“The Lord God grew from the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9). “The Lord God grew from the ground […and the tree of life]” – it is taught: [The tree of life is] a tree that spreads out over all the living.25The life force of all people emanates from it. Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai said: [The extent of] the tree of life is a walking distance of five hundred years26That is, its influence extends over the entire world. and all the waters of creation branch out from beneath it.
Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai: It is not merely that [the extent of] its branches are a walking distance of five hundred years, but even [the extent of] its trunk is a walking distance of five hundred years.