YHVH created this opposite that (Ecclesiastes 7:14). For every positive force, He created a corresponding negative force. This can be seen clearly in the Hebrew letter chet. It is the initial letter in a group of negative words in Hebrew such as: sin, sickness, secular, desecration, and weakness to name a few. However, a group of positive words also begin with this same letter in Hebrew such as: life, renewal, innovation, and wisdom. We can see the diametric nature of the universe is symbolized by the very form of this letter, chet. In a Torah scroll, the letter chet is composed of two Hebrew letters called the zayin, then connected by a “roof.” The name of the letter zayin means weapon.

So we see in the letter chet two opposing forces facing each other with weapons. Since chet stands for life, this teaches us that life is made up of a war between man’s two inclinations, the good inclination and the evil inclination. If a person is going to stay healthy, these two inclinations must be kept in proper balance, with the good inclination being the dominant one. If the evil inclination is too strong, then sickness occurs. It could be emotionally, physically, or spiritually. According to Kabbalah, the cure refers to repentance, as in the verse, “He will repent, and will be cured” (Isaiah 6:10). Some translations have “will convert” here. We also have to remember that repent means to turn back to learning Torah, not as it is used in Christian terminology today. The two opposing forces are also seen in the letter shin. Putting a dot at the left of this letter turns its form into “sin”, while a dot on the right turns it into “shin”, representing G-D. Of course sin representing the negative forces and shin the positive force. So may the force be with you, the shin one of course!