ענין מה שיש תועלת לחכמה מן הרע. Knowing Evil
The mystery of faith is the true secret of God’s unity. With the mystery of faith, one can understand how God runs the world with loving-kindness, even when one sees the righteous suffering and the wicked prospering, for the mystery of faith allows us to look beyond the garments of this world. One of the central, and most controversial, tenets of Izhbitzer Hasidism is the idea that God’s unity can be found even in its extreme opposite – in sin and evil itself. Thus, in R. Gershon Henokh’s terms, the greatest mystery of faith is that God can even be found where He ostensibly is not. In this chapter, R. Gershon Henokh cites several sources that allude to this mystery. Understanding this truth was the goal of many great figures in the past. For instance, the Talmud states that during the reign of King Solomon, the moon was always full. In this case, the “moon” is a metaphor for this world, which receives its light from God (like the moon receives light from the sun). Shlomo desired to reveal God presence in all aspects of life. Thus, the “full moon” is a metaphor for complete revelation, without any dark or “diminished” aspect. Thus, Shlomo declared in Shir HaShirim: “I descended to the egoz” – into the kelipot or “impure shells” of negativity – to seek God there, as well.
וזה דאיתא בזה"ק (ויחי רכג:) ובגין דשלמה מלכא ירתא לסיהרא בשלימותא בעי לירתא לה בפגימותיה, ועל דא אשתדל למידע בדעתא דרוחין ושדין, למירת סיהרא בכל סטרא, וביומוי דשלמה בכלא אתנהיר סיהרא. ובתקוני הזהר (תקון כ"ו עא:) דודאי קוב"ה ושכינתיה לא אשתני דא מן דא אבל לגבי אחרנין אשתני ואסתתר בכמה לבושין ובכמה כסויין וכמה קליפין, ובגין דא אמר שלמה ע"ה (שיר השירים ו׳:י״א) אל גנת אגוז ירדתי, דאיהו הוה ידע בקליפין כלהו ובגין דא לא שביק אפילו מיני דכשוף דלא ידע בגין דידע בקליפין, ורעיא מהימנא איהו יתבר כל קליפין ונפיק מתמן מוחא דאיהו יקו"ק וכו'. ובזה"ק (תזריע מז:) וראיתי אני שיש יתרון לחכמה מן הסכלות, מן הסכלות ממש אתי תועלתא לחכמתא דאלמלא לא אשתכח שטותא בעלמא לא אשתמודע חכמתא ומלוי. ותאנא חיובא הוא על בר נש דאוליף חכמתא למילף זעיר מן שטותא ולמנדע לה בגין דאתי תועלתא לחכמתא בגיניה וכו'. וזה דאיתא בזה"ק (בא לד.) דהכי אתחזי ליה לבר נש למנדע טב ולמנדע רע ולאהדרא גרמיה לטוב, ודא איהו רזא דמהימנותא. שכל מה שיוכל להשיג הטוב שנמצא בהרע, כל כך יכנוס לדעת שגם את זה לעומת זה ברא הש"י. וזה דאיתא בזה"ק (שמות טו:) אמר רבי עקיבא מהו דכתיב אל גנת אגוז ירדתי וכו' ומה דאמר ירדתי כמה דתנן פלוני ירד למרכבה וכו' אמר ר"ע האי לכלוכא דהוא כקליפוי דאגוזא למאי רמיזא וכו': It is written in the Zohar (Yayehi, 223b): Since Shlomo HaMelech inherited the moon in its state of completeness, he needed to inherit it in its state of deficiency. He strove to understand spirits and demons (i.e. the forces of evil) in order to inherit the moon in all its aspects. For this reason, in the days of Shlomo HaMelech the moon shone in all its aspects. And in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 26, p. 71b): Clearly The Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shekhina have not changed. Yet from an outside perspective, they do change. That is to say, (in this world) they are concealed in layers of garments and shells. This is why Shlomo HaMelech said (Shir HaShirim, 7:11), “I descended to the egoz55Egoz means “nut,” in Hebrew. garden.” He had a complete knowledge of the kelipot (impure shells), which gave him a thorough knowledge of all forms of sorcery. The faithful shepherd56The faithful shepherd, here, is the Messiah. The Zohar also refers to Moshe Rabeynu as Raya Mehemna which means, “the Faithful Shepherd.” One of the books that is included in the Zohar corpus is also called the “Raya Mehemna.” will break all of the kelipot, bringing forth the essence which the shell conceals, meaning the Tetragrammaton (YHVH).” And in the Zohar (Ta’azria, 47b): “And I saw the superiority of wisdom from folly.” (Kohelet, 2:13) From folly itself emerges something of benefit to wisdom. If it were not for the existence of folly, wisdom and all its extensions would not be known. We have learned that together with wisdom, it is incumbent upon man to learn something of folly, for in knowing it, it serves to benefit his wisdom. In fact, the knowledge of folly or evil is a component of none other than the mystery of faith. It is written in the Zohar (Bo, 34a): It is proper for man to know good and to know evil, and to return himself to the good.57Here the Zohar is speaking about King Shlomo, whose great wisdom certainly allowed him to know the good. But how did he “know evil?” Referring to a king, the Torah commands (Devarim, 17:17), “he shall not have too many wives, and his heart shall not turn away.” Yet, of King Solomon, the verse states: “…” The queens of King Solomon encouraged him to study and practice idolatry. When King Shlomo wrote, “I descended into the nut garden,” he was telling us how he had become intimately acquainted with the force of evil in the world. This is the mystery of faith. The more one can find the good hidden in evil, the more he will understand how, “God created one over against the other.” (Kohelet, 7:14)58The verse reads, “On a good day, be in the good, and on a bad day, see that also God made one over against the other.” The Biblical commentor, Rashi, explains: “This is the good and its reward, versus the evil and its punishment.” The commentary Metsudat David explains, “Know that the evil itself was sent from God. The degree of evil has a corresponding punishment.” In Kabbalistic writings, the verse generally means that for every force of good, God created a parallel force in the realm of evil. In view of the quote from the Zohar, Parshat Bo, “see” could mean to recognize the evil, but realize that “God made one over against the other” – that we must choose the good in response. Hasidic teachings take an even further, unified approach. They seek to find the good within the evil itself. This is the Baal Shem Tov’s idea that evil actually provides a setting, or “throne,” for the good (רע כסא לטוב). For without a knowledge of evil, it would be impossible to recognize the good. Thus, evil actually plays a role in revealing God’s goodness, and is thus a part of the Divine unity itself. “See that also God made one over against the other,” would mean to see the good within the evil itself. This is as it said in the Zohar (Shemot, 15b): Rabbi Akiva said, why did Shlomo HaMelech say, ‘I descended to the egoz garden.’? This is just as we say, “he descended to the Merkava (Divine chariot).’ Rabbi Akiva asked, what does the dirt that is found in the shell of the egoz represent?”
ובזה"ק (פקודי רלג:) כתיב אל גנת אגוז ירדתי וכו' מה אגוזא אית ליה קליפה דסחרא וחפיא על מוחא ומוחא לגו, אוף הכי בכל מלה דקודשא, קדושה לגו וסטרא אחרא לבר וכו': And the Zohar answers (Pekudei, 233b): “Just as the nut has a shell which surrounds the fruit (the inner essence), so it is with everything possessing kedusha, where the kedusha is inside and the force of evil surrounds from the outside.”