HOME | CONTACT US | DONATE LoginLOGIN Ask the RabbiASK THE RABBI
Chabad.org - Torah, Judaism and Jewish Info Spirituality
 
Chabad.org » Spirituality » Meditations » Bringing Heaven Down to Earth » Breaking Free » Beyond I


Share thisPost a CommentPrintSend this page to a friendSubscribe
4 Comments Posted



Book Title Bringing Heaven Down to Earth
« Previous Next »

164. Beyond I

The primordial blunder was the discovery of self.

The first man and woman in the Garden of Eden ate of the Tree of Knowledge and realized that they exist. Ever since then, that self-consciousness has been the root of every disaster.

Every "I" and "me", every sense of being is a denial of the Oneness of the Creator and the creation. It is a statement that there is something else, namely me, and I am autonomous from all this.

The goal of mankind is to reach beyond the state of Adam and Eve in the Garden --to a state where any sense of ego is meaningless. A place called Eden, which is beyond the Garden, the place of Essential Being from where all delights flow... "And a river went out from Eden to water the Garden."

And now you know why they ate of the fruit to begin with.


« Previous
Next »


Share thisPost a CommentPrintSend this page to a friendSubscribe
4 Comments Posted

From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here. Rabbi Freeman is available for public speaking and workshops. Read more on his bio page.

The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.
 

4 Comments Posted  |  Post A Comment
Reader Comments
Latest Comments:
Posted: Dec 1, 2007
They ate because they did not know any better.
(Adam, and Eve), (the garden, and the fruit,) (the snake, and the tree,) and Eden is a sexual metaphor. The first eating of the forbidden fruit is Eve's commiting of adultery with a tree that was not Adam's. It was Eden's tree.

God had commanded her not to do so. She did not know any better so she ate, as it was the tree of knowledge.

Eve suffered from the curse, "Knowledge of both good and evil."
Perhaps, read Ecclesiates, and the description of the pain of knowledge.

Eve was punished so that she would learn sin is the cause of death. This is that she could choose to repair the world for what she had done wrong. She died because she did not succeed in repairing the world. This is that she chose to do wrong even after she knew, as Eve died.
Posted By Craig Hamilton, Sandwich, MA

Posted: Nov 25, 2007
and now you know why...
And now you know why they ate of the fruit to begin with.
Actually, I still don't know why-can you fill me in??
Posted By Andrea Lee, Wynnewood, PA

Posted: Nov 10, 2007
What of us?
Dear Rabbi,
It would be nice if I could talk of us. I take an Orthodox Jewish standpoint so far as I am capable of. Yet, merely to show respect for you as a Jew, I separate myself from you, as I have not been through a Orthodox conversion ceremony. This is not a hint that I consider one of us is more wicked or more righteous than the other.
I agree that the denial of the collective singular through the assertion of separateness associated with the individualism associated with "I" might be misunderstood as a denial that godliness that exists within you. However, as I would expect that you are aware, separateness within the collective singular came into being on the second day of creation. This separateness from which freewill, autonomy, is derived enables me to speak of myself as an "I," and thereby affords the chance of me not inflicting upon you an error of my speech. Thus, I am affording you freewill, which is the chance to not only be superior to me, but also to blunder.
Posted By Craig Hamilton, Sandwich , MA



 


Breaking Free
Confidence & Humility
Authentic Humility
The Needle
Not Feeling Joy
The Highest
The Gateway
Ego
Beyond I
Leaving Egypt
Four Realms
Escape
Fur Coats & Furnaces
Noah and Abraham
...and Moses
The Ultimate Sacrifice
Showing 5 - 19 of 32

Search Bringing Heaven Down to Earth