Parshas Ki Savo includes the tochecha, the litany of tragedies that will befall the Jewish people “if you do not obey G-d, your God, to observe to fulfill all His commandments and statutes which I am commanding you this day...” (Devarim 28:15)
The purpose of these curses is not to exact vengeance from the Jewish people for their disobedience, G-d forbid, but rather, to purify them so they can draw closer to G-d. As Rashi writes, “And the curses and sufferings preserve you and enable you to stand before Him [the curses, by preventing you to stray from serving Him, and the sufferings, by cleansing you of your sins]. (Rashi to Devarim 29:12)
Yet the Talmud states: “There are four realities that G-d regrets creating. They are: Exile, Chaldeans, Ishmaelites, and the evil inclination.” (Sukkah 52b)
How can we say that there is benefit and utility in exile and its sufferings if G-d regrets its creation?
And more generally, how can the Talmud describe G-d as “regretting” the creation of something, if it is a fundamental belief that “everything G-d creates is only for His glory”? Every creation of G-d is purposeful, how can we say that there is a creation He regrets?
The Explanation
The Talmud Yerushalmi has a different version of this teaching: “There are three things that G-d created, yet He regretted creating them: Chaldeans, Ishmaelites, and the evil inclination.” (Taanis 3:4)
[The Yerushalmi excludes exile for the following reason: Exile is a consequence of sin, which is instigated by the evil inclination. Therefore exile can be subsumed into the category of the evil inclination. The Bavli still lists exile, because it maintains that the consequence for sin didn’t have to take the particularly severe shape of our exile, G-d could have chosen some other consequence. Therefore it is a distinct creation which G-d regrets.]
The different language used by the Bavli and Yerushalmi reveals that they are speaking from two different perspectives. The Bavli says “There are four realities that G-d regrets creating,” speaking only of the regret G-d has in these realities. Thus the Bavli refers only to the negative aspects of these things. Because they are undesired by G-d, they will eventually be eradicated, their existence is merely temporary.
The Yerushalmi says, “There are three things that G-d created,” this acknowledges that G-d wilfully created them, and therefore that they serve some purpose. “Yet He regretted creating them,” they also have a negative aspect which G-d does not desire. Therefore, these realities will continue to exist in the future, only their negative aspects will be eradicated. This is why the Yerushalmi does not include exile in its list, because exile will be completely eradicated, there is no use for it in the future era of redemption. The other realities mentioned, however, will continue to exist, only their negativity will be expunged.
This aligns with the general theoretical positions of the Bavli and Yerushalmi: the Bavli focuses on the present reality, and so notices the negative that is currently manifest. The Yerushalmi focuses on the future reality, and therefore only mentions the things that have redeemable value in the future.
The Lesson:
Firstly, we must realize that G-d does not desire exile, it is an unnatural condition for the Jew. On the other hand, we cannot fall into despair, because exile is temporary, it will be completely negated in the future era of true redemption.
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