Ask the Rabbi: Evil and its Purpose

Dear Rabbi Fried,
I have often pondered the fact that there is such a proliferation of evil in the world. If God is good and just, why would he allow there to be a world filled with evil. I know that this question is dealt with by some sects of Christianity the evil belongs to the satan, who is an opposing force to God, but we don’t believe in other gods. So how can this be reconciled?
Myron T.
Dear Myron,
This is a philosophical question that the greatest philosophers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, have grappled with for millennia. It is difficult, therefore, to adequately do justice to it in a column of 400 words. I will give you some food for thought based on the teachings of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, an 18th century Italian Torah giant and one of the greatest Kabbalistic masters of all time. He spends much of his works discussing this question.
G-d, who is the source of all good and the ultimate goodness, desired to bestow His goodness upon others. This, we are taught, is the reason for the creation. “The world was built out of kindness”, (Psalms 89:3).
If G-d would have created us, the recipients of His kindness, as angels who have no trials and tribulations, no tests or difficulties to overcome, we would surely enjoy and bask in His goodness. The goodness we would receive would, however, be tainted by the shame of having received a free gift without having to do anything to earn it. This, in the terminology of the Kabbalah, is referred to as “the bread of shame”.
If a poor man comes to your door daily for his handout of food for the day, and you give it to him daily, he’s surely happy to receive what he needs and greatly appreciates it. He will, inevitably, be ashamed to have to receive a handout from another. If the donor will ask the man to help him tidy up the house a bit or help him rake the leaves and then give him the food, although the deeds he performed don’t at all equal what he has received, he still will have his needs fulfilled without the shame. He will be able to hold his head up high and say, today I earned this!
In order for us to receive the eternal goodness G-d wishes to bestow upon us with no shame, and feel it truly belongs to us, He created a world that has choices and tests, between good and evil. He allows evil to proliferate as part of the power of our free choice, which is the foundation of mankind. The more that evil abounds in the world the more we need to overcome it and trample it down. To do so makes us a partner to G-d in the world, to “tidy up the house and rake the leaves”. This we do through the methods He provided for us, called mitzvos. With them we effect a “tikkun olam”, repairing the world.
Although the little we can accomplish in our relatively short lives, even 100 years is not a lot as compared to eternity, we still will be able to feel that the good bestowed upon us for that eternity belongs to us. We did something to deserve it.
In this way, G-d’s purpose of bestowing the ultimate goodness upon His creations will be fulfilled.