It's not just about protection from the elements or hungry animals. In Jewish mystical thought, particularly in Kabbalah, the shells and layers of fruits can tell us a whole lot about the spiritual realms they represent.
Think about it: we eat the inside, and we discard the outside. Why? Well, according to the teachings of Peri Etz Hadar, there are ten kinds of fruit whose roots lie in the World of Making – what's known as Olam Yetzirah. These fruits correspond to the ten sefirot, the divine emanations, of that world. This World of Making is a fascinating and complicated place. It’s a spiritual battleground, you could say.
The Peri Etz Hadar explains that the fruit’s shell acts as a barrier. A barrier between the delicious, nourishing inside and the World of Delights – a term for the realm of holiness. This barrier is essential because the World of Making borders the realm of evil forces, a realm characterized by lust and pleasures entirely separated from holiness. The shell prevents the fruit from taking on the impurity of these evil forces. Makes sense, right? Protection is key.
The spiritual battle between good and evil, holiness and impurity, is directly confronted in the World of Making. That's why the fruits associated with this world require a hard outer shell. It's a tough world out there, even for fruit!
Now, things get even more interesting. Fruits that symbolize the World of Formation – Olam Yetzirah – only have a hard inner kernel, not a hard outer shell. Why the difference? Because the World of Formation isn't directly assailable by the forces of evil. Evil and impurity can only penetrate it indirectly. This, my friends, is the esoteric meaning behind the evil urge, the yetzer hara, and how the kelippah – the "shell" or husk of impurity – cleaves to the nefesh.
What's the nefesh? The text sees the human soul as potentially containing a series of grades or parts that hierarchically correspond to the series of worlds. The nefesh is the lowest grade, and like the World of Making, it's directly vulnerable to the forces of evil.
So, which fruits are we talking about here? The ones corresponding to the sefirot of the World of Making? Pomegranates, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, chestnuts, hazelnuts, acorns, coconuts, pine nuts, and peanuts. Take a look at them sometime, and think about those layers, those shells, and the spiritual battles they represent.
Next time you crack open a walnut or peel a pomegranate, maybe you'll think about the spiritual realms, the constant battle between good and evil, and the protective layers that surround us all. Are we like these fruits, needing protection as we navigate the world? And what kind of shell are we building around ourselves? Something to ponder, perhaps, while enjoying a handful of nuts.