Eternal Song p.4

"The tree that is in the midst of the garden, God has said: You shall not eat of it."

On this verse, Ramban points out that "as the text does not mention this or speak of it by another name, we must say, according to the simple meaning of Scripture, that it was a known place in the garden."  He goes on then to observe, "we must say that in the middle of the garden there was the likeness of an enclosed garden-bed made which contained..." both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  He then concludes, "This 'middle' means near its middle for with respect to the exact middle, they [the sages] have already said that no one knows the true central point except G-d alone."

As there was a garden below, so was there a garden above. And the one below was made like a reflection of the one above.  Knowing this, we are lead by Ramban's observation to understand that it was out of the reflection of the central point of all Creation that both the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life arose, and that the quality of each, in their way, was an expression of the quality of this point.  As this point is the core point, or heart, of the superior Israel, which is above, so it is, in reflection, the core point of Israel below, which is in Jerusalem, for this is the point where G-d has given His all to Jacob.  We know, then, that the note of praise to G-d for the redemption of Israel in Jerusalem is the opening note, the unfolding note, of the one eternal song.

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The Nature of the Goodness of Creation and its Innermost Point