The Rabbis taught: Four [Sages] entered the Pardes
[literally "the orchard."] They were Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma,
Acher [Elisha ben Avuya, called Acher -- the other one and
Rabbi Akiva.
Rabbi Akiva said to them [prior to their ascension]: "When
you come to the place of pure marble stones, do not say,
'Water! Water!' for it is said, 'He who speaks untruths shall
not stand before My eyes' (Psalms 101:7)."
Ben Azzai gazed and died. Regarding him the verse
states, "Precious in the eyes of G-d is the death of His
pious ones" (Psalms 116:15). Ben Zoma gazed and was
harmed [he lost his sanity -- Rashi]. Regarding him the
verse states, "Did you find honey? Eat only much as you
need, lest you be overfilled and vomit it up" (Proverbs 25:16).
Acher -- the other one- cut down the plantings [he became a heretic].
Rabbi Akiva entered in peace and left in peace.2
1The Talmud (Chagiga 14b), Zohar (I, 26b) and Tikunei
Zohar (Tikun 40) report the following incident regarding
four Mishnaic Sages.
2Tikunei Zohar adds details not mentioned in the Talmud.
The ancient Saba [an old man] stood up and said [to
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai], "Rabbi, Rabbi! What is the
meaning of what Rabbi Akiva said to his students, "When
you come to the place of pure marble stones, do not say,
'Water! Water!' lest you place yourselves in danger, for it is
said, 'He who speaks untruths shall not stand before My
eyes.' But it is written, "There shall be a firmament
between the waters and it shall separate between water
[above the firmament] and water [below the
firmament]" (Genesis 1:6). Since the Torah describes the
division of the waters in to upper and lower, why should it
be problematic to mention this division? Furthermore,
since there are [in fact] upper and lower waters, why did
Rabbi Akiva warn them, "do not say, 'Water! Water!'" The
Holy Lamp [a title accorded to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai]
replied, "Saba, it is proper that you reveal this secret that
the chevraya! [Rabbi Shimon's circle of disciples] have not
grasped clearly."
The ancient Saba answered, "Rabbi, Rabbi, Holy Lamp.
Surely the pure marble stones are the letter yud -- one the
upper yud of the letter aleph, and one the lower yud of the
letter aleph [an aleph in script is formed by an upright yud
at the top to the right, and an upside-down yud at the
bottom to the left, joined by a vav, the diagonal line
between them]. Here, there is no spiritual impurity; only
pure marble stones, and so there is no separation
between one water and the other; they form a single unity
from the aspect of the Tree of Life, which is the vav in the
midst of the letter aleph. In this regard it states, "[lest he
put forth his hand] and if he take of the Tree of Life [and
eat and live forever] (Gen. 3:22)...
The four
This group of four
Entering the orchard
The very unknowing of what might emerge at the end,
Fearless but with some trepidation no doubt,
Armed with only the desire to see and behold
The Schechina, in Her pristine ness
In Her glory and beauty
Powerless over this desire
They enter fearlessly
Together, then silence.
We remain ignorant as to what actually happened inside
Were there cries and screams?
Was there silence? or noise? of pain?
Inside, during those eternal moments
Inside this orchard, this paradise
Left with only a trace
The effect of that decision recorded in legend and text
Their lives inscribed in Talmud and Zohar
And liturgy, embellished in the matrix of sacred history
Inspiring countless generations of spirit seekers
Warning others to beware
All because of that fateful decision to enter, to taste to
experience the forbidden.
These men
These four men
Never the same again.
The experience to alter their lives forever
Only one emerges unscathed,
Only one picks up where he had left off
Back to school, teaching class
The weekend over,
The trip completed,
Return-to-work status.
But what of the others?
And why?
What really took place there?
We know little except
By all accounts
They were scarred for life
One dead, the other insane, another heresy,
This is what became of those less fortunate three.
So what did they "see" or experience
Could we speculate as to what happened?
Today drugs might do this.
Patients of mine on LSD have reported similar visions
and post –acid hallucinations lasting years.
Surely drugs can affect a person in such a way.
But I prefer an older metaphor
They saw such a trauma
They descended into such a hell
That only the demonic could have affected them so
violently.
(However we speculate can we agree it was violent?)
Four entered into Hell
Four were taken to Sheol against their will.
I mean who would want to go there voluntarily?
Surely we can surmise it was a forced migration
Transfer, deportation and Final Solution.
Yes; let us agree it was deportation or worse a death camp
What they beheld would make three quarters of them
insane, mad or heretical.
Four entered into Auschwitz, Belzec or Sobibor
Four entered but how many emerged whole? Only one.
Theoretically that could be the tentative meaning for this
place.
The term Paradise is then merely an expression used by
the Rabbis to hide the true character of the
trauma...lashon saginahor
A cleansing expression this "orchard" euphemistically
referring to a garden of delight
But so violent and horrific that the Rabbis spared us the
particulars, the facts, the trauma..
And of Akiva what happened?
Do you really think he came through ok? Yatza beshalom?
Wait!
Listen! Fast forward!
To the culmination of his life
His martyrdom
We think so holy
But for him it was nothing compared to a living hell
The lonely survivor of this 'orchard experience'
We know about survivors and their burdens
We know about the nightmares and long-term effects
We know about Post-Traumatic Stress disorders
(DSMI, II, III, and IV-category diagnosis after all;
Officially sanctioned by the American Psychiatric
Association-therefore it exists!)
And for some
Who survive
The better strategy is psychosis
For others, self-mutilation.
So the Romans raking his skin with iron combs and
crucifying him
As they burn him alive
Oh that story,
That martyrology, we read on Yom Kippur
Must be woven into this one;
The orchard on the one hand and the torture and death of
Akiva on the other.
For him this might have been less than we feel when
reading, less of a horror...
After all, he actually continues to teach his students during
the torture
About mesirus nefesh and the Shema our doxology
What gives him this power?
Of course
We may now understand his pain
For now he will be relieved of the living hell
A survivor alone without his three companions
after that so-called 'orchard experience'
Even this Roman hell is better than continuing.
Alone.
Four entered the orchard
One went mad
One committed suicide
One became heretical
And one yatza beshalom came out 'in peace'
But then could not continue to live in peace.
That is our post Holocaust Midrash our 'take'
On the Holy Rabbi Akiva
The single survivor
Four entered but in reality no one escaped Hell
Unscathed
None were the same again.
