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Orchard of Delights Achrei Mot

the Garden of Eden.” The notion of a “paradise lost” and the quest In this vein, the Ba’al Shem Tov also taught that uttering empty
to return humanity to its former exalted station is fundamentally words does not make the body heavier because there is no life force in
connected to the role the Shemittah year plays in trying to rectify empty words. However, speaking words of Torah causes the body to
the consequences of humankind’s first sin. become heavier because the words spoken are full of content and life.
He compares this to the body gaining weight after a satisfying meal.
When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge they thought
they would become, as the snake promised, “like God to know good Words of Torah provide sustenance for not only the soul and mind
and evil” (Genesis 3:4). What they did not realize was that their but the body as well. However, we should note that the Ba’al Shem
action would effect the very nature of human development. While Tov’s use of this analogy may stem from the fact that the Hebrew
Adam and Eve did attain one type of knowledge, they sacrificed root word for both “heavy” and “honor” is identical (similarly, the
another one: a pure unconscious intuition that resulted from their phrase “weighty matters” in English does not refer to how much
being in harmony with God and nature. As a result of their eating the matters physically weigh, but to their importance). Thus the
from the Tree of knowledge, no longer would the lofty spiritual plane Ba’al Shem Tov’s words can be understood figuratively to refer to a
they took for granted in the Garden of Eden be a given, now human qualitative sense of weight.
beings would have to struggle long and hard to attain it. From a The teaching that the more Torah people learn the “heavier” their
Kabbalistic perspective, this was not simply a punishment, but a bodies become has an amazing parallel in the physical world. Modern
natural consequence of their actions, and, in a sense, a fortuitous one physics has revealed that the faster mass accelerates the heavier it
at that. Just as a parent must allow a young child the opportunity to becomes or the greater its mass. This process continues until the
learn to walk, even though it means a few nasty spills, likewise, God body in motion approaches the speed of light when it becomes so
had to send Adam and Eve out of the Garden in order to allow them heavy that it can accelerate no further. From this scientists deduce
to fulfill their destiny of being created “in the image of God” through that physical matter cannot travel faster than the speed of light.
their own hard work.
Within the Jewish tradition, Torah is often compared to light:
Humanity’s exile from the Garden of Eden set the pattern for all thus, in Proverbs (20:7): “The candle is a mitzvah and the Torah
future individual and national exiles. Furthermore, Adam’s curse is light.” Figuratively speaking, learning Torah is like mentally
affected all his descendants: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in streaking through space approaching the speed of light. The more
sorrow you shall eat of it all the days of your life … by the sweat Torah we learn though the “heavier” we become. Just as physical
of your brow you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground: for matter cannot exceed the speed of light, so too no matter how much
dust you are and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-18). Instead Torah we learn we can never completely grasp its infinite wisdom.
of living in harmony with nature Adam now found that he would However, just as we can approach the speed of light, the more Torah
have to work hard to make his living, constantly combating nature we learn the closer we can come to the infinite light and life force of
to coerce the “accursed” earth to produce for him. God enclothed within its teachings.

The episode of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden represents
humanity’s archetypal predicament. The passions, emotions, and
intentions of each of the protagonists, as well as the forces of cause
and effect portrayed in the story, serve as a paradigm that repeats
itself in all our lives, especially in the deeper messages conveyed by
the Sabbatical year. Indeed, the Sabbatical year is meant to heal both

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