It’s a question that’s plagued thinkers for millennia. And in Jewish mystical thought, specifically within the Kabbalah, we find a fascinating, albeit complex, answer.
It all starts with the Tzimtzum (צמצום), the primordial contraction. This is the idea that Eyn Sof (אין סוף), the Infinite, had to contract Itself to create space for the finite world. Now, according to the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a key Kabbalistic text, what was left of that original perfection was then joined with what was newly created in the Tzimtzum – that is, “the power of deficiency.” This union, incredibly, is what produced the Sefirot (סְפִירוֹת).
The Sefirot, for those unfamiliar, are the ten emanations of God's light, the building blocks of reality, the channels through which divine energy flows. Think of them as aspects of God made manifest in the created world. But here’s the kicker: this "power of deficiency," this capacity for something less than perfect, actually comes forth from the will of Eyn Sof itself. It’s all part of the divine plan.
So, what does this mean? Well, according to the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, we can discern that the Sefirot contain both what exists by virtue of that primordial perfection—which is entirely good—and what exists because of this newly created deficiency, the root of evil.
It’s a radical idea, isn't it? That the source of what we perceive as evil is not something separate from God, but rather an integral part of the creative process, willed into being by the Infinite itself.
But the text goes on. It stresses that everything is one extension. What remains of perfection and the newly-created deficiency, together, jointly constitute the Sefirot. They are not separate entities battling it out. They are intertwined, interwoven, inseparable.
What's the take-away? Perhaps it’s that good and evil aren't opposing forces in a cosmic tug-of-war, but rather different facets of a single, unified reality. Perhaps the "deficiency" isn't inherently bad, but rather a necessary component for creation, for growth, for the unfolding of divine potential. It’s a challenging, beautiful, and ultimately hopeful perspective, isn’t it? It suggests that even in the face of darkness, we are all part of something whole, something divinely intended.