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Orchard of Delights Noah
elucidated by the Oral Torah, Kabbalah, and Chassidut, contains media, economics, politics, and art. True to the Zohar’s prediction
profound lessons on a number of topics: the relations between men these advances in secular knowledge have literally flooded the earth,
and women; desire, inner conflict, and temptation; the encounter changing the world we live in forever.
between heart and mind, soul and body, objective and subjective The period between 1740-1840 was also blessed with a parallel
knowledge; the meaning of experience; and the nature of choice and deluge of Torah wisdom: the Chassidic movement was born and the
its consequences. The story of Cain and Abel likewise reveals profound Kabbalah’s closely guarded, esoteric, mystical traditions were taught
depth as it teaches us about the dynamics of sibling rivalry and the to the masses for the first time. These teachings were incorporated
debilitating consequences of jealousy, anger, and depression.
into every aspect of Chassidic life, invigorating all areas of Jewish life.
The Torah’s ability to fuel the human imagination and remain Today these teachings are freely available and as the Zohar predicted
vital throughout the annals of human history stems, in part, from the upper waters of Torah wisdom have begun to flood the world.
the archetypal nature of its characters. Within the seemingly simple Perhaps, this is nowhere more apparent than on the Internet.
narratives, the very depths of human psychology are plumbed and While the floods of lower and higher waters seem to be independent
the existential condition of humanity is explored. Carl Jung, one of of each other, there is an ever increasing attempt to unify the deluge
the fathers of modern psychology, recognized the power of symbols of secular knowledge and Torah wisdom inundating us. The final
and created an entire language to describe the archetypal imagery decades of the twentieth century and the early years of the twenty-
of the unconscious, especially as it is expressed in dreams. Although first century have witnessed an unprecedented number of books
his language was new, the idea of archetypal figures and symbolic written on a host of subjects exploring the parallels between Torah
association has been deeply rooted in Jewish thought for millennia. wisdom and the very best of contemporary knowledge in the arts
As we will observe throughout this book, many other discoveries and and sciences. These books attempt to unify the unique perspectives
insights, spanning the gamut of human thought, are also rooted in and insights provided by these two seemingly different realms. Their
the Torah and in the oral tradition. With these insights in mind, we success is powerfully expressed in the revelation of Kabbalah’s
begin our commentary.
relevance to the modern world: the profound correlation between
the Jewish mystical tradition and contemporary approaches in
mathematics, physics, cosmology, psychology, ecology, healing, and
many other fields in the arts and sciences.
£Blessed Is the One Who SpokeBlessed Is the One Who SpokeBlessed Is the One Who Spoke One of Judaism’s fundamental principles is the obligation to
££
unify the physical, material world and the spiritual, Divine one, by
constantly infusing the mundane world with Godliness. Virtually
Every day in the Morning Service we recite the following words: all the mitzvot are in some way related to a physical object, action,
“Blessed is the One who spoke and the world came into being.” On or speech (the latter is also considered a form of action). The daily
Shabbat and holidays, we express a similar sentiment, when we performance of mitzvot trains us to unify the seemingly unrelated
recite the following verses from Psalms (33:6, 9): “By the word of worlds of physicality and spirituality as we constantly strive for
God were the heavens made and all the hosts of them by the breath unity. Judaism’s cardinal belief that “God is One” takes us beyond
of His mouth.… For He spoke and it was, He commanded and it the bounds of simple monotheism, teaching us that in essence
stood fast.” Is the notion of Divine speech to be taken literally or is everything is one: everything is part of God’s essential unity.
it merely metaphorical?
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