וַיִּטַּע הי אלוקים גַּן-בְּעֵדֶן-מִקֶּדֶם
Vayita HASHEM ELOKIM Gan-be'eden mikedem
HASHEM ELOKIM planted a garden eastward in Eden...
HASHEM ELOKIM PLANTED
According the plain meaning, the Torah attributed the planting of this garden to HASHEM. He did not bring a variety of trees from different parts of the globe and placed them there in the garden, but the very trees were His handiwork, designed to glorify Him. Accordingly, King David referred to these trees as עצי הי, (etz HASHEM) "trees of HASHEM..." (Tehillim 104:16)
EASTWARD
This garden, Paradise, was planted in an eastern location מקדם (mikedem). Beneficial effects of winds originate in the east of the earth due to Paradise having been planted that part of the globe. It is a well known fact that the best fruits grow in the East.
Moshe in his blessing to the Tribe of Yosef wrote, "and with the bounty of the sun's crop" (Devarim 33:14). All crops depend on the sun, Moshe must have had in mind the area where the sun rises, i.e. the Eastern part of the Land of Yisrael.
The words "HASHEM Elokim planted a garden eastward in Eden" refer to planting which had taken place a long time ago - מקדם "since primeval times." The Torah describes HASHEM as "having planted it", rather than as having commanded it to come into existence is proof that the garden preceded the creation of the universe. In fact this "planting" had already been alluded to in he very first word of the Torah, the word בראשית (Bereishit).
וַיָּשֶׂם שָׁם אֶת-הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר יָצָר
vayasem sham et ha'adam asher yatzar
and there He put the man whom He had formed.
This garden dated back to an era preceding that described in chapter one of the Torah. The words "He put there the man whom He had formed," must have a different connotation. The words אשר יצר (asher yatzar) are a reference to the source of man, his soul. Refined souls originate in the East. This is the meaning of the statement by Rabbi Nechunyah ben Hakanah (Sefer HaBahir) that the זרע (zera' - semen) of Yisrael, it's descendants originated in the Eastern parts of universe because the marrow in the spinal cord comes directly from he brain from which it is transmitted to the male organ and converted into semen.
"For from the East will I bring your seed (descendants) and from the West will I gather you in" (Yeshayahu 43:5). The prophet is telling us that when Yisrael will perform HASHEM's commandments, their souls will (once again) originate in that Eastern regions. If, however, they will fail to live up to HASHEM's expectations, their seed, the souls of their children, will be gathered up from the Western part of the universe. Why is it called "West"? Because there all the seeds intermingle, i.e. sanctity is being compromised by intermingling with souls who originate in spiritually negative areas.
When we read "a generation goes and a generation comes" (Kohelet 1:4), this means that all the souls have already been assigned to this world and until each one has been noted by a body the Redeemer cannot come.
From that region (East) the souls travel to the foundation of the universe, a region known ברית (brit - covenant). This is why the author of Sefer HaBahir wrote that the seed comes to the Jewish People by means of the spinal cord which gets its input from the brain traveling down to the male member.
The prophet Yeshayahu alluded to this when he said, "Listen to this O house of Yaakov who bear the name Yisrael and who have emanated from the waters of Yehudah" (Yeshayahu 48:1). The expression "who have emanated from the waters of Yehudah," means "from the seed of Yehudah." The reason the prophet called Yisrael "Yehudah," is because the flag of Yehudah represented the Eastern part of the encampment of the Benei Yisrael in the desert.
2:9
וַיַּצְמַח הי אלוקים מִן-הָאֲדָמָה
Vayatzmach HASHEM ELOKIM min ha'adamah
HASHEM ELOKIM made grow from the earth...
These words prove that there is such a thing as Paradise on earth and that it contains a Tree of Knowledge as well as a Tree of Life. The fruit of the Tree of Life causes those who eat it to enjoy long life, whereas the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge instills in those who consume it willpower and freedom of choice to do either good or evil both in matters physical as well as in matters spiritual.
The term עץ הדעת (etz hadaat) does not mean "the Tree of Knowledge," but means "the tree permitting choice." We find support for this meaning of the word דעת (daat - knowledge), "What is man that You should have granted him grace?" In other words, "Why have You extended Your goodwill, Your love to man?" The meaning of the term עץ הדעת then is the tree which causes HASHEM to relate to man with either favor or disfavor. Originally, HASHEM had withheld this kind of choice from Adam as he ad been "programmed" in his deeds prior to his sin. This does not mean he was not free to sin but that his actions were guided exclusively by his intellect thus practically excluding sin as he had not been subject to temptation from within. Once man had sinned, i.e. had eaten from the fruit of that Tree, he became possessed of an independent will, i.e. obedience to HASHEM's will was no longer automatic, dictated by his intellect. The new found "independent will" meant that he had acquired an attribute reserved for HASHEM, an attribute that he could handle only at great potential cost to himself.
וְעֵץ הַחַיִּים בְּתוֹךְ הַגָּן וְעֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע
ve'etz hachayim betoch hagan
and a Tree of Life in the midst of the garden.
The Torah made the point of describing the location of this Tree, "in the midst of the garden," as opposed to the precise location of the Tree of "desire," which has not been spelled out.
The two words בתוך הגן (betoch hagan - midst of the garden) exactly between the words עץ הדעת טוב ורע (etz hadaat tov vara - Tree of Knowledge [of what is] good and evil) and עץ החיים (etz hachayim - the Tree of Life) makes it clear that both these Trees stood next to one another. Although they were two trees, and is physically impossible for both Trees to be precisely in the center of the garden, we must assume that they had a single trunk and that the two Trees branched out at a certain point above the ground, one side becoming the Tree of Life, the other the Tree of Knowledge.
2:10
וְנָהָר יֹצֵא מֵעֵדֶן לְהַשְׁקוֹת אֶת-הַגָּן וּמִשָּׁם יִפָּרֵד וְהָיָה לְאַרְבָּעָה רָאשִׁים
Venahar yotze me'eden lehashkot et-hagan umisham yipared vehayah le'arbaah rashim
A river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it separated and became four headwaters.
The Torah describes the rivers that originated in that garden by describing their parameters and the countries which surround the garden. There were a total of four rivers which were all branches of a single river which flowed out of Eden. As long as that river was a single river it function was to irrigate the garden. Subsequently, this river split into what the Torah called ארבעה ראשים (arbaah rashim - four headwaters).
★You should understand that though the Torah describes a scenery on earth when describing Gan Eden and what is related to it, the manifestations described by the Torah are metaphors for phenomena in the celestial regions.
2:11
שֵׁם הָאֶחָד פִּישׁוֹן
Shem ha'echad pishon
The name of the first is Pishon.
A Midrashic view sees in the four rivers a reference to four kingdoms. The river Pishon is a reference to the kingdom of Bavel (Babylon). The verse in Chavukuk 1:8 ופשן פרשין "describing the riders of the army of the Chaldeans (Babylonians)" refers to this.
הוּא הַסֹּבֵב אֵת כָּל-אֶרֶץ הַחֲוִילָה אֲשֶׁר-שָׁם הַזָּהָב
hu hasovev et kol-eretz hachavilah asher-sham hazahav
Which surrounds all the land of Chavilah where there is gold
The land of Chavilah which is described as being surrounded by the river Pishon is none other than the Land of Yisrael, a land which the king of Bavel will ascend and come across which he and his army will spread out. This is based on Bereishit Rabbah explaining Tehillim 42:6 "Have hope in HASHEM for I will yet praise Him for His saving Presence."
The gold referred to here are the words of Torah which have been extolled as "more desirable than gold, than much fine gold" (Tehillim 19:11).
★We are taught by this verse that the quality of Torah studied in Eretz Yisrael is superior to Torah studied elsewhere as is the wisdom acquired in Eretz Yisrael.
2:12
שָׁם הַבְּדֹלַח וְאֶבֶן הַשֹּׁהַם
sham habedolach ve'even hashoham
There can be found the bedolach and the shoham stone.
These are names of gems and they symbolize different disciplines of Torah study such as Holy Scripture, Mishnah, Talmud, Halachot, interpretations and aggadic material.
2:13
וְשֵׁם הַנָּהָר הַשֵּׁנִי גִּיחוֹן
veshem hanahar hasheni gichon
And the name of the second river is Gichon.
This is reference to the kingdom of the Medes.
2:14
וְשֵׁם הַנָּהָר הַשְּׁלִישִׁי חִדֶּקֶל
veshem hanahar hashelishi chidekel
And the name of the third river is Chidekel.
This is reference to the kingdom of Greece which imposed a particularly draconian rule on the Jewish People in Yisrael.
וְהַנָּהָר הָרְבִיעִי הוּא פְרָת
vehanahar harvi'i hu ferat
And the fourth river is Prat.
The fourth river, the Euphrates, represents the Roman Empire which oppressed the Jewish People inordinately. The word פרת is equated by the Midrash with the word הפרה (hafarah - breach of trust). Alternately, the name of the river symbolizes the final destiny of the Roman Empire as alluded by Yeahayahu, "I trod out a vintage alone." (63:3) the prophet describes the red stained clothing of Yisrael returning from defeating the kingdom of Edom.
★Man's sin consisted of both a sinful deed and a sinful design. Man's sin in deed consisted of eating from the tree and what it represented. It was not a denial of the Supremacy of G-d (an heretical act) by Adam when he sinned. Even though Adam had seen the Tree of Life next to the Tree of Knowledge, he had considered the Tree of Life as essential but considered the Tree of Knowledge the key to his existence. The Tree of knowledge provided those who consumed its fruit to perform all kinds of activities both in the terrestrial as well as in the celestial regions, this is what he considered as essential. This is why the Torah in describing the Tree of Knowledge spoke of the allure of its fruit, whereas there is no mention of fruit made in connection with the Tree of Life. Adam's sin consisted of קצץ בנטיעות (pursued alien philosophies) (The same heresy of Elisha be Avuyah, known as Acher - Chagigah 14. Elisha’s interest in a non-Jewish ideology caused him to question his Judaism, and in the end the questioning morphed into eresy. He thought he had proof that there were separate origins of celestial authority)
וְנָהָר
Venahar
and a river
According to the Targum the Hebrew Word אור (ohr - light) is equivalent to the Aramaic נהורא (light). The Torah therefore tells us that a "light" comes forth from Eden, and that this light originates in the region known as אין סוף (Ein Sof), G-d's Essence. The meaning of the word מֵעֵדֶן (me'eden) is that it emanates from regions which are not bounded by any boundaries, or which defy further definition by man. The region has been so named by our Sages because they cannot define it. It is beyond the outermost boundaries of our understanding. We do find allusions to this such as in Iyov 25:5 "even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in His sight." The speaker in this verse, Bildad, describes "light" as we know it as far inferior to light in the celestial regions. The words וְלֹא יַאֲהִיל (velo ya'ahil - no brightness) in that verse refer to G-d's ability to withhold the light of the moon. It is contrasted with the light emanating in Ein Sof which is never withheld.
לְהַשְׁקוֹת אֶת-הַגָּן
lehashkot et-hagan
to water the Garden.
(2:10) This task would be performed by the emanation Malchut.
★For pratical purposes all the emanations are unified, there is no division within them. However, starting with the emanation Malchut, downwards, i.e. into the realm of the physical universe including the disembodied creatures such as the angels, "separations" are the order of the day. This is what the Torah means when it states that "umisham" (and from there) the "light" was divided into four categories. This is a reference to four separate "camps." These "camps" provide "energy" for the four "rivers" or "lights" of Gan Eden. Therefore this energy or different forms of energies are channelled to the four kingdoms on earth.
May HASHEM continue to enlighten us with the light of His Torah.
------------
Bereishit Pardes - Creation
Bereishit Pardes - Etz HaChayim - Etz HaDaat Tov vaRa
Bereishit Pardes - Nishmat Chayim - Living Soul
