Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Isaias 61:3

AND THE ETERNAL G-D PLANTED A GARDEN ‘MIKEDEM’ (EASTWARD) IN EDEN. Rashi explained that “in the east of Eden He planted the garden.” But Onkelos translated mikedem to mean “previously,” [that is, before man was created]. And so have the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah,³¹⁰15:4. and this is the correct explanation.
The meaning of vayita (and He planted) is not that He brought the trees from another place and planted them here for it was from that place that He caused them to grow, just as it is said, And out of the ground the Eternal G-d caused to grow every tree.³¹¹Verse 9. But the purport of the expression, and the Eternal G-d planted, is to state that it was the planting of the Eternal,³¹²Isaiah 61:3. for before He decreed upon the earth, Let the earth put forth grass,³¹³Above, 1:11. He had already decreed that in that place there be a garden, and He further said: “Here shall be this tree, and here that tree,” like the rows of planters. It was unlike the rest of the places on the earth concerning which He said, Let the earth put forth grass… and fruit-tree,³¹³Above, 1:11. and it then grew without order. Now concerning the trees of the garden of Eden He decreed that they grow branches and bear fruit forever, the root thereof was never to wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof was never to die in the ground.³¹⁴See Job 14:8. These trees were not to need any one to tend and prune them. For if they were in need of cultivation, who tended them after man was driven therefrom? This also is the meaning of the expression, And the Eternal G-d planted, that they were His plantings, the work of His hands,³¹⁵See Isaiah 60:21. and existing forever, even as it is said, Its leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail … because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary.³¹⁶Ezekiel 47:12. If so, what then is the meaning of the verse: And He put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it?³¹⁷Further, Verse 15. He put him [man] there so that he should sow for himself wheat and all kinds of produce, and every herb bearing seed, and rows of spices, reaping and plucking and eating at his will. This also is the meaning of to cultivate it and to keep it³¹⁷Further, Verse 15. — to cultivate the ground of the garden by the rows he [man] would make there, for the part of the garden where the trees were was not to be cultivated.
It is possible that [in the words le’ovdah uleshomrah — literally, to cultivate her and to keep her,] He refers to the garden in the feminine gender, just as in the verses: And as the garden causeth the things that are sown in her to spring forth;³¹⁸Isaiah 61:11. And plant gardens.³¹⁹Jeremiah 29:5. Ganoth (gardens) is here in the feminine gender. Our Rabbis noted this use of the feminine gender, saying in Bereshith Rabbah:³²⁰16:8. “Le’ovdah uleshomrah (to cultivate her and to keep her) — these words refer to the sacrifices, as it is said, ‘Ta’avdun’ (Ye shall serve) G-d upon this mountain.³²¹Exodus 3:12. It is this which Scripture says, ‘Tishm’ru’ (Ye shall keep) to offer unto Me in its appointed season.”³²²Numbers 28:2. The intent of the Rabbis in this interpretation is that plants and all living beings are in need of primary forces from which they derive the power of growth and that through the sacrifices there is an extension of the blessing to the higher powers. From them it flows to the plants of the garden of Eden, and from them it comes and exists in the world in the form of “rain of goodwill and blessing,”³²³Taanith 19a. through which they will grow. This conforms to what the Rabbis have said:³²⁴Bereshith Rabbah 15:1. “The trees of the Eternal have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted.³²⁵Psalms 104:16. Rabbi Chanina said: Their life shall have its fill; their waters shall have their fill; their plantings shall have their fill.” “Their life” refers to their higher foundations; “their waters” refer to His good treasure³²⁶Deuteronomy 28:12. which brings down the rain; and “their plantings” refer to their force in heaven, just as the Rabbis have said:³²⁷Bereshith Rabbah 10:7. This text is also quoted above 1:11 (Notes 135-6). “There is not a single blade of grass below that does not have a constellation in heaven that smites it and says to it, ‘Grow.’ It is this which Scripture says, Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish ‘mishtara’ (the dominion thereof) in the earth — [mishtara being derived from the root] shoter (executive officer).”

נפתלי אילה שלוחה, “Naftaly is like a free running doe,” Members of that tribe being fast long distance runners, used to be dispatched to inform the civilian population of whether a battle had been won [or lost, so that they would be prepared for what would follow. Ed.] This is the meaning of the words following: הנותן אמרי שפר, “bearer of good news.” Compare Judges 5,18 ונפתלי על מאומי שדה, “Naftaly running swiftly across the open heights.”There is an opinion according to which the word: אילה does not refer to a doe, but means: “the plain,” as in Genesis 14 6; yet another opinion relates the word to אילן as in אילי הצדק in Isaiah 61,3: “oaks of righteousness.”

The Torah contains a number of inverted letters all of which contain a message to us. Similarly, there are good reasons why sometimes a letter is written in larger or smaller than regular script. All such hints are part of the 50 gates of בינה, superior insights, which were revealed to Moses while he was on Mount Sinai.
Our sages in Sanhedrin 104 have stated that “whereas a son may confer some of his merit on his father, the reverse is not the case.” They base this on Deut. 32,39 ואין מידי מציל, “there is no rescuer from My hand.” Whereas Avraham’s merits were not able to save his son Ishmael, they were able to confer merit on his father. Yitzchak could not confer of his merit on his son Esau either. Concerning this state of affairs, Solomon said in Proverbs 17,6 עטרת זקנים בני בנים, ותפארת בנים אבותם, “Grandchildren are the crown of their elders, the glory of children are their fathers.” Seeing that it is within the province of the children to confer merit on their fathers, Solomon applied the complimentary “crown,” to them. This is a greater compliment than the term תפארת, “glory,” which he applied to their fathers. When the elders can point to righteous grandchildren they can wear this knowledge with the same pride as a king wears his crown. The parents who are unable to transfer of their merits to the children, are תפארת, a glory in their own right only if their children do measure up to the standards set for them by their fathers. We find a reference to such parents in Esther 9,28 וזכרם לא יסוף מזרעם, “and their remembrance will not perish from their descendants.” The various generations who have been loyal to G’d will ascend hand in hand spiritually. This is what Job 14,7-8 referred to when he said: “there is hope for a tree; if it is cut down it will renew itself, its shoots will not cease, if its roots are old in the earth” As long as the “saplings” are similar to those who have planted them we can apply the blessing of Isaiah 61,3 וקורא להם אילי הצדק מטע ה' להתפאר, “they shall be called ‘the terebinths of victory, planted by the Lord for His glory.’”