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PaRDeS, an acronym formed from the first letters of the four levels means 'orchard' in Hebrew. (The English word Paradise is derived from the same Persian root).
 Pshat: often inaccurately translated as literal, Pshat comes from the root which means simple, although Pshat is sometimes anything but simple! Pshat correctly means the intended meaning (the opposite of Drash! see below). The problem is, one person's pshat is another person's drash!
Remez: alluded meaning (reading between the lines). Remez in modern Hebrew means hint. Traditionally, remez referred to methods such as gematria (word-number values)
Drash: drawn out meaning. Homiletical or interpretative meaning. The word 'midrash' is from the same root. The drash is an interpretation that is not explicit in the text, in other words, not pshat.
Sod: (lit. secret). The mystical or esoteric meaning.
More on PaRDeS and Torah study
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The familiar phrase 'eretz zavat chalav udvash' serves as a fabulous example of how even a simple phrase can be probed for layers of meaning. The phrase appears almost twenty times in the Bible, and serves as the description, par excellence, of the land of Israel. Only once, is it used insultingly by the Israelites, who complain to Moses, "You took us from a land (ie. Egypt) flowing with milk and honey into this desert!"
This phrase can be understood at many levels. As Rashi quoting Psalms (62:12) says on his commentary for Exodus 20:7, 'God has spoken once, but I have heard two [things]'. I understand this to mean that different and even contradictory interpretations can all exist simultaneously. The Rabbis even say the Torah has 70 'facets'. One popular way to look at four of these facets, is 'PaRDeS' an acronym that stands for Pshat, Remez, Drash and Sod. (see side bar)
Pshat- The simple meaning: A land flowing with milk and honey. The milk is probably goat's milk. Honey is bee honey. For the generation in the desert, this description portrays a land filled with lush fields, with flowers, and goats grazing on the grass growing between the rocks.
Remez: In Numbers, we read that the scouts return with pomegranates, figs and grapes as a confirmation that it is a land 'flowing with milk and honey,' yet they brought back no dairy products. We can therefore assume that the expression can be understood also to mean: a land of abundance and fertility. The Rabbis often use 'gematria' (where letters have numerical value) to find alluded meanings. Here, for example, halav, (milk) has the value of 40, hinting at the 40 days Moses spent on the mountain to receive Torah.
Drash: The Rabbis also note that milk and honey are among two of the substances that the Torah is compared to. In Shir HaShirim, we read, 'milk and honey are under your tongue' (Song of Songs 4:11). The idea that the 'land' is actually a kind of Torah can also be seen by the unusual phrase in our parasha: "A land which Adonai your God looks after..." (Deut. 11:12) using the verb 'doresh' which we typically associate with what we are doing; namely making a midrash. We can then understand the 'land of milk and honey' in an entirely new way, that Torah is not talking about a physical land, but to the 'land of Torah.' When we live in a world where Torah is real to us, then we are living in the place God wants. Conversely, we can see the land itself as Torah; on a recent trip to Israel, our madrich taught us that a tour guide considers the land itself the 'book' and uses the land as the textbook to teach us.
Sod: This is the mystical level. According to our teacher of Zohar, Rabbi Justin Jaron Lewis, the Zohar associates honey with the Oral Torah, and the Sephirah (emanation) of Malkhut (which is also associated with the Land of Israel)! Chesed (compassion) is white like mother's milk. (Milk is also associated in some texts with the Oral Torah/Malkhut (as distinct from wine which those texts associate with the Written Torah/Tif'eret).)
In addition to these four classical levels, we add two contemporary interpretations:
Feminist: In a stunning article in The Women's Torah Commentary (edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein and published by Jewish Lights) for Parshat Va'etchanan (last week's parasha), Rabbi Rochelle Robbins argues convincingly that milk and honey are both feminine and sexual symbols, as is the word 'zavat' which might be better translated as 'oozing,' and usually appears in the context of sexual and body emissions and the like. It is certainly true that the words city and country, are both feminine, even though the rules of Hebrew grammar would suggest the contrary. I can't present her entire argument here, but she presents a strong case for what it means that the land is 'feminized.' (Note our use of phrases such as 'virgin territory, Mother nature'). Robbins' analysis asks us to reconsider what conquering the land represents. Suffice it say, her feminist analysis adds a new layer to the phrase's meaning.
Ecological: So far the phrase seems generally positive (although Robbins might disagree). What could be bad about milk and honey, or the image of goats grazing peacefully among the rocks, while bees collect their nectar from the wild flowers? But for the scouts, this was a description of potential: of uncultivated and yet unsettled land. After centuries of farming and agriculture, Isaiah uses this same pastoral image as a warning: to portray the utter devastation of God's destruction of Israel. "And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter, for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the midst of the land" (7:22). What is going on here? How is this phrase, normally thought of as a positive description, understood by Isaiah's listeners? Two prominent biblical scholars who specialize in the botanical details, Feliks and Hareuveni, suggest that for nomads and semi-nomads, the description of rocky fields with grazing goats and wildflowers sounds like paradise. But the same phrase, for a society now living in urban areas, suggests that their cultivated fields and gardens will now be food for goats and overgrown with weeds.
One simple phrase, six different layers.
And if the word for land is a metaphor for Torah, then Midrash Sifrei further notes the repetition of the word 'aretz' in the biblical description of Shivat Haminim (the Seven Species):
The Rabbis find another 5 occurences nearby to make a total of twelve, and suggest, the land was unique for each of the 12 tribes: the land of this one was not like the land of that one; the fruit of this one was not the fruit of that one; the hills of this one were not the hills of that one. Each tribe had their own 'aretz' (land).
Lessons for Today
Putting these two ideas together, what can we learn from all this? Torah is like the land of Israel and like milk and honey. Accordingly, this means that Torah is sweet and nourishing. But more than that, Torah is understood at multiple levels, and like the land which was unique for each tribe, each person understands Torah in their own unique way. An important lesson here is that our favourite (or only?) understanding of a word, a verse, or a story is only one of multiple possibilities. Don't let anyone tell you there is only one way to interpret the verse. The Rabbis use Jeremiah's image of a hammer shattering a rock (23:29) to show how every verse has myriads of interpretations. At Kolel we pride ourselves at being an open, non-judgmental environment. Judaism has a great pantry of milk and honey, and as the rabbis remind us, al ta'am verei'ach lo l'hitvakei'ach (Chacun a son gout or Different strokes for different folks). Open the cupboards and make your own delicious conconctions. May our kitchen, and our words, be sweet and nourishing to all of you who learn with us.
Shabbat Shalom.
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