If GOD is Love Why Punish Us? Good vs Evil, Righteous vs Wicked, Suffering vs Pleasure

all that God does ever from the first moment of creation and even that moment before that triggered creation is love and kindness the purpose and the foundation of existence from its first moment until its last is only one thing love and kindness that is what God is in essence that is that is at least in how he relates to creation and to us is just pure love and kindness so where is all the Darkness come in where does all the suffering come in so the answer is this that God loves us it's a bit of a radical statement God loves us from two different modes two different perspectives he loves us from pure love and kindness but he also because of the world he created and our interaction with him and it he also has to kind of relate to us through a love that comes through judgment so when God loves us through judgment so now it depends on how we behaved whether that love will be manifest and revealed to us as love and kindness or as punishment judgment and punishment but what's the foundation of that judgment and punishment first all like this God is infinite and existed without us if God really could decide I don't I'm tired of you guys giving me a headache done I'm done with you no more world but he doesn't do that because he's not tired of us he's not done with us his love for us is infinite and unconditional it's a forever love so he will never could destroy the world he destroyed the Earth and killed everyone on it but that was also a rectification the flood of Noah is called two different things in in in the Torah it's called the destructive flood the Maul and it's also called the Waters of Noah the Waters of rest the Waters of uh of benefit and so the the flood served a double a dual purpose it was on the surface of punishment but it was really a rectification it was a preparation so that the world can restart itself better and that's what the world needed then now he won't do that again so what is the punishment that we're facing it is a love of God that's coming through the the mode of judgment so if we are great and perfect then the result of God's judgment will be reward goodness if we are short falling short of that meaning if we are off course and if we are causing more damage than we are good then the judgment will result in what on on the surface will be called the punishment it will be called a level of punishment and will get on the surface level bad and that's why we're afraid on rashash but that b and j and and and punishment that we get the root of that is cuz God loves us and that's why he creates in the first place and so what is it because God loves us he's going to have to help us repair the damage so we can pay for sound like this this is a deep cabalistic idea we can pay for our ticket we could pay for that perfect world that God created for us that that that we're going to get to one day our home reunited we have to pay for it some way because essentially it's it's like this the only perfect world that we could ever partake of and live in is the world that we paid for and in in in other terms a world that we created ourselves meaning what's the perfect world for you mik what's the perfect word for you perfect world for you and for you and for me is the world I made for myself cuz only I can make a world perfect for me but I need a partner to make that world who's my partner making that world Hashem cuz he knows me also so together Hashem said listen I want to give you the perfect world I want to help create the perfect you in that world but the only way for me to do that like he's saying is if you help me do it I have to do that with you you're going to do that with me we're going to become Partners in you I want to be a partner in you literally in you with you for you that's the partnership of life that's the true life journey and so I have to pay I have to participate as a partner a bad partner so there's two choices with a with with a regular partner I'm cutting you off I'm taking you to court that I'm taking the company for myself and you get nothing but Hashem will never do that so what's hashem's solution what's God's solution when the partner doesn't do isn't isn't a good partner is he finds a way to make that partner better and the suffering is really is really part of that fixing solution and so it can be explained in one of two ways first of all sin and damage is true correct it's real and the way to fix it is through atonement meaning punishment atones for the sin and the suff U ering is how we re rectify the blemish to our soul of sin so one interpretation of the punishment is really a cleansing like a a rectification a cleansing like if some if when a child is unfortunately a baby they they go to the bthroom in their diapers and the mother or father we're of course liberal today I was liberal when I had my kids anyway I'm used to it you well you want to help clean the baby the baby doesn't know what's going on the baby's kicking screaming crying the baby's in a lot of discomfort and in a lot of pain this is a good analogy why because the baby doesn't have intellect enough to understand what's going on so he just feels he just feels the external experience and it's it's it's bad it's it it's painful and he's crying and he's in real pain now any parent I guess I can only speak for myself uh but I assume any parent that is going through the process of discipline disciplining his children or trying to clean the children child when he's has his diapers or trying to force him to take medicine because he otherwise he's going to be even more sick and and and and it's bad for him so you're pained together with your child you're not happy oh I'm doing good for my son to heck with his screaming no the the his pain is your pain but nonetheless you have to do it because without it there'll be more pain and that's theat that is what God is doing that is what punishment is that is what judgment from God is if I don't do it now there'll be more pain later there'll be more damage later and so this has to be done out of love and guess what God suffers with us in our suffering when God decrees it's the last thing he wants to do it's done reluctantly you know how I can prove it to you to you that when God decrees a punishment it's done reluctantly and he's not happy to do it because with punishment there's never an extra punishment ever ever an extra punishment but with reward there can be extra why why is it like that why aren't they made matching each other why why aren't they equal if I can have extra reward why can't I have extra punishment so the answer is this the entire function of punishment is coming from the idea of of being strict and of limiting goodness and so punishment never gives extra but reward goodness love that that that's all about giving so once you give you can give more the punishment is the idea of taking away and so you don't that function itself is built that it doesn't ever do extra and in more personal terms because God is pained when he's punishing but God is happy when he's when he's rewarding and so when God is happy and rewarding of course he's happy to reward more even extra but if he's pained in the punishing then he will not even do an extra millimeter not an extra second of a punishment because why would he cause himself more pain and with this will one more last thought on this point which I think you'll appreciate is this ultimately punishment is a means to an end meaning only in this way world we live in with re free choice we have to have reward and Punishment in order to to be co-partners in building this world in the future but but if God could have bypassed it and just brought us to the to the party so he we wouldn't have punishment we would have only only only reward but but if we would take away the punishment from from it then the party would be a fake party it would be a New Year's Eve party and that's the problem because if you have only a party and you didn't work for it then it's not really yours and if it's not really your yours then it's it's not really going to satisfy you so the only way to have a real party a real proper New Year's Eve party in a real world to come a real world that is going to be satisfying forever imagine not getting tired you got to have something you're never going to get tired of it's only through the sweat and the blood that we build together with hasem with that's going to be a world that we're going to embrace forever so it has to come but it's but it is superficial meaning God didn't create the world for punishment he created the world for reward it's only that that that reward should be real and full and perfect that he created as a secondary thing punishment punishment is the means to an end and the root of punishment is love and reward ultim the root of punishment is reward so to speak and I'll tell you this this is the last point which is the cabalistic point also is this uh one second we One Step before that so what's what's how does this work out just look at it simply before we get cabalistic simple terms when God created the world could would it be correct to say that God wanted to give us good okay be before we get involved before we do any action meaning we didn't do anything we're still at the state where it's only God right so we don't even exist so you can't say that we we sinned so therefore God's punishing us there's no we don't exist we don't exist yet but God wants us to exist so we're still perfect so to speak in potential does God want to reward us absolutely okay at that state does God want to punish us no so what does God really want reward not punishment it's only after we're created and we mess up and we we fall of course we break something so now there needs to be fixing so now what does God want to do God wants to fix but why it's because God originally wanted to reward so the fixing is in order to get us prepared for the reward that's one approach the other approach is this it's a little bit deeper bit different is this we mentioned that we have to pay you have to pay you want something you have to pay for there nothing free in life free in life is worthless if it costs nothing it's worth nothing now I like a free free stake I like a free you know first class uh you know flights to America I love free things but but that's because in this superficial world we like that that that that free bonus but when we're in an eternal world and we're going to deal with situations that we're going to create that will never change it be forever situation so then free is worthless me I understand there's a difficulty to accept that free is worthless because I love free gifts but but the free gift of of of of me if I would just be a free gift and I would have no no real quality to myself and if my home that God want gave gives me later won't be really mine it'll just be something he created for me then I'll be forever lacking and so that world to come that I'm going to live in Forever has to be really mine which means it can't be free there are two ways to pay for that world two ways to pay what are the two ways if I listen to what Hashem says Hashem knows how he created this world and what's going to get me to my fulfillment might get me to the world to come so if I follow hashem's rules perfectly we'll use this perfectly then then I got there and I paid I paid by following and listening so that one way to pay for my world to come is to do the job you're hired you're hired to do a job to do that job and to do it well then you have a perfect perfect world to come there's another way to pay for that world because God's will is inescapable we cannot escape from God's ultimate will it's God's Ultimate Will to give me good to give me that home of mine that he created for me that's his will and that's going to happen no matter what but we have free choice so what happens now if I refuse a stubborn kid you know sometimes didn't with it hopefully you'll have you'll have won't have stubborn kids I maybe was a bit stubborn myself so therefore has sent me St whatever sometimes people kids are stubborn it's because their minds are not expanded enough yet so we have to shrink our minds also to get into the heads of the kid properly but the point is this if I'm trying to do something good for my kid and the kid doesn't see it as good and he doesn't want it and he's kicking and screaming and he refuses okay so now we'll go back to me Hashem wants to do that for me and I'm kicking and screaming and I'm refusing and I reject I don't want this God I don't want these rules I don't want the Mitzvah I Want to Be Free which really means I want to be a slave to my to my addictions but I want to be free so to speak and I do that so but God's will is to is to make me really free and to bring me home and and that I can't escape that's going to happen meaning when in a battle of wills I'm going to lose to God's will God's will is going to win in the end no matter what and what does that mean that means I'm going to be there in my home one way or another kicking or Screaming hashem's going to bring me there and that's what punishment is I can pay in two ways I can listen and do and be rewarded for it and that's going to be my reward he's going to bring me home or I can kick and scream the whole way and I'll be punished for it and I'll pay through punishment the suffering of the punishment is the alternate way to pay why because it has to be real there are no free rights if I don't pay some way then it will be fake and I'll spit it out in the end I'll hate it and I'll hate unfortunately God forbid even to say you'll just be full of hate and resentment of yourself and then it'll translate into hating and res everything and everyone around you when you have no selfworth within you then you cannot appreciate and respect the people and the things around you either and so in order for me to really appreciate God and that perfect world I have to appreciate myself and so therefore I have to pay some way and it's it's it's a little bit hard maybe every's going to embrace this but this is one of the levels of reality that are real maybe there's a higher level reality that that erases this which we'll talk about in a minute but but but it's real meaning it's my choice and it goes back to what I started saying some of that mess in the world is not God's fault it's it's my fault I made the mess now I have to clean it how do I clean up that mess well in the case of the baby with the dirty diaper God helps the the mother helps clean him and he's he suffers the suffering is a form of payment that's that's that's the secret here now the Onish is not just cuz God is a said I'm going to get even with you you did you betrayed me you're going to suffer no it's I love you I created you I'm with you you you're a part you I put a part of me in you we're one and I want you and I'll never get rid of you therefore I'm going to have to help you fix the the mess and that comes through punishment and so the suffering is the other way to pay either way both of the two people will take these two now twins I'm twin hopefully not me but these two twins one that's good one that's bad and the father's not going to get rid of one twin that's bad he's not going to say I only want the twin that was good they're both his children he has infinite love for both of them what's he supposed to do this father this kid obeys him every minute he and he gives him a reward for it he gives him prizes he gives him good things and this kid says no every time and this kid breaks things all the time can he give that kid the same prizes no because then life will have no accountability the message will be you can listen or not and you're going to get the same reward and that's not fair that's not justice so he can't give this kid the same exact thing he gives this kid but ultimately when it's all said and done doesn't he he wants both children with him forever ever forever and forever forever after this this world to come he's going to tell this kid in the end really in the end of it all and say you you were bad poo get out of here no he's going to say despite that you were bad you're my child I love you and and I want you forever so how does God get that kid that did the opposite of everything he said all of his life in the same place with this kid that did everything he said that did everything he said all of his life how do I bring both of those two kids into this my my home to live with me forever this this world to come and that they should both appreciate me and each other and be there together if if I don't fix this problem he's going to say it's not fair that he he he was bad and he gets the same thing I get and I didn't have to listen to you either ABA so how do I bring them both to that final Place how do I make this all one how do I bring us all back together repair all the Brokenness how do I do it through he has to pay somewh he pays through the suffering he pays through the punishment and then when they both stand together in they not they're not jealous or resentful of each other because they paid they both paid each and their own way so part of why he has to pay that way is because it's it's his own fault but there's a deeper level why was this kid to begin with more antsy and he had no patience to sit and he had no patience to listen and why he did have patience to listen and this is where I'm going to make a problem for myself that I'm not sure I can solve but it's this a part of that came from Hashem part of that is Hashem created it which is difficult now we're going to have to embrace this thought for a minute asov the Torah the Torah says that asov was a very wild type of person he he wasn't like like uh like Jacob they were different they were opposites the rabbis make this very problematic by saying that while asov and yob were still in the womb of their mother Rifka so they were fighting and when Rifka would pass a place that worshiped Idols ASA would want to try to jump out and go worship idols and when when when RKA would pass a place of that worship God so Jacob yob wanted to jump out and go worship God so now we're stuck with a very big problem and this problem goes back to to to Kan and K we'll do in a second I don't know when you guys are I mean we're almost done 12:00 is when we're we're stopping so so what do we see we see that even before ASA became a person in the womb he was already running to idol worship and and and Jacob to to to sh to minion they're not they don't they didn't have the same Natures asov was was was not meant to be an identical twin of yov they were twins but they were not the same ASA was given a certain battle certain portion that was his job to deal with and to work with and so was Jacob given given that a portion to work with but there were opposite portions opposite portions meaning that ASA was predisposed to a negative path and yob was predisposed to a positive path how does that seem fair how was that Justice how was that right this is what I actually I job The Book of Job he challenges God and says God you created righteous and you created Wicked how could he how could he how could he say that I mean in the end of the day we have free choice the gamar asks how could e say that you created righteous and have free choice what's the answer the answer is you created a person predisposed to a path of wickedness and you also created a person predisposed to a path of righteousness how is that fair because God does not expect the same thing from each of them God can only judge you in the only way in a way that only he can with what he gave you and what he truly is within your potential to accomplish so ASV did not have to be Yakov that was not the the solution for ASV was just be like your brother Yakov sh God forbid that that would be the solution and God forbid a parent says to one child if you could only be like Michael he must he's the good one in this context that's that's terrible you're killing that child he's he can only be him each person is unique and has their own unique potential to to be to to to fulfill and ASA had to be as that was his job to be asov not to be Yakov which meant he didn't have to be the rashash Shiva he didn't have to know the whole Torah by heart he had to do what he was created for had he had he embraced that from God instead of rejecting it and being jealous that he wasn't to Yakov that he would have found his perfect world and his perfect fulfillment and his place in the world to come but he rejected that with his free choice and chose a path of destruction and hate he hated himself first he rejected himself and therefore he hated yob his brother and and rejected him but ultimately in rejecting and hating himself he was really rejecting and hating God and that's why at the end of their two these two stories of Jacob and of of of asov Esau really yov and and ASA Hashem says you were brothers even though as is a brother of yov I hate asov and I love Yakov how can Hashem say that how can he hate ASA we just said that he created ASA the way he was he he hates him because in the end he rejected himself he hated his brother and he rejected Hashem God and he chose the path of wickedness and embraced it when what his solution was was to get over it get over yourself respect and recognize Hashem created you and everything you have is a gift from Hashem how he created you that's that's holy that's sacred he did it can't be more holy and sacred than then then then then then it's from Hashem for example just to be PR what I'm saying is there are beautiful people out there and there are people that are not so beautiful all right I'm happy I'm one of the beautiful ones you know I'll get a lot of comments that will argue with me maybe but what does a woman do I mean it's more emphasized with with a woman but what do a what do a person do mov man you sitting around in a class and let's say your class happens to everybody's handsome or everybody's beautiful and you're the only ugly one that's hell that could be hell for of course when you mix men and women in the same class boys and girls together when they shouldn't be mixed so that's double hell that's the worst hell okay we're really ultimately so only supposed to have eyes for our wives and our husbands and that would be create a much safer and better world but the point is this God made Beauty and God made ugly but they're both from Hashem so what's an ugly person going to do Curse God for making him well you can go kill yourself but person doesn't want to go kill himself cuzz a person is going to embrace life life has so much to offer the way you are who you are cuz it's from Hashem it's tough it's tough I'm happy I'm beautiful but the said what are you going to do there there are handicap people there are people that are struggling and it's terrible and all we need to do is pray that somehow Hashem sends Miracles and they're healed and they're cured and everyone we should all be perfect but what is this is an analogy to understand there's a beautiful person and there a not so beautiful person ASF was the not so beautiful person in a revealed sense but God wanted something from him he created him that way for a reason he created yov externally more beautiful so to speak the beauty of yov the the re even praise the beauty of yakob what did he want from them so the answer is when both Yakov and and asov brought food to Yak that's where the answer lies a very obscure type of story what wh why is y so interested in a buffet why is he so hungry why does he want a nice medium rare steak go to a prime grill for that go to a restaurant if you want a steak you want from your son a steak because you and when you're going to give him a blessing for eternity why did he want a steak while he was at what what does the steak have to do with the blessings from from from ISAC from Yak to his children ASV or yov he wanted to bless asov Yakov trick victim what does that to do with a steak anybody want to try to tell me no answers so here's beautiful I did that my own it goes like this there's a there's a plural expression of the word taste taste different types of flavors we know that we can enjoy something spicy and we can also enjoy something sweet now if you're going to push when you push maybe I'll say okay in the end of the day if I have to have only one of the two I want sweet maybe I'll say I have a sweet tooth I like sweet better but you know what in in life there are times where you want a nice something that's a bit spicy there's certain flavor you like and other times you want a different flavor you want both you like both of those two flavors so ultimately the as of package of this idea of being being harsh hard being Untamed is a different kind of flavor of life a different kind of personality that God also gets pleasure from gets it's pleased by that just like you want very nice very SP super spicy you like it it's it's it's I don't want to belittle the whole thing you might people might misunderstand this is very deep cabalistic stuff I'm just giving it h making it pable with with with with with analogies but but but really God gets a pleasure from from asov potentially and he of course gets a pleasure from Yakov and that's what I is also getting at God you created righteous and you created Wicked you created a person predisposed to wickedness who's going to have a hard journey a rough rough work on himself he's going to work on himself but he's starting at a much lower point with dealing with a lot more evil and he is dealing with a lot less evil and it's a much simpler path there's a benefit in both if ASA could have turned around his his package the level of light and goodness he could have reached is was it's unbelievable it's like buying into a stock that's a dollar and it goes up it goes up a million dollars and you become a billionaire whatever do the math I'm just throwing out numbers but if ASA could have would have taken his portion this rough portion that he's running to he's already predisposed before birth to run to worship idols his whole Essence was to do the opposite of what Hashem told him like the analogy with the kid that would never wanted to listen if he was able to turn that around and reach his own Perfection then he would have he would have built universes he would have even perhaps transcended his brother perhaps it's hard to say because Yakov was was the greatest so the truth is and that's the bigger challenge why is Yakov considered the greatest of all the aot and that he that yob himself reached the level of Adam before the sin first sin because you think it's it's it's it's hard to to take bad and turn it into good it's hard to take good and turn it into greater because if you're already good where's your motivation if you're born perfect what in the world are you going to do how do you please Hashem how do you change that how do you build on Perfection and he did because he didn't stop for a moment his entire life from working to recreate himself and the world around him he came and perfected not only himself but the world he did something unbelievable and there a different type of Journey of being born so to speak perfect like that being born righteous and the job and responsibility that comes with that it's a whole different world of what you can give Hashem and so Yakov did that so you have the asov and the yob in this story asov rejected his path and we don't know what the end of that story could have been we know in the end that he rejected Hashem and Hashem said okay I reject you you're out and this was the same story with with with with with can and Abel same exact story with can and Abel but there is an asov there is an ASV now that comes through the souls of Israel and there are the people that are not born so righteous and they have to know not to make the same mistake as ASA we have and and and we all struggled in that way especially this this broken generation we are at the end of this race we're all tired we're all broken we have to understand Perfection is not only far from us it's it's it's not even on our map you know if you ever look you ever open up a map and look for a particular place and it's not even on the map that's how lost we are that's how broken we are it happened to me once by the way I don't I don't know if you're on the rush now but one time I was going on on a date sh date to you know thank God did not turn out to be my wife but I was it was in a country that I wasn't familiar with and I was driving to what I thought was the right directions and then I finally realized I must be lost cuz I'm not seeing the the exit I need I got off to ask someone at a gas station you know to help me find my way and he looked on the map and and I wasn't even where I was trying to go wasn't even on the map anymore I was so lost that the place I needed to get was off the map and it's what an unbelievable lesson you could be so lost that your destination isn't even isn't even in your radar it's it's beyond your even ability to see or even perceive that's how lost we are that's how broken we are right now but it's specifically that level of Brokenness that we're dealing with today that we can create something unique something that only we can create for Hashem that I believe will be the last ingredient in this unbelievable Masterpiece that we're creating for Hashem that only we can deliver the great people before us the great righteous people like Moshe Yakov the prophets the generation that had a b mikdash the sages of the talmud they did not bring mhia they were awesome they Tower over us and there's one explanation is that we're going to be standing on their shoulders so it's like this little tiny nothing of a worthless standing on the shoulders of giants that's going to be able to come and press the button I don't like that story does anyone here like that story do you want to be that little nothing thing that's standing on on the on the shoulders of all these Giants that came before so you could press the button and then the party the door opens and the party starts that's that's worthless that's nothing what do you think about it my my my take on that explanation M what do you think you you like it you don't like it it's hard to say it's it's nice having that help but oh that's it's it's good it's good not being able to compare is is it's but it's good I'm glad you added that perspective about the idea of appreciating what they did for us and I don't want to erase that I don't want to negate that but I don't want to be told that story that I'm I'm worthless and in the end of I don't matter and it's they they did matter and I don't and then and then I'm just I just happen to be here at the end so so okay you're here so come on in that's not a true story that's a lie of a story you know why because each person matters in his own way as we just explained to you God created a yov and he created an ASV he created us with what we don't have for a reason and so I believe that in this broken generation with so much Darkness it's the fight that we are going to fight and are fighting right now on whatever level we are whether you're a rabbi whether you're on a college campus and you don't even understand what it means to be a Jew but you're fighting against anti-Semitism and and that's your ticket in I I'm a Jew and I will and I will take this spit in the face I will take this ignorance and hate and be pushed as a Jew rather than put my Al in my pocket or or just or or or hide the fact that I'm a Jew he's giving up a lot and and that could be his ticket into the party that very simple standing up and saying I'm a Jew and when he had every option to say he's not and what God wants from me possibly something different I'm I'm in that can't be enough for me to get in the party I'm a Jew God of course you're a Jew you have a he wants something else from me than from that man that's sitting there on campus he wants something different from each of us and from every generation he wants something different and I believe our generation right now has a unique thing that only we can do that will make mashiah come did we do it alone no as pointed out we are obiously standing on the shoulders of those great Giants But ultimately when we reach a world where the there's no more hoiness no more no more you know Pride we are also Giants we will be also Giants standing on the shoulders of giants not midgets out of humility we say that we're midgets standing on Giants because we need humility but I will tell you a bigger bigger new novel approach a novel idea when you're so broken and you're already a nothing you don't need to tell yourself that you're a you need to tell yourself you're a giant because that's what you really are a giant and that will be revealed when we finally reach our end how what what kind of giants we really were because to go through the days we go through broken you can't even pray one blessing without getting distracted I don't think you need to be put down you need you need to be put up