When G-d was creating the world He repeatedly invoked the phrase “and behold it was very good.” Yet later in the Torah He states: “I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil” (Devarim 30:15). Where did that evil come from, if all that He created is “very good”?
The answer is that the “evil” referenced in Devarim is not literal evil, but rather a good of inferior quality when compared to literal good. After G-d sets this inferior good before us, we are empowered to decide what it will become. If we use it for good, it will become literal good. And if we sin with it, G-d forbid, it will become literal evil. For example, a broom is neither inherently evil nor literal good incarnate. Yet if it is used for a positive purpose—to tidy up the house—the broom becomes good. If, however, it is used to strike someone, it becomes entirely evil.
Par. 169
Translated by: Yechiel Krisch
Adapted from the teachings of the Mezritcher Maggid
