Villains - God

(3) The same is to be said^6a concerning ובורא רע And creates evil. By "evil" is meant war, as the opposite of peace, or the sickness in the human body, as being at war with his constitution. [These antitheses are] cited in this section [to suggest that similarly] He will strengthen Cyrus in opposition to the king of Babylon.

...Ch. 2 - R. Aqiva began: Humankind, its days are like grass, etc. [Tehilim 103:15] There was an incident with R. Yishma'el and Rabbi Aqiva, who were taking a walk on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and there was a person with them. A sick person encountered them. He said to them: My masters, tell me what I can be cured with. They said to him: Do this and that until you are cured. He said to them: And who has stricken me? They said to him: The Holy One (blessed be He). He said to them: And you have intruded yourselves in a matter that doesn't belong to you! He has stricken and you heal, are you not transgressing against His will?! They said to him: What is your occupation? He said: I am a farmworker and see, the sickle is in my hand. They said to him: Who created the vineyard? He said to them: The Holy One (blessed be He). They said to him: And you have intruded yourself in a matter that doesn't belong to you! He created it and you cut your fruits from it. He said to them: Do you not see the sickle in my hand?! If I did not go out and plow and cover over and fertilize and prune it, it would produce nothing at all. They said to him: Fool of the world! In all your days, have you not heard that Humankind - its days are like grass. Just as the tree, if it is not pruned and fertilized and plowed, it will not come up- and if it comes up and doesn't drink water or is not fertilized, it will not live but will die, so also with the body. The fertilizer is the potion and various medications, and the farmworker is the doctor. He said to them: I beg of you, please don't punish me. This body - its elements are contingent this upon that and this upon that, and if this isn't there, then that isn't. And if one is detached from its fellow, the body tends to die, just as a house has four sides and, if one is detached from the others, the house collapses. And everything that He created, He created with its counterpart. Were it not for death, there would be no life, and were it not for life, there would be no death. And were it not for peace, there would be no evil, and were it not for evil, there would be no peace. If a person were to enter a country which was half peace and half evil, he would go among evil and recognize peace. And if another country were altogether peace, if there were no evil there, the peace would not be recognized. If all human beings were fools, they would not recognize that they were fools, and if all human beings were wise, they would not recognize that they were wise. But rather God made this in relation to that [Qohelet 7:14]....with all the counterparts that Shlomo said in Qohelet: A time to be born, a time to die, etc....And all this to make known the greatness of the Holy One (blessed be He), that every thing that He created, He created in pairs and in partnership....If there is no righteous person, there is no wicked person. Said the wicked to the righteous: You are trying to strengthen the good in me. Were it not that I am wicked, how would you be recognized? If all human beings were righteous, you would have no advantage...

(1) And the explanation for as He rejoiced - So that you do not think that anything can harm God, or that He mourns (like the explanation for [the verse], If you are righteous, what do you give Him? [Job 35: 7]).

Rabbi Elazar said [on Devarim 28:63] He does not rejoice but He causes others to rejoice. One can learn also from how it is written: “So the Lord will rejoice [ken yasis]” (Deuteronomy 28:63). And it is not written yasus, [the grammatical form of the verb meaning: He will rejoice. Rather, it is written yasis.] Learn from this.

§ It is written: “And it came to pass after these matters [hadevarim] that God tried Abraham” (Genesis 22:1). After which [matters]?

Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: This means after the words [devarav] of Satan, as it is written: “And the child grew, and was weaned, etc. [and Abraham prepared a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned]” (Genesis 21:8). Satan said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, this old man, you graced him at one hundred years of age with a child [lit., fruit of the womb] . From the entire feast that he made, did he not have one dove or one pigeon to sacrifice before You? God said to Satan: He did nothing except for the sake of his son. If I say to him: Sacrifice your son before Me, he would immediately sacrifice him. Immediately, [the verse states]: “And God tried Abraham.”

(1) The wondrous Book of Job is in the same category; I mean to say that it is a parable to explain the opinions which people hold on Divine Providence. ...Ultimately, whether [Job] existed or not, that which is related of him is a constant experience, a source of perplexity to all deep thinkers among humankind; until it is said of God's knowledge and providence what I have already mentioned to you - I mean to say, being a simple and perfect person, upright in his actions, and very fearful of sins - there settle upon him great and consecutive evils in his wealth, his children, and his body, even without sin. According to both theories, by which I mean whether [Job] was or he wasn't, the introduction to the book is certainly a parable to every intelligent person; I mean the portion which relates to the words of the adversary, the words of God to the adversary, and the handing over of Job to him. This parable, however, is different from all other parables, but has attached to it profound ideas and great mysteries [lit., secrets of the world]. And through it may be explained great doubts, and revealed truths of which there is nothing more significant...