The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the first marriage of the human race, begins in Genesis II:1 and continues for the entire chapter in 25 passages. 

Chapter two begins with the Sabbath. The Sabbath is ushered in with prayers by Cabalists that tell how G-d greets the Sabbath Queen. There is thus in the Sabbath a marriage of heaven and earth. The marriage narrative of Adam and Eve begins with the Sabbath. What is the connection between Sabbath and marriage?

The Sabbath comes after the working week. Marriage comes after a period of maturity and working on ourselves. Furthermore, Sabbath is not only a separate day to rest. Sabbath is also a continuum of our work-week, a sanctification of it. Marriage is also a continuum of our single life, and a sanctification of it.

But  just as the Sabbath is much more sacred than the preceding days of the week, so marriage is much more sacred than the single periods that precede it.

Our week ends, as did Creation, with the Sabbath. But the Sabbath enables and empowers our coming week. So with marriage; we take from it the strength and ability to achieve new levels, a new "week" or cycle of life hopefully leading to family.

The Sabbath enables our prior work to achieve purpose and even connect to transcendence. Also, when we eat and smile on the Sabbath, we sit with these pleasant joys at the portal of infinity and sense it.

Marriage is similar to the Sabbath. There is a physical side of marriage, just as we eat on the Sabbath. But just as eating on the Sabbath connects us to heaven, so does the corporeal aspect of intimacy connect the couple to the Schechina, the Divine Presence.

"G-d created to do" in the Sabbath narrative means that the process of Creation is "to do" and to enable doings of others. This is central to marriage, the major process of humans. From marriage comes children and many generations. So with the Creation. G-d enabled Creation to make many generations. This is the great miracle of Creation. People can make things, but G-d made people who make people who make people. Within creations is the spark of divine guidance that allows creation to replenish itself and become properly actualized.

How appropriate it is to approach marriage, as we approach the Sabbath, with humility. Now we encounter holiness and the aura of the Divine Presence. The Divine Presences graces our Sabbath meals, and the Divine Presence graces our marital intimacy. The key to a successful marriage is respect and humbleness. The rabbis taught that a wife can tolerate most anything but not an arrogant husband. Motherhood and being a wife are not commensurate with a selfish and arrogant woman.

"And the heaven and the earth and all of their host were completed." This passage beginning chapter two of Genesis is in the passive. The Creation parts "were completed" It does not say "And G-d completed the heaven and the earth and all of their host." Rather, we sense a separation of G-d from the Creation; G-d cut loose the Creation into a new phase where Creation comes into its own, and must itself become the progenitor of its fate. This is central to the idea of challenge, reward and punishment.

Marriage is foremost a cutting of the umbilical cord whereby parents supported and guided us. Now we are on our own. Marriage is thus a prime expression of the purpose of Creation, the universe "complete" in the passive, as if it is on its own.

One of the major problems in marriage today is our system of raising children to be supported by their parents until their marriage. Ideally, before marriage a man must own a house and a thriving business, as the Zohar and Talmud teach. When people begin marriage without fiscal independence, it is a great challenge and a cause of much discord.

Chapter two passage two, "And G-d completed, on the seventh day, His work that He did. And He rested on the seventh day from all of His work that He did."

This entire sentence is redundant, as we know that G-d created the world in six days and they were completed in six days, as taught in chapter one of Genesis. Furthermore, the phrases of the sentence are also redundant in of themselves. If G-d completed His work, why does it say "that He did." Obviously, He did His work. Also, it says in one phrase that G-d finished His work, and then it repeats "and He rested." Are they not one idea, that one stops working and thus rests?

The interesting thing here is that G-d did not stop on the seventh day; He stopped at the end of the sixth day. So why does it say that the resting took place on the Seventh day? In fact, if G-d made things on the sixth day, He didn't need all day to do it. The ending of the work therefore could have come even before the end of the sixth day, so why does it say that G-d rested on the seventh day?

There are three levels in the first two passages about the end of Creation and the Sabbath. The first level is the completion of the heaven, earth, and their host. When the Creation was completed, this ended one phase dealt with in this second chapter of Genesis. There were two more phases. The completion of the Creation means that relative to itself, the Creation was complete. This could have taken place early in the sixth day. Now, everything was done and ready to function.

G-d, however, was not finished with Creation, although the "heaven, earth and its host" were finished. Something was missing. Recall that the first passage that all was complete and finished was in the passive, and discusses, not the Creator, not G-d, but the deeds and doings G-d made, as they exist apart from G-d.

The next phase is G-d relative to the completed Creation. Is He finished? He is not. Something is missing. G-d now turns to a new level of the Creation, not on the sixth day when all was complete, but to the seventh day, when divine investment of the completed Creation is done. "And G-d completed on the seventh day" means that in the passive technical sense the Creation was completed on the sixth day. But G-d was not finished with Creation, not at all. He elevated Creation and enabled it to relate to Him. The dumb Creation of the sixth day could not relate to G-d properly. Now the seventh day would rectify this.

There are two processes in Creation, the revealed finite and the hidden infinite; the natural Creation and its soul, of divine guidance. The finite and the revealed, the natural Creation, G-d made in six days. There then existed a new reality, not a group of things, not a heaven, and an earth, and various hosts, but a unity of Creation. That is, heaven is heaven, and has its function. Earth has its function. So with the hosts of heaven and earth. But the completed Creation is another dimension, one rising above the individual parts that make up Creation. A completed thing is a new thing, different than the sum of its parts.

The natural, finite, creation of parts and particles ended on the sixth day. But then began the process of dealing with the new reality, a unified Creation, relative to its unity, and not relative to its parts. Creation became Creation on the Sabbath. Before then it was "heaven, earth" and individual "hosts."

"And G-d completed on the seventh day" that is, G-d completed Creation on the sixth day, but the finished Creation as a single unit is a higher thing that relates directly to G-d moreso than the various parts of Creation that came into their own on the sixth day. The Creation in its own as a unit is a product of the seventh day when G-d "completed His work that He did." He completed on the seventh day the reality of His work and the "work that He did". This means that the completed Creation came into its own not to be a totally new thing cut off from the earlier particles and six days of work, but rather the completed Creation received on the Seventh Day is new reality. It connected to, elevated, and enabled the previous created Creation. The seventh day connects and relates to the six days.

We have thus covered two phases of Creation. Six days of work end when G-d makes a new level of a united Creation. The united Creation is higher than the pieces and parts of the six days. On the seventh day G-d did two things. One, he connected the seventh day of the total Creation to the six days of the creation of parts and particles. Now comes the third phase, sanctification.

"And He rested on the seventh day from all of His work that He did." This second phrase in the second passage seems to be redundant. It also adds an additional word. That is, the first phrase in passage two says that G-d completed His work. It does not say "all of his work." The second phrase says that G-d rested from all of His work. Why does the second phrase add "all"?

The completed Creation has a soul and a "body" just like people. The seventh day saw G-d elevating both the soul and the body of the new unit, the complete Creation. First G-d completed "His work that He did" meaning the natural and the material universe. Here nothing is said about sanctifying. The second phrase, dealing with the soul of the universe, says "And He rested on the seventh day from all of His work that He did." Now it is "rested" not completed. "Completed" means finishing and going away from something. Resting of G-d relative to the Sabbath was a completion of the work that connects G-d to it, and elevated the work to G-d." Thus, it says "all of His work" meaning even the hidden soul of Creation and its divine guidance.

All of this is crucial to marriage. We are two separate people who become one unit. This unit becomes a different reality. The couple in marriage must learn to be "one" instead of "two." They must become a unified essence in both temporal and spiritual ways.

II:3 "And G-d blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. For on it He rested from all of His work that G-d created to do [function]." What is blessing and what is sanctifying? Why do these result from rest? "His work that G-d created" should be "for on it G-d rested from all of His work that He created." We begin with the proper noun and then use the pronoun. Here we begin with the pronoun and end with the proper noun.

There are many phrases in chapter two, and they indicate stages of  the cessation of Creation. Passage one is the passive and does not mention G-d. "And the heaven and the earth and all of their hosts were completed." This is the end of the particular and individual parts of Creation. Passage two is "and G-d finished on the seventh day His work that He did." This refers to the completed entire Creation, assuming a new level as such apart from individual particles loosely connected. This new unity came on the Seventh day, and the completion of individual pieces of Creation happened on the sixth day.

"And He rested on the seventh day from all of His work that He did" follows the unity of Creation into one essence. Now we speak not of Creation but of G-d relative to His work. Now that G-d finished, what does He do? He created the pieces of Creation on the sixth day. He finalized the Creation as one unit on the seventh day. G-d then entered the state of "resting" relative to Creation. This allowed Creation to adjust to G-d after its completion. Resting is a positive thing, the greatest of all acts. It finalizes the elevates the work done previously.  Everything is defined by its post-making status. Something made must become a new essence, and rise from the finite to connect to higher things, to G-d. This is G-d's resting, a capacity for G-d allowing Creation to rise to Him on its own, as if it could be. Of course, G-d planted this capacity into the Creation with His making of it, but the resting of the seventh day encouraged this process, the rising of the Creation to G-d.

All of this till now is the stabilizing and elevating of Creation with its previous heavenly work and doings. That is, the work congealed and stabilized, rising to its source. This is met on the seventh day by a new divine effort, not resting, but blessing and sanctifying. Resting allows Creation to rise, as if it could be, on its own, to G-d, who encourages this and enables it by "resting" and allowing Creation to become higher on its own, with its previous capacities given in six days. Now this is met by a new blessing and sanctifying; G-d imparts a totally new aspect to Creation, raising the finite to transcendence.

We asked about redundancy in passage three. Here is the solution. The Creation went through phases, first G-d imparted to the particles of the six days of work inherent abilities to rise go G-d, but these were not recognized at the time as such, because there was as yet no "rest" and "seventh day." On the seventh day, Creation entered a new phase, becoming a whole unit, and rising to G-d. G-d helped this by "resting" and then by "blessing" and "sanctifying." All of these phases were revelations of the first six day creation where potentially these phases awaited. Thus, the final phrase in passage three describing the first and lowest of the levels of the six days before unity and blessing arrived takes care to replace the pronoun for G-d with the proper noun, to show that within the Creation of the six day period was already the capacity and the purpose to rise to the seventh day levels of blessing and sanctity.

Thus, "that G-d created to do" meaning that G-d, in the six day period, had already planted into the particles of Creation the potential "to do" and rise to the level of the Sabbath. Indeed, then, in the six days, all future abilities of Creation were planted, awaiting divine blessing and sanctification that came later.

What does this have to do with marriage?

Marriage is a process of two single people achieving maturity and each other. They become one unit. This is the symmetry of the Creation of the sixth and seventh day: first separate particles and then a united whole. The two then seek blessing and sanctity in marriage, connecting to the purpose of Creation and its Creator. The more we think in terms of "us" rather than separateness close we are to G-d. Togetherness brings blessing and sanctity, and all of the holy benefits of marriage and family.

The seventh day or Shabbos had two things: blessing and sanctity. Blessing is from the Hebrew BERECH or connecting. Sanctity is from the Hebrew word for preparing for something (See Kiddushin 2b top Tosfose). The woman enters a period of engagement whereby she is preparing for marriage. This period is called KIDDUSHIN. G-d first connected the Creation to Himself. The universe now had blessing, in its own state. Next was preparing for something higher, transcendence, as the woman awaits her husband and a new life. Marriage people have blessing and sanctity. They are connected to heaven and yet prepare for higher things, for transcendence.

II:4 "These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were created, on the day the L-d G-d made earth and heaven."

On the day of their creation, heaven and earth contained subsequent generations and new achievements. All was planted in the first day. G-d made heaven and earth, and in one split moment of creation, all was planted, the present and the future, everything.

With this statement and passage the Torah introduces to us for the first time the Ineffable Name of G-d. Until now, it used ELOKIM meaning the revealed and powerful G-d master over nature. Now begins the Name of Transcendence. Often, this Holy Name, the holiest Name, is associated with darkness, when the faculties fail and only transcendence keeps us going.

This sentence has two phrases. First, "These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were created" and then "on the day the L-d G-d made earth and heaven." The two phases conflict. The first phase has heaven before earth; the second phrase has earth before heaven. The first phrase has no divine Name but the second has the Ineffable Name and the Name Elokim.

But in truth, the first phrase, the "generations of heaven and earth" require challenge and human struggle. For that Creation exists. Thus, only "on the day the L-d G-d made the earth and heaven" and put the scepter of Creation into the hands of mortals, did the Creation come to its purpose and proper place. The world was created, but only human struggle could reveal the Ineffable Name, the purpose of Creation, with "light from darkness" and difficulty.

In marriage there is the band and the glory, and then, reality. Marriage begins in the wedding hall, but it is actualized in the strife of life. Struggle reveals a hidden Ineffable Name, and is the purpose of Creation.

Every day some dark cloud descends upon us, fiscal problems, paying the credit cards, keeping up with the mortgage, paying the tuitions and grocery bills, and anxiety replaces smiles with something else. Hapless and sometimes hopeless, we struggle. And this struggle reveals transcendence, and is the purpose of Creation.

Keep in mind, in marriage and in life, how the Ineffable Name is revealed only when we keep on trucking.

II:5 "And all of the trees of the field were not yet in the land. And all grass of the field did not yet sprout. Because the L-d G-d did not yet rain upon the land. And there was no man to till the soil."

A barren world awaited G-d and man. G-d provided rain and man tilled the soil. From this came vegetation and grass and the flowering of the landscape. G-d provided only the rain, and the rain was not adequate. It was man, toiling, that brought the final fruition of vegetation upon the earth. Everything depends on man.

This idea is central to marriage. A person who marries becomes the "toiler of the field" or the builder of the universe. Procreation in marriage sustains the universe. Thus, marriage is the central theme of Creation. In Cabala it is marital intimacy that humans achieve their greatest spiritual level and reveal the Schechina, while choosing a soul for the child of their efforts.

The trees and the grass were created on the third day. Here, however, it says that until the sixth day, when Adam was created, there were no trees and no grass. We could explain that there were trees and grass. However, the trees were "not yet in the land" that is, they were few and not as they would be, filling the world where appropriate. Furthermore, there was grass, but the grass did not grow. Adam came to the world, and G-d rained upon it, and the trees then multiplied and spread forth upon the earth, and the grass grew and achieved their proper place and size.

In each person is a tree and a grass that could grow much better with some rain and some attention. The best rain and the best attention is in marriage. We are the trees and the vegetation that awaits rain and inspiration, love and encouragement. In marriage, we achieve this. We achieve this for ourselves and we achieve this for our spouses and for our families. From marriage Creation comes to its zenith.

II:6 "And a mist would rise up from the earth and water the entire face of the ground."

"And a mist would rise up" is future tense. (Actually, this is common, to use a future for the present, but when possible, we learn something from it.) And why does it say "the entire face of the ground" instead of simple "the ground" or "the face of the ground."

Furthermore, in the previous passage we are told that rain was lacking. Now we find that instead of rain a mist rose, not from the clouds, but from the ground itself. A mist rose from the ground and flowed into the ground. Another problem is that the previous passages tells us that rain awaited Adam. But here the waters came before Adam was created. Adam is created in the next passage. At this point, when the mist came, Adam did not exist.

Rashi the biblical commentator tells us that this mist was to create a mud for Adam's body. Did G-d have to make mud in order to make Adam's body? Did He not create all of the animals before Adam without making mud?

Water and earth are opposites. Water represents higher things, Torah and kindness. Earth represents the opposite, lower things. Adam was a combination of water, or Torah and kindness, and the earth, material desires and limitations. He was a soul in a body.

Water rose from the land. The land, the earth, the lower level, is an impediment to the soul. And yet, from this earth came the water that is the good part of humanity. Everything flows from challenge. Even the water of Torah and kindness originates in the earth, human challenge.

The source of the soul is the water. And the water rose in a mist from the very earth that would be the source of challenge, of evil desires and laziness. Ultimately, man must meet his challenge by changing earth to water, his material side to spirituality. By struggle, man turns the earth to water, and the water combines with the earth to make a mud that houses the soul and serves it.

Marriage is also comprised of water and earth, and the two make mud. But in G-d's Hands, these combined become a human being. Married people with spiritual love and physical desire create a baby with body and soul. The source of such a holy procreation is challenge: when the earth or ground reveals mist and water, the two, water and earth, combined, and G-d fashions man and great spirituality. This is the level of marriage, accepting challenge and flipping darkness to light. There are great arguments and differences in marriage, but their resolution leads to the greatest love and light.

The mist watered "all of the face of the ground." The water originated in earth, and had the capacity to water earth. The spirit must visit and inspire everywhere. No nook and cranny in life is hidden from goodness, when we try to find it and create it.

The greatest hate is found in the family, especially in marriage. When love sours it produces the worst anger and pain and hate. But within the storm is a mist, ready to rise and relieve the anger, pain and hate. We have to want it and it will reveal itself, especially if we have a proper enabler such as a therapist.

II:7 "And the L-d G-d fashioned the man, dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living soul." Several ideas are here. One, man is fashioned by G-d. This itself requires us to respect man. True, man is "dust from the ground," and lives amid challenge and evil. But G-d fashioned man to be in this environment and to overcome it. We must learn to respect people. The great classic Tomer Devora takes us step by step into the art of appreciating people,  no matter how low they seem to be. Of course, there are truly awful people, but for the most part, people with their weaknesses have good points, and we must notice them. This is crucial in marriage, when it is so easy to take the pain of a word and make a mountain out of it.

What hope is there for man who is dust from the ground? Not only did  G-d fashion him to survive and succeed, but "and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." The body was clay, dead and inert. Suddenly, a breath of life, and man walks, talks, goes and achieves. Now the clay rises to humanity. In marriage, we take what we are, what we  have, an breathe life into it, with hope, with faith, with prayers, and there will be life and not anger.

"Man became a living soul." Rabbi Yisroel Salanter once quoted a tailor, "As long as the candle burns, I can work." As long as we live, the candle is burning, and we can work, we can improve, we can rectify. We are alive, and we can change and challenge the dust and earth that seeks to limit us and lower us. A living person can go anywhere.

There is hope for a marriage, and it begins with knowing what a person is, a living soul with the breath of G-d inside of all of us. Such a person can surely do better than throw dishes.

II:5 "And the L-d G-d planted a garden in Eden, and He placed there the man that He fashioned." The environ of man is the Garden of Eden. The environment itself is a divine creation. Outside of the Garden of Eden, all of us have a divinely planned environment, even though it seems to be the Garden of Gehenum, as it often is. The point is, our environment, as our body and soul, are divine Creations. This gives us value and self-esteem. Self-esteem and knowing G-d's love and value for us propel us through the challenges of our lives and marriages. Our pain is not a product of our failings, but of G-d's will. That makes quite a difference to us when we think this way. In this pain and darkness is a hidden light. Within the spouse we argue with is a divine spark that is just waiting to ignite our spark. Think that way and the sparks will solve our problems.

II:9 "And the L-d G-d caused to grow from the ground all trees lovely to behold and good to eat. And the Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden. And the the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad."

The ground produced the trees, rather than G-d doing it directly. Ground, recall, is the "dust" and "earth" level that is an impediment to spirituality and blocks man from seeing G-d while man is in his finite body. These trees, the fruition of challenge, were lovely to behold and good to eat. We come now to two new ideas, new, not to us, but to Adam. "Beholding" and "eating" were two new things for Adam. "Beholding" allowed him to enjoy with his eyes. And "eating" allowed him to enjoy with his mouth. In these two organs are the major challenges to spirituality.

Seeing and perhaps eating were not the issues. Pleasure in seeing was, as was pleasure in eating. Pleasure itself is fine, but pleasure can be perverse. The trees of the Garden of Eden were the instruments of challenge, and they offered Adam pleasure, to behold, and to eat.

In the center of the Garden of Eden was the Tree of Life. But there was also the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The pleasures of beholding and eating could lead to either tree. In the center of the Garden, indicating a farther walk, was the Tree of Life. Possibly, the Tree of Knowledge, which is not described as being in the center of the Garden, was not there. Indeed, Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge and not the Tree of Life. Perhaps they, in their journey through the Garden, came across the Tree of Knowledge without seeing as of yet the Tree of Life. Thus, the Tree of Knowledge was closer to a person "beholding" and "eating" with pleasure.

The rabbis say that Adam and Eve were tested if they would wait for the Sabbath to indulge in certain pleasures. Perhaps the pleasures beckoning in the Tree of Knowledge were appropriate, but only on the Sabbath. The pleasures of sexuality are appropriate, but only in marriage. We thus have two people doing the same thing. One is a saint and the other is not. One indulges in pleasure at the right time and the right place, and the other person is indiscriminate in his indulging. Quite a difference that makes.

Nowhere is there pleasure as there is in sexuality. But this itself is a challenge. Some seek sexuality for its physical pleasures. They learn how to get blood to flow over nerve endings, and produce pleasure. They learn where to find pictures or people that arouse them sexually. As the grip of the pleasures tighten, the person may become addicted. Pornography is a sickness like gambling that requires serious therapy to recover from. The pleasures of drugs or sex are so strong that they can wash away anxiety and frustrations. People learn to rely on these physical pleasures to survive amid challenges and pain. Eventually, they cannot exist without the pleasures, and are addicted.

Pleasure in eating is necessary to survive. But obesity results from eating for the pleasure without following the rules. Sexuality as promiscuity results in deadly diseases. When done in the home there are no diseases. But there is something else. Eating and sexuality in children.

Children are not ready for the eating and sexuality that older people can enjoy. Young children have a different diet than adults. A child fed like an adult is perhaps a child who suffers. Sexuality in children is also in that category. What an adult could enjoy is not necessarily appropriate for the wellbeing of a child. The American Psychological Association in Feb 2007 said that commercial ads making young girls conscious of their sexuality damage these girls emotionally, psychologically, and physically.

Part of the breakdown in contemporary marriage is a result of married people who had too much to drink in their childhood. Growing up to think sex damages the sexual capacity and may even pervert it. There is a treatment for a certain sexually pervert behavior that encourages the patient to indulge in a similar and related sexuality until the patient reacts to the over-sexing and begins to loath the things he formally was addicted to. Too much sex can actually turn us against it just as someone who eats a dozen chocolate cakes may feel about chocolate cake. Too much sex can weaken our normal drive until we have to supplement it with the excitement of perversity. But the excitement has to be increased, just like drugs, to maintain its impact, and the victim seeks more and more deviancy until the system rebels, gets sick, or turns off.

There is the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve did not have, in the Garden of Eden, before the sin, either the power of the Tree of Life or the Tree of Knowledge. Ideally, they would have persevered and not eaten from the forbidden fruit and then they would have qualified for the Tree of Life. Life and knowledge are different. Life is a living experience. One grows into the knowledge and becomes the knowledge. Knowledge in of itself is sterile and barren, relative to life. In this world we have a knowledge that is separate from our bodies and our souls. This knowledge itself is quite flakey and fluky; we misunderstand and forget. Life, on the other hand, is a process of knowledge on a much deeper basis, one that involves our body and soul.

Even after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge it is possible to attain knowledge similar to life, but only in marital intimacy. "And Adam knew his wife." This knowledge was not the facts stores in a brain apart from the body and soul. This is a knowledge of life; Adam knew his wife and their bodies and souls were together forming a higher knowledge. Just as marital intimacy out of love achieves "life" and the highest level of humanity, as the Zohar teaches, so does sex for the sake of using a woman like a toy is the lowest  level, and contaminates the body and the soul. This is not so bad as long as there is no other sin involved. But when one sins with sex, such as adultery, this is a disaster, and the soul, mind, and body are poisoned.

11:10 "And a river went forth from Eden to water the garden. And from there it divided and become four heads."

The river was from Eden, or transcendence. It came to a lower level, the Garden. It ten divided and became four finite rivers. In this passage, we are told not that it became four rivers, but that it became "four heads." This means four rivers, but the idea is that the holiness of Eden and the Garden did not remain when the rivers became finite. What the four finite rivers did have was "four heads" or higher sources. These sources sustain and guide the finite rivers to ultimately achieve a return to higher levels and even the higher sources. This will happen in the Future World completely, but even in this world, a process is at work.

Passage nine tells us of the test. Pleasure and knowledge were challenges. On the other hand, this passage tells us of a river of the highest purity that went forth from Eden. Eden was higher than the Garden, and was a place without challenge and evil. Only in the Future World will people, after death, approach Eden. But Adam and Eve had, in the Garden, not only testing from trees, but also a holy river, filled with the water of Eden, a mighty and sacred current. It watered the garden. The trees in the Garden drank the water from the river. Thus, all trees, even those with pleasure and challenge, had within them the holy  water. Even people who took pleasure from the Garden for their finite bodies tasted the higher taste of Eden, as its waters were in the tree.

But the river itself, as high and holy as it was, did not limit itself to the holy Garden. Rather, it split and went outside of the Garden, to sustain the entire world. Thus, all of Creation was elevated by the River, which is involved with the various countries near the four rivers.

There are four rivers, but they have a fifth or parent river. The four rivers split off from this progenitor river. In Cabala we have the Four Letters of the Ineffable Name. And we have the Four Sacred Dimensions. But the four letters and the four dimensions are products of the higher and holier Source that is hidden. Just as Eden is invisible and never seen by a mortal, even as it produces the four rivers, so the four letters and the four dimensions have a higher source in utter transcendence. Even as we go about our daily lives, something inside of us is from a much higher dimensions. And we are constantly called upon by it to relate to the highest transcendence. Life is ultimately connecting "the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top." We lowly people are connected to the highest transcendence, and we relate directly to G-d with no intermediaries.

There are four rivers, the basis of Creation in its natural or finite form. We find in genetics that all of life is based upon four letters of the DNA. Physics has four forces. In marriage we have a man and a woman. When the man and woman join each must live in a new way, as one with the other. Thus we have man and woman, two, and then the man relating to the woman and becoming a new essence, and the woman relating to the man and becoming a new essence. These four levels ultimately rise to a transcendence the source of four, man in the "image of G-d."

It is interesting to note what the scientists tell us that we have our DNA curled up into 23 pairs of chromosomes. 22 pairs  are the autosomes giving us our physical characteristics such as hair color. The 23rd pair of chromosomes determines sex male or female.

There are 22 letters of the Torah. But "Derech Erets" the "Way of the Earth" precedes the Torah. Thus, we have 22 plus 1 or 23.

Marriage is the ultimate and highest "way of the earth" meaning humanity and human relations. "Derech Erets" is a source level for the Torah, because the Ari z"l tells us that only a "person"  has who derech erets" can study Torah. Thus, human relations, especially  marriage, are the prerequisite to the 22 letters of the Torah.

In Torah, as in genetics, we have a source level and 22 other levels.

We also note that the demarcation between source and finite rivers is called "separating" or "dividing" Dividing is the first step away from transcendence. Just as dividing begins decline, so does unity elevate and return us to higher dimensions. Marriage begins with separate people, who are on a lower level. It becomes a higher level when the two unite.

II:11 "The name of one was Pishon. That is the one that encircles all of the land of the Chavila where the gold is." Rashi tells us that this is the Nile. The Nile, the rabbis tell us, waters the land of Egypt so that rain is not so necessary. Other countries cannot survive without rain, but Egypt has its lands irrigated by the Nile when it overflows its banks and certain times during the year. Thus, PISHON is from the word for "much" or overflow. This guarantee of water stabilizes the land and allows for much wealth, here we are told the land is also filled with gold. Thus, the land of Chavila was doubly blessed, with a plentiful water supply and also gold. The key idea here is money. Money is very crucial in life, and especially in marriage. The rabbis tell us that when the pantry is bare fighting flares in the house. "He places peace in your environment, He makes you satisfied with the fat wheat."

The river PISHON surrounded the land of HACHAVILA. In Hebrew החוילה has a numerical value of Adam/Chava or Adam and Eve. The PISHON or "overflowing" blessing of monetary sustenance surrounds and empowers the family.

The Zohar and Talmud emphasize that a man must marry only after he has a paid up house and a job. To do otherwise is to spend a life chasing after a dollar and unable to serve G-d, because one is enslaved to a life of chasing and racing. Thus, the first river mentioned in the Torah where we finally get to the marriage of Adam and Eve is about money.

II:12 "And the gold of that land is good. There is the BEDOLACH (pearl) and the precious stone SHOHAM." The first river deals with gold and precious gems. The first river is the highest river. It is PISHON meaning "overflowing" or in the marital sense, it means propagating. The greatest value is in propagation, not living alone for yourself. When we overflow, that is, when we build a family, we have the greatest gold and precious stones. Paradoxically, by giving away we take. By "enslaving" ourselves to children,  losing our free time and pleasurable pursuits, we find gold and pearls. The first river has life as an outflow to others, and from so doing, we obtain the most beautiful things.

"The gold" in Hebrew is הזהב that is numerically the word חוה or "Eve." A man is free to roam. But when he attaches himself to a home, even if it is constricting and limiting, he finds "gold." Only there, in self-abnegation, is there true achievement and value.

In order to marry, a man must appreciate a woman. He just know that two people live in the land of HACHAVILA, which has a numerical value of Adam/Eve. But the man and the home is centered upon the woman, "the gold" that is numerically "Eve." The man enters the home "only with the permission of his wife." The Schechina is in the house in the merit of the man "making his wife rejoice." Not only must the man respect his wife as "gold," but he must reinforce this, in his own mind, in his wife's mind, constantly. Thus, after telling us that the river surrounds the land where there is gold, the Torah continues "and the gold of that land was good." "And the gold" has the numerical value of CHAVO or Eve. Again and again, the man must suggest to himself and to his wife how valuable she is and how fortunate he is to be married to her.

In that country was found HABEDOLACH הבדלח whose numerical value is 49 the same as מדה or "measure." PISHON means "overflow." Marriage and propagation are transcendental experiences. But we must ensconce them in finite vessels. We have to be attached to this world when we fly around in heaven. We must bring everything into an orderly perpsective. Thus, gold is expansion, but we have to use the gold wisely. Putting things in order and their proper place is necessary in a family and in life.

The third valuable stone is EVEN HASHOHAM אבן השהם. The numerical value of this stone is 403, the Hebrew word for crown תג. The wife is the "Crown" of the husband. Meaning, she is higher than him, as in Cabala the female soul is higher. She not he is the Schechina essence and the Schechina rests in the home in her merit and in the merit of her happiness from the husband. But as a crown, higher than the head of the person, she makes him a king. This is reciprocity. The husband gives to the wife, and the wife to the husband. The husband calls his wife "gold" and "Schechina" and she, adorned with majesty and "crown" makes him the king of the house. Thus, reciprocity, not partnership, is the key to marriage.

II:13 "And the name of the second river was GICHON. It circled the land of KUSH." Rashi tells us that GICHON means a great noise. The land of KUSH is a land of dark people, and the KUSHI is mentioned in the bible and Talmud as a dark skinned person. Thus, the second river coming from Eden was the level of great noise and darkness of skin. What does this mean?

The first river was associated with gold as well as precious gems. These are delightful to see. The second river had to do with great noise, the level of hearing. The level of hearing is one without seeing, thus, the association of dark skin, or night and a hidden level. A hidden level is a very high thing. Thus, "I am black and I am beautiful." We find in the Cabala "the beautiful woman who had no eyes." We explain this in our work Secret of the Scale as a beauty of transcendence where the eye, that operates in the finite, cannot see. The true beauty is thus "black," and we quote various sources in the above book to show that very special people were called "black." But this level of beauty is very high and difficult to achieve. In general, we cannot see G-d, but we can "hear" or "sense" Him. This passage tells us that true, the level of sight is paramount in this world, but we must be sensitive to the sounds of Sinai, even though we didn't see too much. In fact, we "saw" the voices, meaning, we comprehended by hearing and by prophecy, but we did not see G-d as we see ordinary finite things. That is the level of gold, the first river. This river reaches higher, into sensing, hearing, without seeing. This is the "black" level.

In marriage, and in all human relations, we deal with people different than we are. We don't readily "see" their good points. We do, however, notice how different they are, and we easily criticize and feel disappointed. The key is to "hear" and transcend what the eye is telling us. This person acts in such a way, which is of course terrible. But "listen," and seek, and you will find a hidden value, something you can appreciate, until the "black" becomes "beautiful." This is the key to marriage and all human relationships.

II:14 "And the name of the third river is HIDEKEL. It flows east of ASHUR. And the fourth river is PEROS." HIDEKEL is the Tigris, flowing to the east of modern Iraq and ancient Babylonia and Assyria. This area of Mesopotamia is called in Hebrew ASHUR, and is one of the very first settlements of people mentioned in the Torah. HIDEKEL in Hebrew means "sharp and swift." The ancient Sumerian name of the river was Idigina meaning a running or swift river.

Here we have the capacity of movement, of going, of human dynamism. Going and finding is a great feature of human experience and spirituality. The river was to "the east of ASHUR." ASHUR in Hebrew means clarified as truth. In life, we get stuck with problems, but we must continue flowing, we have to move, and we will see new things and find that everything makes sense. We have to keep going, even into the next world, to really  understand, but in life, movement is essential. We can't get into a rut and rot there.

Marriage requires this because life is filled with potholes. We can't just sit there in the mud. We have to move, keep living and being sharp about it. Be light on your feet and don't waste your energy kicking the ground. Movement is its own reward.

The ancients believed, as did Aristotle, that movement required constant energy, because the natural state of matter was rest. Newton declared in his first principle of physics that movement was just like rest, and required no new energy. Something pushed in outer space where no friction or gravity impedes the motion will travel forever in motion. Thus, motion, like rest, is an innate property of all matter.

Thus, movement, without impediments, is "sharp and light" and can continue infinitely. Dynamic movement is central to Torah and to marriage. We have to get on the bus and keep riding. Inertia means our efforts, our movements, our deeds have a life of their own, and continue, flowing "sharp and light" despite the appearance of futility.

In marriage, as with motion in our world, gravity and other frictions slow us down and we need constant energy to continue. But those energies, each in of itself, releases a motion and a force that is infinite. Our struggles to love, to accept, to forgive, are infinite.

The HIDEKEL flowed to "the east of ASHUR." ASHUR means truth, or clarifying something as truth. The ability to move, to escape from despair, allows us to continue until we find the truth, about ourselves, about our spouse, about our life. East means the rising of the sun, new light, a new day. Every day is a new day. We have to greet it with light steps, and move, move, move.

The fourth river, the most important for Jews, is PEROS, or the Euphrates. This river, near Israel, and watering Babylonia, Abraham's home and Israel's subsequent place of exile, is called PEROS. What does this mean? PEROS seems to resemble the word PERI or fruit. Indeed, Rashi tells us PEROS "that its waters are fruitful and multiply and cure the person." How do waters become fruitful and how do they multiply and why do they cure people?

The first river is gold and precious stones; we gaze upon them and fill ourselves with pleasure. The second river is a loud and noisy one. Now we relate to others, we sound off, we make our presence felt. The third river tells us to get moving, to escape the ruts in life. The fourth river tells us that when we get sick, the river will cure us. Why will it cure us? Its waters "are fruitful and multiply." What does this mean?

The Talmud tells us that marital intimacy is "the maker of peace." Sexuality is a gift that brings two snarling people together in blessed peace. This river is the capacity of peace, or transcendence, to create fruition and to multiply what we are, through procreation and through self-actualization in marriage.

II:15: "And the L-d G-d took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden, to work it and to guard it." What does it mean "took the man"? Does it mean a physical taking? Adam is created outside of the Garden, obviously, and then is "taken" into the Garden of Eden. He is assigned a task "to work it and to guard it." What work and what guarding and from what must he guard?

We know from the above passages and our exegesis that Four Rivers from Eden watered the Garden. Each of these rivers deposited in the Garden a unique characteristic. But each of these characteristics could be good or bad. For instance, the first river is associated with gold and gems, which we interpret to mean the pleasure of the eye. The pleasure of the eye is a wonderful thing when used properly, but it can lead to the worst problems. The first river therefore has good and bad associated with it; it is a challenge, and opportunity, or a trap.

The second river "roars" and is about hearing. Here, sight is blocked out and we have the land of KUSH or "black." Black can mean not seeing, and being bereft of sight, or it can enable us to hear transcendence. We can be "I am black and I am beautiful" and find beauty and new dimensions when we cannot see directly. Here we are challenged to rise above our failings and imperfections to see new sights, perhaps in new ways. Taken properly, we achieve new knowledge. Taken dispiritedly, we fail.

The third river is about "movement" and we can go quickly from here to there. We can go to new places, we can achieve new things, or we can run away from responsibility and refuse to finish a job.

The fourth river is PEROS about procreation. We can enter the infinite with procreation and become creators, or we can multiply ourselves, with no regard to the future. We can have children and give our lives for them, or we can have children and treat them like a burden.

Adam is the purpose of this Garden of Eden. His life will be accepting the challenge of the Four RIvers. Will he see delightful things and become filled with evil desires, or will he see beautiful trees and be inspired to think about the Creator? Will he find his sight blocked and refuse to struggle, or will he struggle with his blocked sight and listen carefully to higher things? Will he learn to run and go higher and higher, or will he become a quick-footed quitter? Will he procreate and be devoted to his children, or will he treat them like slaves?

Adam had to "work" the Garden, to allow the Rivers to do their proper work. He had to "work" by realizing the good aspects of the Four Rivers, and he had to "guard" against the evil side of the Four Rivers.

II:16 "And the L-d God commanded upon the man saying: 'From all of the trees of the Garden you may surely eat." "Commanded upon the man" indicates something falling down  upon the man. Why does it not simply state "commanded the man"?

When we eat the delicious fruit of the Garden of Eden, we don't do this as a hedonist. We eat because this is the way of Creation. Eating delicious things and enjoying life is truly wonderful delicious and pleasure some. But this is not a mere corporal gratification experience, but rather, one done with awe. A heavy yoke descends from heaven when we sit to eat. In respect and cognizant of our divine soul, we sit at the table, and enjoy our food, but we do so with a respect for the Creator who prepared out table and is watching us eat. Ultimately, when done properly, this is the greatest pleasure, as it transcends the tiny seconds of biological happiness and unites us with the Source of Happiness.

"You may surely eat" and enjoy, but only if you feel the  yoke of being a higher human.

This is a crucial attitude towards eating and towards marriage. The Cabala classic Raishis Chochmo tells us that in eating and in marital intimacy we enjoy, but we do so as one whose food is upon a holy altar. We respect our body, and we respect our soul, and when both are in sync, we enter a new dimension and achieve a pleasure with its Source.

II:17 "And from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil do not eat from it. Because on the day that you eat from it you will surely die." Was it necessary to say this? If G-d commands something does He have to threaten? Furthermore, Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge and lived afterwards almost a thousand years.

The Talmud says, "A poor person is like a dead person." The poor person of the Talmud was someone, says the Medrash, who goes hungry he and his family because he has no money. Such a person has no life and is considered "dead" such is his misery. He breathes and biologically he is alive, but such a life is a death.

The two trees in the Garden of Eden were the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. We find nothing about the Tree of Life, although it was in the center of the Garden. But had Adam refrained from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge he would have attained "life" in its higher sense. When someone is very happy, he says, "Now, that is living." Adam, if he obeyed G-d, would have enjoyed the Garden of Eden and found transcendence, the great pleasure of this world and the next. Such would be "living." But when he ate from the Tree of Knowledge, he lost everything. G-d drove him out of the Garden that was Paradise and into a world of misery and suffering. This was "death" for Adam.

What was wrong with the Tree of Knowledge? And why did it result in such a punishment?

G-d created the universe as a challenge for people. The Creation was an opportunity for people to withstand challenge and enter the Portals of Paradise forever. What was the challenge?

Creation is about evil. G-d created evil to test people. Ideally, people would consider evil as if it was a poisonous snake, a raging tiger, a tornado, and stay away from it. People ensconced in the security of their piety dwell with the Divine Presence or Schechina, and outside, in the "woods" the evil forces lurk, but we don't see them, or don't relate to them.

People who are busy with the Divine Presence or Schechina, living as G-d commands, feel close to G-d and goodness, and have no real knowledge of evil. It is something removed from their dimension. Once we get to know evil, we are removed from the "paradise" level of goodness.

I have done a lot of work with very sick people. It is hard for me to explain to other people about them. When I began, professionals and experts would try to conceal their mirth at my naivety. But I learned. Once we learn about these things, some shade of innocence is pierced. Someone like myself who learns to help people can hope that the good deeds purify me. But someone who just is curious about perversity will be infected. Knowing evil is, to a degree, becoming evil. And knowing evil is a kind of death, or cessation of innocence and purity. It is a far cry from knowing, for not good reasons, evil, and the Tree of Life.

These are important ideas. What we know is what we are. If we know in order to fight it, this is praiseworthy, but still dangerous. But not knowing at all, innocence, is so lovely. We try to achieve innocence and purity in our own minds and marriages, family and children. We are what we know. Knowing about evil somehow influences or infects us, unless we learn to fight it, and even then, it may be deleterious. We must fight and we must pray.

II:18: "And the L-d G-d said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make for him a helper opposite him."  We have traced the passage of Creation, in this chapter, chapter two, from the conclusion of Creation, and Shabbos, to a reiterating of the story of Creation, until now, marriage. What are the phases; what are the stages? We have studied the Creation as something for man. All that is in the universe is for man, and man is created to conquer evil and to turn it to goodness. But what is a man? What is his purpose, his role, and what must he do to merit the mighty honor of being the centerpiece of Creation?

Man is created for the challenge of evil, but evil is too strong to be easily conquered. Man must have a wife to sustain his goodness. The Cabalists teach us that the female soul is higher than the male soul. But this requires that male and female have different roles. The female is too high and angelic to venture into the street. The Evil Force doesn't mind a man in the street, because the man is not so high. But a woman who ventures into the street meets the full power of the Evil Force.

A woman ensconced in her home and family is so holy that the Schechinah dwells with her and blesses her home and her husband. He cannot find the Schechinah on his own. Therefore, "it is not good for a man to be alone."

The woman is therefore, for the man, a "helper". But life is for challenge. Therefore, she is also "opposite him," and a challenge of her own.

Marriage requires us to have two eyes. One eye sees the "helper" in the spouse, and the other eye sees the "challenge." And both eyes must agree to persevere, unify and find love and proper relationship.

Obviously, from the Creation story, the world was created for men, and the woman is a "helper opposite him." On the one hand, she, the last Creation, is the highest one, because Creation went from lower to higher. On the other hand, the man was the centerpiece of Creation. On the one hand the woman is only a helper, and yet, she is also "opposite" or "against" him. The key, however, is how the man treats his wife. It is his world, and it is his marriage to make or break. The idea of partnership was rejected by Freud as unattainable, and it is. On the other hand, the Cabalistic and rabbinical ideas of marriage are that of the woman as "the crown of her husband." In Cabala this means that the crown is the highest level, and is above the king. But the crown itself is hidden and is not directly part of the body. It may be incomprehensible. The woman is the "crown." The man needs a proper respect and honor for the crown. If he acts properly, the crown will release her great powers for goodness as a "help." Otherwise, he gets the full blast of her great "strength" and "fire" and his life will be "an evil wife is worse than death."

II:19: "And the L-d G-d fashioned from the ground all living creatures of the field, and all of the fowl of the heaven, and He brought to Adam to see what he would call them. And  of the living beings all that Adam would call it is its name." G-d decided in the past passage to find a mate for Adam, but suddenly, He changes direction and brings Adam the animals and fowls to be named. What does this have to do with marriage? And if it not related to marriage, why does the Torah interrupt the marriage narrative with the naming narrative? Indeed, it seems that G-d stopped His creation of a wife for Adam to bring Adam the animals to be named. This seems confusing.

Perhaps the most crucial ingredient in a marriage is self-pride and confidence. A husband who feels great, who just made a lot of money, comes into the house and showers light and love. A husband who feels lousy, who just lost a lot of money, comes into the house and ... Therefore, the idea of marriage required that both Adam and Eve feel good about themselves. G-d makes Adam feel good when Adam is honored with naming all of the living creatures in the field and heaven. Later, Adam was to do the same with Eve. He was to make her feel good, as the Zohar teaches, with the words mentioned in the Torah. "This is the woman" and "this is a woman" are interpreted by the Zohar as endearing phrases allowing Eve to recognize how much Adam appreciated and loved her. G-d did this with Adam, showing how much G-d appreciated him.

G-d "fashioned" the living creatures, but Adam would name them. G-d's creating is really what people make of it. For better or worse. Marriage is the same. G-d made us, and heaven influences our choice of a mate. But what the spouses do on their own defines their marriage.

II:20 "And Adam named all of the animals and the fowl of the heaven and to all of the wild creatures of the field; and for Adam he did not find a helpmate opposite him."

We see that the naming had a connection to marriage. Adam named the beasts but at the same time, Adam was looking for another creation to share his life with. He named the animals and participated with them in the function of the Creation. This was a relationship and allowed Adam to relate to others. This is crucial as the entire Creation is G-d seeking out a relationship with others. He created them and wants them to behave in a way He can relate to them and have pleasure from them. Relating to others is crucial to marriage. Adam was initiated into the process of relating to others by naming the wild creatures. But this did not satisfy Adam's need for a wife. In fact, it whetted his need for a wife. Thus, "and for Adam he did not find a helpmate opposite him."

What was wrong? What was lacking in the animals? They were fine and functional, each to his own, but Adam did not find a "helpmate opposite him." What does this mean?

There are people who own dogs and cats, birds and other pets. They spend much time and money on these creatures. One reason is that a human being has a need to love others, and has a need for others to need and love him. A dog is fine for this. The owner loves the dog and likes the dog's love, devotion, and need for the owner's food and lodging, as well as companionship. But a dog, even a delightful pet, is not "a helpmate opposite." Only marriage can supply that.

Rashi tells us something else. G-d brought the animals to Adam male and female. Adam learned from this that Creation is of matched mates. Adam then asked, "All of these have mates, but not me." When Adam said this, G-d immediately put him to sleep, and created Eve.

Marriage is very hard. A wife can be a wife, and is a help, but she is also "opposite," in many ways. We are not always ready for another person, no matter how special they are. Marriage requires that we see it as essential and fundamental to life, the style of Creation. Adam first realized that marriage was not a whim, not a search for meaning or pleasure, but fundamental to being a living Creation. Only then was he ready to shoulder the vicissitudes of marriage.

II:21 "And the L-d G-d brought a deep sleep upon Adam and he slept. And He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh underneath it." Some learn that Eve was part of Adam, on the outside, on his side, not a rib. Others learn she was a tail. It depends how we translate TSELA that can mean a side, a rib, or even a tail. At any rate, she was subordinate to him, but she was there, when Adam was created, in some form. This passage raises some questions:

One, what was the status of Eve? And why was she subordinate? What is the idea of the opinion that she was a "tail"? We delve into this in depth in our book Secret of the Scale, but here we touch on the issue as part of the exegesis.

Why did Adam have to sleep? The plain interpretation is that he was put to sleep so as not to see G-d removing Eve and turning her from a tail, a side, or a rib, into something lovely and wonderful. Is there another reason?

Adam, without a fully developed Eve, was in a state, according to the biblical narrative of "it is not good for a man to be alone." This, the rabbis teach us, means that a single man is "not good" and even in a state of evil. Goodness comes from marriage, and without it, one is deprived of goodness.

In Cabala, this means the female has the Schechinah and it blesses the home. It means also that the man himself is improved by the woman until he becomes "good." It also means that the man's evil inclinations are satisfied properly by the wife, whereas a single man has no proper outlet.

On the one hand, everything is Adam. But if goodness comes from the wife, is she not higher?

The wife is an angelic level, formed from a human being, whereas Adam was created from dirt. Eve, created from a rib, or bone, seems to be higher than Adam created from dirt.

The universe was created for a man, but the definition of a man is one who is fulfilled with two people, male and female. Man needs a woman to achieve his spiritual and worldly goals. The woman is different, perhaps more spiritual and removed from sin than the man, but the two of them make up "man" and are one. The man rules the public dimension and the wife rules the home, but the two are one. The male lives to "honor his wife more than himself" and the wife lives "to fulfill the will of her husband." This is not a partnership. It is a process of reciprocity. The man gives all; the wife gives all. They give and get a good marriage, hopefully.

The wife, as tail, side, or rib, was created at a much higher level than Adam, created of dirt, dust and mud. She represents the capacity of Adam to find within himself the process of love and giving and thereby becoming "good." The Ari z"l says that the female soul is higher than the soul of the male. But in this world, the female supports the male as a "helpmate opposite." However, feminism, as we explain in our book Secret of the Scale in great detail, is rooted in the other wife of Adam, the failed marriage of Lilith, whereby Adam had to rise to a great challenge from a wife who was all challenge. Although Adam failed with Lilith, G-d wanted the challenge to be resolved. Throughout history, the essence of Lilith enters other women and is resolved, as we detail in our book.

Sleeping is an interesting state. On the one hand, the person is not conscious. On the other hand, why did G-d make a person who spends so much time sleeping? Rocks don't sleep; why do people? One idea is that people need to rest. But to rest so many hours a day seems to make no sense. The Cabalists tell us that in sleep the soul rises from the body into heaven where it is sanctified by a higher dimension if it is worthy. The person then awakes refreshed physically and spiritually. Adam, to achieve marriage, had to enter a very high dimension. To achieve this, he had to "sleep" and after a deep sleep, his soul emerged refreshed and strengthened. He was able to approach marriage.

Sleep is also a metaphor and a hint that people who approach marriage often go through a dizzying and confusing period where things are not understood. By persevering, a man may merit to find a wife, after all of the false hopes. Somehow, the sleep modifies and elevates a person, to be more humble and more holy and thus able to deal with others rather than his own selfish wants. Nothing can be more important in marriage.

II:22 "And the L-d G-d built the rib that He took from the man into a woman and He brought her to the man." The creation of Adam was G-d blowing His breath into a mud man. The creation of Eve was "building" a bone. This was an ISHO from an ISH, a woman from a man. What does this signify?

One idea relative to marriage is that the man must see himself as the source for the woman. A woman can be a "rib" or a "side" or even a "tail," and the man must make her into something superior, "the crown of her husband." The glory of the woman is the pride of the man. Giving and creating makes the woman, but it makes the man.

Thus, the process of marriage is the male giving and the female becoming as a result of that giving.

There are two women, identical except for their husbands. One one has a husband who showers her with love and kindness, and she prospers. The other woman has a cold and cruel husband, and she withers. There are various ways of withering, but becoming cold and cruel, hating and hurting, is the worst.

Another idea is that the man must see the woman as an extension of himself, as an improvement. She issued from his body; she is him. But she raises him. A man alone is "not good" and a married man is "good." Appreciating this, in of itself, raises the man. Refusing to recognize this violates the major message of Creation, the process of marriage and family.

II:23 "And the man said, 'This time is the bone of my bones and the flesh from my flesh. To this shall be called "woman" because from a man this was taken."

Before Adam married Eve he named the wild creatures. He learned to relate to other things. But he did not find "bone of  my bones." Eve was "woman" or wife because she was from Adam's essence, his bones and his flesh. Therefore, Adam could relate to her.

A woman is "bone" and "flesh." Bone is hard and flesh is soft. A woman is "a helpmate opposite" the man. Sometimes she is a "help" and sometimes she is "opposite." She is ideally created to supply both challenge and support to man. The Talmud says that a woman is capable to doing two opposite things simultaneously. A woman, with her challenge can support a man. A man must continue to love and value his wife at all stages of their relationship, and ultimately, the "good" will come through. When it doesn't, we have a problem and maybe even a divorce. In truth, one  must merit a good marriage, and not everyone merits it.

Within a marriage, there can be good days and the other kind. That is why the couple must be of one origin, one "bone" and "flesh" to survive the vicissitudes of marriage and life.

The Zohar says that these words indicate the obligation of the man to utter endearing phrases to his wife, especially when he comes to her in intimacy. "This time" meaning at last I have found the woman I want. She is special and above all others.

The level of intimacy revolves around the words preceding it, and the mood the words set.

In truth, every word the man says to the woman for days before the intimacy goes into the process of intimacy. But words spoken at the time of intimacy are especially cogent.

II:24: "Therefore, a man will leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife and they will be one flesh." Three stages are presented: leaving the parents, clinging to the wife, and becoming one flesh. At first, one merely "clings" to the wife and they are two separate people. But the next phase is for them to be "one flesh."

The unity of "one flesh" is much greater than being with parents. On the other hand, parental bonds are biological and irrevocable, but marriage can end. Thus, the "one flesh" of marriage being that it is not biological in nature but rather a product of "clinging" and mental decisions, is fragile and needs constant encouragement and strengthening.

Indeed, in marriage itself there are various levels. There is a time when Torah Jews separate from intimacy from their wives, during the menstrual periods. Therapists say that this is very important: people need time for themselves. They need to be away from the constant pressure for sex. Knowing that the Torah requires a separation allows people to have this period without any guilt or pressure.

Husband and wife are "one flesh" but they are two separate people. Marriage does not subsume the individuality but rather offers it another avenue of expression. When marriage nullifies one's personality there are problems.

Let us return now to the first of the three stages here: leaving the parents.

This is very crucial, not just for the man, but for the parents as well. Letting a child leave is not easy. It may not even seem fair. Here is a mother who spent years caring for her little boy, and now, he is going away to marry another woman. Some mothers rejoice, and some mothers are bitter. Indeed, the Talmud says that the relationship between the mother-in-law and the wife is tenuous. There are two women demanding his love and that is quite a trick. In truth, the Torah tells us that now the wife is the primary woman in his life, but the mother may not accept this.

The same is true of a mother with a daughter. A mother cannot or will not always let go. I once came to a divorce court and a woman was crying copious tears. Obviously, getting a divorce was not the happiest thing for her. The husband seemed a lovely fellow, handsome, wealthy, pleasant, and he wanted the marriage, but the wife wanted a divorce. It made no sense. Then, in walks the wife's mother. She gave a look to the husband that said, "Aha! I won." She was so happy, and the daughter? That was not the main thing to the mother. The mother had her daughter back. Who says it is illegal to murder people?

In my family we are very anxious to "help" our children leave. We work so hard to find someone for them, and when we finally come to the wedding, are we exhausted, but you would never notice it. We are so  happy to see them leave. And the children reciprocate this. They appreciate our working so hard to find them a proper mate.

Once, at a wedding of a child, someone came to wish me mazel tov, and I noticed his son with him. The son was not married, and he was not getting younger. So I said to the boy, in front of his father, "Run away from home." The father was upset. He said, "Do you tell  your children to run away from home?" I replied, "I tell my children, 'at such and such a time, you are leaving. If you want to marry, fine, and if not, just leave.'"

When my daughter became a teen, I turned to her at the Shabbos table and asked, "When are you leaving?" She smiled and blushed. That is  happiness for a child, the knowledge that the parents are going to do their job. It is not an easy job, and the child is worried. The parents have to indicate to the child that they are going to help them "leave."

But sometimes the parents don't do their job. The parents may hang on. Some very fine and lovely parents destroy the lives of their children by hanging on. Someone called up a parents with an old child and suggested a certain match. The parent replied, "I don't think so." There are different levels of child abuse, and some of them are legal, and lethal.

II:25 "And the two were naked the man and his wife and they were not ashamed." The Hebrew for what we translated "and they were not ashamed" is a bit complex. It does not say the simple form "BOSHU" it says the complex form of "YISBOSHOSHU" much longer and more complicated than necessary. The literal translation of YISBOSHOSHU changes our working translation of "were ashamed" to be a future passive "they would not become ashamed." But what does that mean?

We could explain that when one shows great love to another with abandon and then comes to himself, he may feel a flush of embarrassment for losing himself. But Adam and Eve in their state of rapture did not feel any shame. Although our love and intimacy always ends with the dissipation of our energy or emotion, the perfect Paradise of Adam and Eve allowed them to rise higher and higher with their love, which was one continuum achieving geometric elevations, and they never paused for anything, and certainly were not embarrassed.

Thus, they did not "YISBOSHOSHU" become ashamed, even as the power of love increased more and more with each moment, and by nature there should have been some shame, but there was not. The love increased and the absence of shame increased. This was paradise.

In the Future World, we will merit to achieve love and intimacy with much stronger energies than exist in this mortal and finite world. Although in this world we only know about limited pleasures, the One who created them created the Future World with vastly greater pleasures. Our pleasures are those of nerve endings and blood flows, finite levels of biology that are limited and cease rather quickly. In the Future World, the One who created these minor pleasures will reveal infinite pleasures of the LO YISOBOSHU variety, never ending, rising higher and higher, geometrically, new dimension opening to new dimensions.

We have thus resolved the difficult spelling of the word for shame YISBOSHOSHU. There is, however, another translation, that of Targum Yonoson. He disagrees with the above translation on two major accounts. The word we translated "naked" he translates as "wise." The we word we translated as "ashamed" he translates "did not tarry." That is, the Targum Yonoson translates the passage as follows, "And the two were wise, Adam and his wife, and they did not tarry in their glory." What does this mean?

Creation was for challenge. Creation was to reveal evil and to transform it to goodness. Darkness was created to become light. But when Adam and Eve were in the Garden, living in Paradise, achieving the highest levels of wisdom, there was no challenge. Evil did not exist, and there was no process of changing it to goodness. Therefore, the experience of Adam and Eve was a violation of the entire purpose of Creation. For this the Targum Yonoson remarks that "they would not tarry in their glory" because this world is not the Next World. Here is challenge, not reward. The reward would await the conquest of challenge, requiring the entrance of the Snake.

Marriage and family can be a great pleasure or a great problem. It can be both, and it is often both. When we accept that this world is not paradise, but we will await paradise, and family challenges will bring us to paradise, we are doing fine. What we have in marriage and family is not the end of the line. Challenge and difficulties await us, but we persevere. We know the rules. G-d is faithful to those who keep the faith. Goodness may hide its face, but it is there, and our faith reveals it.

Adam and Eve had "wisdom" and pleasure, but not for this did G-d create the world. Now would begin a process of confusion instead of wisdom, and pain instead of pleasure. But within the kernel of life, beneath the layers of pain and confusion, is the soul of life, and the promise of paradise.

The word AIRUMIM means either "naked" or "wise." The root ORUM is used for both. However, we want to note that although we translated "wise" ARUM usually means "clever," with a tendency to trick. It is important to note this because the challenge from the Snake was from the "most clever" of the creatures in the world. The Torah tells us that Adam and Eve were wise and clever, and if they had really wanted to, they could have withstood his wiliness. But the challenge, and the primal need for the revelation of evil, ruined paradise and created exile.

Chapter three begins, III:1 "And the snake was more clever than all of the wild creatures of the field that the L-d G-d made. And he said to the woman, 'It is true that G-d said, 'Do not eat from all of the trees of the Garden?"

The story of the Snake and Eve is strange because it makes Eve look like a silly person, destroying the world for the wiles of a tricky reptile. If G-d told her not to eat how could she eat? Why did Adam not refuse to eat when G-d told him not to eat? The story is obviously missing something.

Let us return to the last word of the final passage of Chapter Two, which is the passage before this one. It is the word "YISHBOSHOSHU." We mentioned that Adam and Eve were in the Garden and they were AIRUMIM and did not YISBOSHOSHU. Two translations for these two words are "wise" and "did not tarry" and "naked" and "were not ashamed." Thus, one translation is, "And Adam and his wife were naked and they were not ashamed." The other translation is, "Adam and his wife were wise, and they did not tarry in their glory." Let us now turn to this latter translation, of Targum Yonoson.

The translation of the passage is "Adam and his wife were wise and they did not tarry in their glory." Why not? Because the next passage, and Chapter Three, that this passage begins, tell of the Snake and the sin of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Thus, "they did not tarry in their glory" is because of what will soon happen. But this is a very strange way of narrating a story. Let us say we are narrating a story that the players in the story are walking and then they will slip in the mud. Does the narrator tip his hand and tell us "they were walking nice and fine but this won't last"? Of course not. The narrator does not tell us a fact and then tell us that the fact will change. He shows that by the narrative, not by telling us, "Now they were walking but soon they will be slipping." He makes two sentence: They walked. They slipped. So why does the Torah tell us, in advance, of Adam and Eve's failure?

Probably, the idea is that Adam and Eve were in a state whereby what they were doing at that time caused them to fail with the challenge of the Snake. But what was it? And what hints are there in the narrative itself to point us to the failure?

The passage says, "And the two were wise, Adam and his wife, and they did not tarry in their glory." We have wisdom, and we Adam and his wife, but what connection does that have with the sin of the forbidden fruit?

The Zohar says that Adam and Eve, in the Paradise of the Garden of Eden, were on a level far removed from us. First of all G-d created Adam and Eve directly. They were not born of mortals. G-d spoke to Adam and he was supremely holy and wise, as was Eve. What was it like in that dimension?  The Zohar tells us that Adam and Eve were created and were to marry. Did they? Some say they did marry in the Garden of Eden and had children, but the Zohar indicates that they did not. In fact, the Zohar feels that the attempt at marriage in the Garden of Eden, the approach to marital intimacy, was marred and ruined. From this ruination came the destruction of Adam and Eve.

There are thus two approaches to the sin of Adam and Eve. Rashi teaches that Adam and Eve copulated in the Garden of Eden in public and were not ashamed. This aroused the Snake who destroyed Adam and Eve. The Zohar teaches that Adam and Eve, on the way to intimacy, were blocked by the Snake. Had Adam and Eve copulated in the Garden of Eden, the Snake would probably have no power over them. Thus, the Snake blocked them before they copulated in marital intimacy, and they sinned.

What happened?

The two above translations and interpretations deal with two fundamentals. G-d created the universe so that evil could be transformed, by people, to good. Thus, evil is primary, for it is the purpose of creation, albeit in a negative way. The process of evil is part of the divine plan. Evil actually conceals the greatest good, awaiting human struggle. An angel, the Satan, is assigned the task of administering challenge and doing evil. The Snake was this force.

The evil force overpowers in two ways, or at two times. One way is when the universe loses its capacity of challenge, and thus violates its purpose. When there is too much light so evil cannot survive, the Evil Force, under the Satan, is commanded to restore the balance, so the universe can continue in its planned purpose of challenge.

Another way of evil to be aroused is when people face a challenge and fail. When the do, the evil force is aroused.

These two ideas are the two translations above. First, we deal with the translation that Adam and Eve copulated happily in the Garden of Eden, pure and holy, and were not embarrassed. This public flaunting of all challenge was a violation of Creation. Without challenge, without evil, the world had no purpose. Therefore the Snake was aroused to provided challenge. He did, as usual, "too good" of a job, and Adam and Eve sinned and were expelled from the Garden.

The other interpretation, that Adam and Eve were "wise" but "did not tarry in their glory" deals, as we will explain, with the other facet of evil and challenge. When people are presented a challenge and do not fulfill their task, the evil force is aroused.

As we will see, Adam and Eve failed in a certain challenge and thus "did not tarry in their glory."

What was their failure? How is it hinted in the passage?

"And the two were wise, Adam and his wife, and they did not tarry in their glory." "And the two were wise" is about wisdom. "Adam and his wife" indicates a marital relationship. "And they did not tarry in their glory." The glory was their marital relationship and wisdom. In what way did they fail? What caused them not to tarry in their glory? It seems that something in their wisdom and marital relationship failed and this caused them not to tarry in their glory.

The Zohar says that Adam and Eve married, as other people do, but their ceremony and marital process was, as befitting people in the Garden of Eden, on a higher and more spiritual plane. One reason for this is that, as we mentioned, their environment and essence were above what other people have. But there is another reason.

Adam and Eve were the purpose of Creation. The final and highest act of Creation was their marriage. The marriage thus was two things: It was the culmination of Creation. It was the beginning of the function of the world under the control of people, rather than the Creator. The marriage of Adam and Eve, therefore,  united the Creation made by G-d with the function of Creation governed by people. Adam and Eve, in marriage, were the primal power that began human life and would enable it. This required a very high level.

The Creation and the Torah are governed by divine processes and systems, whose highest levels are divine lights as letters. These lights and letters are "wisdom" because they impart wisdom and knowledge of holiness to people. Adam and Eve, in marriage, enabled the process of knowing G-d and all that people needed to know to function according to the Torah in G-d's Creation.

But marriage itself is a process of knowledge, "and Adam knew his wife." What does this mean?

Each person is a body and a soul. Sexuality is biological pleasure and the knowledge of the other, the respect and love for one another. Thus, marriage is a process of "wisdom" and personal intimacy. Ideally, marriage unites the "wisdom" and knowledge with the corporal human marital processes.

A marriage ideally allows people to attain everything, the highest and the most base, in a unified manner. Because men and women have powerful sexual desires, marriage must satisfy them in in that regard. Indeed, a major and prime purpose of marriage is to save people from lust for others. A test for the success of marriage is when people are not interested in anyone but their spouse.

The Zohar says that Adam and Eve in their marital process had to fulfill both aspects, the spiritual and material, and come to a true love even as they invoked the letters, lights, and holy forces that produce souls of babies. The final test would be if the marriage blocked off interest in others.

Originally, Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden and the angels were in heaven, with G-d. The Garden was not Eden; it was a lower place. Indeed, Adam and Eve never saw Eden. Angels did not see anything special in the Garden so they ignored it, until Adam and Eve began their marital ceremony. It seems that some angels came to the marital ceremony as a kindness, but not for their own purposes. But as the marital ceremony progressed, as Adam and Eve began going through the letters of the alphabet, invoking higher and holier lights, the angels became interested, and finally, amazed. They began to realize the power of the lower Creation of mortals, and realized that it was so high and holy that even angels had much to learn from it. As Adam and Eve  approached the letter TSADIK that is about intimacy, the holiness became so strong that all of the angels in heaven went to the Garden of Eden, all, except two, the angels of Evil, Saml and Lili.

At first, Saml and Lili ignored what was happening, but when they realized that heaven was empty except for them, they became concerned. Was this not a violation of the rules? Could people achieve what Adam and Eve wanted to do? If such holiness came into the world, evil would obviously lose out, and Saml and Lili had a job to do. But what could they possibly do if all of the angels were in the Garden watching the marriage process? But after al