Radical Monotheism

Dear Michael;
My first experience of trying to understand this reality; what is evil; what are its' properties .. its forms, the consequences of its' movements in our world .... comes from a teaching in university English class with Shakespeare's Othello. How could Othello fathom the evil schemes of Iago if he, (Othello) had no such thoughts or resonances in himself? The best answer i could glean was that G-d wanted him to learn the lessons Iago had to teach him, about the different forms... not taken from the Bk of Job, but one might argue the secular metaphor was still functional ...you have to consciously turn your gaze towards the Good and breathe into this space .. and preferably in Torah. These other gods/demi-gods/famous authors ... simply can't stay the course ...
The forms of evil ... is a whole other question obviously. Another blog; 2000 years of Christian thought ... Adam and Eve and the Snake, for starters; not part of the inheritance given to children of Avraham. Reply

Dear Michael, my limited understanding from what I heard Rabbi Aaron, blessings to him, combined with my limited understanding of the Kabbalah of the Arizal, blessed be him and his memory, are that since G_d said there should not be evil, by the act of good actually pronouncing what should not be actually in potentiality caused the existence of evil, once that switch was flicked.

Based on Arizal's description of the shattering of the vessels that switch was flicked when the sefirot rejected the light, regretted missing the light, and were shattered when the light rushed back in.

The world in which we now currently exist sees us picking up the pieces and restoring creation to it's once higher existence.As evil transpired during the descent, it is necessary to overcome and transcend it's existence in our attempt to ascend to our previous state. Could this be a collective process of purification? Could we each have responsibility for evil as it now exists in whatever form? Reply