A Child is Robbed

Helpless and betrayed, my brother and I stood alone in the pre-dawn hours. We were just children; he was a teenager and I was perhaps ten. We had set out on an exciting journey: we would take the train to the plane and the plane to our home where, after a full year of school, we would see our family again. We should have taken a taxi, we should have known better, but we were children, trusting and naïve.

We set out to the train station and it didn't take him long to find us; we were easy prey. One threat and thirty seconds later we were stripped of cash, enthusiasm and confidence. I didn't care for the money; I was too young for that. Only one thing bothered me. Why? What kind of evil drives a human being to steal? And from children at that! Our hopes dashed and our hearts in our throats, we learned a bitter lesson that day; life is not as innocent as children care to believe.

He could have made people who emulate their Creator perfectly. But such people would have been a poor emulation after all...This is not a question about why people choose to do evil or why evil is visited on the innocent. It is a broader question. Why did G‑d create evil and what purpose does it serve? I could not have answered this question on that day, but today, with the benefit of hindsight and decades of study, I offer the following insights.

Perfection Does Not Come Easily

Our sages taught that G‑d created the world out of sheer benevolence. He wanted to bestow goodness upon humanity. Because He is perfect He wanted to bestow perfect goodness. In other words, G‑d wanted to bestow Himself.

He could have made a perfect world with people who emulate their Creator perfectly. But such people would have been a poor emulation of G‑d. They would not have been inherently good; their goodness would have been bestowed from Above. It would have been a borrowed perfection.

Thus G‑d created a world in which goodness and evil are equal options, and He created humanity with the freedom to choose. Our penchant for goodness is not greater than our proclivity for evil; we are evenly balanced. If we want to embrace goodness we must make a choice, and choices reflect who we are. We are not forced into goodness by powers beyond ourselves. We are moved by our choice, by an inner conviction that goodness is right. This inner resolve reflects the goodness within our souls and comes as close as humanity can possibly come to being inherently good.

G‑d did not create evil so that we could indulge it, but so that we could avoid it. If evil did not exist, choosing against it would not be possible, and perfection would slip from our grasp. That evil is a viable option makes it possible for us to choose against it and affirm our inherent goodness.1

A Home for G‑d

G‑d created evil, not so humanity would choose it, but so that they could choose it.Our sages taught that G‑d desired a dwelling place in the lower realm. In spiritual terms, that which perceives itself as closer to G‑d is higher, that which sees itself further from G‑d is lower. The lowest realm is where G‑d is completely unknown and unseen. Where G‑d is absent, as it were, evil exists. Yet it was here, in the midst of a world filled with (potential) evil that G‑d wants us to build a dwelling place for Him.

A dwelling place is where a person feels at home. A dwelling reflects the interests and comforts of the person who lives there. G‑d wants us to transform this lowest realm, this evil-prone and most un-G‑dly place, as it were, into a dwelling place for Him—a sacred environment where goodness and morality are practiced and where His Commandments drive our choices.

This desire for transformation can only play out in a lower realm. By definition this means a place where sanctity is unknown, where goodness is not compelling and where evil is possible. If this were not a lower realm, G‑d's desire for an abode in a lower realm could not have had been fulfilled here.

G‑d thus created evil. Not so that humanity would choose it, but so that humanity could choose it. Could, but hopefully wouldn't. Inevitably some would fail and choose evil; a lower realm makes immoral behavior possible. But G‑d also knew that not everyone would gravitate to evil. Most of humanity would be upright; they would choose ethics, morality, holiness and G‑dliness. In this way the lower realm would be transformed into a dwelling place for G‑d.2

Two Brothers

We now understand why Rebecca gave birth to twin brothers, one righteous the other evil. From the womb they were pitted against each other; their children locked in perpetual battle. The prophet foretold that "One nation will strive against the other [but in the end] the older [Esau] would serve the younger [Jacob]."3

Without Esau this world is not a lower realmEsau represents evil and Jacob represents holiness. Without Esau this world is not a lower realm. Without Jacob this world cannot become an abode for G‑d. The two are evenly matched, made to struggle against each other. But in the end, Jacob will prevail and Esau will humbly seek entry into the Divine dwelling place: "The older will serve the younger."

The day will come when humanity will transform this lower realm into a sacred dwelling place for G‑d. On that day children will walk about without fear. No longer will children will have to shed their innocence. No longer will they fear the thief, for on that day even the thief will change his ways.

On that day humanity will be inspired by the sparkle and shine of G‑d's holy home. Evil will be eradicated and the Moshiach will finally arrive.