That tree in the garden….

So what was the real essence of that tree? Seems the tree was the first footprint of idolatry in this world and the first man and woman were tested to see if they would surrender to its temptation or serve only Hashem in trust and obedience.

How so?

1. Hashem forbade Adam and Chava to eat the fruit of his special tree. He forbade us later not to worship idols. Is there a similar vein here? Both forbidden, so what? Is it far fetched to compare them?

2. The forbidden tree was desirable. (Anything forbidden can be desirable if we think the one forbidding us is robbing us of some pleasure or exalted status). Idolatry became desirable. But to whom would these things be desirable? The seeds of rebellion begin to sprout when we do not trust the one making the rules. When we see Gd principally as strict Judge and King (Elokim), demanding obedience without the element of love and compassion for the individual, it is easy to reflect that we are mere objects to be manipulated.

3. When Hashem Elokim said “Let US make man in our image” he was not done creating us. True he made a body and put breath and a soul into it, but in a way he was speaking to man as the other part of the workforce. He wanted a team. He wanted man to work using the resources Hashem provided as he needed them to complete his marvelous creation in himself. Creation of mankind was to be a team effort. The master plan was for man to develop in a way that would bring honor and fulfillment to himself and to the Creator and eventually become like G-d in a fuller sense than when he was a mere created living nefesh of flesh and bone. This thought was manipulated by the serpent and woven into his suggestive deception. In a way, he was saying to Hava, Why do you need Elokim? You can do this yourself by taking into yourselves the substance of this tree which is forbidden to you and thus you will create yourselves as you would like? You don’t need HIM! Why would you want a gd over you who is a master manipulator, who seeks only His own fulfillment? So, just eat this and then do it by yourselves and then you won’t need G-d anymore. And Hava believed and ate the apple.

4. And so idolatry is set up promising us power and blessings and self-aggrandizement while completely ignoring the One who made us, separating us from him, denying us the resources that we really need to complete our creation. Idolatry promises entrance to eternal life without Hashem. It is based on our belief. An idol is something that stands in the path between us and our Creator. An idol diverts our attention from the SOURCE of all things, Hashem.

Much like an addiction, idolatry brings a rush of excitement when first experienced, then it becomes necessary for life itself, because the lie that we believe when we reach out to grasp the forbidden thing grows and as it grows so grows the addiction. It is not long until the seemingly innocent experimentation becomes a ball and chain which eventually leads to death in its downward spiral. Embracing a false gd is like this. Belief grows and the chains attach until one is willing to sacrifice anything in order to keep getting what the false gd offers. (In biblical history, idolatry ended up in child sacrifice, done to keep the rain falling and the crops growing!)

5. Just so the tree in the garden, after the snake manipulated the image of Hashem, seemed to be desirable for food and to make one “like GD” knowing good and evil. But where has it take us? And do we still bite the apple? Are we still trying to be independent from Hashem who loves us and has all resources at our disposal in the continued creation of our own eternal destiny? How long will we say: “No thank you, I’ll do it my way”?