The Source of Evil - Bo

"And G‑d said to Moses, 'Come to Pharaoh'…"—Exodus 10:1.

When G‑d summoned Moses to confront Pharaoh, G‑d did not say to him, "Go to Pharaoh," but rather, "Come to Pharaoh," as if to say that He, G‑d, was already there and by approaching Pharaoh, Moses was actually approaching G‑d.

Therein, G‑d revealed to Moses the secret of Pharaoh's power and the power of all evil—that, in essence, it is truly nothing more than the audacious misappropriation of the power of G‑d. In other words, the source of evil is the independent ego and the ultimate independence of ego is not the rejection of G‑d but the belief that G‑d's power is one's own.

"Come, enter the essence of evil and confront it in its source"After all, who was Pharaoh—tyrant, dictator, killer of children and oppressor of slaves? All of these were but manifestations of Pharaoh—particular character defects, if you will. But the essence of Pharaoh – that which made all of these other behaviors possible – was nothing more or less than the worship of self, as Pharaoh so outrageously exclaimed (Ezekiel 29:9), "I created myself."

Thus, G‑d told Moses "Come to Pharaoh," as if to say, "Come, enter the essence of evil and confront it in its source, as it really is. You will find that I am there already, for I am the power that evil so audaciously claims as its own."

So it is with us. Our inner Pharaoh is the ego that claims G‑d-like powers. He may be called by various names such as self-control, will-power or intelligence, but his message is always the same. He insists that he has our addiction under control. By the time we realize that this Pharaoh's claims are untrue, his domination over us is already complete. We stand face to face with evil, and it seems that there is nothing that we can do.

But then G‑d beckons us, "Come. Come face the obsession as it really is. The ego is not as powerful as it claims, but to the contrary, completely powerless. When you can see this – that the power of ego is nothing but a complete and total lie – it is then, and only then, that you will see true power, the power of G‑d."