Preterist1951
"Judaism's Fractured Version of Adam and Eve in the Garden"
"Examples of nullification of the Biblical text and the substitution of rabbinic glosses for the Word of God are vast. For purposes of illustration, let us start at the beginning. According to the rabbis, the plain meaning printed in the Genesis text, when taken literally, is wrong. The rabbis teach that the description in Genesis of Adam's transgression- as having eaten the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil- is erroneous, and that the Genesis text in actuality "conceals his true sin." This rabbinic tradition is presented gingerly and fleetingly in the commentary on Genesis 2: 16-17 in the Jewish Study Bible: "Knowledge of good and bad may be a merism, a figure of speech, in which polar opposites denotes a totality..." This is The Jewish Study Bible's veiled allusion to the Kabbalistic rabbinic teaching about the Genesis account of Adam and Eve; that is: this "figure of speech" good and evil, i.e. "good and bad" is a code for the Shekhinah [the dwelling or settling presence of God (cf. divine presence), especially in the Temple in Jerusalem] and the Tiferet [the sixth sefira in the Tree of Life in Kabbalah, which is the spirituality of Rabbinic Judaism. It has the common association of "Spirituality", "Balance", "Integration", "Beauty", "Miracles", "Compassion", and "Masculinity"]. According to Judaism, without having the esoteric knowledge of the rabbis, the Book of Genesis cannot be understood. The plain meaning can only mislead. The exegetical principle of the necessity of rabbinic mediation for comprehension of Scripture, and its certain misinterpretation without such mediation, is applied throughout Judaism's encounter with the Bible. This is priestcraft.
""In the Zohar [foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The Zohar contains a discussion of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of Ego to Darkness and "true self" to "The Light of God," and the relationship between the "universal energy" and man. Its scriptural exegesis can be considered an esoteric form of the Rabbinic literature known as Midrash, which elaborates on the Torah], the exact nature of Adam's sin is a tightly guarded secret; the Biblical account of the Garden story is seen as hiding the true meaning. Adam conversed with Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai; "Adam sat by me and spoke to me and asked that his sin not be revealed to the whole world, apart from what the Torah says of it, and that it should remain concealed with the Tree of the Garden of Eden. But I told him that the companions had already revealed it. And he said, 'Whatever the companions have revealed among themselves is good and proper, but not the rest of mankind.' What is the reason for this? The Holy One, blessed be He, revealed it to me, by the Holy Spirit, and to the companions, so that they might discuss it among themselves, but not to the younger companions or to those who are still to come into the world." (Zohar Hadash, Bereshit 18d-19a, Midrash ha-Ne'elam).
"The tightly guarded secret behind what true Christians believe to be the literal truth of Genesis, but what is in fact, according to the rabbis a mere Biblical "figure of speech" (the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil), centers on the spirit-force personified in Judaism as the goddess known as Shekinah. It is the doctrine of Orthodox Judaism that "Adam's secret sin" consisted of having divided the unity of the goddess Shekinah as she inhabited Eden with her supernatural male consort, the Tiferet. The unity of the Shekhinah and the Tiferet that was formerly above duality (above good and evil) in the "Ten Sefirot," became, through Adam, a duality of polar opposites, and the "knowledge" obtained by Adam in the Garden was sorcery.
"The Babylonian Talmud claims that the forbidden tree in the Garden from which Adam ate was the fig: "Rabbi Nehemia holds that the tree of which Adam ate was the fig tree" (BT Berakoth 40a). The Kabbalah teaches that the leaves of this fig tree conveyed powers of sorcery and magic (Zohar 1:56b Bereshit). Cosequently, in the rabbinic mind, the aprons worn by Adam and Eve, being made from the leaves of the fig tree, were garments that gave the wearers magical powers. These aprons made from fig leaves had the power to give the bearer the ability to enjoy "the fruits of the world-to-come" in the here and now (BT Bava Metzia 114b). It is with this rabbinic understanding that Freemasons and Mormons wear these aprons in their own rituals.
"The Zohar states that by black magic Adam cut in half the divine unity of the god and goddess. Adam was formerly a giant, but after his sin his physical proportions were shrunk by God and "his erect stature diminished by one hundred cubits" (Zohar 1:53h). In the fertile rabbinic imagination, most of the Book of Genesis, when taken literally, is misleading. In Zohar 1:36a Bereshit, an account is given of the temptation of Eve in Genesis 3: 4-6: "Eat from it and you will really be like Elohim, knowing good and evil." After quoting this text, the Zohar reports that "Rabbi Yehudah said, This is not what the serpent said. For if he had said, 'With this tree the Blessed Holy One created the world,' it would have been a correct statement. What the serpent said was actually this: 'The Blessed Holy One ate from this tree and then created the world... Eat from it and you will be creating worlds.""
from Michael Hoffman's "Judaism Discovered" (pp 196-199)
Albrecht Durer of Nuremberg made this engraving in 1504
"Judaism's Fractured Version of Adam and Eve in the Garden"
"Examples of nullification of the Biblical text and the substitution of rabbinic glosses for the Word of God are vast. For purposes of illustration, let us start at the beginning. According to the rabbis, the plain meaning printed in the Genesis text, when taken literally, is wrong. The rabbis teach that the description in Genesis of Adam's transgression- as having eaten the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil- is erroneous, and that the Genesis text in actuality "conceals his true sin." This rabbinic tradition is presented gingerly and fleetingly in the commentary on Genesis 2: 16-17 in the Jewish Study Bible: "Knowledge of good and bad may be a merism, a figure of speech, in which polar opposites denotes a totality..." This is The Jewish Study Bible's veiled allusion to the Kabbalistic rabbinic teaching about the Genesis account of Adam and Eve; that is: this "figure of speech" good and evil, i.e. "good and bad" is a code for the Shekhinah [the dwelling or settling presence of God (cf. divine presence), especially in the Temple in Jerusalem] and the Tiferet [the sixth sefira in the Tree of Life in Kabbalah, which is the spirituality of Rabbinic Judaism. It has the common association of "Spirituality", "Balance", "Integration", "Beauty", "Miracles", "Compassion", and "Masculinity"]. According to Judaism, without having the esoteric knowledge of the rabbis, the Book of Genesis cannot be understood. The plain meaning can only mislead. The exegetical principle of the necessity of rabbinic mediation for comprehension of Scripture, and its certain misinterpretation without such mediation, is applied throughout Judaism's encounter with the Bible. This is priestcraft.
""In the Zohar [foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The Zohar contains a discussion of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of Ego to Darkness and "true self" to "The Light of God," and the relationship between the "universal energy" and man. Its scriptural exegesis can be considered an esoteric form of the Rabbinic literature known as Midrash, which elaborates on the Torah], the exact nature of Adam's sin is a tightly guarded secret; the Biblical account of the Garden story is seen as hiding the true meaning. Adam conversed with Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai; "Adam sat by me and spoke to me and asked that his sin not be revealed to the whole world, apart from what the Torah says of it, and that it should remain concealed with the Tree of the Garden of Eden. But I told him that the companions had already revealed it. And he said, 'Whatever the companions have revealed among themselves is good and proper, but not the rest of mankind.' What is the reason for this? The Holy One, blessed be He, revealed it to me, by the Holy Spirit, and to the companions, so that they might discuss it among themselves, but not to the younger companions or to those who are still to come into the world." (Zohar Hadash, Bereshit 18d-19a, Midrash ha-Ne'elam).
"The tightly guarded secret behind what true Christians believe to be the literal truth of Genesis, but what is in fact, according to the rabbis a mere Biblical "figure of speech" (the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil), centers on the spirit-force personified in Judaism as the goddess known as Shekinah. It is the doctrine of Orthodox Judaism that "Adam's secret sin" consisted of having divided the unity of the goddess Shekinah as she inhabited Eden with her supernatural male consort, the Tiferet. The unity of the Shekhinah and the Tiferet that was formerly above duality (above good and evil) in the "Ten Sefirot," became, through Adam, a duality of polar opposites, and the "knowledge" obtained by Adam in the Garden was sorcery.
"The Babylonian Talmud claims that the forbidden tree in the Garden from which Adam ate was the fig: "Rabbi Nehemia holds that the tree of which Adam ate was the fig tree" (BT Berakoth 40a). The Kabbalah teaches that the leaves of this fig tree conveyed powers of sorcery and magic (Zohar 1:56b Bereshit). Cosequently, in the rabbinic mind, the aprons worn by Adam and Eve, being made from the leaves of the fig tree, were garments that gave the wearers magical powers. These aprons made from fig leaves had the power to give the bearer the ability to enjoy "the fruits of the world-to-come" in the here and now (BT Bava Metzia 114b). It is with this rabbinic understanding that Freemasons and Mormons wear these aprons in their own rituals.
"The Zohar states that by black magic Adam cut in half the divine unity of the god and goddess. Adam was formerly a giant, but after his sin his physical proportions were shrunk by God and "his erect stature diminished by one hundred cubits" (Zohar 1:53h). In the fertile rabbinic imagination, most of the Book of Genesis, when taken literally, is misleading. In Zohar 1:36a Bereshit, an account is given of the temptation of Eve in Genesis 3: 4-6: "Eat from it and you will really be like Elohim, knowing good and evil." After quoting this text, the Zohar reports that "Rabbi Yehudah said, This is not what the serpent said. For if he had said, 'With this tree the Blessed Holy One created the world,' it would have been a correct statement. What the serpent said was actually this: 'The Blessed Holy One ate from this tree and then created the world... Eat from it and you will be creating worlds.""
from Michael Hoffman's "Judaism Discovered" (pp 196-199)
Albrecht Durer of Nuremberg made this engraving in 1504