The Luscious Land of Israel

The Parsha from Shabbos was Eikev, and contained reference to the Seven Species of the Land of Israel. HaRav Yitzchak Ginsburgh brings a perspective on these Species that is deep and rich.

Parshat Eikev:

The Seven Species of the Land of Israel and Consciousness of the Sefirot

(excerpts)

For Havayah your God brings you into a good land, a land of water courses, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil, and honey. [Devarim 8:7-8]

The seven species are the types of fruit the Land of Israel is blessed with, as described in these verses. When eating a variety of fruit, these species take precedence over others (such as oranges or apples) and therefore we recite the blessing for fruit on them. On bread prepared from wheat or barley (the first two of the seven species) we recite the special blessing for bread. On pastries made from wheat or barley we recite the special blessing for pastries and on wine prepared from grapes (the third species) we recite the special blessing for wine. After eating from these types of fruit, we also recite a special blessing (and after a meal with bread, the full four blessings of the grace after a meal).

Wheat and Barley

Wheat and barley usually make up the staples of our diet. In Perek Shirah (usually translated as the Song of Creation), an anthology documenting the particular verse sung by various elements of creation in praise of the Creator, wheat and barley sing verses that relate to prayer. Wheat sings the verse, “A song of ascent: From the depths I have called upon You, God.” Barley sings the verse, “A prayer for the destitute: Before God he pours his words.” These two verses suggest that wheat and barley correspond to the staple of the spiritual dimension of our lives: prayer.

Grape

The grapes of the vine sing the verse, “So says God: As wine is found in the cluster [of grapes] and one says, ‘Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it,’ so will I do for My servants’ sake; I will not destroy them all.”

The word for “grapevine” (גֶפֶן ) in Hebrew stems from the same root as the word for “body” (גוּף ). In the introduction to Tikunei Zohar, the sefirah of beauty is described as “the body” (תפארת גופא ).

Fig

The fig sings the verse, “He who guards the fig shall eat its fruit.” The traditional commentaries explain that the fig needs to be carefully watched. Once it is ripe, it will quickly spoil if not picked immediately from the tree. The sefirah of victory, which is also translated as eternity, is the one most related to time and therefore fits best with the temporal urgency found in the fig.

Pomegranate

The verse sung by the pomegranate is “Your cheekbones are like a piece of the pomegranate from between your braids.” Based on the grammatical similarity between “cheekbone” (רַקָה ) and “empty individuals” (רֵיקָנִים )

the sages state that even those Jews who seem void [of performing the commandments] are filled with good deeds like a pomegranate is full of seeds (the delicious fruit of the pomegranate).

Olive

In Perek Shirah, the olive tree does not have a specific song. Rather, it is included in the general song sung by the trees of the field, “Then, the trees of the forest will sing before God who has come to judge the earth.”

Thus, the olive includes the song of all the trees, like the sefirah of foundation includes all the sefirot above it. In fact, the word “foundation” (יְסוֹד ) is equal to the two words “for all” (כִּי כָל ), the opening words of its description, “For all in the heavens and the earth.”

Date Palm

The date palm sings the verse, “The tzadik will blossom like a date palm, like the cedar of the Lebanon it shall grow.”

The final letters of the words, “the tzadik will blossom like a date palm” (צַדִּיק כַּתָּמָר יִפְרָח ) spell Korach (קֹרַח ), the name of the Levite that contested Moshe Rabbeinu’s leadership. Thus, the date palm represents a rectified form of Korach’s arguments against Moshe’s leadership. Korach claimed that “the entire congregation is holy.” Indeed, in the future, we will see that “Your entire people are tzadikim.”

The full article with elucidation of kabbalistic concepts at Authentic Jewish Mysticism and Thought, based on the teachings of Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh. I also recommend “The Land of the Supernal Crown” on the beauty of Eretz Yisrael. Tapes and books can be ordered from the Innermedia website.