(1) “In the beginning God created” heaven and earth— (2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God sweeping over the water— (3) God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
(2) בראשית ברא IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED — This verse calls aloud: explain me! [its explanation] is just as our Rabbis explained it: God created the world for the sake of the Torah which is called (Proverbs 8:22) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) way”, and for the sake of Israel who are called (Jeremiah 2:3) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) increase’’. If, however, you wish to explain it in its plain sense, explain it thus: At the beginning of the Creation of heaven and earth when the earth was without form and void and there was darkness, God said, “Let there be light”. The text does not intend to point out the order of the acts of Creation — to state that these (heaven and earth) were created first; for if it intended to point this out, it should have written 'בראשונה ברא את השמים וגו “At first God created etc.” And for this reason: Because, wherever the word ראשית occurs in Scripture, it is in the construct state. E. g., (Jeremiah 26:1) “In the beginning of (בראשית) the reign of Jehoiakim”; (Genesis 10:10) “The beginning of (ראשית) his kingdom”; (Deuteronomy 18:4) “The first fruit of (ראשית) thy corn.” Similarly here you must translate בראשית ברא אלקים as though it read בראשית ברוא, at the beginning of God’s creating. A similar grammatical construction (of a noun in construct followed by a verb) is: (Hosea 1:2) תחלת דבר ה' בהושע, which is as much as to say, “At the beginning of God’s speaking through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea.” Should you, however, insist that it does actually intend to point out that these (heaven and earth) were created first, and that the meaning is, “At the beginning of everything He created these, admitting therefore that the word בראשית is in the construct state and explaining the omission of a word signifying “everything” by saying that you have texts which are elliptical, omitting a word, as for example (Job 3:10) “Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb” where it does not explicitly explain who it was that closed the womb; and (Isaiah 8:4) “He shall take away the spoil of Samaria” without explaining who shall take it away; and (Amos 6:12) “Doth he plough with oxen," and it does not explicitly state, “Doth a man plough with oxen”; (Isaiah 46:10) “Declaring from the beginning the end,” and it does not explicitly state, “Declaring from the beginning of a thing the end of a thing’ — if it is so (that you assert that this verse intends to point out that heaven and earth were created first), you should be astonished at yourself, because as a matter of fact the waters were created before heaven and earth, for, lo, it is written, (v. 2) “The Spirit of God was hovering on the face of the waters,” and Scripture had not yet disclosed when the creation of the waters took place — consequently you must learn from this that the creation of the waters preceded that of the earth. And a further proof that the heavens and earth were not the first thing created is that the heavens were created from fire (אש) and water (מים), from which it follows that fire and water were in existence before the heavens. Therefore you must admit that the text teaches nothing about the earlier or later sequence of the acts of Creation.
~ What are the two basic points Rashi is making here?
~ Which one is most shocking to you?
~ Why do you think those are particularly important?
~ Could this be an expression of the concept אֵין מוּקְדָּם וּמְאוּחָר בַּתּוֹרָה "there is no exact chronological order in the Torah"?
(א) בראשית ברא אלקים כו'. עיין פירוש רש"י "בראשית - בשביל ישראל הנקראין ראשית ובשביל התורה הנקראת ראשית", ובמדרש נמי איתא "בשביל מצות ביכורים שנקראין ראשית". ויש לומר דכולם לדבר אחד נתכוונו דמר אמר חדא ומר אמר חדא ולא פליגי.
(ב) דאיתא במשנה "על שלשה דברים העולם עומד על התורה ועל העבודה ועל גמילות חסדים", ואיתא במשנה "על שלשה דברים העולם קיים על הדין ועל האמת ועל השלום". ויש לומר נמי דלדבר אחד נתכוונו, דהנה לפנינו ג' מדריגות בעבודת הבורא יתעלה, האחד ה'תורה' ללמוד לשמה, ובאמת התירו לנו חז"ל אפילו שלא לשמה, כמאמרם "לעולם יעסוק אדם כו'", אם לא הגיע למדריגות לימוד לשמה עכ"פ מזה אל תנח ידך, כי לא במהרה יגיע אדם ללמוד לשמה כי אם ע"י התאמצות גדול בעבודתו יתברך שמו בכל המידות טובות.
(1) In a beginning created God etc - see the explanation of Rashi "in a beginning - due to Israel that are called beginning, and due to Torah that is called beginning" and the midrash, too, has "due to the mitzvah of first fruits, that are called beginning" (Rashi on Genesis 1:1). And one could say that all those opinions have the same intention, that one opinion says this, the other opinion says that, and they do not dispute.
(2) Since there is in the mishnah "on three things the world stands on Torah, and on Service and on Acts of Loving Kindness" (Avot 1:2) and there is in the mishnah "on three things the world stands, on Judgment, and on Truth and on Peace" (Avot 1:18). And we can also say that they have the same intention, that behold we are presented with three levels in the service of the High Creator, one - Torah learned for its own sake, and in truth our sages of blessed memory allowed us [study of Torah] even not for its own sake, as they said "a person should always engage etc" (Pesachim 50b) even if one does not reach to the levels of learning for its own sake nevertheless you should not refrain from it, since it is not quickly that one attains to learn for its own sake, but through a great exertion in one's service to the Blessed Name with all the good personal qualities.
~ The Noam Elimelech is joining triads (groups of three). What are the first two triads he connects?
~ If "Torah learned for its own sake" is a member of yet another triad, what do you think could be the other two members the Noam Elimelech will propose? [This IS a guess, unless you have read this text already. Guess away!]
(ב) שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים:
(2) Shimon the Righteous was one of the last of the men of the great assembly. He used to say: the world stands upon three things: the Torah, the Temple service, and the practice of acts of piety.
Rava raised a contradiction: It is written: “For Your mercy is great unto the heavens, and Your truth reaches the skies” (Psalms 57:11); and it is written elsewhere: “For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches the skies” (Psalms 108:5). How so? How can these verses be reconciled? The Gemara explains: Here, where the verse says that God’s mercy is above the heavens, it is referring to a case where one performs a mitzva for its own sake; and here, where the verse says that God’s mercy reaches the heavens, it is referring to a case where one performs a mitzva not for its own sake, as Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: A person should always engage in Torah study and performance of mitzvot, even if he does so not for their own sake, as through the performance of mitzvot not for their own sake, one gains understanding and comes to perform them for their own sake.
~ What results are expected, once someone is studying Torah for an ulterior motive, in Pesachim?
~ Does the Noam Elimelech, at the end of the previous part, assumes that this is easy or automatic?
(ג) ומדריגה שנית 'עבודה', היא התפילה שהיא עיקר עבודה שבלב כמ"ש "ולעבדו בכל לבבכם זו תפילה", כי הלב מבין ובה יוכל לעלות לדביקות הבורא ולקשר עצמו בו יתברך, דתפילה הוא לשון קשר, שמדבק עצמו בבורא ב"ה בדביקות גדול, וזה מרמז לנו קשר של תפילין של יד לקשר המחשבה שבלב בו יתעלה, ולזה צריך התאמצות יותר להתפלל תמיד להשי"ת ב"ה שיהיה בעוזרו לבל יפרידו היצה"ר מדביקות הבורא, כי טבע האדם שעלול הוא במחשבותיו בעניני ובעסקי העוה"ז.
(3) And the second level "Service" - this is the Prayer that is the center of the service of the heart as they said "and to serve God with all your heart, this is Prayer [Tefilah]" (Taanit 2a), because the heart understands and with [Prayer] it can rise to clinging to the Creator and tie itself to the Blessed One, since Tefilah comes from the expression knot/connection, to cling oneself to the Blessed Creator with a great clinging, and this hints to the knot of the tefilin of the hand to tie the thought in one's heart to the High One. For that, one needs more effort to always pray to the Holy Blessed Name that God will help that one's yetzer hara [inclination for evil] will never be separated from clinging to the Creator, because the nature of a person is that one is likely to turn [at any moment] his thoughts to the issues and preoccupations of this world.
~ How does the Noam Elimelech understand the word tefilah, prayer? Is it requesting your needs? Is it judging yourself? Could it be all that as well?
(5) Ad-nai saw how great was human wickedness on earth—how every plan devised by the human mind was nothing but evil all the time. (6) And Ad-nai regretted having made humankind on earth. With a sorrowful heart, (7) Ad-nai said, “I will blot out from the earth humankind whom I created—humans together with beasts, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I regret that I made them.”
(ד) זהו פירוש הפסוק "וירא ה' כי רבה רעת האדם בארץ", ר"ל כל זמן שהוא בארץ ורבה רעת האדם, "[וכל יצר מחשבות לבו]", על ידי זה גם הרוצה לעבוד השי"ת ואינו עושה רע, אעפ"כ מחשבתו מושכתו "רק רע כל היום", "וינחם ה'", פירוש נחמה היתה לו יתברך בזה שיש לו לאדם התנצלות לפניו יתברך, "כי עשה את האדם", ר"ל כמאמר חז"ל אלמלא שלשה מקראות כו' והאחד מהם 'ואשר הרעותי את לבם' שנתתי להם יצה"ר, "ויתעצב אל לבו", פירוש שהשי"ת התעצב בשביל לבו של אדם שנתן לו לב אבן כזה, "ונח מצא חן", פירוש שנח היה צדיק והפך את עצמו מטבע העלול להפרידו מדביקות הבורא יתעלה והתחזק להתדבק בבורא ומצא חן, 'נח' בהיפוך אתווין 'חן', להיות לו חן בעיני השי"ת.
(4) And this is the explanation of the verse "And Hashem saw that the evil of the humans on earth was great" (Genesis 6:5), that is to say, at all times that one is on earth and one's evil is great, ["and all the humans' impulse of thought in their heart"] through that, also the one who wants to serve the Holy Blessed Name and does not do evil, even though one's thought reins that person in "only evil all day", "and Hashem נחם nacham [had pity/regretted/consoled]" meaning, there was a consolation for the Blessed One in that a human could exert effort in front of the Blessed One, "that he made the humans", meaning, like the saying of our sages of blessed memory: "were it not for three verses etc" (Sukkah 52b and Berakhot 31a) and one of them is "that I made evil" (Micah 4:6) their hearts - that I gave them the impulse to evil. "And God was sad עצב in his heart" - meaning, that the Holy Blessed name was sad due to the heart of the human, that God had given the human a heart of stone like that. "And Noach found favor" (Genesis 6:8) - meaning, that Noach נח was a tzadik and switched himself from the nature that makes humans likely to separate themselves from clinging to the Exalted Creator and strengthen oneself to cling to the Creator, and so [Noach] found favor, Noach נח with switching the letters becomes חן Chen, favor/grace, which is him becoming a favor/grace in the Blessed Name's eyes.
~ How does the Noam Elimelech re-read the verses above?
~ Why is God sad?
~ How can humans console God?
~ Who or what is Noach, in this grand scheme?
~ What is the concept of grace, for Jews? Why is this a concept we rarely talk about?
(19) And [God] answered, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name Ad-nai, and I will grant the grace that I will grant and show the compassion that I will show.
(ה) מדריגה שלישית 'גמילות חסדים', דהנה בעולמות העליונים שם 'רחמים', שהוא אהבה ורחימא שהשי"ת אוהב את הצדיק לפי מעשיו הקדושים אשר בארץ עשה, אך בעולם הזה נקראים 'חסד', דהוא אף למי שאינו הגון, השי"ת עושה לו חסד חנם לתת לו די מחסורו, אך הצדיק שהגיע למדריגה שיוכל להעלות כל הדברים הגשמיים למעלה, דהיינו להעלות מחומריות הניצוצות הקדושות שיש בהם, דהיינו במאכלו ושתייתו וכדומה, וכל מחשבותיו בעת שעושה הדברים הגשמיים אינן רק להעלות הנ"ק שבהם, וצדיק כזה אין צריך לחסדים, פירוש חסד חנם כנ"ל לתת לו דברים הנצרכים בעוה"ז מצד החסד, כי השי"ת משפיע לו כל צרכיו ע"פ שורת הדין הראויה לו ע"י מעשיו הטובים, וזה פירוש "וגמילות חסדים" מלשון "הגמל את יצחק", שאין צריך למדריגות 'חסדים', כי אם מגיע לו ע"י אהבת האל יתברך אותו, ועל ידי זה הצדיק מקשר את עצמו למעלה למעלה בחיים הנצחיים, אפילו כשהוא בעוה"ז הגיע לתענוג עולם העליון מחיים הנצחיים, וזה פירוש הגמרא "עולמך תראה בחייך", פירוש שעי"ז שכל מעשיו ותנועותיו שעושה הכל בקדושה ובטהרה ודביקות ושמחה ובאהבה וביראה, מזה יגיע לו תענוג עולם העליון בזה העולם. ויש לומר נמי כוונת הפסוק "ואתם הדבקים בה' אלקיכם חיים כולכם היום", פירוש ע"י הדביקות שתדבקו עצמכם בהבורא ב"ה, יהיה לכם חיים נצחיים גם 'היום' בעה"ז כנ"ל.
(5) The third level "acts of lovingkindness" - that behold in the upper worlds God set 'Compassion', which is love and 'beloved' that is the the Holy Blessed Name loves the righteous because of the righteous' holy deeds on the earth. Yet in this world those deeds are called 'lovingkindness', note that even for a person who is not decent, the Holy Blessed Name does lovingkindness freely, providing for that person's needs. Nevertheless, the righteous who attain the level of rising up every physical thing, which is rising the holy sparks that exist in corporeality, which is in their eating and drinking and so on, and all their thoughts in the time of doing physical things are only to rise the holy sparks in those things. A righteous person such as this does not need lovingkindness, meaning, free lovingkindness as explained above, giving the things needed in this world from the side of lovingkindness, because the Holy Blessed Name showers [the righteous] with their needs according to the deserved letter of the law because of their good deeds. And this is the explanation for "deeds of lovingkindness [roots גמל חסד]": from the expression "the weaning [גמל ] of Yitzchak" (Genesis 21:8) - there is no need for the levels "lovingkindness" [חסד] just what is deserving to the righteous through the love of the Blessed God for the righteous, and through that the righteous connects him/herself above above to the eternal life, even while in this world the righteous attains the higher pleasure of the eternal life, and this is the explanation for the gemara "you will see your world in your lifetime" (Berakhot 17a), that through one's deeds and movements which are all done in holiness and purity and clinging to God and happiness and love and awe, from that one attains pleasures of the higher worlds in this world. And there is to say that this is also the intention of the verse "and y'all who cling to Hashem you God are all alive today" (Deuteronomy 4:4) . Meaning, through clinging that y'all cling to the Blessed Creator y'all will get eternal life, even "today", in this world, as explained above.
~ What is the idea behind doing acts of lovingkindness, for God?
~ What is the idea behind the acts of lovingkindness that the tzadikim do?
~ How does the Noam Elimelech explain the "good things happen to bad people" conundrum?
~ Is it better to deserve lovingkindness or not?
May you see your world, may you benefit from all of the good in the world, in your lifetime,
and may your end be to life in the World-to-Come,
and may your hope be sustained for many generations.
May your heart meditate understanding,
your mouth speak wisdom, and your tongue whisper with praise.
May your eyelids look directly before you,
your eyes shine in the light of Torah,
and your face radiate like the brightness of the firmament.
May your lips express knowledge,
your kidneys rejoice in the upright,
and your feet run to hear the words of the Ancient of Days, God (see Daniel 7).
(4) and you, who held fast to your God ה', are all alive today.
~ How does the Noam Elimelech understand these last two sources, in 1:5? How often do we use Deut. 4:4?
(ו) וזה נמי פירוש הפסוק "תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהלת יעקב", רמז נמי לג' מדריגות הנ"ל. "תורה צוה לנו", פירוש לכולנו צוה ללמוד תורתו אפילו שלא לשמה, וזה 'לנו', כל אחד לפי מדריגתו. שנית "מורשה", זה מדריגה שניה הנ"ל להעלות הנ"ק שהם נקראים 'נחלת אבות' כידוע, ונתן לנו השי"ת בחינת נחלה וירושה זו להעלות הנ"ק למעלה, וזהו 'מורשה'. וזה כוונת "ומקיים אמונתו לישיני עפר", ר"ל הנ"ק שנפלו למטה, השי"ת מקיים אמונתו להם להעלותם מעפר אל הקדושה. ומדריגה שלישית "קהילת יעקב", היינו הדביקות גמור שיש לצדיק, עי"ז הוא משפיע לכלל ישראל כל טוב, והרי הוא מקהיל קהלות יעקב שהם מסתופפים תחת צל כנפיו להשפיע להם.
(6) And this is also the explanation of the verse "Moshe commanded [to] us Torah, the legacy of the congregation of Yaakov" (Deuteronomy 33:4) - it is also a hint to the three levels discussed above. "Moshe commanded us" - all of us were commanded to learn God's Torah even if it is not for its own sake, and this is "to us", every person according to their own level. Second, "legacy", this is the second level discussed above, to raise the holy sparks that are called "inheritance of the forebears", as it is known, and the Holy Blessed Name gave us the aspect of this inheritance and legacy to raise up the holy sparks, and this is "legacy". And this is the intention of "maintaining His faith on those that sleep in dust" (Machzor Vitry, Order of Shacharit 88:15), it wants to say that the holy sparks fell down, and the Holy Blessed Name maintains faith with them, to raise them from dust to holiness. And the third level "congregation of Yaakov" is the complete clinging that the righteous have, through which they bring down the flow to all Israel, only good, and behold the righteous congregates the congregations of Yaakov that are collected under the shadow of the righteous' wings to bestow on them.
~ How does the Noam Elimelech see the same three levels (Torah for its own sake, acts of lovingkindness and clinging to God) being expressed in Deuteronomy 33:4?
~ How often do we sing it, and when?
~ Why do you think it is important for the Noam Elimelech to find the same teaching in Genesis 1 and Deuteronomy 33?
(ז) ובזה יבואר מאמר הגמרא שבת "אמר השטן תורה היכן הוא אמר לו הקב"ה לך אל הארץ, ואמרה הארץ אין בי לך אל הים, והים אמר אין בי לך אצל בן עמרם", ויש להבין האיך יאמר השי"ת דבר שאינו? והנראה לבאר דהנה השי"ת אמר אל השטן המקטרג "לך אל הארץ", דאפילו לימוד תורה בארציות וחומר, היינו שלא לשמה, ג"כ מקובל לפני, ואין לך להשטין על בני ישראל, והארץ אמרה "אין בי", פירוש דעיקר התכלית אין בארציות כנ"ל, רק "לך אל הים" היינו הצדיק שהוא מעלה הניצוצות אל הים העליון שלשם הוא עלייתן, הצדיק שהגיע אל המדריגה זו, הוא עיקר התכלית. וזה אומרו "כל הנחלים הולכים אל הים", פירוש 'נחלים' לשון נחלה וירושה, דהיינו העלאת ניצוצות קדושה נקראים ירושה כנ"ל, הולכים אל הים העליון, "והים אמר אין בי לך אצל בן עמרם", פירוש שיש עוד למעלה מזו מדריגה שלישית כמו מדריגת משה רבינו ע"ה שהגיע למעלות הדביקות בבורא יתברך בחיים הנצחיים.
(7) And through this the saying of the Gemara "Satan said 'where is Torah?' the Holy One said 'go to the earth' earth said 'I don't have it, go to the sea' and the sea said 'I don't have it, go to the son of Amram" (Shabbat 89a) will be explained. One needs to understand: how is it that the Holy One said something that is not [true]? And it seems that behold the Holy One of Blessing said to Satan the Accuser 'go to the earth' because [God is saying that] there is learning of Torah in worldliness and corporeality, that is, Torah not for its own sake, and even that learning is received by Me, and you cannot accuse the children of Israel. And the earth said 'I don't have it' - the explanation is that the essence of the purpose [of studying Torah] does not exist in corporeality, as explained, just 'go to the sea' which is the tzadik who raises the sparks to the Upper Sea for the sake of their raising, the tzadik that get to this level he is the essence of the purpose. And regarding this they said 'all rivers go to the sea' (Ecclesiastes 1:7) meaning rivers/nachalim נחלים comes from the expression נחלה legacy and ירושה inheritance that is the raising of sparks to the Holy are called 'inheritance' as known, and they go to the sea, "and the sea said 'I don't have it, go to the son of Amram'" meaning that there is yet another level higher than this, third, like the level of Moshe our teacher, peace be upon him, that reaches the heights of the clinging to the Creator, Blessed be, in the eternal life.
~ What bothers the Noam Elimelech in the simple reading of the aggadah in Shabbat 89a? How does he solve it?
~ Why can't Satan accuse the children of Israel when they study Torah not for its own sake?
~ What distinguishes the tzadik, in terms of Torah study?
~ Why is the tzadik compared to the sea? Who are the rivers, in this metaphor?
(יח) רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַדִּין וְעַל הָאֱמֶת וְעַל הַשָּׁלוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (זכריה ח) אֱמֶת וּמִשְׁפַּט שָׁלוֹם שִׁפְטוּ בְּשַׁעֲרֵיכֶם:
(18) Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel used to say: on three things does the world stand: On judgment, on truth and on peace, as it is said: “execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates” (Zechariah 8:16).
(ח) ונחזור לענין ראשון, "על שלשה דברים העולם קיים על הדין", זו תורה, כדאיתא תורה נמי אקרי דין באיזה אופן שיהיה כנ"ל, "ועל האמת", היינו למדריגת יעקב שהוא הממוצע שהוא רחמים, כמ"ש "תתן אמת ליעקב", דע"י שמעלה נ"ק מעורר רחמים ואין צריך לחסדים כנ"ל, "ועל השלום" היינו דביקות, שדבוק בבורא ב"ה ששמו של הקב"ה שלום.
(8) And let us return to the first issue, "on three things the world stands, on judgment [din]" (Avot 1:18) - this is Torah, as there is that Torah is also called judgment in whichever way it will be, as explained above [for its own sake or not]. "And on truth" - that is the level of Yaakov, that is the average, that is compassion רחמים [rachamim], as it is written 'gave truth to Yaakov' (Micah 7:2) that through the raising of the holy sparks one awakens compassion and there is no need for lovingkindness, as explained above. "And on peace"- that is clinging to God, that one clings to the Blessed Creator since the name of the Holy Blessed One is Peace (Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta, Section on Peace 11).
~ How does the Noam Elimelech prove to you that both Avot 1:2 and Avot 1:18 are saying the same thing?
~ Note that this is what he said in 1:1 - "all opinions have the same intention and there is no dispute".
(ט) ובזה יובן מקראי קודש פרשה זו, "ויצו ה' כו' מכל עץ הגן אכול תאכל ומעץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו כי ביום אכלך ממנו מות תמות". הדקדוקים רבו, 'א' כפל לשון "אכול תאכל", 'ב' דתיבת "ממנו" הוא מיותר, 'ג' כפל "מות תמות", 'ד' מה שפירש רש"י ז"ל "ע"י שהוסיפה על הציווי באה לידי גרעון", דקשה הלא היתה יודעת באמת שלא צוה עליה השם איסור הנגיעה מעולם, וא"כ אין ראיה מנגיעה על אכילה, כי על אכילה באמת היא מצווה ועומדת.
(9) And through this one understands the holy reading in this parsha, 'and God commanded etc from every tree of the garden you shall eat, yea, eat, yet from the tree of good and evil you shall not eat from it, for on the day you eat from it you shall die, yea, die' (Genesis 2:16-17). There are many specific questions: (a) the doubling of the expression eat, eat; (b) the expression 'from it' is superfluous; (c) the doubling of 'die/die'; (d) what Rashi explained, and this is his language - "because she added to the commandment she ended diminishing it" (Rashi on Genesis 3:3) is difficult, since didn't she know that in truth Hashem had not ever forbidden to touch? Therefore no proof can be brought from touching to eating, because eating was truly the commandment given to her.
~ Note that the Noam specifies exactly the 4 things that bothers him in this reading.
(י) ונ"ל שורש הענין הוא כך, דהשי"ת ב"ה אמר "מכל עץ הגן אכול תאכל", רמז להתורה שהוא עץ החיים, "אכול" הוא לשון נסתר, פירוש לימוד לשמה דזה הוא השורש ועיקר שהזהיר השי"ת ב"ה, ועכ"פ אם לא הגעת עדיין ללמוד תורה לשמה, עכ"פ "תאכל", ר"ל להנאתך תלמוד דהיינו שלא לשמה, וזהו "תאכל" לנוכח ולא תמוש מתורתי, "ועץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו" דייקא, ר"ל דברי הגשמיות אשר בתוכם מעורב ג"כ טוב, דהם הניצוצות הקדושים אשר בכל דבר גשמי, "לא תאכל ממנו", פירוש שלא יהיה כוונתך מחומריות ומגשמיות לבד, רק מרוחניות שבו היינו הנ"ק שבו מזה תאכל, "כי ביום אכלך ממנו מות תמות", פירוש "מות" בעוה"ב בחיים הנצחיים, ולשון מות הוא ג"כ נסתר רמז לעוה"ב חיים הנצחיים, "תמות" בעוה"ז.
(יא) והנה חוה שמעה שני מדריגות, דהיינו לימוד התורה באיזה אופן שלומד כנ"ל וגם העלאת הניצוצות, אז הבינה ממילא שיש עוד מדריגה אחת דהוא הדביקות גמור בבורא ית"ש, וזה שאמרה "לא תאכלו ממנו ולא תגעו בו", פירוש נגיעה בעלמא, היינו הפסקה בעלמא מהדביקות ג"כ לא תפסוק, "פן תמותון", דהיינו הפסקה מהדביקות, שהיא סברה שגם על מדריגה שלישית דהוא דביקות ג"כ נצטוותה, ובאמת הדביקות ממילא בא ע"י שני מדריגות הנ"ל, שהיא לא היתה עדיין במדריגה הזאת, והנחש דחפה עד שנגעה בו ואמר "כשם שאין מיתה בנגיעה זו", פירוש שאין אתה נפסק עי"ז מדביקות, "כך אין מיתה באכילה", פירוש גם אם לא תאכל בכוונה הנ"ל להעלות הרוחניות "לא מות תמותון".
(10) And it appears to me that the root of the issue is this, that the Blessed Holy One of Blessing said "from all the trees of the garden you shall eat, yea, eat" (Genesis 2:16) - a hint to Torah, which is the tree of life. "Eat" is an expression of hidden, the explanation is that this is learning for its own sake which is the root and the essence, as the Blessed Holy One of Blessing warned about, and at any instance, if you have not yet reached [the level of] Torah learning for its own sake, in any instance "you will eat", meaning, for your benefit [is] learning not for its own sake, and this is "you will eat": be present, and do not depart from My Torah.
"And from the tree of good and bad you shall not eat from it" specifically, meaning, the physical things are in them - the mixture is also good, which are the holy sparks that are in every physical thing; "shall not eat from it", the explanation is that your intention should not be exclusively from the material and physical sides only, rather only from the spiritual side, in which the holy sparks are, from that you shall eat.
"Because from the day you eat from it you shall surely die מות תמות" (Genesis 2:17) - mot tamut meaning, "die-mot" in the next world, the eternal life, and the expression "die - mot" is also hidden, a hint to the next world, the eternal life, [and] "die - tamut" in this world.
(11) And behold, Chava heard the two levels, that are the learning of Torah in any way that it is learned as explained above, and also the rising of the sparks. And so, she understood immediately that there is another level, which is the complete clinging to the Creator of Blessed Name, and this is what she said "you shall not eat from it neither shall touch it" (Genesis 3:3) - meaning, touching in this world, that is any pause on clinging [to God] you should not do, "lest you die" that is, interrupting clinging, since she reasoned that she was also commanded regarding this third level. And in truth, clinging comes directly from the two levels previously mentioned, and/however she wasn't yet on that level. And the snake that pushed her until she touched it and said "just as you did not die from this touching" (Rashi on Genesis 3:4 and Bereshit Rabbah 19:4) - the explanation is that you do not pause clinging through this, "so too there is no death from eating" meaning, even if you don't eat with the aforementioned intention, to rise [your] spirituality, "you will not die" (Genesis 3:4).
~ The Noam Elimelech gets to explaining his understanding of the portion, with a focus on the scene of Chava and the tree.
~ How does the understand the "tree"?
~ What does the doubling of "eat" teach?
~ What point does he make about the mixture of "good and evil"? Why is this important, and what does it say about the Jewish vision of the world?
~What does the doubling of "die" teach?
~ What was Chava able to understand? How does she do it?
~ Who is Chava, in this metaphor?
~ What does the snake do? What does it teach?
(יב) וזהו פירוש "בראשית ברא בשביל תורה כו'" כנ"ל, "ובשביל ישראל כו'", רמז על דביקות בבורא יתברך ויתעלה, שדבוק בו יתברך ע"י שירות ותשבחות וזה רמז "ישראל" - יש"ר א"ל, "ובשביל ביכורים הנקראים ראשית", רמז על מדירגת העלאת נ"ק כמ"ש "ראשית ביכורי אדמתך תביא בית ה' כו'", דהיינו הניצוצות שנפלו למטה "תביא בית ה'" להעלותם מעפר כנ"ל. השם יורנו דרך האמת לעבדו בשלימות באמת ובתמים אמן כי"ר.
(12) And this is the explanation for "In a beginning - due to Torah etc and due to Israel etc" (Rashi on Genesis 1:1:2) this is a hint to clinging to the Blessed and Elevated Creator, the clinging to the Blessed One through songs and praises, and this is the hint "Israel" - "God is direct / yashar E'l "ישראל" - יש"ר א"ל". "And due to the first fruits that are called reshit/beginning" a hint regarding the rising of the holy sparks, as it is said "the beginning of the first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of etc" (Exodus 23:19), that are the sparks that fell down, "you shall bring to the house of Hashem" to rise them from the ashes, as explained. Hashem taught us the true way to serve God, in completeness, in truth and in honesty/innocence, amen, may it be God's will.
~ We finish going back to the first question.
~ What is the reshit, the beginning, of serving God? How does the Noam Elimelech see clinging and raising sparks?
~ Why do you think this is the first commentary of this book? What themes can we find?