Peeling the Fruit
If you had to choose one word that would describe all negativity in this world, if you had had to choose a word with which to capture the heart and soul of evil, which word would you choose?
These are some of the synonyms for the word evil suggested by the thesaurus:
wicked, bad, wrong, immoral, sinful, foul, vile, dishonorable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, reprobate, villainous, nefarious, vicious, malicious.
The word the kabbalah uses to describe all negative energy, all unholiness in the universe is, surprisingly, a neutral word, a word that does not evoke a strong image of evil. The Kabbalah refers to all evil with the innocent sounding word “Kelipah”, which is the Hebrew word for a peel.
The metaphor of a peel captures all we need to know about the unholy: its origin, its purpose, the challenges it presents and ultimately the way to deal with it.
Where does all evil come from? There were many who believed that evil could not possibly come from G-d. Since G-d is good, they argued, all evil must therefore come from Satan, from a power independent from, and contradictory to, G-d. Judaism fiercely rejects this explanation. The most fundamental premise of Judaism is that “Hashem Echad”, G-d is one, and there can be no force independent of G-d. Where then does evil and negativity come from?
The answer lies within the metaphor of the peel[1]. The peel, while it is not the primary part of the fruit, does serve a purpose. The peel protects the flesh of the fruit, and guards it against the elements, when man removes the peel and consumes the flesh of the fruit, both the peel and the fruit have served their purpose.
The same is true for all cosmic energy. Everything G-d created, including evil, serves a purpose. Yet there is a distinction between good and evil: the purpose of good is intrinsic, while the purpose of evil is to benefit the good. The purpose of evil is to enable the human being to choose good from evil; choosing the good, consuming the fruit, and removing the peel, rejecting the evil.
Within the realm of the unholy itself there are generally two categories. The evil and negativity that must be rejected outright, and the negative energy which could become positive if used to serve the holy.
This sheds light onto one of the earliest dramas of the bible, a story that has captured the imagination of humanity since the beginning of time: the story of the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.
What did this mysterious tree represent? And why was its fruit so enticing to Eve?
The Torah tells us that after some conversation with the serpent, Eve perceived the beauty of the fruit:
And the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise; so she took of its fruit, and she ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.[2]
Eve perceived that there was beauty in the "peel" and therefore she desired the "peel" for its own sake. Before Eve’s conversation with the serpent all the fruit was perceived as nothing more than a tool that served the holy. Until the sin all material pleasures served as a tool for people to escape the confines of self, relate to other people and connect to the creator. The heart of the sin was that the human being perceived pleasure in materialism for its own sake. Confusing the peel for the actual fruit, the means for the end; ignoring the cosmic truth that the peel - the material - is but a tool to serve the spiritual- the actual fruit.
Each and every day we face the allure of the fruit.
The choice is ours. We can live in the tranquility of paradise or be expelled into a world of tension and chaos.
We can desire materialism for its own sake, seek the sensual with no higher purpose. We can pursue selfishness for its own sake, choose the peel and reject the fruit. The result will be conflict between people and between families, as selfish egos will inevitably clash, as well as causing inner struggle and chaos between body and soul.
We can, however, face the allure of the fruit and choose to remain in paradise. We can understand that all the material blessing in our life must be enjoyed and used as a vehicle for spiritual life, thus bringing peace between people, as well as peace to the material and spiritual drives in our personality; recreating the internal paradise, which, in turn, will spread to the rest of the world, transforming the world into the world G-d intended it to be: a world of paradise.
[1] See Shalah 19b; Sefer Hamamarim 5659 p. 176.
[2] Genesis 3:6.