Who is truly repentant? The one who, when the temptaion to sin is repeated, refrains from sinning." (Talmud)

Lucifer himself could not have repeated that better! Gates?

Quick background/aside for our readers... the Jewish and Christian conceptions of this being are very, very different. Think "Heavenly Prosecutor/D.A." rather than "Ultimate Evil".

And yes, I took the quote from "Gates of Repentance," the High Holidays prayer book for Reform Judaism.

Hmm. By coincidence, I just finished writing a short essay about the notorious Elisha ben Avuyah, "aher", who believed that his repentance would not be accepted (there is some echo in the Tännhauser legend).

Although Winds of Change is not intended to be a forum for theological debate, perhaps a better talmid chacham than I could discuss this?

Not entirely, Joe. You're quite right that the Talmudic Satan is the Satan of the Hebrew Bible and is never referred to as "the Evil One". But the dichotomy you refer to is present in early rabbinic Judaism and Christians and Muslims have inherited their conception from one side of the dichotomy while contemporary Judaism from the other side.

From Resh Lakish (third century):

"Satan, the evil inclination, and the Angel of Death are one and the same.

Or Satan is the personification of sin that leads to death.

And there's evidence of that Satan was more than a vigorous prosecutor in the Talmudic tales. When Tamar was brought to trial for adultery and produced the cord, signet, and staff of Judah, Samael removed them but Gabriel replaced the evidence. And in the episode of the Golden Calf Satan created an illusion: the people thought they saw Moses lying dead on his bier, suspended between heaven and earth. In this example although Satan is not an excuse for sin, he contributes to it.

Then from rabbinic sayings:

R. Isaac declared: Whereever you find idleness, Satan leaps forth.

R. Helbo said: Whereever you find tranquility, Satan accuses.

R. Levi: Wheever you find carousing "the chief robber" cavorts.

In one version of the Hashkivenu (evening benediction) there's a petition that God "remove Satan from before us and behind us". From the grace after meals: "Let not Satan rule over the work of his hands, nor over the work of our hands".

The tradition of Satan as the Evil One is very ancient and was not absent from Judaism but repressed by rabbinic Judaism since it distracted from the principle message: there is one God.

And, of course, your Talmudic quote pretty much reflects at least the Catholic tradition. For the sacrament of penance to be effective, for example, the sinner must confess the sin, do penance, and demonstrate a sincere intent to reform.

Good comment, Dave.

There is a school of thought within Judaism that sees Satan as a force equivalent to yetzer ha'ra (not just evil inclination, sometimes defined as 'animal instinct') in us all. It's the barrier between you and the divine, and you have to get past it, and that's how you grow spritually.

Seen in that light, the above prayers and sayings are sincere - but the inner meaning doesn't match up to the idea most people will get if they just read those passages cold.

Dave is right about the reasoning behind the Jewish disagreement, i.e. one G-d, period. He is also correct that echoes of the Evil One archetype remain, and you can still hear those echoes in some corners of Judaism... but that's a minority position, and even their characterizations do not begin to approach the "guy with horns" we all know so well.

"In this example although Satan is not an excuse for sin, he contributes to it."

Entrapment is allowed in that court, and often used.