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Orchard of Delights
When the nation of Israel is punished, so, in effect, is the Land; when
the Jewish people return, the Land is redeemed and bursts forth again
in new growth. We see clearly that only in the last hundred years,
since the Jewish people’s return to their homeland, has the Promised
Land regained its vibrant fertility. This mystical relationship in fact
has ancient antecedents recounted in the Garden of Eden story. When
Adam and Eve are “cursed” for eating from the Tree of Knowledge,
the Torah does not state that Adam was cursed; rather, it declares,
“cursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17).
It is important to note that in the passage quoted above from the
end of Kedoshim, the Torah does not declare that God will force the
Jewish people to leave the Land; rather, it states that the Land itself
will vomit the Jewish people out. In a deep sense, the Land has a
“soul” and a sensitive one at that. The Land of Israel was chosen and
destined for the Jewish people and responds with love and fertility
when righteousness and charity fill its borders. However, when
depravity, cruelty, and selfishness are the norm, it cannot bear such
behavior and it vomits out its inhabitants.
Taking this notion even deeper, the Hebrew words for “human
being” (adam) and “earth” (adamah) stem from the same root. The
verse, “dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19), seems
to quite simply mean that when human beings die they decompose
and return to the earth. However, this fails to explain the significance
of the phrase “dust you are.” The Torah states that man was first
formed from “the dust of the ground” and then G-d “breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” (Genesis
2:7). The Talmud suggests that the dust used to form Adam was
gathered from all over the world and brought to the Temple Mount
where God formed him (Jerusalem Talmud, Nazir 87:2) Just as
there is a soul connection between the Jewish people and the Land
of Israel, there is an even deeper connection between the earth and
humanity, in general. The connection between the earth’s essence
and the human body and soul teaches us that in general humanity’s
relationship to the earth, and specifically the Jewish people’s bond
to the Holy Land, is more than merely intellectual – it runs through
our blood, it is the foundation of our bones themselves.
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Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach would begin and end many a story with
a soulful sigh and the exclamation, “What do we know…. What do
we know?” It was his way of emphasizing how elusive and hidden
truth is, especially when we only perceive life on a superficial level.
Tradition teaches that one of the results of Adam and Eve eating
from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is that good and evil
lost their absolute status; now, all evil contains a kernel of good and
all good contains the potential for evil. Therefore, who other than
God knows the real reason for any circumstances we find ourselves in
or for the trials and tribulations we face?
Kabbalah refers to this world as the World of Rectification, and
rectification is the purpose of all creation. Beyond the rectifications
we may make in this lifetime, the suffering of the righteous and the
triumph of evil also can be understood in the context of reincarnation
and the World to Come. After death, souls proceed to the World to
Come where God judges them and then (if necessary) returns them to
this world for further rectification. Our Sages compare this world to
a narrow corridor leading to the great expanse of the World to Come
(Pirkei Avot 4:21). Only when we comprehend the bigger picture can
we even begin to understand the great mysteries hidden beneath the
surface of “reality.” We are charged with partnering with God to
perform the ultimate rectification of the world. As for the cohanim
who were not allowed to perform the Temple service, and all others
challenged physically or mentally, we are obligated to love and care
for them, not to judge them, for they have their own sacred paths
to follow: “the hidden things are to God,” and as Rabbi Shlomo
Carlebach used to say, “What do we know…. What do we know?”
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