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On Evil as a Divine Instrument
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On Evil as a Divine Instrument king ruled over many lands near and far, and after a considerable period of time he wished to test the faithfulness of the inhabitants of those lands. He sent one of his servants, giving him different garments and having him speak in a different language as though he were a foreign king seeking to combat the true, legitimate king. Among the people of the land, some were prepared to fight against the apparent usurper, while others claimed, "We have no reason to fight him, and if he will be king we will accept him and serve him." In time he came to one province where truly wise people lived and they pondered the matter from several different respects and inquired, "How is it possible that all this is as it seems on the surface? fiJr it stands to reason that this man must be an agent whom the king sent to test the people's loyalty and ascertain whether they would rebel against the king." They then approached him and shared their thoughts with him, and he was satisfied and departed on his way. (Toledot Ya 'akov Yosej) 1 The opening of this parable is somewhat reminiscent of numerous folktales in which one person tests another or, more specifically, in which a ruler tests his subjects. The above parable, however, changes 85 On Evil as a Divine InstruInent lzing ruled over many lands near and far, and after a considerable period of time he wished to test the faithfulness of the inhabitants of those lands. He sent one of his servants, giving him different garments and having him spealz in a different language as though he were a foreign lZing seelzing to combat the true, legitimate lzing. Among the people of the land, some were prepared to fight against the apparent usurper, while others claimed, llWe have no reason to fight him, and if he will be lzing we will accept him and serve him." In time he came to one province where truly wise people lived and they pondered the matter from several different respects and inquired, llHow is it possible that all this is as it seems on the surface? For it stands to reason that this man must be an agent whom the lZing sent to test the people's loyalty and ascertain whether they would rebel against the lzing." They then approached him and shared their thoughts with him, and he was satisfied and departed on his way. (Toledot Ya 'akov Yosej) 1 The opening of this parable is somewhat reminiscent of numerous folktales in which one person tests another or, more specifically, in which a ruler tests his subjects. The above parable, however, changes 85 86 THE ttAflDIC PA~ABLE course from the familiar and expected pattern to exemplify a paradoxical viewpoint concerning evil. Citing a similar parable found in the Zohar,2 Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef of Polonnoye explained in connection with his own parable that while the Evil Inclination (yetzer ha-ra) found within each person would seem to be a force in opposition to God, in truth it is an agent of God commissioned to entice and test the person. The agent's change of garb and speech in the parable suggests that the force encouraging or inciting rebellion is, in reality, but a disguise. A monistic and acosmic faith that views God as the sole true reality and views all of existence as a garment of the Divine leaves no room for a counterforce. It also negates the sense of mythic conflict inherent in much of kabbalistic thought, from the Zohar through Lurianic Kabbalah and its later expressions. What would seem to be a force in opposition to God-a negative and arrogant impulse within the human makeup countering the Divine-is in truth nothing other than a disguise of the Divine. And immediately with the moment of realization when the wise person sees through that disguise, the Evil Inclination is left powerless. Ya'akov Yosef added in the name of his teacher, the Baal Shem Tov, that "in every distress, material or spiritual, when the person realizes that even in that distress God is present though in disguise, the garb is then removed and the distress annulled, this being the case also concerning evil decrees." 3 Ya'akov Yosefs comment provides a very different dimension to the parable's meaning as distress assumes the place of the Evil Inclination. One might perhaps understand his...