Four Who Entered Pardes

There is a story in the Talmud which depicts the experience of four individuals entering an orchard. There is much speculation about the nature of that orchard and the experience of each. Here is one of several versions of the account:

Four entered the orchard — Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher, and Rabbi Akiva. Ben Azzai looked and died; Ben Zoma looked and went mad; Acher destroyed the plants; Akiva entered in peace and departed in peace.

Orchard - A literal pass!

Look to the left top illustration "Four who entered the orchard" Using the illustrating ‘language’ of computer programming, let’s analyze this passage. Using stick figures to represent each of the four, we create a two-level box for each. One level of the box shows the action entered for each of the four, and the innermost box we use for for the nature of the reaction of each of the four.

Considering the extent of the impact of the experience on Ben Azzai and Ben Zoma, this was not just any orchard. What would cause glimpsing and dying, or glimpsing and going mad? The description of Acher is strange to us, but it does seem like a negative response! Only Akiba’s was a non-negative experience. So what gives?

Pardes - A broader pass

Look at the 2nd diagram to the left and note a few differences: The orchard is now labeled Pardes, Acher has left the fold of believers, and Akiba’s faith remains intact and his leadership is enhanced. Ben Azzi rejects the experience, and Ben Zoma is overwhelmed by it.

Pardes is more than just an ordinary orchard or garden. A common explanation for Pardes in this context is mysticism, mystical speculation, an elevated spiritual state. Think beyond rational imagination. To best understand the implications of Pardes, think of an LSD or drug-induced state of mind.

Moshe Dror shared some background about Pardes being “an Old Persian word, meaning an enclosed royal hunting ground – a garden. This later became associated with what we call Paradise in many of the European languages as well as in English. This later became associated with The Biblical Garden of Eden –. Ultimately, it came to mean any place of pleasurable surroundings.”