Nehar Deah

Bereishit

What was the "Tree of Knowledge"?

The Torah tells us that after the first man was created, G-d placed him in the Garden of Eden, filled with an abundance of every tree and plant, and allowed him to eat from whatever he wished, only telling him "from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat… for on the day which you shall eat from it, you shall surely die" (Bereishit/Genesis 2:17). As is well known, Adam and Eve did not abide by this prohibition and after they ate from the fruit of the tree, to no small degree due to the influence of the serpent that incited Eve to do so, they were severely punished and eternally banished from the tranquility of the Garden of Eden. Man's toil for his sustenance and Woman's suffering in giving birth are, according to the Torah, as a result of eating from the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil".

What was the tree of knowledge? The Torah is silent and does not elaborate, since for it the main point is the prohibition and the sin of eating thereof, but its readers throughout the generations have wanted to identify the fruit who's consumption decided the fate of humanity and it's quality of life. Sources indicate at least seven answers to the question: grapes, wheat, figs, etrog (citron), apple, dates and nuts. We will discuss four of these.

1) Grapes: The claim that Eve "pressed grapes" and gave Adam wine to drink (Midrash Bereishit Rabbah 19), as surprising as it sounds, was the most widespread answer in our sources. Linguistically it is based on what is said in the Torah, "and she (Eve) took from its fruits" (Bereishit 3:6). Since it does not say "she took its fruits" but rather "from its fruits", one can claim that Eve created something from the fruit, the bunches of grapes, and this she gave to Adam. These wise men clearly wanted to say that the fruit of the vine, wine, is something extremely harmful to man and that one should keep away from strong drink and drink it only in minimal quantities. In many sources in the Torah and thereafter, we find many warnings against excessive wine consumption and drunkenness, and the claim that the original sin of Adam and his wife was with wine strengthens the influence of this beverage.

2) Wheat: This is one of the most surprising claims since wheat is not a tree, but rather a short plant, and wheat kernels, which one needs to grind before use in baking, cannot be easily described as "the fruit of the tree", but despite this we find this opinion in the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 19). It's basis is probably in studying the realities of life: Wheat symbolizes wisdom, "a baby does not know to call for it's father and mother until it experiences the taste of wheat" (Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 72) - in other words: only when a child reaches the age that it can eat solid foods, like bread, he begins to reveal the first sparks of his intelligence, since while he is still breastfeeding he is an infant who's knowledge has yet to be crystallized and given expression. If one has difficulty with the question of how wheat can be described as a tree, the sages of the Midrash tell that wheat once grew as high as a palm tree, but after the man sinned, it was punished by having it's height reduced. Our sages also promise that in the days to come (Talmud Bavli Ketubot 111b), wheat will return to its original height. It will become "as the palm tree" and its kernels will be like the "kidneys of the great bull".

3) Figs: It is known that after the sin Adam and Eve sewed themselves garments from "fig leaves" (Bereishit 3:7). The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah, ibid) learns from this that the tree with which the original couple sinned was also the tree from which their rehabilitation after the sin began, where their clothing and covering up are seen as the first step in creating a cultured society, different from the paradise like and idyllic society where there was no concept of shame, and man in many ways lived in it like any other animal.

4) Apple: We would likely not err if we said that this is the most commonly accepted answer, in modern times, to the question of the identity of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. We must admit that this tradition is not found in sources of the people of Israel but rather comes from Christianity. It is found, already, in writings attributed to Tertolianos, who lived in the 2nd and third centuries. This tradition reached Judaism through illustrations of the biblical story, when Jews began to illuminate various manuscripts and imitated what they saw in the Christian world, which has many artworks depicting Adam, Eve, the serpent and the apple as a composite group. The English language even calls the extrusion of the trachea (windpipe) in males by the name "Adam's Apple", as though to say that the apple became lodged in his throat when he ate it. The introduction of a tradition external to Judaism into the culture of the Jewish people is clear evidence of the unclear boundaries between the culture of the people of Israel and that of its neighbours.

The various answers to the question of the identity of the "tree of knowledge" from which Adam and Eve ate teach us of the great logic of the sources and of attempts, by sages throughout the generations, to reach a full understanding of the biblical narrative, to fill the "holes" in the text and to give each aspect thereof multiple and varied significances, Thereby imparting also an aspect of actuality and education.

What is true of the question of the identity of the tree of knowledge is true to a much greater degree with reference to all aspects of the Book of Books, the Bible, with it's multitude of stories, songs, laws, prophecies and words of wisdom contained therein. A giant inverted pyramid, with a narrow basis and an extremely wide apex, has been built within the biblical traditions of the people of Israel, from the earliest writings of its various aspects and up till the current day. Commentators and elucidators, writers and poets, philosophers and mystics, artists and sculptors - and many others - have read and reread the Bible in multiple ways, in multiple contexts, and for multiple purposes, thereby creating uncountable traditions connected to this Book, which forms a basis of Jewish tradition (and also an important cornerstone of Christianity and Islam).

Nahar Deah ("the river of knowledge"), the weekly Torah portion sheets of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, will try each week to present different aspects of the profusion of ideas that has grown up, around the Book of Books, in Jewish culture, and in the surrounding societies, which came into contact with it. To do this we will follow the parashat hashavua, the weekly Torah portion read in synagogue, and the haphtarah, a portion of the books of the prophets, which accompanies the Torah reading, and we will point out some of the many traditions connected to them. The focus of the discussion will always be a topic in the parashat hashavua, which will be elaborated upon from many varied viewpoints. In this way we will open new vistas to look out on this central work, which forms the basis of the culture of the Jewish people.

We hope that Nahar Deah, the flow of knowledge from our literature, will quench the thirst of those who seek knowledge and wisdom and will serve to water the roots of the "tree of knowledge", the fruits of which generations have, do and will taste.

Symbols

The serpent, who was "craftier than all the beasts of the field" (Bereishit 3:1), tempted Eve with his smooth words, and caused her to eat from the fruits of the tree of knowledge, and to give thereof to Adam. It is no surprise therefore that he is used throughout the generations as a symbol of base and dangerous powers and even as the embodiment of Satan - man's greatest enemy. The Serpent-Satan beguiles, captivates and causes to sin. "Serpent" is also used as a term for an extremely wicked person (for example "Pharaoh the serpent" - Midrash Shemot Rabbah 20) and the enmity between it and man lead the sages to declare, "even the good serpent - crush his brain" (Masechet Sofrim 9:10).

Therefore it is very interesting to note that along with the negative and threatening image of the serpent, we also find that it symbolizes healing and even redemption. It is already mentioned as a vessel of healing in the Torah story of the "brass serpent" (Bamidbar 21): after the people of Israel slander G-d and Moses, they are attacked by "venomous snakes", which kill many people. When Moses prays to G-d, he is told to make a "brass serpent" and whoever looks at will be healed of the effects of the snakebites. The children of Israel worshipped this "brass snake" up to the times of King Hezekiah, who destroyed it as part of his war against idol worship (Kings II 18:4).

In many ancient cultures the serpent was a symbol of fertility. Sakes were kept in ancient Egyptian temples and barren women came to gaze upon them as a talisman of healing. Women spent the night in the temple of the Greek god of healing, Asclepius, in the hope that he would be revealed to them in the form of a serpent and would cause them to become pregnant. The famous Greek military leader, Alexander the Great, believed, that he was the son of a flesh and blood woman and of the Greek god Zeus, who appeared to her as a serpent. The serpent was a symbol of the god of healing and even today it is the symbol of the medical profession, and we find it, for example, also in signs on pharmacies and in the badge of the army medical corps.

Since the snake symbolizes both total evil and healing, absolute negative and the ability to escape from it, it is easy to understand how Shabtai Zvi, the false messiah, made use of it. Shabtai Zvi declared that the messiah had to come from the depths of impurity, as only one who knew total evil from within, could battle and defeat it. Therefore he chose the serpent as his symbol. He signed his letters with the likeness of a serpent and even made himself a serpent of silver, purposely reminiscent of Moses' "brass snake", thereby placing himself on the same level as the father of all prophets. In 1666 Shabtai Zvi converted to Islam, showing this by wearing a Moslem scarf around his head. His followers explained that this scarf was symbolic of the evil and impure serpent, which anointed his followers thus, thereby advancing the redemption of the world. Shabtaists even emphasized that that the numerical value of nachash (serpent) is the same as mashiach (messiah)! Two faces of this beast of the fields - the cruel and frightening and the healing and assisting - are thereby combined into one.

Literature of the Sages - Midrash Rabbah Bereishit

A constant accompaniment to our reading of the 12 weekly torah portions of the book of Bereishit will be Midrash Bereishit Rabbah. This work is a compilation of folklore, written by the sages in the first centuries of the Common Era and it deals with the book of Bereishit.

These sages of the land of Israel are part of a larger group known as chazal, an abbreviation for chachameinu zichronam livracha (meaning "our sages of blessed memory"): rabbis, teachers, judges, leaders of the people, commentators and writers who were active mainly in Israel and Babylon in the first 600 years of the common era. Among the works of chazal are the Mishna, both Talmuds (the Babylonian and the Jerusalem) and many Midrashic works, of which Bereishit Rabbah is one.

In this work, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, an anonymous editor of circa mid fifth century Israel, collected literature from the world of chazal and organized it according to the order of the book of Bereishit, verse after verse. There is hardly a verse that Bereishit Rabbah does not deal with, only the odd verse (e.g. parts of genealogical lists) is not discussed in this work. Sometimes the editor brings elucidations of verses or words and sometimes he brings stories or parables, which are connected in some way to the book of Bereishit. Some of the verses are dealt with in depth; others are dealt with only fleetingly. It seems that the editor did not have clear guidelines, but only wished to collect together all the traditions he know of, traditions that up till then had been transmitted orally.

Why is this work called Bereishit Rabbah? In Hebrew letters the word can be written with either a "hey" or and "aleph" (two forms of the Aramaic word meaning "great"), but there is no significance to the 2 alternate spellings. This still does not explain to us what the "Great Bereishit" is. Different researchers have many suggestions, but the most widely accepted of these connects the name to the first sages mentioned in it. At the beginning of the book the sage Rabbi Hoshayah Rabbah (= Rabbi Hoshayah the Great) is mentioned. In the Middle Ages, before it was customary to give names to books, this work was referred to as the "Midrash of Rabbi Hoshayah Rabbah" or "Bereishit of Rabbi Hoshayah Rabbah". In time this name became shortened to "Bereishit Rabbah". Later copyists and printers adopted this nomenclature and used it for many other works of chazal (Shemot Rabbah, Eicha Rabbah).

We will bring one example of the multitude of material contained in this Midrash. While dealing with the story of the Garden of Eden, the Midrash also deals with the serpent. It declares that before causing Adam an Eve to sin, "it had legs" (Bereishit Rabbah, 19). According to this, the serpent was once a tall, splendid and regal creature. When its fate was decided and it is written that "upon thy belly shall thou go" (Bereishit 3:14), "the ministering angels descended and cut off its arms and legs" (Bereishit Rabbah, 20). This tradition gives the image of the enticing serpent an impressive dimension, that has repercussions on many viewpoints of the ancient world, which saw the serpent as representing forces of evil on one hand and as possessing supernatural powers on the other hand.