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THEMES of Featured Mystical Classics Articles
The dialogue between Eve and the serpent was of profound mystical significance
A close look at G-d's command to the Earth on the Third Day shows that the trees were meant to be edible themselves, i.e. the trunk, not just the fruit. Earth did not comply with G-d's command completely, since it was aware that G-d would have to hide the Original Light due to the eventual emergence of wicked people.
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Kabbalah teaches that performing a mitzvah actually transforms a person’s soul.
Rabbi Alshich explains that Adam became the most perfect physical creature imaginable through the combination of all the elements that went into creating the garden. Serving a human master does not change one’s nature even after loyal service, done to the best of one‘s ability. In contrast, every mitzvah performed in the service of G-d transforms the very nature of the person, his whole body becoming suffused with a degree of holiness.
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Each individual soul has its own unique potential to ascend to higher consciousness
Our Sages said: "The Torah was given in forty (days) and the soul was formed in forty days; anyone who takes care of his Torah has his soul taken care of."
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"Gate of Reincarnations": Chapter Three, Section 2
The human body is comprised of the 248 Limbs and 365 Tendons, and as such they denote the form or "shape" of the human body. The Nefesh is in the same "shape" as the human body; more correctly said: the human body is in the same shape as the Nefesh.
The body is composed of Holy Sparks that are dispersed throughout it and within every one of its limbs. It is exactly the same with the Nefesh, only more ephemeral. |
Intermediate
She alone deserved to be called "mother" of all human beings because she alone endured pain due to procreation.
G-d named both the man and the woman jointly, ADAM, a name of great distinction. After Adam's wife had been seduced by the serpent and had suffered a spiritual decline, she no longer qualified for this name. Therefore, Adam now gave his wife a new name, Chavah, which reflected her function in life, namely that she became the "mother" of all human beings.
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Its radiance beamed from one end of the world to the other
Rabbi Aba says, "And G-d saw the light, that it was good" -- to store it away, for G-d foresaw the actions of the wicked. He saw its radiance beaming from one end of the world to the other, and He saw that it was better to store it so that sinners might not benefit from it.
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