Garden of Eden

Rav Kook gave an explanation of what the Garden of Eden represented. It was a holy place, where one was able to grow spiritually, as all of one’s physical needs, were provided.

The only condition necessary for one to be able to live in eternal bliss, was refraining from eating from the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge.

This perfect world was represented by these two trees. The Tree of Life was the symbol of rejecting sin and rejecting death. As long as there was no sin, man would live forever.

The Tree of Knowledge symbolized truth, justice, and righteousness. It represented a rejection of lies and falsehood. The two trees demonstrated that a perfect world would consist of a rejection of sin, falsehoods, and corruption. Instead, kindness, truth, and righteousness would reign.

The crafty snake could not tolerate such goodness, and devised a plan that would shatter this perfect world. The snake represented the Yeitzer Hara, the evil inclination. His whole essence was to sabotage all of the goodness and replace it with doubt and evil.

We are still working at removing the pollution that the snake placed in Eve. We are living in a time when we are actively trying to remove the evil in the world, that was brought by the serpent. We are striving towards a return to the perfect world that existed in the Garden of Eden.