The Secret of the Hidden Spark: Why Did Hashem Create the Wicked?

Lesson No. 5 | *Thursday and Friday, Parshas Emor, 4th and 5th of Iyar, 5755 (1995).

An in-depth article revealing the high spiritual root of the souls of the wicked, which originate from the World of Tohu (Chaos) and from beneath the Kiseh HaKavod (Throne of Glory). The Rav explains the critical role of the Tzaddik in refining these sparks, the secret of the "974 generations," and promises that ultimately every soul will merit its eternal tikkun (rectification).

Master of the Universe, send him understanding. The greatest foundation in the service of Hashem is the search for the "nekudah tovah" (good point). Even when one sees a person who is in the category of a "completely wicked person," we are obligated to search and find some point of light within him. After all, here he fasts on Yom Kippur, here he gives tzedakah (charity), and here he even 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 accusations against any Jew and no anger, but rather judges everyone favorably and loves everyone with all his soul—he becomes like the "Tzaddik of the generation." Moshe Rabbeinu becomes "impregnated" (a spiritual attachment) within him, and he fulfills the verse "if not, erase me please" (self-sacrifice for the nation). Such a person can be a Shaliach Tzibbur (prayer leader), standing before the amud (prayer stand) and elevating all the prayers of the Jewish people. Not only that, says our holy Rebbe (Rebbe Nachman), he merits to influence with "breath of the mouth that has no sin."

By loving everyone, praying for the wicked, and having mercy on them, he builds a spiritual Mishkan (Tabernacle) from which the "tinokos shel beis raban" (schoolchildren) receive their pure breath. Through the power of the good points he finds in every Jew, he draws into the world a "breath" that purifies the air, until the children can influence holiness even upon the adults.

The Secret of the Creation of the Wicked

The True Tzaddik knows how to gather the good found in everyone. He recognizes the roots of the souls and knows who belongs to him. In the past, Tzaddikim like the Chozeh of Lublin or Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev belonged 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 Yisbarach (the Blessed Name).

Here arises the deep question brought in the book "Emek HaMelech": "Why did Hashem create the wicked?"
Ostensibly, Hashem knew that so-and-so would be wicked, would blaspheme and curse, would try to uproot the religion and close yeshivas, Heaven forbid. If so, why didn't He forgo this creation from the start? Why create people who are like Achaz and Menashe, who blaspheme Him at all times?

The "Noam Elimelech" reveals to us a formidable and wonderful secret in the verse:
> "And now, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of Hashem" (Psalms 34:12).
The answer is extremely deep: even the most completely wicked, those whose souls are drawn from the "974 generations" that preceded the giving of the Torah, contain within them an immense Divine spark. The spark within them comes from a very high place, from beneath the Kiseh HaKavod (Throne of Glory). These are precious souls into whom Hashem dropped holiness, but "the storm overcame them."

Souls from the World of Tohu

These souls descended to the world to refine the "Sheviras HaKeilim" (Shattering of the Vessels). It is not just that they are wicked; these are giant souls created even before the creation of the world, and their role was to rectify the Shattering of the Vessels by nullifying themselves to the True Tzaddik. If they had discovered the Tzaddik of each generation, they could have turned darkness into light and refined the sparks, but the evil of the World of Tohu (Chaos) overcame them.

Rabbi Noson explains in the Laws of Honoring Parents 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. Methuselah lived 969 years, Noah lived 500 years before the flood—but they did not succeed in saving the generation. Why? Because the entire work is to build a "Yeshiva" with students, to establish minyanim (prayer quorums) and holy communities. Noah and Methuselah were immense Tzaddikim, but they acted as individuals and did not succeed in building the communal power that could contain and rectify these souls.

The Holy Zohar says on the verse "And He blotted out all existence," that everyone who had a "soul of the breath of life" and was a Tzaddik died before the flood so as not to see the evil. Noah and his sons remained alone. Whoever had a terrible Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) and difficult lusts needed to run to Noah and Methuselah and nullify themselves to them. "On their own, they could in no way lift their heads, but through the Tzaddik—they could."

Suffering of the Soul and Rectification

One who does not find the Tzaddik and does not do teshuvah (repentance) is sentenced to terrible suffering after death, even before Gehennom (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, and seeks 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 (repentance), only thinking of repentance at the last moment. For twenty-five years, his soul ran over the mountains and hills, beaten by angels of destruction with sticks of fire, until it entered a reincarnation within a doe and then reincarnated further. These stories teach us that what the Sages said, "the judgment of the wicked in Gehennom is twelve months"—that is only after the soul has already finished all the difficult rectifications and reincarnations in this world and in Kaf HaKela.

A person thinks: "I will come to Uman and everything will be immediately atoned for me." It is not so simple. A person needs to shed tears, to cry over how much he has soiled himself. The Rebbe is not a "bathhouse attendant" who just washes you in the mikvah (ritual bath); the Rebbe wants you to work, to study Torah, to fight the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination). "Give the Yetzer Hara the Likutey Halachos, the Gemara (Talmud)." If a person does not work on himself, the Tzaddik asks: "Am I your laborer? I am willing to help you, but only if you strike yourself and exert effort."

A Branch of My Planting, the Work of My Hands to be Glorified

Despite all the difficulties and falls, the happy ending is guaranteed. The verse says:
> "And your people are all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever, a branch of My planting, the work of My hands, to be glorified" (Isaiah 60:21).

Every soul, even that of the greatest wicked person, is a "part of G-d from above" that was hewn from beneath the Kiseh HaKavod (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, but in the end, he too will be the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) in the Third Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple).

Hashem takes pride in the eternity within every person. "Even in the wicked, there is eternity; the question is when it will be revealed." This is what Avraham Avinu (our father Abraham) requested when he said, "By what shall I know that I will inherit it?" Avraham wanted a promise that all the seed that would come from him, until the end of all generations, would be souls connected to the holy names Havayah and Elokim, and that no outcast should be cast out from these souls.

Therefore it is written, "Salvation is far from the wicked"—salvation will come, but it might be far if one does not wake up. The way to shorten the path and merit a close salvation is through the study of Torah. One must not give up even a moment of study. Bitul Torah (neglecting Torah study) is equivalent to all [sins], and whoever can put his head inside the Gemara (Talmud) and study with diligence is the one who brings the Geulah (Redemption) closer, speedily in our days.

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