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Orchard of Delights Ki Tavo

Not only are human beings compared to trees, so is the Torah: “It and saw our affliction, our travail, and our oppression.
[the Torah] is a tree of life to those who grasp it” (Proverbs 3:18). This God took us out of Egypt with a strong hand and with
tree of life (the Torah) according to many commentaries is further an outstretched arm, with great awesomeness, and with
compared to the primordial Tree of Life growing in the Garden of signs and with wonders. He brought us to this place, and
Eden. Furthermore, the Sages compared the way figs are harvested He gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
over a long period, and not all at once like some fruits, with the And now, behold! I brought the first fruit of the ground
manner in which Torah is learned. Since the wisdom in the Torah is that You have given me, O God!” And you shall lay it
infinite it can only be learned a little at a time (Bamidbar Rabbah). before God, your God, and you shall prostrate yourself
The ten sefirot are tellingly compared to both a man and a tree. In the before God your God.” (Deuteronomy 26:3-10)
Zohar the various sefirot are oftentimes referred to as corresponding God created the world with a plan and a purpose in mind. Humanity,
to parts of the human body. In fact, lined up vertically, from head in general, and the nation of Israel, in particular, were to be creation’s
to foot, the sefirot resemble an erect human being. For example, the crowning glory. Humanity was given free choice and the purpose of
sefirah of Chesed, located on the right-hand column of the sefirot is creation was to be achieved when humanity acknowledged the Creator
called the right arm, while the sefirah of Gevurah, located on the and gave joyful thanks and praise to Him. We can now understand
left-hand column is called the left arm. Not only do the sefirot bear why the Midrash states that God created the world for the sake of
a resemblance to an erect human being, they also resemble a tree the commandment of the first fruits, for this mitzvah represents
with a trunk in the middle and two branches extending out of either humanity fulfilling the very purpose it was created for.
side. Thus, in Kabbalistic terminology, the sefirot are also frequently
referred to as the “Tree of Life.” Rashi’s comment on the word mereishit (from the first of every fruit)
provides another perspective on this idea: “A man goes down into his
The fact that man, the Torah, and the Divine sefirot are all field and sees a fig that has begun to ripen, he ties a string around it as
compared to a tree reminds us of a statement in the Zohar (3:73a) a sign and declares – this is the first fruits” (Rashi on Deuteronomy
– “three bonds are bonded together: Israel to Torah and Torah to 26:2). On a mystical sod level, the words “a man goes down into his
God” – that teaches us that Israel, the Torah, and God are one and field” allude to man’s soul descending to enter a physical body in
essentially bound together. An explanation for why the tree serves to the world so that he can fulfill his purpose, declaring, “this is the
symbolize man, the Torah, and the sefirot may be found in an allusion, first fruits.” The notion that the soul or any individual must descend
a remez, based on the numerical value of the Hebrew word for “tree” in order to ascend is a fundamental Chassidic concept expressing
(eitz) being the same as that of the Hebrew word for “image” (tzelem). mankind’s fundamental existential predicament. Throughout life
Both are 160. The Torah recounts that man was created in the “image human beings find themselves repeating this dynamic in a myriad
of God” (Genesis 1:27). This verse inexorably connects man to God of ways, as Proverbs (24:16) states, “Seven times a tzaddik falls, but
through the wisdom encoded in the Torah, which acts according to rises.”
Jewish tradition as the blueprint of creation. The sefirot also operate
as an “image” of God, reflecting the infinite Divine forces channeled Taking the first fruits up to the Temple represents, at one and the
into the finite created worlds. Thus, man, the Torah, the sefirot, and same time, the quintessential elevation of the physical world and
God Himself all share on various levels the same “image.” the realization of humanity’s ultimate purpose in the world. The
Ba’al Shem Tov compares gathering and preparing the first fruits
An interesting and very enlightening comparison can be made with redeeming sparks of holiness scattered throughout reality as
between how a tree grows and how the sefirot and the human soul
a result of the breaking of the vessels. Furthermore, he explains

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