The title doesn't do the essay justice. It opens with a Scripture quote:
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed.”
— Deuteronomy Deut. 30:19
Some snippets:
For there to be choice, evil has to be pretty attractive. There is no choice if we're not interested in one of the alternatives.
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Evil and good are not always like black and white. High-grade, superclassy evil looks just like good, but it's counterfeit nevertheless.
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We do teshuvah not because we fear punishment but because we love G-d and know that we have, so to speak, let G-d down. This realization itself brings us closer to G-d, even closer than we were before we made the mistakes. Therefore, all our offenses turn into merits. The darkness is converted into light.
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This world was not created for what is already good in it. This world was created to be a forum for a new and higher kind of goodness — the goodness born out of overcoming evil and choosing to do good.
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