It’s a question that has plagued humanity for millennia, and Jewish mysticism offers a fascinating, if sometimes unsettling, answer. It all boils down to the very act of creation. : if God is all-good, all-perfect, how could a world filled with imperfections, with suffering, with… well, with evil… come to be?

The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text whose name literally means "Hall of the Openings of Wisdom," gives us a glimpse into this profound question. It speaks of a time when a created realm was about to be brought into being. Now, this isn't just any realm; this is the realm of the "Other Side," what's often called the Sitra Achra (סִטְרָא אָחֲרָא).

The text is very clear: this Other Side isn't like the Sefirot (סְפִירוֹת). The Sefirot, those divine emanations, the attributes of the Supreme Will, are actual Godliness, extensions of the divine essence itself. But the Sitra Achra? It’s something entirely different. It’s a created realm, brought forth by the Supreme Will in the same way that God brought all other creations into being out of nothingness, or ex nihilo.

So, why create it? Why bring something into existence that seems to stand in opposition to all that is good and holy?

The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah goes on to explain that this creation, this Other Side, "would involve every kind of defect and lack of goodness." Powerful words. It brings to mind the verse, “God made also this one against this one" (Ecclesiastes 7:14). The intention, according to this view, wasn't just to create good, but also to create everything that could be the opposite of good: "every kind of damage and destruction." If there’s no opposite, can we truly appreciate the good? Is darkness necessary to define light?

The many different levels of the Other Side, each more terrifying than the last, correspond to all the many different kinds of damage and destruction that can exist when there is deficiency in the world. It's like a mirror reflecting all the ways things can go wrong, all the ways the world can be broken.

It's a sobering thought. The existence of the Other Side, the Sitra Achra, isn’t some cosmic accident. It was, in a sense, part of the plan. It's a necessary, albeit terrifying, component of a world where free will exists, where choices matter, and where the potential for both profound good and unspeakable evil resides within us all.

So, what does this mean for us? Perhaps it's a reminder that the fight against darkness is a constant one. That we must be ever vigilant in choosing good over evil, in striving to repair the world, to perform Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">tikkun olam (תִּקּוּן עוֹלָם), and to bring more light into a world that desperately needs it. Because, ultimately, the existence of the Other Side isn't just a cosmic problem, it's a deeply personal one.