God Who Creates Evil - Brakhot 11

"'[Blessed art Thou] who formest light and createst darkness'. Let him say rather: 'Who formest light and createst brightness'? — We keep the language of the Scripture. If that is so, [what of the next words in the text], Who makest peace and createst evil: do we repeat them as they are written? It is written 'evil' and we say 'all things' as a euphemism."

Isaiah 45:7, which 'Yotzer Or' is based on, is irrevocably altered in the Matbea T'fila. Isaiah says:  "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things." Why are the rabbis uncomfortable with both good and evil coming from God? Why, as the Talmud says, do we change it to a 'euphemism?'

Mazikin Party

It has been taught: Abba Benjamin says, If the eye had the power to see them, no creature could endure the demons. Abaye says: They are more numerous than we are and they surround us like the ridge round a field. R. Huna says: Every one among us has a thousand on his left hand and ten thousand on his right hand.  Raba says: The crushing in the Kallah  lectures comes from them. Fatigue in the knees comes from them. The wearing out of the clothes of the scholars is due to their rubbing against them. The bruising of the feet comes from them. If one wants to discover them,  let him take sifted ashes and sprinkle around his bed, and in the morning he will see something like the footprints of a cock. If one wishes to see them, let him take the after-birth of a black she-cat, the offspring of a black she-cat, the first-born of a first-born, let him roast it in fire and grind it to powder, and then let him put some into his eye, and he will see them. Let him also pour it into an iron tube and seal it with an iron signet that they  should not steal it from him. Let him also close his mouth, lest he come to harm. R. Bibi b. Abaye did so,  saw them and came to harm. The scholars, however, prayed for him and he recovered

Demons! I love it. I love that the rabbis are able to conceive of a world in which the Sitra Achra appears and interacts with us. 

I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to try the trick with the ashes. 

Brakhot 5 - Theodicy of 'testing'

"Raba, in the name of R. Sahorah, in the name of R. Huna, says: If the Holy One, blessed be He, is pleased with a man, he crushes him with painful sufferings."

To be honest, I was a bit surprised to see this one in today's Daf. I was always aware that rabbinic theodicies spanned the range from post-creation chaos, to the Sitra Achra, to a divine court of judgement, etc. I was never aware that the rabbis embraced 'purifying suffering' as a compatible theodicy. Now on one hand, its terribly disturbing that this reflects so much Gevura without the requisite Chesed. On the other hand, this could be terrifically comforting to someone who feels their afflictions are invested with value because of their indication of a more superior relationship to God. 

What do you guys think? How do we divide what's an effective theology to believe and what's an effective theology to preach (particularly to those who are ill)?