Rabbi Krasniansky explores the Kabbalistic teaching that obstacles and challenges are divine gifts, because when we choose to do right despite difficulty, we bring unique pleasure to God, our struggle itself is the service.
Rabbi Ben Zion Krasniansky explores why God creates obstacles and challenges for us, revealing that our struggle to choose righteousness despite difficulty brings immeasurable pleasure to the Divine, making us His greatest source of entertainment and delight.
Rabbi Ben Zion Krasniansky explores the theological question of why God creates obstacles and challenges rather than making righteousness simple and automatic. According to Krasniansky, God deliberately introduces difficulties because overcoming them transforms us and brings light and illumination to the world, which gives God tremendous pleasure. When an ordinary person makes the right choice despite facing challenges, it represents something unexpected and novel, which Krasniansky identifies as the greatest source of delight for the Divine.
The distinction between expected and unexpected righteousness forms the core of this teaching. When a tzadik, or righteous person, does the right thing, it is merely expected behavior. However, when an ordinary person struggles against difficulty and chooses righteousness anyway, that choice introduces something genuinely new into creation, which Krasniansky suggests is what truly entertains God.
Krasniansky illustrates this principle through an analogy involving a king and a parrot. While skilled humans speak far better than parrots and often bore the king with their eloquence, when a parrot speaks, the entire court becomes entertained. The key difference is novelty and unexpectedness; no one anticipates a parrot to speak, making the occurrence delightful. Similarly, when humans overcome difficulties and make righteous choices against the odds, their actions carry an element of surprise and novelty that brings delight to God.
These teachings are part of a free course titled "Kabbalah and the Psychology of the Soul," which Rabbi Ben Zion Krasniansky teaches. The course explores Kabbalah and the psychology of the soul, including the broader question of why God creates obstacles and challenges for humanity.
According to Rabbi Ben Zion Krasniansky, God creates difficulties and obstacles because by overcoming them, we transform and bring light and illumination. This gives God tremendous pleasure. When a tzadik (righteous person) does the right thing, it's expected, but when an ordinary person overcomes difficulty and makes the right choice despite challenges, that's a novelty and introduces something new into the world, which is the biggest delight for God.
Rabbi Krasniansky uses the analogy of a king being entertained by a parrot. While people speak much better than parrots and often bore the king, when a parrot speaks, the whole court is entertained. This is because it's a novelty, you don't expect the parrot to speak. Similarly, when humans overcome difficulties and make righteous choices against the odds, it's unexpected and delightful to God.
It is a free course taught by Rabbi Ben Zion Krasniansky that explores Kabbalah and the psychology of the soul, including topics such as why God creates obstacles and challenges for humanity.
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