<b>These are the generations (Toledot) of the heaven and the earth when they were created (Gen. 2:4).</b> R. Berechiah and R. Helbo said in the name of R. Samuel the son of Nahmani: The word <i>toledot</i> in Scripture lacks the letter <i>vav</i> in all but two verses. These verses are: <i>These are the generations of Perez</i> (Ruth 4:18) and the (verse quoted) above. (The full spelling of the word <i>toledot,</i> with the <i>vav,</i> is found only in these two instances.)
R. Judah the Levite, the son of Shalum said: The <i>vavs,</i> which the other verses lack, correspond to the six things which the Holy One, blessed be He, took from Adam after he sinned.<sup class="footnote-marker">22</sup><i class="footnote"><i>Vav</i> has the numerical value of six which is also, according to tradition, the number of the things takenfrom Adam because of his sin</i> They are as follows: his luster, his stature, his immortality, the fertility of the earth, the garden of Eden, the sun and the moon. Whence do we know about his luster? it is written : <i>Changest his countenance and sendest him away</i> (Job 14:20). Whence do we know of his stature? It is said: <i>Thou hast hemmed me in from behind and before</i> (Ps. 139:5). How do we know about his immortality? If Adam had been worthy, he would have merited living forever. Whence do we know of the fertility of the earth? It is written: <i>Cursed be the ground for thy sake</i> (Gen. 3:17). Whence do we know of his banishment from the Garden of Eden? It is written: <i>He drove out the man</i> (ibid., v. 24). Whence do we know of the sun and the moon? <i>The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine</i> (Isa. 13:10).
The Holy One, blessed be He, will restore these things to man in the future. How do we know about man’s luster? It is written: <i>All that see them shall acknowledge them</i> (Isa. 61:9). How do we know about his stature? It is written: <i>I will make you go upright</i> (<i>komemiut</i>) (Lev. 26:13). The word <i>komemiut</i> indicates that each Israelite will be one hundred cubits tall. R. Simeon the son of Yohai held, however, that each Israelite will be two hundred cubits tall. The word <i>komah</i> would indicate one hundred cubits, while the word <i>komemiut</i> signifies two hundred cubits.<sup class="footnote-marker">23</sup><i class="footnote">The word <i>komah</i> (“stature”) can be read as <i>kemeah</i> (“about a hundred), while the final part of komemiut can be seen as the plural “hundreds.”</i> How do we know about his immortality? It is written: <i>For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people</i> (Isa. 65:22).<sup class="footnote-marker">24</sup><i class="footnote">The word “tree” is a synonym for “Torah,” which is called a tree of life; and just as the Torah is eternal, so Israel will be eternal.</i> How do we know about the fertility of the earth? <i>And by the river, upon the banks thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail; it shall bring forth new fruit every month</i> (Exod. 47:12).
What is the meaning of the phrase <i>new fruit every month</i>? It means that new fruits will ripen each month. However, they will not be the same fruit each month but an entirely different species of fruit. Whence do we know that man will return to the Garden of Eden? It is said: <i>They that dwell under his shadow shall again make corn to grow, and they shall blossom as the vine</i> (Hos. 14:8). Whence do we know about the sun and the moon? it is written: <i>Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven times the light of the seven days</i> (Isa. 30:26). And Scripture states elsewhere: <i>But they that love Him shall be as the sun that goeth forth in its might</i> (Judg. 5:31). The Targum (Aramaic translation) for the latter verse reads: “The radiance of the righteous in the future will be three hundred and forty-three times more luminous than the radiance of the sun when it goes forth in its light.” When will this come to pass? In the day that the <i>Lord bindeth up the bruises of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound</i> (Isa. 30:26). This refers to the time wherein He will heal the ills of the world (i.e., after the Messiah comes).