The Tree of Life: Now

Anyone can enjoy paradise in this world. All you have to do is to heed Hashem. I'll prove it to you – it's right out of the Torah.

Hashem gave Adam and Eve every imaginable amenity. They had hundreds of varieties of exotic fruits, berries, nuts and veggies to choose from. Everywhere they walked, they smelled fragrances that defy description. And the scenery – forget it! Rivers and waterfalls of perfumed, blue-green waters, green pastures, wildflowers of every color and variety – you name it! They had angels waiting on them hand and foot, serving them Heavenly-aged fine wine and juicy skewers right off the charcoal fire.

They would go to the middle of the Garden of Eden and gaze at the marvelous Tree of Life, whose leaves were glittering sparks of Divine energy. Who can imagine such an awesomely sublime sight!

They had paradise on earth, but it wasn't enough. Out of everything in the entire Garden of Eden that was permissible for them, they wanted the one thing that was forbidden – to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

May Adam and Eve forgive me, but how could they make such a stupid mistake? The answer is that they allowed their lust to override Hashem's commandment.

People think that freedom is "doing their own thing", whether or not it entails transgressing the Torah. But here's an important rule to remember: the moment a person forsakes a Divine commandment to do what he or she wants, they fall out of paradise right into purgatory. Life then becomes a hell on earth where it should have been a paradise on earth.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev teaches that paradise on earth is when a person knows that everything that's happening in his/her life is all from Hashem and all for the very best. The greatest indication that a person really feels that way is when he/she is singing songs of praise to Hashem.

In his famous "Master of Prayer" tale, Rebbe Nachman tells most prophetically a parable about several different countries, each of which had a certain value that all its citizens held in highest regard. The king of each respective country was the individual who most exemplified that value. For example, in the "Land of Riches", the king was the richest person; in the "Land of Intelligence", the king was the one with the highest IQ; in "The Land of Lewdness", the king was the one with the biggest harem, and so forth.

Rebbe Nachman is alluding to the reason King David became the anointed King of Israel, the forerunner and great grandfather of Moshiach, may he come soon, amen. The Gemara tells us that King David sang more songs of praise than anyone in history.[1] He's even singing a mizmor, a song of praise, when his own son Absalom is revolting against him, chasing him and trying to kill him.[2] Where does he get such inner strength? He knew that everything was from Hashem and all for the best, so he sang songs of praise.

Since King David became our king, we learn that our job is to sing songs of praise to Hashem. We are the nation of prayer and Moshiach is our king, the master of prayer.[3]

Some people think that prayer is a waste of time that could be better spent learning Torah. The Gemara disagrees. King David would learn Torah from sundown until midnight, then sing songs of praise to Hashem from midnight until dawn.[4] No one in the Gemara asks why King David simply didn't learn all night long. We see that he spent just as much time singing praises to Hashem as he did learning Torah.

King David knew that Hashem "Gives a person the power to succeed"[5]. Since he attributed all his physical and spiritual powers, abilities and achievements to Hashem, he could always sing songs of praise to Hashem.

From here, we learn the tactic of the evil inclination: the evil inclination blinds a person from seeing Hashem's hand in the successes and from seeing the benefits and ultimate good of the seemingly bad. Therefore, the person no longer has the desire to pray, much less sing songs of praise.

In short, the evil inclination pours ice water on a person's emuna, cooling it down immediately until it's completely neutralized. How? Emuna means that a person is happy with his/her current lot in life.[6] This is the epitome of spiritual wealth, paradise on earth, the Tree of Life. Emuna is synonymous with paradise and the Tree of Life. That's why I always sing, "It's either emuna or purgatory." Purgatory begins when a person falls into the clutches of the evil inclination and fails to see Hashem in everything.

Hashem is only good and does only good; there is no exception to that rule.

We come to this world to attain emuna. That is our Tree of Life and our paradise on earth. Since that is a person's mission on earth, all his/her reward and punishment and all his/her spiritual level is determined by the emuna he/she attained.

In conclusion, emuna is paradise; it's the Tree of Life. In this lifetime, every one of us can recover what Adam and Eve lost. Emuna is our ticket to a life of joy and fulfillment when we can sing to Hashem all day long.