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Orchard of Delights
take the light of God and Torah and, transforming them deep within
us, yield the fruit of inspiration and understanding.
The Hebrew word for date (tamar) has the numerical value of 640,
the same numerical value of the Hebrew word for sun (shemesh)!!
When we receive the light of God and Torah and are devoid of ego
and ulterior motives, we become transparent vessels that convert
the light into the very blood that flows in our veins. Like a date
tree, which is a pure conduit for transforming the sun’s energy into
unadulterated sweetness, when we are pure we too can transform the
light of God and Torah into inspiration and understanding.
Another subtle connection between this portion and Tu B’Shvat
relates to the underlying spiritual essence of the holiday itself.
According to tradition, the sap begins to once again ascend in the
trees on Tu B’Shvat. This sap is the life force that culminates in
the spring and summer with buds, leaves, and fruit. Therefore,
on a symbolic level, Tu B’Shvat represents the time when new
redemptive energy begins to well up from beneath the surface. This
understanding of the holiday, incidentally, provides an answer to
the perennial question of why we read the story of the ten plagues
and the exodus from Egypt in the winter and not in the spring at
Pesach time: Tu B’Shvat actually symbolizes the flow of redemptive
energies instrumental in the Pesach story.
This welling up of redemptive energy is reflected in the consecutive
cycle of three holidays that fall on the full moons’ of Shevat, Adar,
and Nisan. These holidays – Tu B’Shvat, Shushan Purim (the
additional day of Purim celebrated in walled cities), and the first day
of Pesach – symbolize both the transition of winter into spring and
the welling up of the forces of redemption. The Jewish people’s exodus
from Egypt and transition from slavery to freedom is analogous to
nature’s transition from hibernation and inaction to rebirth and
rejuvenation. The sap rising in the trees on Tu B’Shvat represents
the beginning of the redemptive process that climaxed in the Jews’
personal and national redemption from the narrow confines of Egypt
on Pesach. Therefore, from a deeper perspective, it is no surprise that
this portion is always read around Tu B’Shvat, for in this portion
Israel is redeemed from slavery and leaves Egypt.
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Another reason why Moses may have been commanded to speak
to the women first was in order to rectify the mistake that had been
made in the Garden of Eden. When God commanded Adam not to
eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, He depended
on Adam to inform Eve. Adam, taking his responsibility seriously,
added a further precautionary measure, telling Eve that God had also
commanded them not to touch the tree on pain of death. The snake
managed to convince Eve that God had not issued any command
related to the tree by pushing her against it. When she did not die,
the snake assured her that she would not die from eating the fruit
either. Although Adam added this restriction to prevent Eve from
coming anywhere near temptation, his plan completely backfired.
Since from a Kabbalistic perspective much of what happens in this
world is an attempt to rectify prior errors, we can conjecture that
God’s command to Moses to speak to the women first was part of an
attempt to rectify that original mistake. (See “Noah’s Tragic Flaws”
for his failed attempt at rectifying Adam and Eve’s sin.)
Explaining that this instruction was intended to rectify a mistake
made in the Garden of Eden fits in well with the tradition that
God’s giving the Torah to humanity was part of His plan to return
humanity to the lost utopia of the Garden of Eden. Indeed, the
Torah is compared to the Tree of Life – “It [the Torah] is a tree
of life for those who grasp it” (Proverbs 3:18) – which grew in the
Garden of Eden. Furthermore, various Midrashim recount how the
people were returned to a utopian state reminiscent of the Garden
of Eden, and healed of all ailments and diseases before receiving the
Torah (Midrash Tanchuma, Yitro 12). Furthermore, according to
the Talmud, the original impurity of the primordial snake, which
had pervaded human consciousness since the primordial sin, was
removed at that time as well (Shabbat 146a). Had the children of
Israel not worshipped the Golden Calf, death would have been
swallowed up forever and they would have marched straight into
the Land of Israel where Moses would have been anointed Mashiach
and the Land would have been transformed into an earthly Garden
of Eden. Although this plan never came to fruition because of the sin
of the Golden Calf, by speaking to the women first, Moses partially
rectified the archetypal sin of the Garden of Eden.
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