아가 6:1의 Chasidut

The Zohar explains the verse, El ginnas egoz yaradti, “I went down to the walnut garden” (Song of Songs 6:1) in light of the lesson of the four kelippos. A walnut has four shells. When it first grows and is still on a tree, it is covered with a velvety thick green peel that surrounds its hard shell. This peel is totally inedible. Behind the peel is the “wooden” shell that is also indigestible and requires a nutcracker to crack it open. Once the walnut is opened one finds that it has slight brittle walls that seem to shape the walnut into a nut consisting of four parts. These walls are inedible. Finally, surrounding the fruit there is a thin filament. If the filament is on the nut it will be eaten together with the fruit and the sweetness of the nut will overwhelm its bitterness. However, if it is separated from the nut it will not be eaten and most of us will not even consider it food.