5 min read

Evil Builds a Throne and Finds It Vacant

He set a second chair opposite the Throne and waited for a rival to sit. The gold looked solid. Samael would not take the seat.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Voice That Would Not Rise
  2. Isaiah's Line Across the Floor
  3. What Dies Cannot Be a God
  4. The Crown Hits the Floor
  5. The Empty Chair Left Standing

A scholar dragged a second chair across the marble of the upper court and set it opposite the Throne. Gold leaf. Sharp edges. Room for a rival. Samael watched from the side and did not sit.

Evil Builds a Throne and Finds It Vacant Click for full size

"Two domains," the scholar said. "Light and dark. God and a second power. Otherwise the slaughter makes no sense."

Angels of accusation leaned in to see if the furniture would hold.

The Voice That Would Not Rise

God did not stand. Standing would have honored the chair. A voice moved through the chamber like a law, not like a debate. "There is one domain. Echad (אחד), One. One Will. No other source."

The scholar pointed at history's blood. "Then who owns this?"

"I do," the voice said. "Even what you fear."

Samael's shadow stretched along the floor and stopped short of the Throne. He is an officer of testing, not a founder of a second sky. The scholar had tried to promote him. The promotion failed before it was stamped.

Isaiah's Line Across the Floor

A scroll unrolled without hands. The line fell across the marble: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things" (Isaiah 45:7).

The scholar's throat closed. If evil is created, it is not co-eternal. If it is not co-eternal, it cannot wear a crown of its own. The chair under his theory began to tilt.

"Why invent the opposite of Your own face?" he whispered.

God did not soften the answer. He willed what looks like evil so that good would stand out sharp, and so that no creature could claim a rival that stood on its own. Only unlimited power can bring forth what looks like its opposite and still remain One. Samael's shadow lengthened, then thinned. He would accuse. He would not found a court of night.

The scholar tried to bargain. "Let evil be a tool, but a lasting tool." The scroll did not add a verse for that. A tool that lasts forever stops being a tool and starts being a throne.

What Dies Cannot Be a God

The court filled with images of empires, plagues, private cruelties. Each one screamed independence for a season. Each one ended. A procession of fallen tyrants crossed the vision, crowns already rust. Their cruelty had been real. Their forever had been a claim that time stripped.

"Even when events look as if they run on a created force," an angel of mercy said to the scholar, "the source remains good. Horror that ends is not a second throne. Horror that ends is a lie that time will peel."

The scholar wanted the comfort of two kings. Two kings make the world simple. Blame the other one. One Will leaves no such door. The blood still belongs to the One who claims the whole field.

He fell to his knees, not in piety. In arithmetic. One domain. Everything else is weather.

The Crown Hits the Floor

Another chamber opened. There the Will was not a mood. Goodness poured according to a plan that includes service, and a gift that does not shame the one who receives it. Evil was allowed a place to act the way a builder allows scaffolding that will later be taken down.

"At the end," a scribe of light said, "damage is repaired. Evil turns back into actual good. Concealment first. Revelation last. Your chair has no seat in that ending."

The second crown slid off the stolen chair and rang on the floor like cheap metal. No one picked it up.

Samael bowed, not as a rebel king, as an officer of a court that never shared sovereignty.

The scholar asked what to say when a child dies and the street wants a second god to hate. The scribe did not soften it. "Do not crown darkness to make grief easier. Easy grief that seats a rival is still a lie."

The Empty Chair Left Standing

They left the empty chair in the chamber as a warning, not as an altar. Students of mystery who later climbed in dream would see it and feel the itch to stock it again. The chair would hold nothing. That is its only honest work.

The scholar woke in his body with Isaiah's line still cutting his sleep. He never again taught two thrones. When disciples asked why evil bites, he said, "Because the One who makes peace also creates the tool that proves no tool is a god."

Outside his window a market cheated and a widow prayed. Both sounds rose into the same air. The hard line did not soften the widow's day. It refused to crown her enemies as eternal.

Night returned. The empty chair waited in the upper court, polished, useless, and true. In the morning he smashed a small two-domain diagram he had once drawn for students. Charcoal dust rose. He swept it into the street and did not apologize to the dust.

EvilOnenessDualismIsaiahDivine WillKabbalahJudgmentCreation
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From the tradition

Sources

4 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah 2:11Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.138 Openings of Wisdom, trans. Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, Azamra Institute (2005) · CC-BY

The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a text dedicated to unlocking the gates of wisdom, dives headfirst into this very question. It argues something pretty radical: that everything, even what we perceive as evil, doesn't spring from some rival domain that could challenge God. for a second. If evil had its own, independent source, wouldn't that imply a cosmic power struggle, a divine stalemate? But the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah insists that there is only one domain.

This idea flies in the face of those who believe in dualism – the notion that there are two fundamental and opposing forces in the universe. But the text is adamant: such a belief is simply not true.

So what does it mean to say that God is One – Echad in Hebrew? The text breaks it down into two crucial understandings.

First, despite the dizzying array of phenomena in the universe, the endless chains of cause and effect, we must recognize that there is still only One God, blessed be His Name, and only one Divine Will at work. A reader can get lost in the details, to see chaos and randomness. But the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah urges us to see the underlying unity, the single source that arranges it all.

Second, and this is key: no other will, not even one created by God, can limit Him. God is absolute. There cannot be two independent powers, one responsible for good and the other for evil. That would fundamentally undermine the concept of God's oneness, God's absolute authority.

The declaration, “HaShem our God, HaShem is One” – is more than just a statement. It's a profound affirmation of God's absolute unity, a oneness that encompasses every aspect of existence. It means that everything, ultimately, originates from and is guided by this singular divine source.

So, next time you confront the question of evil, remember this: perhaps it's not a separate entity at all, but rather a piece of a much larger, more complex, and ultimately unified divine plan. A plan that, while sometimes difficult to understand, stems from a single, all-encompassing source.

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Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah 2:17Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.138 Openings of Wisdom, trans. Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, Azamra Institute (2005) · CC-BY

These are HUGE questions that have echoed through generations, and our tradition grapples with them head-on.

There's a perspective out there that sees evil as an entity, a power that exists independently. But, according to the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom), that's simply not the case. To refute that notion, to show us the true nature of reality, God willed and created evil. It's a radical idea. As it says in (Isaiah 45:7), God is "making peace and creating evil."

Why would God do such a thing? Well, the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah explains that by creating what appears to be its opposite, God makes the side of good immediately manifest. Like a spotlight shining in the darkness, good becomes all the more clear.

Moreover – and this is crucial – it shows us that even this "evil" isn’t an independent domain. It's not a rival god or a separate cosmic power. It’s a creation. Only the omnipotent God, blessed be His Name, has the power to bring about what appears to be His very opposite. And through this act, we glimpse His great perfection.

Evil, in this understanding, isn’t some rogue force running amok. God forbid! It's created by God in order for us – His creatures – to understand what the opposite of good is. The intention is that we understand that there is no other ultimate opposite to God, no other independent power that can challenge Him. The only opposite is that which is actually the opposite, created by God Himself.

When we see this "opposite" – and understand that it's ultimately His creation – we gain a clearer, more profound knowledge of His perfection and oneness. The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah then tells us that this act exposes the folly of the wicked and the unbelievers, those who believe that evil exists independently. this way: In the created realms, within the world as we experience it, one side can often only be known through its opposite. We understand light because we know darkness. We appreciate joy because we've felt sorrow. But… the way of the Creator is not the way of His creatures at all.

A creature cannot make the opposite of itself. We are limited beings. But HE made His opposite. And then, here's the kicker: He negates it. He transcends it. And in that act of negation, His oneness is revealed to perfection!

So, what does this all mean for us? It suggests a radical understanding of God's power and ultimate control. It challenges us to see evil not as a separate force, but as a tool – a difficult, challenging, even painful tool, but a tool nonetheless – used to illuminate the very nature of good and the absolute oneness of God. It's a complex idea, no doubt, but one that invites us to delve deeper into the mysteries of creation and our relationship with the Divine. And perhaps, in that exploration, we can find a bit more light in the darkness.

Full source
Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah 2:12Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.138 Openings of Wisdom, trans. Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, Azamra Institute (2005) · CC-BY

We've all been there. But what if I told you that even when it feels like God isn't in charge, He absolutely is?

Especially when we look around and see suffering, injustice, things that seem utterly senseless. How can we reconcile that with the idea of an all-powerful, benevolent God?

Well, the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Key to the Gates of Wisdom) offers a powerful perspective. It tells us that even if it appears as if events are unfolding through some power other than God – whether a force He created, or some seemingly "independent" power – that simply isn't the case. God, in His intrinsic goodness, is ultimately the source of everything. The text reminds us that the evil we see in the world isn't permanent. It won't endure forever. There's a profound promise embedded in that statement. In the end – and this is key – everything will be good. And, crucially, we will understand. We'll look back and retroactively grasp that there never was any other power, any other true domain.

Why? Because, as the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah points out, an independent power, by its very definition, has to endure forever. It has to exist in and of itself. If something is truly independent, nothing can have power over it. So, anything that doesn't endure can't be considered an independent power or domain. It's contingent, temporary, part of a larger plan.

This understanding is so liberating. It means that no will, not even one that God Himself brought into being, can ultimately limit Him. The entire cycle, the whole unfolding drama of existence, is ultimately about revealing His dominion. It's about perfecting all things through His goodness.

And that's what we're called to believe. Not just with a casual nod, but with perfect faith. With a deep, unwavering conviction that even in the darkest moments, God's goodness is the underlying reality. Even when we can't see it, even when it feels impossible, that goodness is there, guiding us towards a future where everything is made whole.

To trust that even the things that seem chaotic and destructive are ultimately serving a higher purpose. But maybe, just maybe, embracing that trust is the key to finding peace, even in the midst of the storm.

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Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah 4:13Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.138 Openings of Wisdom, trans. Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, Azamra Institute (2005) · CC-BY

Tucked away in texts like the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom) – that translates to "Hall of Wisdom’s Openings," and is part of the Kabbalistic literature – we find some seriously mind-bending answers.

One of the core ideas swirling around in these ancient texts is the concept of Divine Will. Not just some arbitrary decree from on high, but a meticulously planned and perfectly logical system.

Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah says the goodness that God bestows is complete and precious. It's not just a random act of kindness, it’s an integral part of God's very essence. His oneness – His absolute, indivisible unity – is the source of it all.

Here's where it gets really interesting. It's not just what is given, but how it’s given. The mode of bestowal, the way the goodness is delivered, is designed so that we, the recipients, don't feel shame or embarrassment. Why? Because we earn it through service, through our actions in the world. It's not just about receiving a gift. It’s about actively participating in the process.

And here’s the real kicker: the bestowal of good actually creates the very possibility of service. It's like a cosmic chicken and egg situation, but with a purpose. The initial act of grace sets the stage for us to engage, to contribute, to make a difference. It’s in how the intended goodness comes about that there’s space for our service.

So, what’s the ultimate purpose of all this service? To reveal God's unity. This is the intended benefit, the grand prize, if you will. And how do we do that? By turning evil back to good. By taking the broken, the fragmented, and restoring it to wholeness. This concept of "turning evil back to good" is at the heart of much Jewish mystical thought. It’s the idea of tikkun (spiritual repair) olam (repairing the world) on a cosmic scale.

It suggests that we're not just passive recipients of divine grace, but active partners in the ongoing work of creation. We have a role to play in revealing the underlying unity of all things, even in the face of chaos and suffering.

Remember that even in the midst of darkness, there's an opportunity to turn evil back to good, to reveal God’s unity, and to participate in the grand, ongoing story of creation. It may just be the most meaningful work we can do.

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