T286 PNC - Gan Eden Has Two Aspects — Gan and Eden; The Sunken Gates and the Study of Poskim

Reb Noson says: I heard from his name, long ago, something he said on Parashat Shoftim, of which much has been forgotten — and this is what we still remember. There is Gan Eden — and it has two aspects: Gan and Eden. ("The Garden" and "Eden." Two distinct levels of one place.)

These two correspond to chochmah ila'ah (upper wisdom) and chochmah tata'ah (lower wisdom). The main delight of Gan Eden is the attainment of divine chochmah — both upper and lower. But it is impossible to merit this except through gates — and these gates are the gates of Gan Eden, through which one enters to attain upper and lower wisdom. The catch: these gates are hidden and concealed in the earth — "her gates have sunk into the ground" (Lamentations 2:9). To raise them, one needs a master of the house on earth, a ruler on earth who can extract, raise, and set up the gates that have sunk in the ground.

Know that by studying the poskim — the halachic decisors — a person merits to become king and ruler on earth, and then he can set up and raise the sunken gates. This is the meaning of "a king through justice establishes the land" (Proverbs 29:4) — "through justice" specifically refers to mishpat, the laws and rulings of Torah, which is the study of poskim, who clarify the judgments and laws. Through learning poskim a person becomes king and ruler, and through that royalty he can establish the land and raise the sunken gates of Gan Eden.

Therefore the verse says "Judges and officers shall you appoint for yourself in all your gates" (Devarim 16:18) — these judges and officers are the leaders and rulers on earth, and it is precisely through judges, through the judgments of Torah (poskim), that the gates buried in the earth are revealed. Judges and officers correspond to the leaders who raise the sunken gates through their rulings, fulfilling "a king through justice establishes the land." The simple verse about courts in every town turns out to be the secret of how the gates of Gan Eden return to their place: by the study and practice of halachah.