PaRDeS (I-?)
– In the Wilderness of the Orchard
PaRDeS is an acronym for four levels of understanding passages in Biblical texts. P’shat refers to the literal meaning of the text; Remez, to the allegorical; D’rash to the interpretive; and Sod, to the mystical meaning.
Pardes is also a Persian word for a planted orchard or a walled garden. Yet I feel it inhabits the tension between what is planted and what grows wild, between careful intentions and accidental surprises. In the end, the manicured garden may have elements of both.
