The Light of Judaism

My friend, Rabbi Aryel, had a discussion going on concerning the two
perspectives of an individuals place in this world. On one side you have the
view that one should not engage in life as it is all an act of God anyways. On
the other side there is the idea that one must fight the good fight and jump
into the societal and political trenches, which really only amounts to the
frustrating task of trying to impose ones subjective view of reality upon
others. I presented my perspective on this issue in an albeit condensed form,
which has severe limitations but it does hopefully engender deeper thought and
reflection. Consider the following:

This is a difficult discussion to address simply because very few people have
the context to comprehend the nature of reality and their individual
contribution to the collective. It is true that we are partners with what we
perceive and call "God." However, the context of the contribution is made
within a subjective understanding of both, right and wrong; good and evil. For
example, in the USA we see an ongoing struggle between the pillars of Force and
Form; Severity and Excessive Mercy. This is manifested within the political and
societal struggles of Conservativism and Liberalism. Those of either category
are dominated by the side pillars of the archetypal Sephirot. This all serves a
purpose to guide the general evolution of humanity collectively and the shift of
power from one side to the other (i.e. differing political victories) represents
a general act of Providence which serves to maintain an equilibrium in order to
not destroy society by an excess of either.

What does it mean to be responsible for creation? It is impossible to summarize
the process in this small text space but there are some things you all should
consider. First, the purpose of creation according to the idrash is for God to
behold God, precisely meaning that the Primal Unconscious (Ein Sof) emanates a
line of Consciousness (I.e. Infinite generates finite). Within this context of
new Conscious perception the Primal Self emerges comprised of archetypal values
that will enable a creature to arise which will have a sense of self awareness
and generate experiences. These experiences are accumulated within a context of
polarity which gives the illusion of good and evil. This is all by design as
the accumulatice experience of humanity is the experience of "God." This in
turns creates a scenario wherein the Primal Unconscious becomes aware of Itself.

Our part in creation is to contribute to the conscious evolution of the Universe
itself. The Tikkun Olam is as Rabbi Aryel said the raising of sparks which are
embedded in the kelipot because of a fracturing of the Primordial Consciousness,
which is refered to as Shevirat Kelim. Shevirat Kelim is the fragmentation of
the psyche and the return of the sparks is the process of Individuation and
restructuring of the old ego to build a new Self. The reconstitution of the
Self in the process of Tikkun is refered to as Partzufim- but I will not get
into that here.

With all of this being said let me summarize by saying further that your purpose
in this life is to build experiences based on positive deeds. This can be found
in either side of the archetypal pillars and therefore the evolved individual
rises above the political and societal spectrum and is not dominated by either
pillars. This individual is removed from general providence and engages in
particular providence- only here can free will be exercised (at least in its
fullest extent). Humanity collectively will not evolve of its own accord- only
individuals will ascend the ladder of spiritual evolution to create the perfect
image of God- fulfilling the creative imperative. Eventually all humanity (all
souls that is) will be forced into spontaneous evolution and will be assimilated
back into the Self. Until that time the world and humanity will collectively
experience the excesses of the polarity of existence. No individual nor group
of people can change or alter the general cycle of the rest of humanity. Be it
war, politics, the rise and fall of countries, terrorism, etc. This will
forever perpetuate as the struggle of the side pillars until that time when all
will be One once again. So your primary duty in this life is to take advantage
of life in this tumultuous state of existence and harness the adversity for your
own personal tikkun hanefesh (rectification of the soul). Acts of kindness,
generosity, personal reflection, cleaving to the Creator by increasing kavanah,
etc. will help to raise your consciousness but engaging in the particulars of
political and societal struggles will cause one to descend in their
consciousness to be dominated by the side pillars once more.