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The Purpose of Exile

Why Didn't G-d Create a World Without Suffering?

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The Purpose of Exile: Why Didn't G-d Create a World Without Suffering?

Why did G-d create the world in such a way that we can only experience redemption after having first endured the hardships of exile?

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Rabbi Dov Yona Korn is director of the Chabad House at NYU.

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Stephen I. Ternyik Munich July 17, 2018

Joy and redemption Very well done, concerning the extreme difficulty of the existential topic; congrats. Reply

Anonymous wilkes barre June 16, 2016

Reply to S, in UK Many are praying with you. It’s taught that the brightest light is found in the darkest places and there has been a lot (way more than enough!) of the darkness building up. We need to look for the light we know is hiding behind all the darkness. The more we look for the light, what we believe at our deepest core, the closer to the truth we are. G-d Bless. Reply

S UK June 12, 2016

Holocaust Respectfully Rabbi,
Exile for Jewish and non-Jewish people is getting worse. The children born now are constantly bombarded with inappropriate teaching against HaShem's way of life. The teaching of inappropriate relationships is actively promoted in British and European Education, in the media and society at large. It cannot be avoided.

Sadly Holocaust means - burnt offering, but the children today have no choice but to be a 'live offering' to evil inclination and it is for this to end, that I pray for the coming of Mashiach. Reply

Anonymous Dallas April 17, 2015

Thank you Thank you for this lecture, it helped me during a tough time. Reply

Casper Netherlands March 30, 2015

Such a nice video Thank you, very inspirational :) Reply

Benjamin Abraham Rauchwerg antwerp January 27, 2015

The purpose of Exile The real purpose is that the jewish nation has the obligation to educate our fellow humans and bring them the light of the torah while respecting their free choice. Having failed to do that we were put in exile and since we constantly fail we are persecuted over and over again. When looking at the state of the world , we can easily see the collective consciousness of humans and that they collectively know that the Jew owes them and therefore persecute them when the going gets tough. Reply

Anonymous December 29, 2014

Amen! Amen! Reply

Louie Modling April 12, 2014

A question on "Purpose" of Exile What are your thoughts on Leviticus 26:27 - 35? "And you, I will scatter among the nations ... your land will be desolate ...then the land will be appeased for its sabbaticals ... then the land will rest ...." Our ancestors did not let the land of Israel rest. We treated the Torah requirements casually. We sowed unrest so now we reap unrest? Reply

Lorie St. Petersburg, Fl December 4, 2013

Graitude Thanks for the Blessings that come to me, from just listening Reply

Rabbi Korn August 6, 2013

Hey.
On the last comment from MYS: The world isn't the opposite of G-d, in fact at it's core it is totally in tune with G-d, it just isn't expressing that fully.
That is the darkness, the lack of expression of the world's true core.
That's also how we will witness it, because the world, at its core, is ready to express G-dliness. Darkness is the abnormal state of "core-less-ness".
Can't wait for exciting times to come!
All the best,
Reply

M_Y_S July 29, 2013

I didn't understand if the whole creation of world is opposite to God how come that we will be able to witness the light coming out from the dark?
So I understood that exile is the preparation for redemption but I don't understand how we will witness it. I would appreciate an explanation. Reply

Kasriel Gaddi kingston,New York March 2, 2013

You, My Dear Rabbi are an excellant lectureuor and speaker that held my interest, and presented the mechanics of Exile in an manner that was very clear to anyone. Boruch Hashem, I am happy to have heard to in my Alter years . Sholom Aleikhem. Reply

Anonymous Houston, Texas August 29, 2011

Redemption I learned that it is good to have evil so we can overcome and bring light..... Thank You! Reply

F. Lembeck New York, NY August 29, 2011

Hide-and-Seek Fine metaphor. It makes us wake up and realize we have a Friend somewhere we've forgotten about. Bravo Rabbi Korn. Reply

Richard bruxvoort colligan Strawberry Point, IA, USA August 23, 2011

Thanks Thank you. Reply

Martha Bogotá, Colombia August 22, 2011

The purpose of Exile Exile is an obstacle. And we have to overcome this blockage to grow up. Then we'll be in the next step of spiritual evolution.
Shalom Reply

Meira League City August 22, 2011

A question Nice class and might be very interesting for beginners, but there is one question to make it clear: your example of “child separate from mother’s womb” serves to illustrate purpose of hardship for personal growth, right?
Birth cannot be analogy of exile; on the contrary it is usually compared with redemption, isn’t it? Reply

The Purpose of Exile: Why Didn't G-d Create a World Without Suffering?

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