"The Way of G-d"

Part 2: “Divine Providence”, Chapter 2: “Mankind in this world”

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We spoke last time of this world and everything in it serving as the various means of earning a place in The World to Come. We’ll dwell now on the fact that there are two actors to consider: the individual and his or her own struggles to achieve a place in the World to Come, and humanity’s struggles at large.

You and I achieve the sort of intimacy with the Creator that the World to Come allows for by perfecting ourselves, on our own. While humanity at large has its own moral and spiritual struggles. As such, despite how righteous and kind you or I might be, there will invariably be individuals who simply won’t be.

But that has to be so. Simply by virtue of the fact that each one of us is comprised of two “biases”, if you will: a bias toward righteousness and subsequent closeness to G-d (referred to as the “yetzer hatov”); and an antithetical bias *away from* all that, toward worldliness and wrongdoing (referred to as the “yetzer harah”). We’re also granted the freedom to act on either at any time. And many simply opt for worldliness.

This freedom and ability to chose one’s own ethical and spiritual standing, by the way, touches very deeply upon the sort of interactions we have with G-d (cited in 2:1:1). We’ll delve into it next time.

Suffice it to say now, though, that in the end the worldly will eventually “fall by the waysides”, if you will, like so much overstock (put indelicately). And the eventually perfected souls, for whom the ultimate bliss of closeness to G-d is in fact intended, will dwell in the World to Come en mass.

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