GEN2 Tradition teaches that God’s original intention was to create the world solely with the attribute of judgment. We can still see the results of this intention, because the fundamental laws of nature are themselves immutable.  If you put your hand in fire, it will be burned, no matter what you might say or think.  A world created according to the quality of judgment requires that everything be a specific way, with no deviation whatever. But we are told that God realized that the world (and especially people) could not survive if the world were set up so that strict justice was exacted instantly for every error or wrongdoing.  A world run only according to the principle of stern justice would leave no room for free will, learning, change, or growth, because mechanical rules would meet out the results instantly and without variation. To forestall such an insufferable rigidity, God included the attributes of compassion as an essential feature of creation, right alongside judgment. … God reflected, “If I create the world with only the attribute of compassion, no one will be concerned for the consequences of their actions, and people will feel impunity to act badly. But if I create the world with strict judgment alone, how could the world endure? It would shatter from the harshness of justice. So I will create it with both justice and compassion, and it will endure.”  Rashi.  Genesis Rabbah 12:15. MORINIS 77-78