Musar su Levitico 26:4

Adam ruined this state of affairs by interfering with the סוד היין, the mystical properties of the grapes. [I suppose that this is based on the tree of knowledge having been a grape bearing tree. Ed.] He followed an evil path by squeezing a cluster of grapes (and consuming its juice). Had he not done so, that "wine" would have remained in the state of what our sages call the יין המשומר בענביו, "the wine that remained preserved within its grapes (compare Berachot 34).” In that event he would have been like "the cistern that does not lose a single drop” [hyperbole for total recall, see Avot 2,11. Ed.]. He would have retained all the holiness that had been his when he was created. When Adam sinned, he did not only lose some of his former glory, fall from a "high roof" (to the ground), but he fell into a "very deep pit" (below the ground). This was a בור רק, an empty pit [allusion to the pit Joseph had been thrown in. Genesis 37,24], since it did not even contain the ingredients for the survival of the species. The species was wiped out at the time of the deluge as a direct consequence of Adam having polluted that "drop of sacred semen," and made it "evil smelling." Due to G–d's personal intervention, Noach was saved seeing he was righteous, and the righteous are the foundation of the universe. The present universe was founded by him as a result.

We shall follow the approach of Pardes Rimonim in his introduction to שער האותיות. Many people mistakenly believe that the letters of the Hebrew tongue are only symbols used to express certain formations by our mouths when we make certain sounds. Such a premise is called הסכמיים, an accommodation, by the sages who formulated the אלף-בית, to an already existing speech pattern. These letters must instead be considered as עצמיים, original in their own right. Whatever language we speak is originally borrowed from the Hebrew. All languages evolved from Hebrew. When Adam first named all the animals in Genesis 2,19, he expressed the essence of each animal through the name he accorded that animal. As a result, a name of an object represents its true spiritual dimension. When the Hebrew word for rain is גשם, for instance, this is an expression denoting the spiritual influence exerted from the higher regions, denoting that the purpose of the spiritual input has been achieved. This process applies to the various worlds, such as the world of בריאה, יצירה, and עשיה, respectively, until in our physical world the drops of moisture that fall from the sky are also called גשם. This is actually a name "borrowed" from a word which had a broader meaning to begin with. The same applies to the word ידות used by the Mishnah to describe handles. Keeping this in mind, we understand that when the Torah (Leviticus 26,4) lists a number of blessings in store for us as a result of observing G–d's various statutes, etc., the first such blessing mentioned is that of גשם, rain. In view of the fact that rain is only one of the instruments enabling a crop to materialize, we would have expected the Torah to first mention bountiful crops as a consequence of Torah observance. The fact that the Torah chooses to mention rain first is an indication that there is much more to גשם than we thought.

Let us return to the statement that by their actions the righteous can transform the attribute of Justice into the attribute of Mercy and that the reverse is true of the actions of the wicked. This is the deeper meaning of 26,5: וישבתם לבטח בארצכם, "you will dwell safely in your land." Such a state is achieved through the refinement of matter, i.e. converting ארץ earth because of the בטח, the way one relates, i.e. relies on G–d. When your life on earth is one in which your enjoyment is motivated by the desire to serve G–d better, then the land itself assumes a spiritual dimension. This is why the prophet Isaiah 11,9 may have chosen to describe such a future period as כי מלאה הארץ דעה את ה', that the earth will be full of knowledge of the Lord." This is the reason why we have numerous allusions to this thought in פרשת בהר, where the sanctity of the land is discussed. The subject is always the sanctity of matter, not just the sanctity of the spirit. In פרשת בחוקותי the emphasis is merely shifted to the future when we have statements such as ועץ השדה יתן פריו, "and the tree of the field will yield its fruit" (26,4). This promise does not speak about the fruit-bearing trees yielding their harvest; rather it promises that as a result of sanctifying the land through our conduct the "tree of the field," (not the orchard) will also produce fruit fit to be consumed by man. The mystical dimension of all this is that matter will be perceived as possessing an intelligence of its own.