Ever wonder what עדן, Eden in English, really means? Most translators render it as a form of a word meaning pleasure. God placed his first-created people in a Garden of Pleasure.
The other day I saw a different interpretation on the word. Based on verses in Iyov (Job) and Samuel, Rabbi Mendel of Shklov, one of the foremost students of the Gaon of Vilna, maintains that the word Eden means connected.
To my understanding, then, the concept of the Garden of Eden, was that it was a Garden of Connection. It was a place where Adam could be connected to God and all of creation. The exile from the Garden meant that that Adam, and all of mankind, were cut off from that level of connection to God, and to the world at large. Achieving that connection again is our goal in all of our activities as we work to establish a meaningful relationship with God again.
1 comment:
I like this post and want to take it one further step. Connection leads to union which does imply pleasure. Union whether it be sexual, intellectual, or emotional denotes a deep pleasure. Thinking about how one person feels when in a conversation and the other person unites or completely syncs with the idea being spoken about, there is deep pleasure. Taking it one step further, that is why Torah study is so pleasurable for the neshama. It is a connection or union with Hashem.
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