Part II
This is the second of a three-part essay that explains
many important and deep concepts that underlie the "minor"
holiday of Tu BiShevat.
The first part noted that the occurrence of Rosh Hashanah
of the Trees in Shevat prevented the destruction of Klal
Yisroel by Haman in that month. It also noted that the
Chidushei Harim says, "During Shevat, Heaven allots a Jew
the chidushei Torah that he will innovate during the
whole year," and generally "even today the wellsprings of
Torah open during that month for every Jew." These two
points are explained in the third part.
Also, a connection was noted between the mitzvos of the
arba minim on Succos and Tu BiShevat. Finally, it was
noted that there is a din on trees in Shevat. These
points are explained here.
HaRav Shapira then began an explanation of Odom
Horishon's sin in eating from the Eitz Hadaas: Odom
originally could not discern evil, but he ate from the tree
to be able to do so. Thereby he hoped to exercise his free
will more and create a greater kiddush Hashem. In
fact, he should have just obeyed Hashem's command not to eat
from that tree.
From our Sages' teaching (Shabbos 55b,
Bereishis Rabbah 17) it can be inferred that if Odom
Horishon had not sinned and defiled his soul with forbidden
food, he would have lived forever. It is a matter of general
knowledge that the powers of the neshomoh are
parallel to the four elements of the body (as cited in the
introduction to Shemiras Haloshon of the Chofetz
Chaim, in the name of HaRav Chaim Vital zt'l from
Sha'arei Kedushah).
If Odom Horishon had been careful only to eat from the trees
of the Garden of Eden and not from the forbidden Eitz
Hadaas, these powers of the neshomoh would have
vitalized his body and his body's composition would have
remained inviolable forever. Death is natural only because
everything composed of various elements eventually
separates.
As long as Odom Horishon did not sin he also was not
dependent upon food. The fusion of his natural foundations
was dependent upon the power of his soul because his body
was vitalized by his nefesh. Since the nefesh
was eternal the body's composition would not break apart
either. His body would become increasingly purified until it
reached the level of a nefesh, as will be in the
World to Come after techiyas hameisim.
Odom Horishon, because he wanted to increase his power of
free choice and serve Hashem by overcoming his physical
inclinations, ate from the Eitz Hadaas and became
aware of good and evil. By doing so he severed his natural
makeup from the nourishment provided by the nefesh.
(See also the Ramban, Bereishis 2:17).
Every food that Odom Horishon ate before sinning was chiefly
spiritual -- supernatural nourishment from Hashem. In the
Sinai desert the manna that bnei Yisroel ate did not
sustain their bodies in the way that material food did, and
therefore the Jews called it a lechem kelokeil
(miserable food). "And He afflicted you and caused you to
suffer hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not
know, neither did your fathers know, that He might make you
know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word
that emerges out of the mouth of Hashem does man live"
(Devorim 8:3).
By eating the manna, the "bread of the mighty" sent them by
the angelic Minister of the Torah (see the Shev
Shemaatsa in its introduction), food that the
mal'ochim were nourished with, bnei Yisroel
discerned that for a body to be really considered alive,
what is needed is spiritual and not natural nourishment. By
eating this food which, through Hashem's command, descended
to them from Heaven, bnei Yisroel felt healthier than
they would when eating natural food.
Odom Horishon, however, erred and followed his reasoning
that he should cling to nature, for the explicit aim of
increasing his free choice so that Heaven's honor would also
increase. Odom afterwards ate from the fruit of the Eitz
Hadaas, which was a natural food, as we see from the
posuk, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food and that it was a delight to the eyes . . . " The
Torah's rule of "a measure for a measure" then decreed that
Odom Horishon would have to die, since he had invalidated
his sustenance by "the breath of life that Hashem breathed
into his nostrils" (Bereishis 2:7).
From our Sages' teaching we distill the follow principles:
1] The basis for Odom's sin was his not accepting Hashem's
will without making calculations or entertaining personal
designs. Although he wanted to increase his amount of free
will by descending to a lower level, and thereby increase
Heaven's honor by withstanding temptation when good was
deeply concealed, he did not act correctly. 2] Until then
the yetzer could entice man only from outside his
body, but after the sin man's inner material inclinations
were tilted towards evil.
The Sin of the Earth
"Hashem said, `Let the earth put forth grass, herb-yielding
seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind"
(Bereishis 1:11). Chazal (cited in Rashi) write, "The
taste of the tree [was to have been] like the taste of the
fruit, but [the earth] did not do so -- `it put forth . . .
fruit-trees bearing fruit' and not a tree [that was itself]
fruit. When Odom was punished for his sin [the earth] too
was punished."
If Odom and the earth were punished simultaneously, there
would seem to be a connection between the two sins. What
exactly is that connection?
The Kli Yokor writes that Odom's sin resulted from
the earth's sin. Because of that sin, Odom was inclined to
material life, and therefore he sinned. We must illuminate
the essence of the earth's sin and solve the mystery of the
connection between the two.
Although in their nature Odom's sin and the earth's sin are
essentially different, as I will explain, their root is
identical, thus making Odom's sin an outcome of the earth's
sin. After reflecting on the matter we reach a simple
hypothesis: if the earth had produced "trees of fruit" whose
roots and branches would have had the same gratifying taste
as their fruit, in addition to which once a year this tree
would also produce fruit, the production of fruit would not
be such an innovation: there would not be so much of a
kvod Shomayim in such an event. The possibility of
being able to eat the tree's yearly fruit would merely be an
example of yeish miyeish (a creation from something
already existing). Nature's being subjugated to the
Creator's will would not be so apparent.
If, on the other hand, the tree's roots, branches, and
leaves were inedible but, nevertheless, the tree would
annually yield tasty fruit, that would be an example of an
ex nihilo creation. The kvod Shomayim in such
a case would then be immeasurably greater.
The earth wanted to increase Hashem's honor, and therefore
it did not accept Hashem's command as given. The earth was
"overwise" and decided to commit a sin lishmoh so as
to attain the objective of increasing kvod Shomayim.
That was the earth's sin. Instead it should have accepted
without any questions exactly what Hashem commanded it, with
no philosophizing. As I explained earlier, this was Odom
Horishon's sin too.
I was shown that this principle was written (in a different
fashion) by the Chizkuni in his peirush on the
posuk, "and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their
kind." "But [the earth] did not do so, and also the grasses
produced more kinds than they were commanded to." We can
learn from here that the earth's intention was virtuous,
since many trees would be eliminated if the tree itself
tasted like a fruit. Nonetheless, when Odom sinned, the
earth was punished for its sin too, since "Why should you
probe into these Divine mysteries?" (Brochos 10b) and
"Is Hashem's hand ever too short?" (Bamidbar
11:23).
Although the Chizkuni explained the matter differently we
learn from him two principles: 1] The earth had a proper
intention. 2] The root of its sin was its being overwise and
trying to improve upon Hashem's will.
We should emphasize that although the root of these sins was
the same, the ways that Odom and the earth carried out their
intents were quite distinct. The earth wanted, because of
its judgment about how to increase kvod Shomayim, to
bring about an ex nihilo condition. Man, on the other
hand, assessed that he could increase kvod Shomayim
by having a more hidden presentation of Hashem's rule over
the world.
At any rate, both sins were the result of wanting to perform
a sin lishmoh and were equivalent in that way. Now we
can fathom why the Creator punished the two together and how
the earth's sin caused Odom's sin. After Odom saw how it was
possible to rebel against Hashem's will by doing a sin
lishmoh and escaping punishment, he tried to do the
same. (See how the Kli Yokor goes on to explain
earth's sin).
Odom's sin was rooted in the fact that "man is a tree of the
field." Odom's entire sin of eating from the Eitz
Hadaas was caused by his trying to be like a "tree" that
deviated from precisely fulfilling Hashem's command and did
a sin lishmoh in an attempt to increase kvod
Shomayim.
Tu BiShevat was designated as a day fitting to correct Odom
Horishon's sin since the essence of Tu BiShevat is that "man
is a tree of the field." Because of this significance Tu
BiShevat is considered a yom tov to a certain extent,
although the other roshei shonim are not. This day is
the proper time to atone the sin of the Eitz Hadaas
since Odom wanted to be similar to the trees and do a sin
lishmoh.
The Eitz Hadaas Was an Esrog
According to the above principles the connection between the
esrog of Sukkos and Tu BiShevat is even stronger. Our
Sages in the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 15:7) disagree
over which kind of tree Odom Horishon ate from. R' Abba
maintains, "The tree from which Odom Horishon ate from was
an esrog. The Torah writes `And when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food. . .' (Bereishis
3:6). The only tree whose wood is eaten like its fruit is an
esrog."
What is the concealed meaning in the na'anu'im of the
arbaas minim on Sukkos? Rabbenu Bechaye (Parshas
Emor 23:40) explains that we, "push away [the arbaas
minim] and pull [them] towards us for Him to Whom the
directions [of the world] belong. We raise and lower them
for Him to Whom the heaven and the earth belong. By doing so
we arouse ourselves to think about Hashem's oneness. Because
our first father sinned with an esrog alone, we
therefore do not bring an esrog alone; instead we
bring it together with other fruits and unite it with them
and them with it. By doing so we rectify what Odom corrupted
and appease Hashem."
The Moreh Nevuchim (3:46) teaches us: "The public
always finds atonement through se'irim (goats)
because the sin of the entire Adas Yisroel was with a
so'ir. This alludes to the sale of Yosef Hatzaddik,
about which the Torah writes `And they slaughtered a goat
and dipped the coat in the blood' (Bereishis 37:31).
This reason should not appear feeble to you, since the
intent of all these acts is to impress upon the sinner and
each defiant person that atonement is needed for the sin he
commits. He and all his offspring need to atone by doing
something similar to his rebellious act, i.e., if he
rebelled [against Hashem] by the use of money he should
disperse money for His service. If he defied Hashem by
indulging in physical pleasures he should exert his body by
self-denial . . . and if the rebellion was in his
midos he should strengthen himself in the opposite of
that middah.
"We see the same with Aharon. He sinned through the
eigel and therefore his korbon and that of his
offspring was a par and an eigel. When
dissension against Hashem was with a so'ir the
atonement must be by avodoh with a se'ir izim.
When a person thinks about all this it will undoubtedly be
difficult for him to rebel . . . . This benefit is obvious,
and you should remember this intent [of the Torah's]."
According to the Rambam's teaching that the tikkun
for a sin is through the same means as the original
rebellion against Hashem, it is understood why the mitzvah
of esrog atones for the sin of Odom Horishon, since
that sin was done with the Eitz Hadaas which,
according to R' Abba, was an esrog.
There is an even deeper significance. The Rosh, in his
commentary on the Torah (Bereishis 1), writes;
"HaKodosh Boruch Hu commanded [Odom not to eat from
the Eitz Hadaas] so that Odom would see the tree and
remember his Creator; so that the yoke of his Creator would
lie upon him and he would not be arrogant." But why was this
particular tree chosen for Odom to remember his Creator
through it?
According to what we have explained, that the sin of Odom
Horishon resulted from the earth's sin, that question is
resolved. The mitzvah of Odom Horishon in Gan Eden was "to
work it and guard it" (Bereishis 2:15). This meant
that he was to be mindful not to sin as the earth did, by
not accepting Hashem's command as given and doing
differently from Hashem's will. The esrog tree, whose
wood tastes like its fruit [Hashem's original intent], makes
manifest the warning to fulfill the Creator's will as
expressed and without being overwise. From the esrog
one can "remember his Creator, so that the yoke of his
Creator will lie upon him."
Now we understand more thoroughly Rabbenu Bechaye's
teachings: that the mitzvah of esrog comes on Sukkos
because Odom Horishon sinned with an esrog, and how
the mitzvah of an esrog is a tikkun for
sinning with an esrog [Eitz Hadaas]. The
tikkun for this sin was accepting Hashem's command
simply, without trying to improve on it. This is the entire
secret of the esrog, whose wood tastes like its
fruit, because the esrog accepted Hashem's command in
a simple way, as given.
In addition, now we can grasp the connection between the
esrog coming to atone for Odom Horishon's sin and Tu
BiShevat, which is the time when a further tikkun for
Odom Horishon's sin is done. This is the reason why on Tu
BiShevat, the Rosh Hashanah for Trees, we eat jam
made from an esrog on which a brocho was made
during Sukkos. This is also the basis of the segulah
whereby a pregnant woman or a woman having difficulty giving
birth eats an esrog on Tu BiShevat. Woman, who sinned
through the Eitz Hadaas and was cursed that "with
pain you will bring forth children" (Bereishis 3:16),
achieves a tikkun through the esrog.
Tu BiShevat was also selected as the proper time to pray for
an esrog and the other minim, to fulfill the
mitzvah of arbaas minim that atone for the sin of the
Eitz Hadaas.
End of Part II
HaRav Aryeh Leib HaCohen Shapira is the author of Chazon
LaMoed and mashgiach of Chevron Yeshiva, Geulah,
Yerushalayim.
