Hashem’s Goodness, Part 2

Opening 2, part 2: Let me now demonstrate conclusively that evil must come to an end in the world as a whole. For the intended result of any action is the ultimate purpose that governs all parts of that action. Now the end result of the complete cycle through which all people pass, including even the wicked, is good. If so, good is the ultimate purpose of the complete cycle in all its parts. Thus we have proof that the ultimate purpose of the entire cycle is good. But it is the Supreme Will that brings about the entire cycle. Since the ultimate purpose of the cycle is good, the whole purpose of the Supreme Will must also be only good. Thus we have proof that the entire purpose of the Supreme Will is only good.

 

Now let us consider whether the punishment, which the wicked suffer before the end, is good or not. When something ends up being different from what it was in the beginning, its beginning and end are not in the same category. The end of the cycle through which the wicked pass is different from what it was at the beginning. For in the end they attain good, while before the end, they suffer punishment. If so, the beginning and end of the cycle are not in the same category. The end is good – and this was the original intention of the Will that brings about the entire cycle. However, the intermediate stage or means – the punishment, which comes before the end – is not in the same category as the end. If so, that which comes before the end is not good: it is not what was initially desired by the Will that brings about the cycle. If we object: Then why does it exist? The answer is that it is not possible to attain the end without it. If it were possible to attain the end without this means, it would not be fitting for this intermediary to exist.

 

We may conclude from all this that the punishment is bad, and it is the opposite of what is desired and intended by the Supreme Will. However, it exists as a necessary means through which His creatures attain the end goal. If it were possible to attain the end goal without this means, it would have been better, given that His will is for good. Just as inflicting punishment in individual cases is the opposite of His will – which is why it must eventually come to an end – so too we may infer that punishment in general in the running of the world is also against the Supreme Will, and must change in the end.

 

Since the Supreme Will planned that all the individual components of creation will attain good in the end, it must be His purpose to bring the entire world to attain only good in the end. Just as He created punishments sufficient to bring each individual to receive good in the end, so He has the power to create a kind of punishment, or whatever else it may be, for the entire world, that is evil at first but ends up being good. It is certainly true that His will is only for good, and this is what must endure forever. For His power is forever and only His Will holds sway. If the means to accomplish this end is through evil, this does not undermine His intention to benefit everyone, for evil is the means to even good. On the contrary, His good purpose will eventually be revealed and the intended result will endure forever. For what comes out of the entire cycle on every side is only His essential goodness.

 

All that is initially evil does not arise from another domain that could endure against Him. Now that we understand that what He does must be good in the end, we must understand another truth. This is that there is certainly only one domain, contrary to the claim of the unbelievers that there are two domains. When we say that our God is one, it is necessary to understand two things. The first is that even though we see such a multitude of diverse phenomena in the universe and so many different and opposing causal chains, we know that even so, there is only One God, blessed be His Name, and only one Will. The second thing that follows from saying that God is one is that no other will can limit Him, even one brought into being by him. And it is certainly impossible that two powers or realms exist, one creating good and the other creating evil. Hashem our God, Hashem is One – with every kind of oneness and unity.

 

 

To be continued.