If this book has been written properly, this Epilogue should not be necessary. For the sake of completeness however we learn it together.

We begin with a reminder of the concept of Hashgochah Protis (Divine Providence) (see Building Block No. 1). All of creation is constantly being brought into existence by Hashem's effortless concentration and this entails control of every atom and molecule all the time. The only rider on this as we have seen is the area of free choice in relation to moral decisions - 613 areas for Jews, 7 for non-Jews.

The second reminder is that G-d is all good (see Building Block No. 2).

So the reader has surely gleaned the reality already. It follows that if there is total Hashgochah Protis over everything and if Hashem is all good, there can be no bad. There is our perception of bad but a moment's thought will allow everybody to understand, given the first two principles, that bad itself must be purposeful and for the good.

So let us take an example. Let us pretend that there is a trip for two to the Paris available as a prize. In order to secure the prize one must learn a basic level of French. This level, let us further pretend, is assessed by examination. This examination is to have four separate parts and there are four books available for study, one for each part. For the purpose of this example, we pretend you want the prize and we will analyze the steps as follows:

1. Book No. 3 is out of print and is therefore unavailable. BAD

2. You learn remaining three books and attend the exam. No questions on book No. 3! GOOD

3. Book No. 3 is out of print and is therefore unavailable. NOW GOOD

4. You pass the exam and win the prize. GOOD

5. Plane leaves the next day. You have seemingly insufficient time to pack. BAD

6. You have packed after all. Plane leaves the next day. You have seemingly insufficient time to pack. NOW GOOD

7. Taxi to the airport has an accident delaying you. BAD

8. You miss plane. BAD

9. Plane crashes killing everyone on board.

10. Taxi to the airport has an accident delaying you. NOW GOOD

11. You miss plane. NOW GOOD

Can you see what is happening? We keep having to rewrite what is good or bad as more information comes in. The third book not being available is bad without the extra information that it is not required; then its unavailability becomes a good. Winning the prize seems good until the fatal flight and then is a bad. The taxi accident is bad until the plane crash and then becomes a good. Missing the plane at first bad becomes a good. Careful thought brings this; IT DEPENDS AT WHAT POINT OF TIME YOU VIEW THE EVIDENCE. Without subsequent evidence, no decision can be made.

There is a Law in Torah that that which comes from kosher is kosher. There can be no bad coming from Hashem because Hashem is all good. It follows that all that comes from Him must be good.

What about those things apparently bad? It cannot be denied that there is apparent bad everywhere. Natural disasters, sickness, pain and suffering, death. These are realities and cannot be denied.

As we have learned, there are three areas of berochas (see Building Block No. 2). Some people are given all three, some two and some people, none. There have been great Tzaddikim with none and they have been very happy and they did not view their lives as miserable. Why? The answer is that they recognize a reality; that every human being is tested day in and day out in this world. Furthermore, the purpose of these tests is for the good. A Tzaddik will recognize that every yeridah is for the sake of an aliyah (see Building Block No. 2). As we have seen, a person can either try to grow from that situation, try to tune into the spiritual forces which are giving him the opportunity of that apparently negative test; or he can become despondent and view the test as bad. To do so is as short-sighted as being despondent at the taxi breaking down. Until all the evidence is in, a man cannot know. He only sees a few pages of the book and it is the pages he has not yet seen which will determine his judgment.

If then everything is for the good and tests are beneficial, why do we not beat our breasts and beg Hashem to test us? Why do we constantly ask for things which seem to us to be good? If, as has been implied, there is no difference, why be concerned at being barren, poor or sick? The answer is that it is human to want that which appears good to us to the exclusion of that which we do not perceive as good for us. We do not want to be tested; we beg Hashem not to test us. But if tested, it is critical to grasp that ultimately the test is only for good. It is entirely natural however to ask Hashem for experiences that not only are for our good but which we can perceive as good.

There remains however a problem; we learn in Chassidus that there are four worlds: Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and our world, Asiyah. We learn that in Atzilus, there is no bad; in Beriah, bad is separated off; in Yetzirah, bad and good exist in equal proportions and in Asiyah, bad is predominant over good. Empirical evidence is that in our world there is more bad than good. So how do the two notions stand together? On the one hand, we say there is no bad; on the other, we say that we live in a world in which there is more bad than good. Deeper, we know that the charge of neshomos Yisrael is to be moved around the globe from country to country elevating their collective Nefesh HaBahamis and refining and purifying the good from the bad. How then can it be said there is no bad?

There are two categories of bad. There is first the perceived bad of a test. This we know now not to be bad but an opportunity for development. The other aspect of bad is kelipah (opposite to holiness). kelipah means a husk, shell. The shell, the kelipah is responsible for a lack of revelation of G-dliness. When we talk of elevating the bad, we refer to a Jewish neshomah taking something that is kelipah and bringing a revelation of G-dliness to it through physical activity. This is fundamentally different to a test. Here, there is an absence of revealed G-dliness where our task is to convert darkness into light. This is, after all, our mission on earth for the time the neshomah is in the body.

So really there is no bad at all. There are various goods; those which come in terms of tests which require practice to identify as such. Separately, there are those things with which a Jew comes into contact, where there exists an opportunity to elevate and refine. Our task is to reveal the apparent lack of G-dliness, so bringing good.

What of children who die, people with terrible terminal diseases, great natural disasters or deliberate human evil? A Jew's heart must break with pity and empathy. One of our most important tests is to help. Every action is worth a thousand sighs. But the truth is that ultimately it cannot be said not to be good until all the evidence is in; and the evidence is not in in one lifetime and it is not in in one consciousness. That we know as Torah.

So at this Epilogue together we have now some of the equipment with which to live. We have the chochmah and binah that everything is Divinely controlled and for good; we have the chochmah and binah that being a Jew is fundamentally purposeful. We have the chochmah and binah that to tune into that purpose allows us to build a dwelling place for Hashem in the physical world - the whole reason for creation. And we have the chochmah and binah to do all this with joy. As a by-product, true happiness will result.

All that is chochmah and binah. The daas, as has been said before, must come from the reader. Torah warms the hands and feet. It requires effort and practice to exclude everything else from the mind and heart. To do so turns the darkest night into blazing daylight.