These phrases reflect the concept that "within each person, there are opposing natures continually in conflict" and are referenced many times in the rabbinic tradition.<ref>Ronald L. Eisenberg, ''What the Rabbis Said: 250 Topics from the Talmud'' (2010). ABC-CLIO: pp. 311-313.</ref> The rabbis even recognize a positive value to the ''yetzer ha-ra'': without the ''yetzer ha-ra'' there would be no civilization or other fruits of human labor. [[Midrash]] states: "Without the evil inclination, no one would father a child, build a house, or make a career."<ref>[[Bereshit Rabbah]] 9:7</ref> The implication is that ''yetzer ha-tov'' and ''yetzer ha-ra'' are best understood not only as moral categories of good and evil, but as the inherent conflict within man between selfless and selfish orientations.

Judaism recognizes two classes of "[[sin]]": offenses against other people, and offenses against God. Offenses against God may be understood as violation of a contract (the [[Covenant (biblical)|covenant]] between God and the [[Children of Israel]]). Once a person has sinned, there are various means by which they may obtain atonement (see [[Atonement in Judaism]]).

Judaism rejects the belief in "[[original sin]]". Both ancient and modern Judaism teaches that every person is responsible for his own actions. The existence of some "innate sinfulness on each human being was discussed" in both biblical ([[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 8:21, [[Psalms]] 51.5) and post-biblical sources;<ref name="OriginalSin">Edward Kessler, "Original Sin" in ''A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations'' (eds. Edward Kessler & Neil Wenborn, [[Cambridge University Press]], 2005) pp. 323-324.</ref> however, in the biblical verses this is brought as an argument for divine mercy, as humans cannot be blamed for the nature they were created with. Some [[apocrypha]] and [[pseudepigraph]]ic sources express pessimism about human nature ("A grain of evil seed was sown in Adam's heart from the beginning"), and the Talmud (b. [[Avodah Zarah]] 22b) has an unusual passage which [[Edward Kessler]] describes as "the [[Serpent (Bible)|serpent]] seduced [[Eve]] in [[paradise]] and impregnated her with spiritual-physical 'dirt' which was inherited through the generations", but the revelation at [[Mount Sinai|Sinai]] and the reception of the Torah cleansed Israel.<ref name="OriginalSin"/> Kessler states that "although it is clear that belief in some form of original sin did exist in Judaism, it did not become mainstream teaching, nor dogmatically fixed", but remained at the margins of Judaism.<ref name="OriginalSin" />