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Orchard of Delights 2 Bereishit
the numerical value of four. This ratio next defines the relationship
between the two most significant trees in the Garden: the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. The Hebrew name
for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil has a numerical value
of 932, while the Hebrew name for the Tree of Life has a numerical
value a quarter of that, 233. At the end of this passage, the single
river flowing out of the Garden is divided into four streams.
The foundational instance of the 1:4 ratio, from which all others
emanate, is that of the One God who is revealed in this world through
the most essential of His names, the Tetragrammaton, His four-
letter name. The four rivers flowing out of Eden powerfully echo this
paradigm.
Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh explains that modern science’s quest
for a unified field theory is also subconsciously motivated by this
same 1:4 ratio. Scientists hope to unite in one equation what they
have determined to be the four principle forces of the physical world:
gravity, electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak
nuclear force. In fact, many of the physical world’s aspects have
been delineated in sets of fours: the four elements – fire, air, earth,
and water; the four states of matter – solid, liquid, gas, and plasma;
the four seasons; the four directions; and the classification of organic
and inorganic matter into man, animal, vegetable, and mineral.
The biblical narrative of the creation of the world, and especially
of man, like much of the Torah both reveals and hides the Creator
and the models and the paradigms He employs. The ratio of 1:4 is
merely one example of this phenomenon, but an important one for in
this case it reveals the profound secret that ultimately everything is a
manifestation of God’s four-letter name. Read from this perspective,
the verse “I place God before me at all times” (Psalms 16:8) means
that I recognize and acknowledge that all of existence is nothing
more than a revelation of God.
In the context of this book, the 1:4 ratio has special meaning
because it hints at the four levels of interpretation (PaRDeS) that
the Rabbis employed to interpret the Torah. From this perspective,
the four rivers that flow from the Garden of Eden may be seen to
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correspond to the four rivers of wisdom flowing from PaRDeS, the
Orchard of Delights.
£Cain and AbelCain and Abel
££Cain and Abel
Once, in the period following Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Shlomo
Carlebach taught that three human emotions – jealousy, anger, and
sadness – prevent human beings from receiving the Divine effluence
of newness and renewal that flows into the world at the year’s
beginning. He explained that each of these emotions prevents the
mind and the heart from opening up to the blessings inherent in a
new year.
Significantly, in the first portion of the Torah these three emotions
play a major role in Cain’s relationship with Abel, and ultimately
lead him to commit murder. Although it was initially Cain’s idea to
bring an offering to God, when the time came, he brought a mediocre
offering, while Abel brought his very best. While not a function of
Cain’s jealousy, anger, or sadness, his choice of a mediocre offering
also teaches an important life lesson. For how many times do we
begin a project or stage of life with great enthusiasm only to finish
it halfheartedly, doing less than our best? A second-best effort often
leads to second-rate results. 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Magenta #24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Yellow 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 2 - A |
When God chose Abel’s offering, the Torah relates that Cain
became angry and despondent. This naturally led to his becoming
jealous of Abel. God attempted to teach Cain that despite his failure
all was not lost: “Surely if you improve you will be uplifted, but if
you do not improve sin crouches at the door; and to you is its desire,
yet you can rule over it” (Genesis 4:7).
Rashi explains that “sin crouching at the door” is the evil inclination
ever ready to pounce upon a person. Chassidut teaches that the evil
inclination is more interested in the depression following the sin than
in the act of sinning itself, for nothing is as spiritually and, even
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