Torah as the Tree of Life repairing Adam's sin

במד' וכי תבואו כו' ונטעתם כו' הה"ד עץ חיים היא כו'.

In the Midrash on "And when you come… and you shall plant…": this is what is written, "It is a Tree of Life…"

The Midrash links the mitzvah of planting trees upon entering Eretz Yisrael (the laws of orlah) to the pasuk "Eitz chaim hi" — the Torah is the true Tree of Life (Mishlei 3:18).

וכל המדרש שם מי יגלה עפר מעיניך אדה"ר שלא המתנת שעה ובניך ממתינין לערלה ג' שנים.

And the whole Midrash there: "Who will remove the dust from your eyes, Adam HaRishon — for you did not wait a single hour, yet your children wait three years for orlah."

The Midrash contrasts Adam, who could not wait even an hour before eating from the forbidden tree, with his descendants who patiently wait three years (the years of orlah) before eating a tree's fruit.

הענין הוא כי אלה המצות הם תקונים לחטאו של אדה"ר.

The matter is that these mitzvos are rectifications for the sin of Adam HaRishon.

The mitzvos connected to eating fruit — orlah and the like — serve to repair the cheit of Adam, who sinned through eating.

ולא בא המד' לדבר ח"ו על מעלת אדה"ר באמרו מי יגלה כו' רק לומר כי בזה מתקנים את החטא.

And the Midrash did not come, chas v'shalom, to speak disparagingly of the greatness of Adam HaRishon in saying "Who will remove…" — but only to say that through this the sin is rectified.

The Sefas Emes clarifies that the Midrash is not belittling Adam, but rather pointing out how his descendants' patience repairs his lapse.

דכתי' ויטע כו' גן כו' וישם שם כו' האדם כו'.

For it is written, "And He planted… a garden… and He placed there… the man…"

The Torah recounts that Hashem planted Gan Eden and placed Adam there (Bereishis 2:8).

א"כ הי' רצון הבורא ית' שהאדם יהי' בג"ע ובוודאי נתקיים רצונו ית'.

If so, it was the will of the Creator that the man be in Gan Eden, and surely His will is fulfilled.

Since Hashem desired Adam to dwell in Gan Eden, that ratzon must ultimately be realized — it cannot be permanently thwarted.

והגם דכתי' אח"כ ויגרש כו' האדם.

And although it is written afterward, "And He banished… the man."

Even though Adam was subsequently expelled from the Garden…

היו התיקונים אח"כ מבחוץ ע"י התורה ובהמ"ק.

…the rectifications were thereafter made from outside, through the Torah and the Bais Hamikdash.

The repair could still be accomplished even outside Gan Eden — through Torah and the Bais Hamikdash, which restore access to that lost closeness.

כדכתי' וכי תבואו כו' ונטעתם שיוכלו להתדבק בשורש עץ החיים ע"י התורה ומצות רמז לדבר דכתי' אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם שנכתב לרבותא לשבח המצות שיכולין עי"ז להתדבק בעץ החיים.

As it is written, "And when you come… and you shall plant" — that they may cleave to the root of the Tree of Life through the Torah and mitzvos; a hint to this is what is written, "which a person shall do and live by them," which was written as an emphasis, to praise the mitzvos, that through them one can cleave to the Tree of Life.

Through Torah and mitzvos one re-attaches to the Eitz HaChaim. "Va'chai bahem" ("and live by them," Vayikra 18:5) is stated emphatically to extol the mitzvos: they grant a share in eternal life, the very life of the Tree of Life.

כמ"ש וחיי עולם נטע בתוכנו כלפי מ"ש פן ישלח ידו כו' וחי לעולם.

As we say, "and He planted eternal life within us" — corresponding to what is written, "lest he stretch out his hand… and live forever."

The berachah over Torah, "chayei olam nata be-socheinu," answers the verse where Adam was barred from the Tree of Life "lest he live forever." The Torah implants within us that very eternal life that Adam was denied.

והתורה היא הגן עדן ועה"ח וע"ז נאמר גן נעול גל נעול.

And the Torah is the Gan Eden and the Tree of Life, and about this is said, "a locked garden… a locked spring."

The Torah itself is the true Gan Eden and Eitz HaChaim. The pasuk "gan na'ul" (Shir HaShirim 4:12) alludes to the Torah's hidden, guarded inner depths.

תורה שבכתב ג"ן סדרים דאורייתא ושבע"פ.

The Written Torah — the 53 (gan) sedarim of the Torah — and the Oral Torah.

"Gan" (numerically 53) hints at the sedarim of the Torah; the doubled "gan… gal" alludes to both the Written and the Oral Torah.

וכמ"ש לעבדה ולשמרה ודרשו חז"ל לעבדה במ"ע ול"ת רק אז הי' ברוחניות יותר ואח"כ הי' בהתלבשות עוד לבושים.

And as it is written, "to work it and to guard it," and Chazal expounded "to work it" as the positive mitzvos and "to guard it" as the negative mitzvos — only that then it was more in a spiritual form, and afterward it became clothed in further garments.

Adam's task in the Garden, "le-ovdah u-le-shomrah," is read by Chazal as the mitzvos asei and lo saaseh. Before the sin these were observed in a more spiritual mode; after it, the same mitzvos took on more physical "garments."

ולכן נתרבו האזהרות ולעולם כן הוא.

And therefore the prohibitions multiplied, and so it always is.

After the sin, additional safeguards and prohibitions were needed — a pattern that recurs whenever there is a descent.

ולכן יש ג' שנים ערלה עתה.

And therefore there are now three years of orlah.

The three-year orlah restriction is one such added safeguard, born of the post-sin reality.

ובאמת כאותו הענין נתקיים בנו אח"כ שנתגרשנו גם מא"י ובהמ"ק.

And in truth, the same matter was fulfilled in us afterward, that we too were banished from Eretz Yisrael and the Bais Hamikdash.

The pattern of Adam's expulsion repeated itself for Bnei Yisrael: we were exiled from the Land and the Mikdash — our own "Gan Eden."

ומ"מ יש לנו לבטוח כי גם מבחוץ נוכל לתקן ולמצוא הארות הראשונות.

And nevertheless, we must trust that even from outside we can rectify and find the original illuminations.

Just as Adam's sin could be repaired from outside the Garden, so too in galus, with bitachon, we can still rectify and recover the original lights — through Torah and mitzvos.

ולכן ניתוסף עתה סייגים וגדרים יותר.

And therefore more safeguards and fences were added now.

In galus, additional protective enactments and boundaries are given to help us in the harder conditions.

אבל לעולם יש לנו חלק בעה"ח ע"י התורה ומצות הגם שהוא מבחוץ כענין ויגרש את האדם כנ"ל.

But we always have a portion in the Tree of Life through the Torah and mitzvos, even though it is "from outside," like the matter of "And He banished the man," as above.

Even in exile, even "from outside," Torah and mitzvos secure us an enduring share in the Eitz HaChaim — paralleling how Adam, though banished, could still be repaired.

[עוד יתבאר המד' במ"ש ללומדי' לא נאמר עפמ"ש במ"א שאחר חטא האדם דרשו את דרך עה"ח שד"א קדמה לתורה]:

[The Midrash may further be explained regarding what was said, "it does not say 'to those who learn it,'" based on what we wrote elsewhere — that after the sin of man it was expounded, "the way to the Tree of Life," that derech eretz preceded the Torah.]

A bracketed note: the pasuk says the Torah is a Tree of Life "to those who hold fast to it (la-machazikim bah)," not "to those who learn it" — because after Adam's sin, one must first traverse "the way to the Tree of Life," i.e. derech eretz, which precedes Torah.

Summary: The mitzvos surrounding planting and fruit (such as orlah) are rectifications for Adam HaRishon's sin of eating in haste. Though Adam was banished from Gan Eden, the repair can still be achieved "from outside" through the Torah and Bais Hamikdash — for the Torah itself is the true Gan Eden and Eitz HaChaim. So too, though Bnei Yisrael were exiled from the Land, we must trust that even in galus, through Torah and mitzvos, we retain an enduring portion in the Tree of Life and can recover the original lights.