GEN489 The Holy One, blessed by He, said to Israel: “My children, I have created the yetser ha-ra and I have created the Torah as a cure [for it].  If you occupy yourselves with Torah, you will not be delivered into its hands as it says ‘Surely if you do good, there is uplift’ [this verse]. But if you do not occupy yourselves with Torah, you will be delivered into its hands as it says, ‘But if you do not do good, sin crouches at the opening’ [this verse]. Not only that, but all its dealings will be against you as it says, ‘its desire shall be for you’ [this verse]. But if you will it, you will rule over it as it says, ‘and you shall rule over it’ [this verse]. The rabbis taught: “The yetser ha-ra’ is so tough that even its Creator called it “evil” as it says, ‘for the yetser of the heart of humanity is evil (ra’) from its youth’” Genesis 8:21. Talmud, Kiddushin 30b   COMMENT: This is a phrase-by-phrase interpretation of God’s words to Cain just before he kills Abel; that is; this midrash represents God’s warning to humanity just before evil takes over … To this is appended an interpretation of God's rumination on the innate sinfulness of humanity right after the flood (Gen. 8:21). The point is that, on the one hand, God is optimistic and teaches that humankind is sinful but can master sinfulness while, on the other hand, God is pessimistic and notes that sinfulness is naturally, if not existentially, innate to humanness. Interestingly, God’s optimism is expressed before the first murder while God’s pessimism is expressed after God’s failed attempt to “correct” the human evil which prompted the flood. BANAL 189