Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar“: To understand these questions and inquiries, the only approach is to examine the end of the act, that is, the purpose of Creation. For nothing can be understood in the middle of the process, but only at its end. And it is clear that there is no act without a purpose, for only the insane can act purposelessly.

A person never acts purposelessly. If a person doesn’t think, why he should exert himself; it is a sign of mental disorder or that it is a child who is driven by the plan of his natural development, although we cannot detect that by the actual actions. When a person builds a house in order to live in it, everything is clear to us. But we must understand that we cannot always see the clear outcome of an action. If we don’t see the outcome, it means that it is a certain disorder that does not exist in nature.

We will speak about why there are such defects in the world, but for now let’s agree that they bring about unplanned actions.

I know that there are those who cast over their backs the burden of Torah and Mitzvot (plural for Mitzva), saying the Creator has created the whole of reality, then, left it alone, that because of the worthlessness of the creatures it is not fitting for the Exalted Creator to watch over their mean little ways.

In other words, there are people who don’t think that we have to correct our desire to receive by the Mitzvot, as it says “I have created the evil inclination I have created the Torah as a spice for it.” So the Torah is the Light that Reforms, the means of correction in which there is a special force.

Our desire is divided into 613 parts and they are all corrupt; “a person’s inclination is evil from his youth.” We have to correct the evil inclination with the help of the Light that Reforms called the Torah. So, people who assume that this is not true are called those who cast over their backs the burden of the Torah and the Mitzvot. They want to live their ordinary life and not correct their nature and reach an equivalence of form with the Creator and adhere to Him. They don’t understand the goal of creation and don’t understand why the evil inclination was created in the first place.

Indeed, without knowledge they have spoken, for it is impossible to comment on our lowliness and nothingness, before we decide that we have created ourselves with all our corrupted and loathsome natures.

The goal of creation is to benefit the created beings. To “benefit” means that the created being becomes similar to the Creator, since He is good and benevolent to a full measure that cannot be underestimated. I cannot do something good to a lesser degree since it would mean that I am not benevolent. So the created being has to reach the level of the Creator, but in order to feel the Creator, he has to remain a created being. So when the created being comes closer to the Creator, he feels how opposite he is from Him. It is only by the contrast between the Light and darkness in a person that he feels the full height of the level of the equivalence of form with the Creator.

This is the reason for the corruption of the world, and this is the reason that we don’t understand or feel the Creator and so we cannot justify this state.

All this is true, but we have to study the reason for that. The world is built that way on purpose so that we will correct it by ourselves. The world is actually the general corrupt desire to receive. So we were given the Torah, not the book of the Torah but the Upper spiritual force, the Light that Reforms, that we can draw upon our ego, upon all the corruptions in us, and thus fulfill the correction until we are not “those who cast over their backs the burden of the Torah and the Mitzvot.”

“But while we decide that the Creator, who is utterly perfect, is the One who created and designed our bodies with all their admirable and contemptible attributes, surely there can never emerge an imperfect act under the hand of the perfect worker, as each act testifies to its performer. And what fault is it of a bad garment, if some no-good tailor has made it?”

So we cannot have any complaints about the created being, since if there is a Creator, all your complaints should be to Him.

This is why we said that the creation was initially corrupt so that we will correct it by ourselves and on the way collect all the parts of the puzzle so that we will feel that He is the good and the benevolent leading us to eternity and wholeness.

Such as this we find in “Masechet Taanit,” 20: “A tale about Rabbi Elazar who came across a very ugly man.”

Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, felt inside him the revelation of the most terrible ugly man. He felt that he was totally filled with all the possible negative attributes a person could have. It is a very high level. Since “the Creator has created them in contrast to one another,” and “he who is greater than his friend, his desire is even greater.” This means that Rabbi Shimon was ready to accept the revelation of all the evil in him in the ugliest possible forms.

He said to him: “How ugly this man is.” The man replied: “Go and tell the craftsman that made me, ‘How ugly is this vessel you have made.’” Hence, those who claim that because of our lowliness and nothingness, it is not fitting for Him to watch over us, and therefore He has left us, do nothing but display their ignorance. Try to imagine, if you were to meet some man who would create creatures, precisely so they would suffer and agonize their whole lives as we do, and not only that, but cast them behind his back, not wanting even to look after them, to help them a little. How contemptible and low you would regard him! Can such a thing be thought of Him?

Has the Creator created everything only so the created being will suffer? Of course not. Imperfect actions cannot be derived from the perfect One who acts.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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