Understanding Evil and Suffering in the World

With the help of Heaven

To understand this matter: How can it be that the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the Essence of Good—and concerning whom it is said, “the nature of the good is to bestow goodness”—allows, and even more profoundly, creates a world in which darkness, suffering, sorrow, and evil can exist?

The matter may be understood as follows:

We must first understand that the question itself arises because the human being perceives reality milmatah lemaalah—from below to above.

A person sees the particular.

The moment.

The suffering that stands before their eyes now.

But the Holy One, blessed be He, beholds the whole of existence in a single unity—beyond time and beyond space.

And yet, we must never say, God forbid, that human suffering is merely an illusion.

A tear is a tear.

A broken heart is a broken heart.

And when a Jew cries out to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Ad matai?”—“How much longer?”—this cry itself is holy.

The purpose of faith is not to deny the darkness.

It is to know that even in the place where the human being cannot perceive the Light, the Divine Light is not absent in itself. It is only concealed from the perception of the receiver.

This is the mystery of Tzimtzum—Divine concealment.

Tzimtzum does not mean, God forbid, that the Holy One has departed from the world.

As it is taught:

“Leit atar panui minei” — “There is no place empty of Him.”

Rather, the Divine Light becomes so deeply concealed that the created being is able to experience itself as an independent existence.

And through this concealment, a world of genuine choice becomes possible.

For if Divinity were completely revealed, there could be no true choice between good and evil. A human being would perceive the truth as clearly as one sees the sun at midday.

Therefore, the Light is concealed.

And precisely within this space of concealment, the human being is given the sacred possibility of choosing.

To choose truth when falsehood is possible.

To choose kindness when cruelty is possible.

To choose love when hatred is possible.

To choose God even when God is not revealed.

And this is the meaning of Dirah Betachtonim—the making of a dwelling place for the Divine within the lowest realm.

The Holy One does not desire only a revelation of Light in the supernal worlds.

He desires that precisely here, within the lowest realm—within the place of concealment, uncertainty, and apparent separation—the human being should reveal the One.

The human being does not enter this world merely to escape darkness.

The human being enters this world to transform darkness into light.

As it is written:

“Yitron ha’or min hachoshech” — “The advantage of light comes from darkness.”

Not merely light after darkness.

But a light revealed from within the darkness itself.

Yet here we must make a crucial distinction.

We must never conclude from this that evil itself is good.

Evil is evil.

Injustice must be opposed.

Suffering must be alleviated.

The hungry must be fed.

The sick must be healed.

And when a human being is suffering, we must not give them philosophy when what they need is a hand to hold.

The purpose of Chassidus is not to justify darkness.

Its purpose is to reveal God within the darkness, and through this revelation to bring about the nullification of darkness.

This is the deeper meaning of Iskafya and Ishapcha.

Iskafya is when a person encounters darkness within themselves and declares:

“No. I will not become its servant.”

But Ishapcha goes deeper still.

It is when the very energy that had been imprisoned within darkness is transformed and elevated into holiness.

Fear becomes reverence.

Anger becomes the strength to defend the vulnerable.

Desire becomes longing for the Divine.

Brokenness becomes compassion.

And the person who has known darkness becomes a light for another who is now walking through their own night.

This does not mean that one must suffer in order to become holy.

God forbid.

Every day we ask for revealed kindness—for tov hanireh vehanigleh, goodness that can be visibly and openly experienced as good.

But when a person already finds themselves within a state of concealment, Chassidus whispers to them:

Know this—

The concealment is not the end of the story.

The Holy One is not present only within the light.

He is also the El Mistater—the God who conceals Himself.

Not because the darkness itself is God, God forbid, but because even darkness cannot exist outside of Divine Unity.

And here lies a deeper mystery.

Evil possesses no true independent existence.

In the language of Kabbalah, the forces of concealment receive their vitality through a state called Achoraim—the “back,” meaning an extremely concealed transmission of Divine vitality.

Their existence becomes possible only because Divine life is so deeply hidden that the created being can declare:

“Ani v’afsi od.”

“I am.

And there is nothing besides me.”

This is the root of evil:

The illusion of separation.

Holiness declares:

Ein od milvado.

“There is nothing besides Him.”

The kelipah declares:

I.

Therefore, the struggle between good and evil is, in the inwardness of things, the struggle between unity and separation.

When one sees another human being as rooted in the same Divine Reality, Ahavat Yisrael—love of one’s fellow—becomes possible.

When one experiences oneself as an island unto oneself, jealousy, hatred, and cruelty become possible.

The healing of the world therefore begins with the revelation of unity.

But it cannot end in thought.

Unity that remains in heaven has not yet become a Dirah Betachtonim.

Unity must become a piece of bread.

An act of charity.

A visit to the sick.

A kind word.

Forgiveness.

An act of justice.

A human being saying to another:

“You are not alone. I am here.”

Then the Infinite becomes revealed within the finite world.

And perhaps this is the deepest response to the question:

“Why does God allow darkness?”

Not because He desires darkness.

But because He desires a creation that can, through genuine free choice, become a partner in revealing the Light.

The Holy One can create light.

But only within a world of concealment can there exist a created being who chooses to become a lamp.

A soul who, standing in the night, kindles a flame.

And one flame does more than illuminate itself.

It reveals that darkness never possessed the final word.

This is the inner meaning of Geulah—Redemption.

Redemption does not mean merely escaping from the world.

Redemption is when the truth that had been concealed becomes revealed.

When we perceive how all the seemingly separate details of creation are rooted within the One Source.

As it is written:

“Bayom hahu yihyeh Hashem Echad u’Shmo Echad.”

“On that day, God shall be One and His Name One.”

The Holy One is already One.

The revelation of the future is not that God will become One.

The revelation is that the world will finally see the Oneness that has always been.

Therefore, as long as we remain within Galut—exile—our task is not to explain every suffering.

There are questions that the human intellect cannot answer.

And sometimes the holiest answer is a tear.

But after the tear comes the Avodah—the work.

To take the darkness that lies within our power to transform—

and transform it.

To encounter injustice—

and bring justice.

To encounter hatred—

and bring love.

To encounter division—

and create unity.

To encounter loneliness—

and become a friend.

To encounter darkness—

and kindle a flame.

And when the Yetzer Hara asks:

“What can one tiny flame possibly accomplish against such immense darkness?”

The soul answers:

Darkness is not a substance that must be pushed away with both hands.

One need only kindle the light.

And the darkness retreats of itself.

This is the mission of the soul.

Not to understand all the mysteries of the Holy One.

But to become His light.

Not to justify every sorrow.

But to lessen sorrow wherever we can.

Not to tell the brokenhearted:

“Your darkness is good.”

But to sit beside them through the night until the first ray of morning appears.

And then the deeper mystery is revealed:

That the Holy One was with them there as well.

Within the silence.

Within the cry.

Within the question.

Within the tear.

And within the human being who came to hold their hand.

Through our Avodah of Torah and mitzvot, love and reverence, charity and kindness—and through each person transforming their own portion of the world into a vessel for Divinity—we bring closer the revelation of the true and complete Redemption.

A time when concealment itself will fall away.

And the words will be fulfilled:

“Umal’ah ha’aretz de’ah et Hashem kamayim layam mechasim.”

“The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.”

And then we will no longer need to justify the darkness.

For darkness will no longer conceal.

And it will become apparent to all flesh

that beneath all garments,

within all worlds,

within the breath of every created being,

there was,

there is,

and there forever shall be—

One.

Ein od milvado.

There is nothing besides Him.

And our Avodah is to live this Oneness—

today.