Why is it Better if a Person Wasn't Created?

Yaniv asks: "Hello, I have a question that has been bothering me for a long time. Like many in our generation, I struggle a lot with sadness, and I'm glad to find in our sources things that encourage the will to live. I've always understood that we have a life path that is difficult but rewarding. Overall, our Torah strengthens life, encourages childbirth, acts of kindness, saving lives, etc. But one saying I once heard particularly bothers me: 'It's better if a person wasn't created.' What does that mean?"

And a second question: I heard in a lesson that everyone should believe 'the world was created for my sake,' and without me, the world wouldn't exist. This saying is very hard for me to grasp, firstly because Hashem surely doesn't need anyone, and also because there are many people in the world, and Hashem could always create another person in my place. I would appreciate it if you could elaborate. Thank you."

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Hello and blessings Yaniv, and thank you for your questions.

Hashem Himself declared that the world He created is "very good" (Genesis 1:31), and this is not a simple statement, for Hashem, as is known, sees from the end of the world to its end and calls all generations ahead. When Hashem says the world is very good, it means that indeed the purpose of the world is good and perfect for its creations. You can understand that if Hashem knew that a person would ultimately not be satisfied with his deeds, He would not have created this world. Every infant cries at times for candy or a toy that was taken from him, but his parents know that he will grow up and thank them for their devoted care. The holy Torah declared: "For you are children to Hashem your God" (Deuteronomy 14:1). The good Hashem knows that the souls who will undergo life in this world will ultimately be satisfied with the eternal reward that follows and will acknowledge that it was worth it.

Some quote a mistaken version of the saying "It's better if a person wasn't created," but that's not what our Sages said, rather in this language: "It's more comfortable for a person not to have been created than to have been created" (Eruvin 13b). Comfort and good are two completely different things! Many times we do things that are not comfortable for us to achieve something very good and important. Women choose to give birth knowing they will have to go through very uncomfortable and even difficult labor pains—but they are willing to do so for the great good of bringing a baby into the world. This world too is sometimes similar to a prolonged pregnancy, with its ups and downs, trials and successes, from which we gain our spiritual strength for our souls. And what our Sages said: "It's more comfortable for a person not to have been created"—their intention is about comfort in this world, which is a world of trial, not a world of reward and happiness. But about the world to come, our Sages said: "An hour of contentment in the world to come is better than all life in this world!" (Pirkei Avot 4:17).

Thus begins the Ramchal in his book Mesilat Yesharim: "And this is what our Sages taught us, that a person was not created other than to delight in Hashem and enjoy the radiance of His Presence, for this is the true delight and the greatest enjoyment of all enjoyments that can be found. And the place of this enjoyment is truly the world to come, for it is created with the necessary preparation for this thing. But the way to reach this desired destination is this world. And this is what our Sages said (Avot 4:6): 'This world is similar to a corridor leading to the world to come.' And the means that bring a person to this purpose are the commandments which we were commanded by the Blessed God. And the place for fulfilling the commandments is only this world. Therefore, man was placed in this world at first, so that by the means available to him here, he can reach the place prepared for him, which is the world to come, to drink there from the good which he has acquired through these means. And this is what our Sages said (Eruvin 22a): 'Today to do them, and tomorrow to receive their reward.'"

One must also pay attention to the end of the mentioned saying, as it contains advice and guidance for life: "It's more comfortable for a person not to have been created than to have been created, now that he has been created—let him examine his deeds!" It is important to remember that this world is intended for repair and the performance of commandments even when uncomfortable, for they are the means that lead to the main goal. And it is said in the Midrash: "Rabbi Acha said, when the righteous sit in tranquility and seek to sit in tranquility in this world, Satan comes and accuses. He said: Isn't it enough for them [the reward] is prepared for them in the world to come, yet they seek to sit in tranquility [also] in this world?" (Genesis, Parshat Vayeira).

In response to your second question, our Sages said in the Mishnah: "Therefore, man was created singly in the world, to teach that whoever destroys a single soul is regarded by the Torah as if he destroyed an entire world; and whoever sustains a single soul is regarded by the Torah as if he sustained an entire world" (Sanhedrin 4:5).

Every person is a world unto themselves—with personal spiritual forces, like trials and challenges unique only to them. No two people see the world in exactly the same way. Our Sages said about humans: "Just as their faces are different, so are their opinions different" (Berachot 58a). Therefore, our Sages advised: "Do not judge your fellow until you reach his place" (Pirkei Avot 2:4).

Every person is unique because they received a unique soul from Hashem and are destined to repair something in the world that no other soul can repair like their internal abilities and personal trials. And here lies the meaning of the saying you mentioned: "Every person must say: The whole world was not created except for my sake" (Sanhedrin 37a). From here, even if no other people were created in the world, Hashem would continue to maintain the entire world just for you, for your personal trials and life. And this proves that every person is as important before Him as an entire world. To what is this similar? To a father who has sons and daughters, and he tells them that he built his entire house just to raise them, and each of them was important enough to build this house for.

"The world was created for my sake"—does not mean that Hashem needs a person, but rather it means that Hashem created the world for the sake of man and to do good unto him. And every person is created in the image of Hashem and is worthy of this world. And therefore, if man had not been created—Hashem would not have formed the world. It is clearly stated in the prophet: "If not for My covenant day and night, I would not have appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth" (Jeremiah 33:25). The purpose of the world is found in its Torah correction, achieved by each and every one of us individually and together.

The article is dedicated to the elevation of the soul of my grandmother Eloise, may her memory be a blessing, daughter of Seniora, may she rest in peace.