Choosing Life

If He loathes evil, then why does He allow it in His world? How can He breathe life into a world while all that is good and beautiful is ravaged by that which He hates?

It must be that His hatred of evil is not like the hatred of a mortal being for those who oppose him. Nothing can oppose Him, none of His creatures can cause Him harm. To Him, darkness is light and light is darkness, the wicked and the righteous are equal in their insignificance.

He rejects evil not for any reason, but only because He has chosen to reject these things, and that very rejection is what brings evil into being.

So too, He has chosen that those who vanquish evil will be called good. This, too, is a decision from His very essence, one that defines the very reality of things.

At the very core of reality lies the freedom of choice.

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From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. Subscribe and get your dose daily. To order Rabbi Freeman’s latest book, Wisdom to Heal the Earth, click here.

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Renee Israel February 8, 2018

Is this an assumption of how God feels about evil? - how can it be that evil to Him is the same as good both insignificant if so why put us here to suffer like we do. Lets not have a world at all. That would be the best solution. God should reject evil outright by now and bring about only good, although it "seems" that is never going to happen no wonder so many people have lost their faith. Reply

Michael Singer Silver Spring February 8, 2018

"... that very rejection is what brings evil into being"? Sorry, I don't understand. Reply

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman February 8, 2018

in response to Michael Singer:

I’m as few words as I can:
Unlike us, G‑d starts with nothing and creates by desire.

Out of the desire that there be a world comes a world. After all, you can’t desire something that does not exist.

Out of the rejection of certain desires, evil comes into being. After all, you can’t reject something that doesn’t exist. Reply

Tzvi Freeman Thornhill, Ontario October 27, 2008

To Anonymous in Houston This seems to be the most misunderstood of all the thoughts that go out with the Daily Dose. That's my fault--I tried very hard to condense into a few words one of the most difficult concepts the Rebbe presented. Obviously, I was not successful.

So let me try now to put this in simpler words:

If you or I were to create a world, what would we put inside? Personally, I can't stand the white meat of a chicken. The chickens in my world would be all legs and wings. I also don't like noise and angry voices. My world would be full of harmonious sounds and gentle words.

So what's with G_d? He says He can't stand evil, idolatry, suffering, persecution, oppression, injustice, etc., etc.--and His world--that He made from scratch with no one else telling Him what to do--is full of all these things!

The answer given here (taken from a talk of the Rebbe printed in Likutei Sichot, volume 4, pp. 1339-1342) is as follows:

The question arises because we are back at our favorite sport of recreating G_d in our own image. We despise things because they hurt us, oppose us, make us feel yucky. So of course we wouldn't even imagine creating those things in our world. Why isn't He the same?

G_d, however, despises evil by choice. After all, evil didn't have to exist at all. G_d decided that there would be such things as evil, idolatry, suffering, etc.--and that He would be really turned off by all of it. For Him, everything is a choice.

Once He has this world full of things He doesn't like battling with those things He does like, He is able to stand back, so to speak, and say to us, "Look, I've given you a choice. Just like I have freedom of choice, now so do you. It's up to you." And then He can watch, knowing that, eventually, we will make the right choice.

You need to read one other essay to really understand this: How Does G-d Decide What's Right and What's Wrong? http://www.chabad.org/36441 Reply

JF August 3, 2026

in response to Tzvi Freeman:

Yes and this teaching does seem to be causing reactions. Thank you for taking the time to clarify the teaching. Reply

Anonymous Houston, TX October 27, 2008

Tolerating Evil I cannot accept the opinion given in this article. The Lord G-d does not tolerate evil because He will "loterate" it. Have you forgotten the Garden of Eden? Man made a conscieous choice to sin, to do the opposite of what He commanded. Because of that, sadly "evil" will make itsself available to all men because of Adam & Eve;'s "Free Will" choice. So to, ALL men have that very same "Free Will". That is the majesty of His creation of man, we are "Free Will" agents. Our Father in Heaven doesn't want "little robots". He desires that ALL men would "choose" to love Him, obey Him and His Word, live for Him, and continue to share His love with others, leading the lost to an ALL loving, merciful, caring, protecting, powerful, undefeatable, providing, all healing, (words cannot begin to describe Him), G-d & Saviior whose heart is to spend eternity with us. THAT's why "He has prepared a place for us". Evil SHALL be judged, sentenced,and punished with the full measure of His "right hand" Reply

Tzvi Freeman Thornhill, Ontario October 24, 2008

For anon in Acworth You need to read the rest of the thought: "So too, He has chosen that those who vanquish evil will be called good. This, too, is a decision from His very essence, one that defines the very reality of things—yet it effects no change in Him."

That means He has decided that the righteous will be significant to Him--not because they are inherently so, but simply because He has so decided. And since it is "a decision from His very essence," it is the most powerful and real decision there could be. Reply

Michal Baharier Tel Aviv, Israel October 24, 2008

Evil Why is He waiting and watching? What is it that He is trying to do by watching it unfold within Him? Why did He watch the Holocaust "unfold"? Why does He "hold back"? Reply

Thinker Deeper October 23, 2008

Petty gods To all those who commented so far: So is this all that makes a G-d--a being that walks in on a world already made and says, "This I like and this I do not like"?

If anything exists, it is G-d that causes it to exist. If there is good or evil, if there is any possibility of evil, do you really believe that G-d just found it there, against His will? If so, this is not Judaism but idolatry. Reply

Chana October 23, 2008

Jews, Catholics, Muslims A Jew can turn against Torah but he cannot stop being a Jew.

If your mother's mother is a Jew, then you stood at Sinai and promised to be Torah true. You cannot ever undo that promise. You can break the promise and incur Gd's wrath, but you cannot escape.

Return now, while there is still time. Even if you become a Reform Jew, at least you will be acknowledging the covenant and putting away strange gods, and Gd will welcome you home. It's not as good as being shomer shabbos and shomer kashrus and shomer mitzvos, but it sure beats committing idolatry, which you are now doing.

Turn unto Gd and Gd will turn unto you.
Gd is ALL there is. There is no evil, only an illusion of evil. Painful as it is for us. Only GD is real. Is that so hard to accept? Gd is IT. Ayn od. There is nothing else but GD. The entire universe is within Gd, and Gd loves you passionately and will eagerly embrace your return to His Torah.
"Turn unto Gd and Gd will return unto you." Reply

Herbert Schwarz, MD, FACS Santa Ana, CA October 23, 2008

Tolerating Was it Churchil or Dante that said: "There is no such thing as good or evil, thinking only makes it so". Reply

Richard Florida February 8, 2018

in response to Herbert Schwarz, MD, FACS:

When a child is tortured and killed that is evil. When a child suffers cancer, who has decided to visit such horror on a child? I cannot believe in a divine being only because I am too weak to accept the fact that there is a possibility of not such a being. Reply

Gil Great Neck, N.Y. October 23, 2008

tolerating evil You cannot undrerstand G-d. I certainly don't want a G-d that I could understand. Everthing in the universe was created by G-d. Including good and evil. What may appear good to you may appear evil to another. There is no object that cannot be used for good or evil. The tree of good and evil is for G-d to decide. What is truth or false is for man to decide. Downfall of man is having knowledge without wisdom. Reply

Anonymous Fairfax, Va. October 23, 2008

evil? What a sad comment, to serve a god who turns night to day and day to night, who sees good and evil men equally. No wonder thank got I became a Catholic. Now and then I read your material looking for a reason to return, this only makes me more sure of the decision I made a few years ago. Reply

Anonymous Acworth, GA October 23, 2008

Tolerating Evile Why is the righteous insignificant? Doesn't he have a special connection with Him by the fact that he is righteous?

Furthermore, if rejection brings life to evil, then acceptance should bring its death. So why doesn't He accepts it so it won't exist instead of watching the carnage humanity does to itself as if it were a movie? Reply

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