At the funeral of the holy Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, the holy Ari spoke:
It is written, “If a man will have a sin that justifies death, hang him on a tree.” (Deut. 21:22)
Meaning: When a pure soul passes on to the next world, and he will lack (because “sin” in Hebrew also means to lack) any fault to justify his death—hang the blame on the Tree of Knowledge.
Not the bite of the snake. Not its venom. Not the sense of ego and self-concern that was born from that sin. In this lofty soul, there was none of that.
No, simply the tree.
Meaning: The possibility for failure.
Because the Creator placed a human being in a lovely garden filled with delightful trees of delicious fruits and told him they were all for his consumption. Except for one.
And the only explanation for having created such an immense temptation is that this is the on!y means by which the human could attain something much, much greater.
As with Rabbi Cordovero: Simply by having entered a world in which failure was a possibility, he was now able to rise to heights previously inconceivable.
In truth, the words of the Ari apply to every one of us.
Because beneath all the layers and strata of faults and failures, at the very core of every one of us lies a pure soul that desires only to do good.
And all the journeys of that soul, all its successes and and, yes, all its failures as well, all lead in one direction: Upward, the direction plotted by the Creator of this universe when He placed that tree in the garden.
For in a world without failures, in a world of immortality, we would never be able to reach such unimaginable heights as await us through our very human life in this world.
When prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his speech here in the USA he had aid against the protestors. I have so many people attacking me without a shield of any kind. You had wounded IDF soldiers that show visible proof of your struggle. Sometimes proof is very valuable. However, I'm am very thankful for all of your efforts.