As one of the rabbis on Aish.comâ??s Ask the Rabbi service, I find that many people are bothered by the following theological question. If God really loves us and wants whatâ??s best for us, why didnâ??t He just put us straight in Heaven? Let us enjoy a relationship with Him right away! Why did God create such a dark and distant physical world, insisting that we first observe His mitzvot and overcome challenges, only afterwards rewarding us with the World to Come â?? if we pass our tests? Why expose us to so much evil, pain and temptation beforehand?
Perhaps one would answer that we are not ready for a relationship with God in our current state. We are too coarse and physical today to connect with the infinite. We must first improve and develop ourselves, making us more spiritual and able to enjoy a relationship with the Divine. But if so, why did God have to make us so physical in the first place? Why couldnâ??t He have created us as angel-like beings, ready to enjoy the ultimate pleasure of closeness to God from the start? Canâ??t God do anything?
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