Beyond Good and Evil: Humanity’s Path to Hashem

To understand the purpose of creation, we must first grasp what is evil and what is good.

Let us start with a simple fact: evil always stems from a lack. Why does a person act wickedly? Because they desire something they lack. A thief seeks to acquire wealth from others, while a vengeful person seeks to satisfy their urge for revenge by causing harm. The nature of someone who feels lacking is selfish. They try to fill that emptiness by any means necessary.

The Nature of Good

What, then, is good? Good is the opposite of evil. True good is expressed through giving to others and arises from the completeness of the giver. Good can be likened to a cup overflowing with water. As it spills, it fills smaller cups.

Just as evil arises from a lack, good arises from completeness. The desire for good is to improve and to influence. That is the nature of one who has everything: to share their great and magnificent goodness with others.

Hashem as the Source of Good

Hashem is a perfect, infinite, and eternal being, unchanging and in need of nothing. Therefore, He is the absolute good, and His will is to benefit His creations. Many sages have likened Hashem's will to the sun, which always shines. Its light reaches the Earth, but different beings benefit according to their level of sight. A blind mole underground will not enjoy sunlight like a person with eyes on the surface.

Similarly, Hashem always desires to do good, and in His wisdom, He created a variety of creatures to provide for them at all levels: inanimate, plant, animal, and human. All beings receive Hashem’s goodness without free will, even the highest angels. But due to the limitations of created beings, they cannot approach Hashem closely or enjoy the highest goodness He wishes to grant.

Humanity and Free Will

It is important to understand that Hashem is the source of all good. The closer a creature resembles Hashem, the closer it can be to Him and the more of His divine goodness it can enjoy.

Humanity was created with the unique ability to choose freely between good and evil, to draw closer to Hashem or distance themselves. When one conquers selfishness and chooses good by giving without expecting anything in return, they earn a resemblance to Hashem, who gives without expecting anything in return, and attain eternal closeness to Him in Gan Eden.

We are likened to the sons and daughters of Hashem: "For you are children of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 14:1). No other creature in the universe can come closer to Hashem than humanity.

The Path to Eternal Goodness

The most difficult hell for the soul is found in being distanced from Hashem, while sins wrap it in material layers of selfishness. By fulfilling commandments and refining one’s character, the soul can grow and achieve closeness to its Creator, which is the greatest pleasure of all possible pleasures. The Torah guides us on how to resemble Hashem and thus earn His eternal goodness.