Every single human being experiences challenges in different areas of life. Sometimes it seems that there is absolutely way out; no way to overcome the issue.
The source of all struggle and all difficulties is the “Other Side”.
“The Other Side” of what?
The other side of holiness; the forces of evil who oppose and deny G-dliness.
This term, originating from the Masters of Kabbalah as the go-to name for all things negative and evil.
But the good news is:
The “Other Side” really has no existence of its own!
For this reason, the forces of evil are compared to darkness.
Darkness, too, has no substance of its own.
It’s merely the absence of light.
To chase away darkness…
Just turn on the light!
The Other Side, the forces of impurity, are as scary and intimidating as darkness.
In fact, they seem to have a lot of power because many creations receive their spiritual energy and life force _through them_!
Doesn’t that seem to indicate that the Other Side is real and is a force to reckon with?
Nope!
Because guess where its life force and ability to exist comes from?
All existence stems only from G-d.
Holiness is the source of everything, even the forces of evil who oppose and deny G-dliness!
The forces of impurity possess a very limited and temporary power which is intended to only fool us and attract us to it… But then it runs out and you are already stuck…
However, when you remind yourself, “Hey, this evil is really NOTHING! It gives me nothing and it gets me nowhere except stuck in its downward spiral!”
Then you are able to fight it, shine a light on its evilness and reveal what your exploration of it truly is: a search for, and even a ladder towards, a connection with G-d.
Suddenly, the darkness is no longer dark.
As soon as you reveal the truth, lies can no longer stand.
This explains the dramatic and sudden shift in attitude that occurred to the Jewish people when they were in the desert, on their way to the Land of Israel.
Moses had chosen a group of 12 solid and wise men to act as spies and scout out the Land of Israel. These spies returned and turned the people against the idea of going to live there. They concluded that it was not possible to conquer the land, despite G-d’s assurances. They claimed that the nations residing there are stronger than G-d.
Hearing their report, the Jewish people became very frightened and cried and wailed all night long.
Suddenly, just a few hours after their terror and sobbing, they declared,
"We can prevail against those nations ! Let’s go up to the land!"
Where did they suddenly receive such confidence and courage?
Nothing had changed in the interim
Moshe hadn’t performed any miracles...
In fact, he had just given them a pretty harsh verdict - that G-d would _not_ be bringing them to the Land of Israel.
So what happened? What made the Jews change their mind so quickly?
The truth is that Jewish people really and truly have faith in G-d.
They had simply been overcome by fear and doubts.
The forces of evil had risen up and blinded them and so they temporarily felt disconnected from G-d and doubtful of their and His abilities.
When G-d became angry with them and identified the evil by its name:
_*For how long will this evil congregation continue… Their corpses will fall here in the desert*_
They heard this and became broken-hearted.
They became pained and bothered by the verdict .
The shell of doubt and fear covering their hearts shrunk and cracked… and the truth was revealed ✨.
They really _did_ believe - the entire time - that they could successfully conquer the land.
This story demonstrates that -
There is no substance to the Other Side.
Once you reveal the ugly truth, it dissipates as if it never existed .
They are the ghosts 👻 in the PacMan game whose entire purpose is to challenge you in order to determine how good you are at playing the game of life.
