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Does G-d really need to Punish the Wicked? Isn't there a Better Way?



Question:

I don't understand. If we are all G-d's children, and G-d's mercy extends to all His creations, why did G-d need to bring on such great harm as blight, plague, and the death of the first born to get the Children of Israel out of Egypt? I understand the problem was that the Egyptians were wicked and needed to be punished and the Israelites were enslaved and mistreated and something had to be done to free them. But couldn't G-d have found a better way?

Answer:

The entirety of history is a process in which the world is slowly purified and becomes a receptive channel for G-d's light. When it is still coarse, G-dliness comes crashing in, because it is Infinite Light and the world cannot contain such a light. But as we approach the messianic times and the purification becomes more complete, miracles can land gently. The fall of the communist party was somewhat a gentler miracle -- a great miracle, but much gentler.

Today, amazing miracles are happening, far beyond the Exodus. But we all want to remain skeptics and prefer not to notice. If we open our minds and eyes, we will see extraordinary changes entering our world -- in peace and tranquility.


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By Tzvi Freeman   More articles...  |   RSS Listing of Newest Articles by this Author
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman heads Chabad.org's Ask The Rabbi team, and is a senior member of the Chabad.org editorial team. He is the author of a number of highly original renditions of Kabbalah and Chassidic teaching, including the universally acclaimed "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth." To order Tzvi's books click here. Rabbi Freeman is available for public speaking and workshops. Read more on his bio page.

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Reader Comments
Latest Comments:
Posted: July 30, 2008
reward and punishment
Train up a child in the way she should go...And then praise her for having put it all away (even though we are the one who "really" put it away...If only G-d did that.

Posted By Sonia

Doesn't science quantify all the ways in which G-d does exactly that? Life is a classroom in which we learn morality via exactly such reward and punishment.
Posted By Jason, Leeds, UK

Posted: June 12, 2008
Sonia
Thanks for the great advice! I mean really. I couldn't make her do time out after all because you're right, she thought it was a game.

I think G-d does that as well, when I studied Kabbalah seriously, and Rabbi Freeman, please correct me if I'm wrong, I realized that when G-d says "I", He means do this too.

Pretty much like your advice. Though we have to seek the guidance, it doesn't come to us.
Posted By ceciia, Prague, Czech Republic

Posted: June 12, 2008
Train up a child in the way she should go....
We are bigger than a four-year-old. We can put her through the motions we want her to do. We are free of any need to hit her. And how do you force her to stay in front of the wall if she is determined to do as she pleases? Just stand over her and if necessary gently place her hand on an object so she is "holding" it (enclosed in our own fist) and walk her over to where the object belongs, and keep doing that, very gently, despite her crying, until it's done, to show that we mean it, that she WILL put it away. And then praise her for having put it all away (even though we are the one who "really" put it away). And watch for the next time she puts away even one item, praise her specifically for that item and then encourage her to put away the rest. Watch for specific occasions to praise, and stop her at once if she does anything that is truly wrong. Avoid saying NO to harmless desires; save that for the biggies but enforce those biggies.
If only Gd did that.
Posted By Sonia



 


The Plagues
Frogmen
Suspended Hailstones
Rain, a River, Fire and Ice
Ten Ways to Destroy Your Life
The Kabbalah of Darkness
Did Darkness Prevail?
A Ray of Light
Does G-d really need to Punish the Wicked?
Perception and Power
Why Didn't Pharaoh Release the Israelites?
Whacking the River
Is G‑d Vengeful?
Pharaoh's Contrition
Fire and Ice
"The Nile" or "De-nial"?
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