Origin of evil: According to Kabbalah Among problems considered in the Hebrew Kabbalah is the theological issue of the nature and origin of evil. In the views of some Kabbalists this conceives evil as a quality of God, asserting that negativity enters into the essence of the Absolute. In this view it is conceived that the Absolute needs evil to be what it is, i.e., to exist. Foundational texts of Medieval Kabbalism conceived evil as a demonic parallel to the holy, called the Sitra Achra (the Other Side), and the Kelipot/Qliphoth (the Shells/Husks) that cover and conceal the holy, are nurtured from it, and yet also protect it by limiting its revelation. Scholem termed this element of the Spanish Kabbalah a Jewish gnostic motif, in the sense of dual powers in the divine realm of manifestation. In a radical notion, the root of evil is found within the 10 holy Sephirot, through an imbalance of Gevurah, the power of Strength/Judgement/Severity. Gevurah is necessary for Creation to exist as it counterposes Chesed (loving-kindness), restricting the unlimited divine bounty within suitable vessels, so forming the Worlds. However, if man sins (actualising impure judgement within his soul), the supernal Judgement is reciprocally empowered over the Kindness, introducing disharmony among the Sephirot in the divine realm and exile from God throughout Creation. The demonic realm, though illusory in its holy origin, becomes the real apparent realm of impurity in lower Creation.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 22:43:13 +0000
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