Pulling the Carpet Under Evil's Feet

Answer

I would love to meet that umbrella salesman. In a way, we are similar. We do see an opportunity to do more mitzvot in every situation. But it isn’t coming from opportunism. It’s coming from Kabbalah.

Our mystics teach that everything in this world carries a Divine spark. Our mission is to bring those sparks to the surface by showing how everything can be used for doing good.

Some sparks are easily accessible. You give charity, and the spark in money is revealed. You eat a kosher meal, and then use that energy to help someone, which brings out the spark in the food you ate. Everyday things become holy when directed to a higher purpose.

Some sparks are buried deeper, and harder to reach. For example, non-kosher food. It, too, has a Divine spark, but we don’t elevate it by eating it. We elevate it by resisting it. The mitzvah is in the self-control. By not eating, I uncover its purpose.

The same goes for dishonest money. There is a spark even there, but it can only be accessed by refusal. When I walk away from a dodgy deal, when I say no to corruption, I have elevated the spark trapped in dishonesty. The mitzvah is not in using it, but in avoiding it.

But then there’s outright evil. Unlike neutral things, or even forbidden things, true evil cannot be sanctified. Its Divine spark is buried too deep. We can’t save the spark stuck inside a murderous terrorist. We can’t redeem the potential for good buried inside a sadistic murderer. We can’t find the hidden love in a heart that is saturated with vile hate.

So what do we do with such evil? We don’t try to transform it. We respond to it with more good. When evil makes me want to despair, I choose to add kindness. When hatred strikes, I choose love. When darkness lurks, I light a candle.

And here is the secret: evil can only exist because it also has a Divine spark trapped inside it. When I allow evil to push me to bring more light into the world, I capture that spark. I pull the carpet from under evil’s feet. I expose its illusion. And eventually, it collapses.

So yes, when tragedy strikes, rabbis say: do mitzvot. Not because we’re selling umbrellas, but because this is the one weapon that evil cannot withstand. Mitzvot weaken evil at its root. They turn its very opposition into its undoing. Evil tries to bring us down. We rise up.

An umbrella can keep you dry. A mitzvah pushes away the storm.