It’s a question that’s haunted humanity since… well, since humanity. Jewish mystical tradition, particularly the Kabbalah, wrestles with this in fascinating ways. one particularly intriguing perspective from the text Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (lit. "138 Openings of Wisdom"), a work attributed to Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, the Ramak (1522-1570 CE) .
The Ramak tackles this thorny issue by drawing a distinction between what he calls the "Holy Side" and the "Other Side" – basically, good and, well, not-so-good. But it’s not quite as simple as a cosmic good-versus-evil showdown.
Here's the key: The "Holy Side," the realm of holiness and divine emanation, didn't need a new source, a new root. It springs directly from the Eyn Sof (lit. "without end"), the Infinite, the ultimate unknowable essence of God. From the Eyn Sof emanate the Sefirot – the ten divine attributes or emanations through which God manifests and interacts with the world. Think of them as filters, or lenses, through which the pure light of the Divine is refracted into the spectrum of creation.
So where does the "Other Side" come in? According to the Ramak, it needed a new root, a new origin point. It didn't arise spontaneously from the Eyn Sof. And here's where it gets really interesting: the “deficiencies” or "brokenness" (a concept known as Shevirat HaKelim) within the Sefirot themselves serve as that root. These imperfections, these apparent flaws in the divine structure, become the very foundation for the Other Side.
Think of it this way: imagine a perfect crystal. Absolutely flawless. Now, imagine that crystal cracks, develops fissures. Those cracks, those imperfections, create new surfaces, new angles. In a similar way, the “deficiencies” in the Sefirot – the limitations and imbalances that arise within the process of emanation – become the starting point for something entirely new: the Other Side, with all its complexities and challenges.
So, we have two roots: the primordial root, the one unified Master – blessed be He! – the Eyn Sof, from which the Sefirot unfold. And then, we have a secondary root, created by the Supreme Will itself: the deficiencies in the Sefirot. This new root serves as the origin for a different consequence: the Other Side.
Why would the Divine create a root for the Other Side? Why not just have everything spring forth from the Holy Side? That’s the mystery, isn't it? Perhaps it's about free will, about the possibility of choice, about the need for contrast to truly appreciate the good. Or maybe, as the Ramak implies, even these apparent imperfections serve a higher purpose, a purpose we may not fully grasp.
The Kabbalah doesn't offer easy answers. It offers a framework for grappling with profound questions. It invites us to contemplate the very nature of reality, the relationship between the Divine and the mundane, and the origins of good and evil. And ultimately, it reminds us that even in the face of darkness, there is always a spark of the Eyn Sof, a flicker of the infinite, within us all.