The Sitra Achra, who removes the blessing from creations, is called "death," as it says, "and death and evil." Thus, when a person sins he draws the Sitra Achra, called "death," toward him.

Rabbi Isaac Luria, Sha'ar HaGilgulim, Chapter 23
Sitra Achra is an Aramaic term which translates literally as "the Other Side". It is used by devout Jews euphemistically to refer to the forces of evil in the universe, to anything that is wholly impure. These forces are anthropomorphized but typically not personified. I.e. the Sitra Achra can be said to intend or do a certain thing, but it is nontheless not defined as the same thing as Satan, the Adversary.

According to the Kabbalah, God made the Sitra Achra and opposed it to the Sitra d'Kedusha, the Holy Side. A central tenet of Lurianic Kabballism has it that during the course of the creation of the world, a shattering occured during which sparks of divine holiness were scattered. The Sitra d'Kedusha is contantly engaged in tikkun olam, the repair of the world, finding and gathering these sparks, and the Sitra Achra is constantly engaged in undoing the work of the Sitra d'Kedusha. Because human beings are intricately bound up in tikkun olam, achieving it through observing God's commandments, the Sitra Achra undoes tikkun olam by luring human beings into sin. One tool of the Sitra Achra is therefore the parasitic yetzer hara, the evil urge. On an individual level, the Sitra Achra manefests itself as a klipah, an impure, earthly film which clings to human beings and separates them from divinity.

Sitra Achra is also the third album recorded by the Czech metal band Ebola Joy. It was recorded in February 2002 in Znojmo, in the Czech Republic. Here's a tracklist:
  1. Dying World - 4:39
  2. You Have No Choice - 5:19
  3. Your Life in Death - 5:16
  4. Touch of Death - 6:07
  5. Empty - 5:20
  6. Anonymous Face - 4:00
  7. Weary - 5:24
  8. Stay - 5:46
  9. Return (On the Boundary of Light and Shadows) - 5:04
You can listen to mp3 clips from this album at http://www.ebolajoy.cz/englishversion/cd44e.htm

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