Shabbat [Sabbath], October 19, 1957, Manchester<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd God said, \u2018Let the earth put forth grass\u2026 a fruit-tree.\u2019\u201d RASHI interpreted that the taste of the tree will be as the taste of the fruit. Yet, she did not do so, but rather, \u201cAnd the earth put forth\u2026 and a fruit-bearing tree,\u201d and not the \u201cfruit-tree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this reason, when Adam was cursed for his iniquity, she, too, was included for her iniquity and was cursed, as it is written, \u201cThe ground is cursed because of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The interpreters asked how it can be said that the earth did not obey the Creator. Does the earth have free choice? They also asked why the earth was not punished right away but rather together with Adam HaRishon<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should understand this in the work. The earth implies man, as it is written in The Zohar<\/em>, \u201cThe heart of the earth is people\u201d (Beresheet<\/em> 4, 61). The purpose of man\u2019s creation was for man to engage in Torah and Mitzvot<\/em> [commandments] Lishma<\/em> [for Her sake], as it is written, \u201cAnyone who is called by My name, I have created for My glory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Zohar<\/em> interprets \u201cMy name\u201d as \u201cman,\u201d as it says, \u201cAnyone who is called by My name is man, for the Creator created him with His name, as it is written, \u2018And God created the man in His image.\u2019 He called him by His name when He brings out truth and judgment in the world, and He is called Elokim<\/em> [God], as it is written, \u2018You shall not curse God\u2019\u201d (VaYikra<\/em> 104).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lishma<\/em> should be in two manners\u2014in action and in intention. This is called \u201cHis mouth and his heart are equal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, a person does something Lishma<\/em>, and it is called Lishma<\/em> because in the action, there is nothing to add, since even the greatest of the greatest cannot add to the action. That is, it cannot be said that one should put Tefillin<\/em> also on the right hand, and so forth, as it is written, \u201cDo not add and do not subtract.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main dispute among people is only on the intention, since one should try to make the intention the same as the action, and then it is called Lishma<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Etz<\/em> [tree] is man\u2019s Atzmut<\/em> [self\/core], meaning the intention, and the \u201cfruit\u201d is the action. The Creator wanted the earth to elicit fruit trees, meaning that the flavors of the tree and the fruit will be the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the earth implied (and Eretz<\/em> [earth] implies mainly man) that the man who will be created will not have equal intentions and actions. It is still tolerable that the earth did not want to obey the Creator, but she elicited like the man who will be later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is understandable why she was not punished right away, since the man did not sin so there was nothing for which to punish her, since the punishment that the earth received also implies man, meaning man\u2019s punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, specifically after Adam HaRishon<\/em> was punished, it is pertinent to punish the earth, meaning that man\u2019s punishment will be apparent on the earth. This is why it was said, \u201cThe ground is cursed because of you,\u201d and RASHI interpreted, emitting cursed things for you like flies, fleas, and ants, like those who go astray and people curse the breasts that nursed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, we should know that the curse is also a correction, as it is written, \u201cThe harms will not come from Him,\u201d but it is a correction, for were it not for the curse, the man would find flavor in the fruit even though the aim is not Lishma<\/em>. And had the man found sweetness even in the Lo<\/em> Lishma<\/em>, there would have been no need for man to exert in Lishma<\/em>, since the Lo<\/em> Lishma<\/em> [not for Her sake] would completely satisfy him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversely, after the curse, when man finds no sweetness that satisfies him in the actions, and feels as in the above-mentioned allegory, that demons are nursing off of his actions, and as it is written, \u201cThorn and thistle you will grow for yourself,\u201d where one finds no flavor in the Lo<\/em> Lishma<\/em>, but rather \u201cThorn and thistle,\u201d \u201cAnd you will eat the grass of the field,\u201d feeling the taste of grass, then there is room for man to see and exert that the actions will be Lishma<\/em>, meaning that his fruit and tree will be equal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the meaning of what our sages said, \u201cRabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said that when the Creator said to the man \u2018Thorn and thistle you will grow for yourself,\u2019 His eyes teared. He said to Him, \u2018Master of the world, will I and the donkey eat from the same manger?\u2019\u201d (Pesachim<\/em> 118).<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is, man will feel the same taste in Torah and Mitzvot<\/em> as a donkey, who enjoys only corporeality. \u201cEating\u201d means foods from which man enjoys in which he finds flavor. As the donkey enjoys and finds flavor only in corporeal things, so man will find no flavor in Torah and Mitzvot<\/em>, but only in corporeality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was not at ease until the Creator said to him, \u201cBy the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread,\u201d meaning that through man\u2019s labor, he will be rewarded with Lishma<\/em>, and then he will feel the taste of bread and not of thistle and thorn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the sin, Adam HaRishon<\/em> found the same flavor in his tree and his fruit, as our sages said that the taste and the fruit of the tree of knowledge were the same. In other words, even while eating the tree of knowledge, the action and intention were Lishma<\/em>, since the sin was not in the first eating, but rather afterward, as our sages said about the verse, \u201cI ate, and I will eat more\u201d (see \u201cIntroduction to Panim Meirot uMasbirot\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only after the sin was the act not as the aim. But through the labor in Torah and Mitzvot<\/em>, man will be rewarded with Lishma<\/em> and will be rewarded with \u201cbread.\u201d It follows that it was not a curse, but a correction, for by this, man will achieve the desired wholeness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shabbat [Sabbath], October 19, 1957, Manchester \u201cAnd God said, \u2018Let the earth put forth grass\u2026 a fruit-tree.\u2019\u201d RASHI interpreted that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":6246,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"topic":[26],"class_list":["post-12276","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-rabash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n