Complacency

"There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us that, how can it be anything else but the "Supernal Light", of GOD within each of us that will resolve the hidden darkness within the world? I will allow the light of Torah within myself to defeat darkness around me.

Turn on your lights.....Light a Candle, allow God to be Victorious.... Reply

I am reading this on the heels of the horrible evil of the simchat torah massacre of oct 7, 2023. Can G-d bring good out of this? Of course. Would G-d have preferred this never happened? Of course. And therein lies the rub. What is our 'job' here on earth? What are we to be doing?
Our being must be in alignment, in oneness, as one, with the being of all doing, who is G-d. Outside of that, I don't see how goodness is possible, in heaven or on earth. Reply

Isn't this from 5744? Reply

And if there was only good and no bad, we would not have the opportunity to use free will to choose between doing good and doing bad. We would be robots ... living in a world that is all good.

This is related to Rabbi Rabbi Kushner’s “Why do bad things happen to good people.” If we all knew for sure, that the good will be rewarded, and the bad will be punished, nobody then, not from free will but rather just from good common sense, all would choose to be good, and then poof goes free will.

And that leads to one possible purpose for Creation, there are so many I suppose: to allow humans to use their free will to connect to Hashem, in thought, speech, and action. This leads to our wondering if this free will is worth what we know of the world’s history, wars all the time, peace is something we just talk about. The tradeoff question: Is the free will so important or is it better to be a robot and then live in a world of absolute peace and harmony? Reply

I think God has bestowed on every human Being with unprecedented almost limitless attributes that seperate us from all other creauters...
And He expects us to be aware of the fact that all of the PERFECT attributes stem ONLY from HIM..
Will Power and conscience are very essential in those attributes...
I believe He wants us to exercise those bestowments to be dominant in universe...Due to his Mercy He has sent divine guidence periodically.

So we need to consciously search on those tenets of the divine wish and act accordingly..utilizing intelljgence will power and compassion to reach the exquisite level ....overcoming possible interference of race,ego,cult etc that might drive us from the divine order..

I hope I could ve explained my thoughts concisely in a short way...

So God does want us to use His very own power to do the right thing....
Lastly the responsibilty of all suffering and bad things IS ON US....Because WE ARE THE ONES WHO HAS COMMITED TO LET THEM HAPPEN Reply

G-d 'exists' beyond time and space. His Creation, all of it, including humans, are subjects of His complete Creation which mandates that 'every...' is possible, all actions and corresponding emotions. Therefore, since His Creation is complete with all possibilities, that means that evil must be present along with the good. The Torah states many times that G-d wants us to choose the good by following His ways, but He also realizes that He cannot restrict human free will to choose between good and evil. Our true and only real choice is to use our free will to be worthy of His Blessings. All that occurs to us is our doing, even our sins can serve a positive function in our lives if we regret those sinful activities and learn from what frequently happens if we do not cease from their re-occurrence. The choice is ours, G-d will respond accordingly. Additionally, we are the product of G-d, in that every subatomic particle to the whole Universe is G-d. Reply

I refuse to thank G-d for bad things that have happened. Since we have been permitted to judge good from evil, there is no reason why we should not feel it is right to love the good things that occur and to enjoy the knowledge of them, whilst the bad things should not be permitted to become aspects that we either ignore nor accept with the thought that they too were part of how our lives were planned to pass. Reply

my answer is: because there is no good and there is no bad. I would like to have your opinion about it.

Also, if there is good and bad, how can we really be the judges? I have read recently that Charles Manson has given a lot to charities. Now if this were true, it would mean he helped people with the proceeds of his notoriety, which, well we all know how he acquired it. So, I'm wondering how does that all count, he is good or bad? Do his good deeds forgive his bad deeds? Could it be in the end that his life brought more good to the humanity than all the people he had killed? We just don't know. We have no idea whatsover. So we cannot judge. I am not at all defending killers, I am just curious and observing life. Reply

If we knew what exactly?
Why He can't provide?
Answer of course, is, He can.
Why does the Torah not answer what?
Answer why bad things happen?
We definitely are not meant to understand everything here. Reply

So G-d wants us to hate evil, and thus He didn't tell us...fair enough

But that's theoretical; completely abstract. The evil that exists is real. It consists of real people with real suffering, pain, terror... it's not an idea. In fact it has nothing to do with ideas--not for those who are truly in its darkness.

Look at the faces of the 21 men in the ISIS video released today. the men being marched out to the beach to be beheaded in front of the camera. How did Hashem sit through it, tell me Reply

"We might consent"? Why the Rebbe cried G-d has provided good without the bad – but a world shrouded in darkness cannot perceive nor accept this.
Torah, contains the answers which culminate in this one. It is the apex of understanding, the pinacle of wisdom.
But the world would rather trade Truth for a lie - and as a result, reep its painful consequence.
The Rebbe is right to say “we might consent.”
We did.
Humanity once possessed perfection. But humanity was also given free will – a perfect and powerful gift that, when perverted, introduces imperfection, blindness and suffering.
The beloved chose to separate from the life-source, its Creator.
Perfection was traded for what was not and the painful consequence was ushered in.
The Rebbe choked with mankind for having done this.
He sobbed for mankind because it has not learned.
Once again, perfection was sent to humanity.
The remedy for suffering was not thrust upon us against our will, but moved among us as in the Garden.
And once again, His beloved has chosen to reject Him for something less.
Understanding comes not to the hardened heart, but rather the open heart that seeks Truth.
Torah points the way – but it’s the beginning. Be open to where it leads, seek with all your being and you shall surely find it. Reply

To Marie Dear Marie, you are NOT way off track, in fact you are RIGHT ON TRACK.

Yet there are some who must ask themselves that very question before it gets too late. Reply

Surely the Rebbe is speaking to me today, because my eyes are tender, from weeping. I see the hidden design of chaos always trying to attach it's ugly head in my life and in the life of my children. I ask Hashem, How can I fulfill my divine purpose in life, when evil is always lurking around, hacking, and eavesdropping with the intent to sabotage our destiny in G-d? The answer is within our hearts and resides in our very soul. I hear it saying "REMEMBER.I alone am G-d, there is No Thing impossible with me, I alone delivered you out of the land of Egypt (chaos), and from every enemy that intimidates you. I remember that Torah is our legal system and our salvation. We have been invited into the rest (realm) and Kingdom of G-d( Malkuth), evil has no authority over us. Whose report will I believe? I will believe the report of the LORD! Trust G-d from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. This was my answer and I consent. We want Mashiach now! Reply

In time? However, aren't we destined to such consent? And since there really is no such thing as time (past, present, future all being one) then it could be said that, in a way, we already did consent. It appears we are at a "time" where, more and more, we are questioning our reality like never 'before.' It seems that we should be desiring & receiving His wish for us to know so that we do consent. Am I way off track here? Reply

if we knew we would consent This is very deep. Sometimes a line will reverberate for a long time and this has staying power. Obviously the world is created with suffering as a deep and ongoing part, and to part with this, is to create a world with what? How do we move, without E.. Motion? it seems all stories are predicated on the rocks in the River of Life and that we all do bump against them and bleed. I do not know anyone who is unscathed, and yet these bruises, propel us to help others, to find meaning through tikkun, the healing of those broken places.

We must never consent to suffering. Ay there's the rub! A world in which G_d must suffer in order for us to perform such acts. Is this what is happening?

Then we must put G_d on trial and then forigve G_d for the sake of the story, knowing that even in the depths of deepest anguish, in that desert, we were never deserted.

I believe there is an answer to one of the most profound conundrums of our lives.

Perhaps it's not over when it's over: a vast stage... Reply

knowledge of religion and other disciplines i s it possible for a human being to ahve ultimate,absolute, virtuso knowledge in religion yet humanity has not gained such in the other disciplines? Reply

im sure Rabbi Freeman can explain it better - but the way i see it, the Rebbe is saying that generally, when we want to know an answer to something, we can look in Torah and find the answer ... However, when it comes to these types of famous question such as: "Why do bad things happen to good people" - or questions such as "Why did the Holocaust happen" - what he is saying is that since we cannot find the answer in the Torah, then it must be that G-d does not want us to know the real reasons behind these horrible events.

Why would G-d not want us to understand? We'd be happier, and be able to reconcile the bad things because we'd know the master plan behind it all... it is for this reason that we are not supposed to know. G-d doesnt want us "agreeing" with his plan, or thinking "yeah that makes sense - therefore suffering is ok or necessary" - On the contrary - G-d wants us to be angry and pissed and upset that our fellow brothers are hurting and are in
pain.... G-d wants us to fight for them and pray and demand He stop the exile etc.....

if we understood G-ds entire master plan, then we'd be complacent and accept the suffering .... i found this concept to be very comforting (as weird as that may sound) especially when tragedy strikes.... we cannot understand His (G-d's) methods or His motives but only do what we are taught, as difficult as that may be, we need to continue on fighting the darkness. Reply

"We might consent" Rabbi, help to understand this one better. "we might consent to what?" I feel there is great insight and I want to understand. Thank you for your time. Reply

complacent? shalom rabbi freeman.
i dont get it either, however i would like to read the Rebbes whole message instead of just this little part. perhaps that will shed a lot of light on the subject than playing guessing games here.
will you please post said info? in english please.
be safe and blessed, neal Reply

The answer is... I disagree with the Rebbe. God first make the world with no suffering. Then Adam and Eve were not able to hold them-self and they eat the fruit of knowledge, which was defended on that time. So God was so angry that he send the punishment on the rest of the human nature : they will live in suffering and will work to life...until they die. It's simple no? We suffer, because God make the effects on the next generation! Otherwise, what would hold you on the right path?

"Our suffering is like the effects of the sculptor's hammer and scissor on the marble until his perfection" CSLewis Reply