8555 —הבנת הזהר על גירוש האדם ומשמעות 'את'

Shalom u'Vrachah! [8 Kislev 5723] ... And since I heard that this concerns a public Talmud Torah, and furthermore, that its timing is on the upcoming Friday night, therefore, according to the instruction in Shulchan Aruch, I needed to respond promptly with what appears correct to me here, at least briefly due to time constraints.

This is regarding what I asked you earlier in Zohar I (53b): 'VaYegaresh Et HaAdam' (And He drove out the man). Rabbi Elazar said: I do not know who made a divorce for whom, etc. But from the reversal of the word order—'VaYegaresh Et', it is specifically (the Shechinah, as explained by commentators on the Zohar) that was driven out. The man certainly drove out 'et', and because of this it is written: 'VaYishalchehu Hashem Elokim miGan Eden' (And Hashem G‑d sent him from Gan Eden). Why does it say 'He sent him'? Because man drove out [the Shechinah], therefore it says 'He sent him.' There are several points needing clarification here.

The main question is: What does Rabbi Elazar mean by saying 'I do not know,' etc.? It is not understood, for a verse never departs from its simple meaning, especially since according to his conclusion one must say that the word order is reversed—not as written. Also, there is repetition in the Zohar’s wording. And more.

Briefly, this can be understood based on two introductions: A) In Zohar—the inner dimension of Torah—the inner meanings are revealed and the external ones are hinted at; whereas in Shas—the revealed Torah—it is the opposite. However, since all parts of Torah include each other, we also find simple explanations and laws in Zohar and hints and secrets in Shas. B) Regarding punishments (and likewise rewards), some are what Jewish philosophers call natural consequences—as Scripture says: 'Your own evil will chastise you.' Others are seguli (inherent decrees), meaning it arose in G‑d’s will that for sin X there will be punishment X—not as a direct consequence of the sin. This is like certain mitzvot classified as chukim (statutes), etc.

This is Rabbi Elazar’s doubt: The simple meaning (of both subject and verse) is certainly that man was expelled. But regarding the inner aspect of expulsion (the punishment for eating from the Tree of Knowledge), he does not know who caused whom to be divorced—whether G‑d willed that for this sin He would expel man or not (rather Adam himself did something whose natural consequence was expulsion). Even though generally G‑d’s measure is measure-for-measure, regarding this sin, Scripture warns about death—not expulsion.

The doubt is resolved by an extra phrase in Scripture following immediately after: 'VaYishalchehu Hashem...' So here too it should have said: 'And He drove him out and placed...' The extra words 'et haAdam'—in addition to their simple meaning—hint (by reversing their order) at an inner idea: That man drove out 'et'. Because of this it says: 'And He sent him...' [which otherwise would make no sense—who mentioned sending away when warning about the sin? So why does it say ‘He sent him’? Rather] because man expelled ['et'], its natural consequence—measure-for-measure—is ‘He sent him’. Much more could be said but space does not permit.

Regarding how ‘et’ refers to the Shechinah and what Shechinah means: ‘Et’ always indicates something secondary or attached. The Shechinah refers to G‑dliness that dwells within all worlds to enliven and sustain them—from ‘and I will dwell among them’. Yet all worlds are insignificant compared to Him; with a single letter He created this world and with another letter He created the World to Come—as explained at length in Tanya. Creating worlds is not His essence; thus this level is called ‘et’.

According to what was said above—that all parts of Torah include each other—the matter hinted at in ‘et’ also alludes to how this word contains all letters from alef to tav. In general, ‘et’ also comes from ‘ot’ (letter). As it says: From my flesh I see G‑dliness; when a person wants to reveal his will or intellect to another, he does so through speech organized into letters (hence ‘ot’ comes from ‘ata boker’—morning has come). Similarly above: Creation happened through ten utterances; revelation of His wisdom and will—through mitzvot—is via what’s called Shechinah.

Summary

This letter analyzes a passage in Zohar about Adam's expulsion from Eden, exploring whether punishment can be natural or decreed by G‑d’s will. It explains how even seemingly secondary words like ‘et’ hint at deep spiritual concepts such as Shechinah and unity within Torah’s layers.