That someone is born inherently good or bad is starting with the presupposition that “good” and “bad” are definable by something outside of oneself. To have these terms in a Judeo-Christian society implies that someone is resorting back to the mores and morals of these religions.

Judaism teaches that each person is created with both a Yetzer Tov and a Yetzer Hora. The Yetzer tov, the good inclination, must stand in balance against the yetzer hora, the evil inclination. So in reality the yetzer hora is not an evil thing, but a tool for creating a greater good than blind obedience. Without the Yetzer Hora man would not have free will.

This writer remembers a quote from college, but is unable to remember it’s source, “We are all touched by the wholeness of the human condition”. In other words, everyone is alike. They have both good and bad, selfish and selfless, virtues and evil, as a part of their being.

Judaism does not believe that “original sin” marred the soul of mankind and everyone is now doomed to be evil. Yes, people do believe that Adam sinned. But Adam could not have “sinned” if he had not had free will. Sequentially, he could not have had free will without both the evil and the good inclination. And each person after Adam is created exactly as Adam was created.

Adam did make it harder to embrace the yetzer tov because he was cast out of The Garden and further away from the source of all good. People are not hopeless because of his sin, but actually have the potential for more good and well as more evil.

So back to the original question: Is man born inherently good? Life is good. The very instinct of motherhood is to have an emotional attachment with a child even before its’ birth. Anyone watching the birth of an infant knows that there is something innate in the birthing process that drives the child to survive, to kick, to scream, to cry for nourishment and nurturing. This is good. This is very good. So yes, a child starts out in life “good”, with the Yetzer Tov driving him to LIFE, with the Yetzer Tov driving mother to give and nurture and care.

The child experiences good. The very innocence of the child looks for good. But anyone evolved in the rearing of children sees the selfish aspect of survival kicking in, both inclinations struggling against each other, and it is the role of the adult, who has learned the value of good, to teach right and wrong to a child.

This reminds the writer of a story told by her rabbi about a wise grandfather who wished to explain the concept of the yetzer tov and the yetzer hora to his grandson:

“Avi” he began, “I must tell you something you have not known about your grandfather until now. There are two wolves who live within (and he pointed to his chest). One wolf seeks to make the world one of fighting and hatred, it wants it’s own way regardless of what it does to others. It wishes to steal from others, to murder, to hate, to be greedy. It will stop at nothing to get it’s own way. But,” he pauses and smiles, “The other wolf is the good wolf. He wishes to bring G-d into the world by giving to others, by being patient and kind. He wishes the best for all of mankind. He is a wolf that saves others.”

The child starred at his grandfather for a few minutes in thought and then asked, “My grandfather what will you do about the bad wolf?”
“I will do nothing, child” he replied, “But, I will only feed the good wolf”.

So this is why people are good. Because goodness exists, and you are taught to recognize it. This is why you cannot attribute some mysterious demon to the entire Nazi regime. Hitler was a man who fed the bad wolf, to the point that he was totally consumed by his evil inclination. And he taught those around him to do the same. With every minute of everyone’s lives you have the opportunity to choose to do good … or to choose evil. The one you feed will win.