Lehavin Inyan Techiyas Hameisim - Part IV

To explain (the three levels, Gan Eden and the two levels that will be revealed in the Era of Resurrection) mentioned previously: Our Sages teach:1

The prophets all prophesied about the Era of Mashiach alone, but with regard to the World to Come, it is said, “No2 eye has glimpsed it, but You alone.”

Our Sages continue:

What is [referred to by the verse]: ‘No eye has glimpsed it’? This is Eden upon which the eye of no created being has gazed. Should you ask: “Was not Adam, the first man, in Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden?”... [It can be explained that] the Garden is one entity [and there Adam was situated,] but Eden is yet another.”

[This passage indicates that in] the World to Come, (the Resurrection of the Dead,) there will be a new dimension that surpasses [the revelation of] the Era of Mashiach. This will be the revelation of Eden, [a level so elevated, that until this revelation] “No eye has glimpsed it.”

Although the World to Come will also include the revelation that is drawn down through the observance of the mitzvos, this is not the fundamental aspect of the World to Come. For this reve­lation will (in a general sense) also be appreciated in the Era of Mashiach. The fundamental element of the World to Come is the revelation of Eden — G-d’s essential delight in the Jewish people, a delight that is even greater than the pleasure He derives from [their observance of] the Torah and its mitzvos.3

In many sources,4 the difference between the Torah and its mitzvos is explained [as follows]. Within the Torah, which is G-d’s Wisdom, is vested a radiation of G-d’s delight. Within its mitzvos, which are G-d’s will, is vested the essence of delight (the degree of Eden).

Thus with regard to Gan Eden, it is written,5 “And a river went forth from Eden to irrigate the garden.” This means that the delight that radiates to the souls in Gan Eden (as expressed in the comprehension of the Torah) is an effusion of Eden, [G-d’s Essential delight,] that has been severely contracted. [To speak in figurative terms,] it is drawn down through the river that separates the Garden from Eden.

The World to Come, however, where the reward for the ob­servance of the mitzvos is revealed, will include the revelation of Eden itself. [I.e., this passage appears to imply that the essential delight of Eden is the degree of delight attained through the observance of the mitzvos, and not the essential delight that G-d takes in the Jewish people as explained above.]

It is possible to offer [the following resolution]: In a general sense, [we can classify Eden as the essential delight in the mitzvos]. More specifically, however, the level of Eden that will be manifest in the World to Come is the revelation of G-d’s essential delight in the Jewish people, a delight that surpasses His essential delight in the mitzvos.

This is evident from the fact that in the Era of Mashiach, there will also be the revelation of [the delight in] the mitzvos (in a general sense), and nevertheless [a distinction is made between the Era of Mashiach and the World to Come]. And it is emphasized that the revelation which “No eye has glimpsed,” (the level of Eden,) will not be manifest in the Era of Mashiach. [Thus the fundamental aspect of Eden must be some­thing other than His delight in mitzvos, and is defined as His essential delight in the Jewish people.]