The Secret of the Hidden Spark: Why Did Hashem Create the Wicked?
Lesson No. 5 | Thursday and Friday, Parashas Emor, 4 and 5 Iyar 5755.
An in-depth discourse revealing the high spiritual root of the souls of the wicked, which originate from the World of Tohu (Chaos) and from beneath the Throne of Glory. The Rav explains the critical role of the tzaddik in clarifying and elevating these sparks, the secret of the "974 generations," and promises that ultimately, every soul will achieve its eternal tikkun (rectification).
Master of the Universe, send him wisdom. The greatest foundation in serving Hashem is the search for the good point. Even when we see a person who is considered completely wicked, we are obligated to search and find some point of light within him. After all, here he fasts on Yom Kippur, there he gives charity, and overall, he agrees to be a Jew. This is what we must find—a good point even in the transgressors of Israel.
When a person merits this perspective, where he has no accusation or anger against any Jew, but rather judges everyone favorably and loves them with all his soul—he becomes like the "Tzaddik of the Generation." The soul of Moshe Rabbeinu impregnates him, and he fulfills within himself the plea, "If not, erase me now." Such a person can serve as a prayer leader, standing before the amud (prayer lectern) to elevate all the prayers of the Jewish people. And not only that, says Rebbe Nachman, he merits to draw down the spiritual influence of "breath without sin."
By loving everyone, praying for the wicked, and having mercy on them, he builds a spiritual sanctuary. From this sanctuary, young schoolchildren receive their pure breath. Through the power of the good points he finds in every Jew, he draws down a breath into the world that purifies the air, to the point that these children can impart holiness even to adults.
The Secret of the Creation of the Wicked
The true tzaddik knows how to gather the good found within everyone. He recognizes the roots of souls and knows who belongs to him. In the past, tzaddikim like the Chozeh of Lublin or Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev were connected to specific souls, but today, all souls receive from the true tzaddik—those who wake up in the morning, singing and playing music to Hashem, may He be blessed.
Here arises the profound question brought in the book Emek HaMelech: "Why did Hashem create the wicked?"
Seemingly, Hashem knew that a certain person would be wicked, that he would curse and blaspheme, and try to uproot the religion and close yeshivas, Heaven forbid. If so, why not forgo this creation from the start? Why did He create people who are like the wicked kings Achaz and Menashe, who constantly blaspheme Him?
The Noam Elimelech reveals to us an awesome and wondrous secret in the verse: "And now, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of Hashem" (Psalms 34:12).
The answer is incredibly deep: Even the most completely wicked individuals, those whose souls are drawn from the "974 generations" that preceded the giving of the Torah, contain within them a tremendous Godly spark. The spark within them comes from a very high place, from beneath the Throne of Glory. These are precious souls into which Hashem dropped holiness, except that "the storm overpowered them" (the forces of impurity overwhelmed their holiness).
Souls from the World of Tohu
These souls descended into the world to clarify and elevate the sparks from the "Shattering of the Vessels" (the primordial spiritual collapse). It is not for nothing that they are wicked; these are gigantic souls created even before the creation of the world, and their purpose was to rectify the Shattering of the Vessels through self-nullification to the true tzaddik. If they had discovered the tzaddik in every generation, they could have transformed the darkness into light and elevated the sparks, but the evil of the World of Tohu (Chaos) overpowered them.
Reb Noson explains in the Laws of Honoring One's Father and Mother that the holiness hidden within them cannot overcome the evil without the tzaddik. Hashem knew this. The Generation of the Flood, for example, was a generation of such souls. Mesushelach lived 969 years, and Noach lived 500 years before the Flood—yet they did not succeed in saving the generation. Why? Because the entire work is to build a "yeshiva" with students, to establish prayer quorums and holy communities. Noach and Mesushelach were tremendous tzaddikim, but they operated as individuals and failed to build the communal strength that could contain and rectify these souls.
The holy Zohar says regarding the verse, "And He blotted out all existence," that anyone who had the "breath of the spirit of life" and was a tzaddik died before the Flood so as not to see the evil. Noach and his sons remained alone. Anyone who had a terrible evil inclination and severe desires should have run to Noach and Mesushelach and nullified themselves to them. "On their own, they could not possibly lift their heads, but through the tzaddik—they could."
The Suffering of the Soul and the Tikkun
Whoever does not find the tzaddik and does not do teshuvah (repentance) is decreed to suffer terrible agonies after his death, even before Gehinnom (Purgatory). There is a concept of "Kaf HaKela" (the Hollow of the Sling)—the soul is thrown from one end of the world to the other, pursued by angels of destruction, seeking rest even within the bodies of animals or inanimate objects.
Rabbi Chaim Vital brings a terrifying story about a man who drowned in the Nile and did not manage to do complete teshuvah, only having thoughts of repentance at the very last moment. For twenty-five years, his soul ran over the mountains and hills, beaten by angels of destruction with rods of fire, until it reincarnated into a deer and then reincarnated further. These stories teach us that when our Sages said, "The judgment of the wicked in Gehinnom is twelve months"—this is only after the soul has already completed all the harsh rectifications and reincarnations in this world and in the Kaf HaKela.
A person thinks, "I will come to Uman and immediately everything will be atoned for." It is not so simple. A person needs to shed tears, to cry over how much he has dirtied himself. The Rebbe is not a "bathhouse attendant" who merely washes you in the mikvah; the Rebbe wants you to work, to study Torah, to fight the evil inclination. "Give the evil inclination the Likutey Halachos, the Gemara." If a person does not work on himself, the tzaddik asks: "Am I your hired worker? I am willing to help you, but only if you strike at yourself and make an effort."
The Branch of My Planting, the Work of My Hands, in Which I Glory
Despite all the difficulties and downfalls, the happy ending is guaranteed. The verse says: "And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, in which I glory" (Isaiah 60:21).
Every soul, even that of the greatest evildoer, is a "portion of God from above" hewn from beneath the Throne of Glory. Everyone has a place prepared in Gan Eden (Paradise). The only question is, when will he receive it? After a thousand years? After two thousand? Korach has been waiting for 3,300 years already, but in the end, even he will be the High Priest in the Third Temple.
Hashem takes pride in the eternal spark within every person. "Even within a wicked person there is eternity; the question is only when it will be revealed." This is what Avraham Avinu (our Patriarch) asked when he said, "How shall I know that I will inherit it?" Avraham wanted a promise that all the offspring that would descend from him, until the end of all generations, would possess souls connected to the holy names Havayah and Elokim, and that no soul among them would ever be cast away.