Tag Archives: Adam and Eve

Where Was the Garden of Eden?

This week’s parasha, Chayei Sarah, begins with the passing of Sarah and Abraham’s securing of a burial plot for her. He specifically chooses Me’erat HaMakhpelah, a cave in Hebron, and pays a handsome price for it. Why was this place special and how did Abraham know that this was the right place to lay Sarah? The Zohar (I, 127a) comments that Abraham saw a vision of the Garden of Eden at that spot and, when he entered the cave, found Adam and Eve buried there. The Zohar suggests that this area was once the Garden of Eden!

It would definitely make sense for the Garden of Eden to be in the Holy Land. When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden, the Torah says they lived east of it (Genesis 3:24). Cain, too, when banished, fled east—and there built the first city (Genesis 4:16-17). Since this city was in Mesopotamia, which is directly east of Israel, the implication is that Eden was in the Holy Land. Israel is called tabur ha’aretz, the “navel of the Earth” (Ezekiel 38:12), and is described in more mystical texts as the very centre of the entire universe, the point of origin of Creation.

Having said that, the Torah also says that Eden was locked up after Adam and Eve’s error, and God placed angels to guard its entrance (Genesis 3:24). What happened between that time and the time that Abraham found it? The only explanation that comes to mind is that Eden was destroyed during the Great Flood. Yet, the Midrash (Beresheet Rabbah 33:6) presents one opinion that the Land of Israel was not affect by the Great Flood! The proof is from Ezekiel 22:24, which says that Israel “was not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of fury.”

This solves another problem: where did the dove that Noah sent get an olive branch? The Midrash says it got the branch from Israel, which miraculously did not experience the Flood. Some hold that Israel did experience the Flood, just that it did not rain directly upon the Holy Land; water flowed in from surrounding lands. Finally, the Midrash presents an opinion that the dove got the olive branch directly from the Garden of Eden! This suggests Eden was not destroyed by the Flood.

And then there are altogether different opinions regarding the location of Eden. Continue reading →

Identifying the Angel of Death

This week we begin reading the Torah anew with parashat Beresheet. Originally, God created a perfect world that was entirely good. He warned Adam not to consume of the Tree of Knowledge, for that would introduce evil—and death—into the world. The First Couple consumed the fruit anyway, thus putting a time limit on their lives, and the lives of all future human beings. A simple reading suggests that death only entered Creation at the time that Adam and Eve consumed the Forbidden Fruit. According to tradition, that took place on the Sixth Day, the self-same day that they were created. It was on the Sixth Day that God completed His work, and said that “behold, it was very good [tov me’od].” (Genesis 1:31) The Midrash (Beresheet Rabbah 9:5) states that Rabbi Meir would read these words not tov me’od, but rather tov mot, “death is good”! God, of course, foresaw all of human history from the very beginning, and intended for death to exist. Therefore, the existence of death, too, is a good thing.

On a deeper level, God had always intended for Adam and Eve to consume the Fruit. Continue reading →

Who is Mashiach?

Today is Tisha b’Av, a fast day commemorating a number of historical tragedies for the Jewish people, most notably the destruction of both Holy Temples in Jerusalem. It is famously said that on the very day that the Temple was destroyed, Mashiach was born. This statement is not to be taken literally since the Temple was last destroyed nearly two millennia ago and Mashiach has still not come. Some believe it means that Mashiach—whoever he is—will be born on the ninth of Av. That, too, is problematic since, for example, the false messiah Shabbatai Tzvi was born on the ninth of Av and this was one point that people used to “prove” he was Mashiach. Another, more likely, possibility is that Mashiach will first be revealed on Tisha b’Av. The most straight-forward explanation is simply that on the very day the Temple was destroyed, God brought into existence the soul that would one day rebuild the Temple. The destruction of the Temple was not at all permanent, and when it was destroyed, the seeds of its eventual reconstruction were planted.

So, who is Mashiach? What else do we know about him from our authentic ancient sources? These are immensely important questions because many of the false messianic movements in history (from Jesus to Bar Kochva to Shabbatai Tzvi and to the modern day) emerged out of ignorance of who Mashiach is supposed to be. Had more people been aware of the qualifications required to be Mashiach, perhaps fewer would have been duped into such movements. A look through our ancient sources reveals a great deal of information regarding the identity of Mashiach, his purpose, and what we should expect from his life’s work. Continue reading →