Hi all!
Please allow me to throw in a(n orthodox) Jewish view! (I've culled what follows from the writings of Rabbi Ari Kahn.)
We may conclude from Genesis 2:16-17 that Adam (and Eve) were not forbidden to eat from the Tree of Life prior to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Our Sages identify the Tree of Life with the Torah (see Proverbs 3:1...3:18; the Hebrew phrase erroneously translated as "My teaching" in 3:1 is
Torati, literally "My Torah") & teach that the Tree of Life in the garden was the embodiment of the Torah & all the wisdom contained therein. If the Tree of Life is the Torah, then what is the Tree of Knowledge? Our Sages comment on the usage of the root
y-d-h (which, in its various forms, means "to know", "knowledge", etc.) and note that its first occurence immediately after the expuilsion is in Genesis 4:1 ("And Adam knew his wife...") & conclude that knowledge implies experience; thus, our Sages identify the Tree of Knowledge (
Etz Ha'daat in Hebrew, with
da'at being a cognate of that
y-d-h root) as the Tree of Experience.
Rabbi Kahn explains that God's plan was for Adam & Eve to eat of the Tree of Life (i.e. partake of the Torah) before delving into the world of experience (i.e. eat from the Tree of Knowledge). But, incited by the snake (whom our Sages identify with the
yetzer hara, the selfish/self-centered impulse
http://www.jewfaq.org/human.htm#Yetzer in all of us), we messed up the order & got it backwards. Rabbi Kahn writes: "The advantage of Torah wisdom preceding experience is that the Torah, once internalized, will serve as a basis from which subsequent experience will be interpreted. Torah becomes a vantage point from which experiences are viewed and understood. If, however, experiences are acquired first, they will serve as a basis for the interpretation given subsequently to Torah. This latter sequence can lead to distortion of the Torah and misinterpretation based on the subjective experience of the individual. Torah must precede experience. Torah must be the benchmark by which Jews lead their lives." So instead of receiving the Torah & its wisdom and infusing it into the very core of our collective being at the very beginning of our existence as a species, we are driven from it with a sword-wielding cherub barring, I wouldn't say the way back to it, rather I'd say, barring this particular way back to it.
Jump forward to Moses & the Burning Bush on Mt. Sinai in Exodus 3:1-4:19. Our Sages see this revelation on Mt. Sinai as a microcosm of the second & greater revelation on Mt. Sinai, i.e. of the 10 Commandments & the Torah itself, beginning a few chapters later. When Moses protests that we would not believe him, that God had revealed Himself to him, God tells Moses to cast his (wooden) staff on the ground. It becomes a snake & Moses flees from it. God then told Moses to pick it up & it becomes a staff again. Rabbi Kahn writes: "The staff, which is, after all, only a piece of wood, can become a snake. When Moses sees this snake he becomes justifiably frightened, not just because a snake is dangerous, but because it symbolizes sin. Our previous experience with a snake had disastrous consequences for the world. But now, things are different...Moses is shown that he can control the snake. The antidote is in his hands. Evil can be countered. When one connects with the Transcendent God, via Torah, evil can have no hold."
Jump forward once more. The Torah scroll that Moses wrote (like the 10 Commandments are a microcosm for/symbolize/represent the entire Torah) was placed in the Ark (interpretations of Deuteronomy 31:24-26 differ; some of our Sages say that the Torah scroll was placed on a shelf inside/outside the ark, or in the ark next to one side). What was on top of the ark, guarding the Torah? Once again, cherubs. Rabbi Kahn writes: "The first mention of cherubs in the Torah is in the verse describing the eviction of man from the Garden of Eden...As a result of man's sin, the cherubs enter the world, in order to protect the Tree of Life. We have noted the identification between the Tree of Life and the Torah. It is therefore interesting to note that with the Ark the cherubs protect the Ark which contains the Torah, and in Eden the cherubs protected the path leading to the Tree of Life/Torah. Interesting as this similarity is, it does not enlighten us regarding the essence of the cherubs. Before the sin of Adam and Eve, the cherubs were unnecessary; they appear only as a result of the sin. Perhaps we may draw the following conclusion - the cherubs represent none other than Adam and Eve themselves, young and innocent and naked in the Garden of Eden. Only as a result of their sin did they become aware of, and embarrassed by, their nakedness. The new, "sophisticated" perspective of Adam and Eve, born of partaking of the forbidden fruit, gave them a different, perhaps distorted view of the world. After the sin, they knew that they were naked; they needed to clothe themselves, to hide from God. It is fascinating that the Hebrew word for clothing is
beged, which shares the same root as the word "rebellion" (
b'gida). The clothing which man wears is a memorial to rebellion and the resultant distancing from God...At the top of the ark, in place of this jaded couple, pathetically attempting to hide from God, now stood an innocent looking couple, representing Adam and Eve before the sin in a state of total innocence before God. Specifically from this place would the word of God emerge and reverberate...The two cherubs were made of one piece of gold, just as Adam and Eve were initially joined together as one. The cherubs therefore symbolize the ultimate return to one's self."
Thus, by clinging to the Torah (which we must now obtain through effort & struggle) we can re-attain our lost innocence and spiritual purity. Armed with the Torah, we (like Moses at the burning bush) need not fear the snake/
yetzer hara.
Howzat?
Be well!
ssv
