Beyond the PaRDeS Wall
The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco is the home of the Pardes wall. Designed by the museum’s architect Liebskind, the wall is based on a sketch by Liebskind. The wall is a set of four Hebrew letters created through lights on the wall that form the letters.
 Liebskind drawing of Pardes Wall – P106, “DL and the CJM” |  A Photograph of the Hebrew Letters by the consulting firmhttps://www.auerbachconsultants.com/projects/contemporary-jewish-museum/ |
Here is another view of the Pardes Wall:
On the Contemporary Jewish Museum website are words about the Pardes Wall:
The word PaRDes means “orchard,” but is also an acronym referring to four distinct levels for interpreting traditional Jewish texts: literal, hinted, allegorical, and mystical.
Each of the four letters of the acronym is embedded into the wall and illuminated, creating a visually dynamic atmosphere that evokes The Museum’s philosophy of embracing multiple interpretations and layers of meaning.
The real origin of Pardes is the ancient Persian custom of the affluent creating a garden or orchard setting for rest and recreation. The image below is that of Gardens outside the Palace of Darius I of Persia in Persepolis, an example of Achaemenid paradise gardens
A more contemporary example of a pardes would be our backyard with its pool and greenery.
On the Contemporary Jewish Museum wall opposite the Hebrew letters is a plaque that explains a bit more about Pardes:
Jewish Literacy is far more than acquiring facts. Jewish Literacy is also about acquiring and applying methods of seeing life and solving problems. Torah teaches us to see the invisible and the possible. Talmud page design teaches us to consider multiple points of view, including over time and geography. We learn briefly about the creativity in the design of ritual items, and we add the visual and plastic art forms to the layers of midrash we can add to our sacred texts.
A Jewish museum wall teaches us that we are enriched when we search for multiple meanings and means of being Jewish.
The Pardes Factor
Glimpses of Jewish Resiliency and Ingenuity
there is a way to tell the story of the PARDES concept through characters, dialogue and something all kinds of viewers with limited background in Jewish learning might connect with, then we’d be excited to see it.
The Pardes Factor in Jewish History
“Jewish history is the prototype for the creative tension and energetic interplay between subjugation and freedom, between local action and global consciousness, between narrow unidirectional thought and open-ended systems thought, between spiritual and material realms, and between being rooted in one’s own culture and exploring others. This tension and interplay can become the stimulus and raw material for forging new directions for art in our era of globalization..” (Mel Alexenberg)
This book is about a factor in the historical Jewish experience, namely a Hebrew word composed of four letters, which are in transliteration: “Peih”, “Resh”, “Dalet”, “Samech”. These Hebrew letters correspond to the English letters P, R, D, S. The Hebrew word פַּרְדֵ״ס thus becomes the English word “Pardes.” As will be explored these four letters form both a word and an acronym which appears in English as “PaRDeS”
Pardes is indeed a circumstance, a fact, an influence that has contributed and continues to contribute to Jewish life with quite interesting results and outcomes. This book explores the circumstances, facts, and influences of Pardes and PaRDeS expanding on the possibilities of meaning in the 21st-century cyberspace on Spaceship Earth.
For now at the outset of our exploration let the following historical tracing suffice:
- Pardes is a word that came into the Hebrew language and scriptures from the people’s forced exile into the fifth century B.C.E.
- Pardes appears in two of the Hebrew Scriptures’ most human and earthy writings, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes, and in the post exilic text of Nehemiah.
- Pardes then appears in the early common era as the subject of a famous account about four Rabbis who entered Pardes, the orchard.
- Pardes as PaRDeS is an acronym that entered Jewish consciousness through the mystical tradition in roughly the 13th century C.E.
- Pardes in the 21st century internet search appears as both a “brand name” and business philosophy.
As a preview of the further significance of Pardes and PaRDeS, examine the illustration below. It is a “word cloud” representation of a draft treatment of an outline of this book. The word cloud technology counts the number of occurances of the words of the text, with size and colors indicating the occurrences and hence importance of the words. Note the two largest words are Pardes itself, and https which represents the internet addresses of some dozen plus instances of contemporary entities using Pardes as part of their names.
The following are instances of Pardes over time, with basic results/outcomes or applications, and an indication of the possibilities these instances offer in response to our circumstances.
- Pardes in Persian means an outside enclosed area, park, or orchard referencing royalty or affluence.
- They provide a look at the world of Hebraic consciousness experienced by the biblical saga’s individuals.
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- Four individuals enter an Orchard, only one leaves unscathed. How was the Pardes characterized by the account? What would have been their experiences, and what could enable all four to profit from the orchard?
- What would 21st-century jews require from Pardes that would enhance their lives in the face of what Alvin Toffer coined as “Future Shock.?” In a number of areas, a foursome would be explored for their contributions to a positive Pardes environment, for example:
- In psychology, Viktor Frankl, Kurt Lewin, Abraham Maslow, Alvin Toffler.
- In Jewish 21st-century thought, Ya’akov Agam, Mel Alexenberg, Tzvi Bisk, Moshe Dror.
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- PaRDeS is an acronym of the first letters of interpretative approaches that range from P. a restatement of the obvious, R. hints of other instances, D. what should be learned, and S. what might be seen as secret or esoteric meanings.
- PaRDeS can be applied through creative development of the four areas of exploration represented by the P,R,D,S words. A course in creativity could be constructed inviting participants to “experience” on these several levels through visual art, music, psychodrama, photography, etc.
- Entering Pardes through Photography – The visual midrash gallery.
- Pardes in the 21st century is both a “brand name” and business philosophy.
- Among the entities that use Pardes in their brand name are:
- A designated wall in a Jewish museum
- a cemetery,
- a retirement home,
- a publishing house in Israel,
- A publication of a German Jewish students organization
- an unconventional synagogue,
- an international Jewish studies program,
- an art studio,
- A residential area in Israel known for being an artist colony.
- a rock band,
- A restaurant and a catering hall
- a bio-science company,
- and a program to leverage the ‘learning’ skills of the Israeli Yeshiva student in the cyberspace and intelligence sphere of information technology companies and the Israeli government.
- Each one of these entities has its own application of PaRDeS that would be worthwhile to explore. An example might include What makes a Museum Jewish with a listing of known Jewish Museums.
- Among the entities that use Pardes in their brand name are:
About defining the PARDES FACTOR:
As stated above:
“Pardes is indeed a circumstance, a fact, an influence that has contributed and continues to contribute to Jewish life with quite interesting results and outcomes. This book explores the circumstances, facts, and influences of Pardes and expands on the possibilities of results and outcomes in the 21st-century cyberspace on Spaceship Earth.”
THE PARDES FACTOR
A goal of the book is to create a definition of the Pardes Factor based on the treatment of the four identified instances of PARDES.
Once defined, the next step would be a PARDES FACTOR Manual. And or steps would be presented in the sections outlined above.
The second half of the book will be a handbook of applications of the Pardes Factor
Origin of the word “Pardes” and biblical use/meaning
The word “pardes” comes from the Persian as orchard, private courtyards of royalty
and enters into Hebrew Scriptures three times
Two of the times are in the song of songs, and Ecclesiastes, both are wisdom books that exhibit an Hebraic consciousness. Hebraic consciousness reflects a non-exilic, non-guilt-ridden Jewish life. Possible implications for adult life cycle meaning.
There are three mentions of paradise in the new testament.
Contemporary Pakistani usage
Google Contemporary Search on “pardes” as brand names
Rabbinic concept of “Tzeh ulemdad” go out and study what the people are doing, how they define Pardes. Treating the internet search as midrash.
A google search for “Pardes” on the internet yields some 20 plus entries, among which are:
- A designated wall in a Jewish museum
- a cemetery,
- a retirement home,
- a publishing house in Israel,
- A publication of a German Jewish students organization
- an unconventional synagogue,
- an international Jewish studies program,
- an art studio,
- A residential area in Israel known for being an artist colony.
- a rock band,
- A restaurant and a catering hall
- a bio-science company,
- and a program to leverage the ‘learning’ skills of the Israeli Yeshiva student in the cyberspace and intelligence sphere of information technology companies and the Israeli government.
What can we learn from each finding, whether still active or not, about the characteristics of a contemporary Pardes Factor
Biblical context of Pardes
Two of the times are in the song of songs, and Ecclesiastes, both are wisdom books that exhibit an Hebraic consciousness. Hebraic consciousness reflects a non-exilic, non-guilt-ridden Jewish life. Possible implications for adult life cycle meaning.
Rabbinic use of ‘pardes’ as to be explored ‘space’
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 Pardes/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.
There are readings of the story that examine the four in:
- personal character openness to the future
- psychological criteria.
The account dealt with explorations into the mystic world. There is a statement about the characteristics required to explore mysticism! Suppose we defined Pardes as the future in which we describe the ideal life as :
“To cherish individuality, to seek out novel possibilities, to enrich oneself through exposure to varied and exotic cultures and to prefer to risk subjective anxiety than to be secure within age-old objective constraints -to be all these is to be Jewish.”
What if we explore aspects of the future, with foursomes who explored and contributed to our definition of living in PARDES and preparations for life going forward?
- Four who entered the search for the healthy (Jew) :
Frankl, the critical importance of having meaning
Lewin, the importance of belonging
Maslow, self actualization and the jonah complex
Alvin Toffler, surviving Future Shock
- Four who entered the quest for 21st-century Jewish life:
Buckminster Fuller, while not Jewish expressed a “Jewish perspective” on the jews as the anti-entropy, and as “Fuller points out that paradoxically it is the survival skills which caused the Jews to be viewed as disruptive elements in societies which wish to remain static.”
Alvin Reines – Future is holy, “polydoxy” as recognizing individuality.
Ellis Rivkin – Past as scenarios for exploration of the present and future
Fritz Perls – The present is holy, awareness and response
- Four who integrate cyber technology with Jewish values
Mel Alexenberg – technology, spiritual photography
Tzvi Bisk – Jewish Futurism
Moshe Dror – Aspects of Cyber Judaism
Ya’akov Agam – Experimenter art and judaism, art and technology, participatory art
Building on Defining Pardes as a factor in 21st century psychic well-being
Pardes as PaRDeS – tools for seeing, analyzing and resolving
- Rabbinic playing with hebrew consonants as an acronym for
- P – Peshat – simple, basic elements
- R – Remez – hints, allusions
- D- Drash – stories, lessons
- S- Sod – Secret, mystical
- Variations of four levels, area of exploration:
- A theology focused web site
- An indian born artist’s work ‘four mothers who entered Pardes’
- An “embodied Pardes’ program focusing on body awareness
- A ‘Jewish psychology’ program with emphasis on ‘re-biography’
- A tapestry artist who applies pardes in her art
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