It is written (Genesis 13:8-9), “And Abram said to Lot, ‘Please let there be no strife between you and me, or between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please part from me: if to the left, then I will go to the right; and if to the right, then I will go to the left.’”

We should understand why he says “For we are brothers,” since they were not brothers.

The Zohar (Lech Lecha, Item 86) interprets this as follows: “‘For we are brothers,’ meaning the evil inclination and the good inclination are close to one another. One stands to the right of a person and the other to his left. That is, the evil inclination stands to his left, and the good inclination to his right” (Rabash, “It is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing From a Bad Person”).

Rabash writes in this article that “it is forbidden to hear a good thing from a bad person.” Why? How can there be anything good in a bad person? Apparently, it is possible.

The paradox inherent in creation, which we are not so capable of accepting, is that one can advance toward perfection and eternity only from its opposite.

The will to receive, in its essence, is neither good nor bad. But when the light enters it, it gives the will to receive an intention for the sake of bestowal. Without the intention for bestowal, the will to receive is merely a material that enjoys, and by enjoying, it perceives only its own existence in the world.

In contrast to this material, there is nothing else that must be transformed or changed. However, when operating from intentions for the sake of receiving, the material discovers that they drive it, it understands that they are bad, and reveals the recognition of evil within itself. Then the material tries to change its intentions to ones through which it can enjoy, and gradually discovers that these are intentions for the sake of bestowal.

We do not understand that the Creator created creation in such a way that the very opposition to the revelation of divinity is what awakens us. The evil inclination is, in fact, the only true means that brings us closer to the goal; it does not allow us to remain at the still level without movement, but constantly pushes us again and again to search, to find, and to see the full extent of our loss caused by it, and the utter impossibility of attaining anything good without overcoming it. Without the evil inclination, a person would come to a complete standstill.

If one follows the advice of the evil inclination, one feels that one is sinking into suffering. Then a person begins to hate the evil inclination and arrives at the correct decision: to replace the intention for the sake of receiving with the intention for the sake of bestowal. In this way, the evil inclination completes its mission.

Thus, we must respect the function of the evil inclination, what it does for us by exerting its influence on us in all kinds of ways in order to turn us toward the Creator. This is called “help against him.”

Therefore, Abraham said to Lot: “If you go to the left, I will go to the right; and if you go to the right, I will go to the left.” Does Abraham not know where to go? Rather, if Lot chooses a path, Abraham knows that his path lies in the opposite direction. Without this, he would remain in a state of Hafetz Hesed, without direction. It is precisely for this purpose that the evil inclination exists.

Although it sometimes appears to us as bad and sometimes as good, we must always disregard its advice; in other words, listen to the opposite. By doing so, it orients us in the correct direction.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/26, Rabash, “It Is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person”

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