Genesis 2:16

Those who speak of a high number of commands and precepts from the Creator must remember that the primary command, once we were created, was to obey Him, leaving us with the special recommendation not to eat from the forbidden tree, the very one that would present us with a great challenge to co-govern that freedom, which is sustained by our obedience to Him.

The concept וַיְצַו (Va-y'tzav) - "and commanded," which has its root in צַוָּּׁה (tzav), reiterates that this instruction relates to our bond or connection with the one who commands, a direct link that is lost once we choose to disobey. Therefore, calling out to Him in our prayers is the first step in attempting to rebuild that bond.

He, as יְהוָּׁה אֱלֹהִ ים (Adonai Elohim), asks us, within the process of restoration, to voluntarily embrace His mercy (יהוה) and His justice (אֱלֹהִ ים), in order to reestablish the balance that was lost once we disobeyed. This is why, as a group of humans עַל־הָּׁ אָּׁ דָּׁ ם (al-ha-adam), derived from the first man, אָּׁ דָּׁ ם (Adam), we must cultivate the earth אֲדָּׁ מָּׁ ה (adamah), so that through it, we may gather the fruits that allow us to be nourished by Him, assuming our role in creation.

Our disobedience, which affected the eternal and led us to the fragmented world with its limited and finite timeline, remains the place where we must learn to obey. This is why, in this world, we are contaminated by the impurities of that disobedience until we return to Eden: מִ כֹּל עֵּץ־הַ גָּׁן (mi-kol etz-ha-gan), a space that symbolizes that place of origin and spiritual purity, where each tree represents a source of life and knowledge.

We continue to feed on the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, from which we could freely eat אָּׁכֹּל תֹּּאכֵּל (akhol tokhel), but from which we were warned not to eat, to remain within the abundance of the divine provision offered by the other trees and their fruits.

By not heeding His limits, we lost full access to life and its blessings, which is why we need the Tree of Life (עֵּץ הַ חַ יִּים): our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not forget that the concept of עֵּץ (etz - tree), which reminds us, through the gematria sum of עֵּץ which is 160 (ע=70, ץ=90), that He is the structure of everything and our path toward growth and enlightenment, for which He cleared those paths back to the garden גָּׁן (gan - garden), 53 (ג=3, נ=50).

Our free will, as a gift, requires divine limits, understanding that although we may eat from "every tree," we must abstain from certain fruits to enjoy the abundance of opportunities that He provides and His generosity, as long as we remain within the framework of divine obedience.

In our daily lives, we face decisions that require balancing our needs and desires with the Creator's commandments and principles, so we must not lose sight that every intention, desire, thought, emotion, word, interaction, and interrelation has a consequence. This means that the gift of free will does not reside in the ability to do anything, but in choosing what is good within the parameters established by divine law.

True freedom comes with responsibility, which is achieved by following divine instructions, the same that allow us to enjoy the Creator's work but, above all, to reconnect with the deeper purpose for which we were created.

Kabbalah insists that free will is what grants us the possibility of Tikkun or rectification. Therefore, the Creator's sole command: to obey Him, has to do with that gift that allows us to choose whether or not to do so, which in turn introduces the possibility of Tikkun (spiritual correction or rectification).

Eating from all the trees represents enjoying the physical and spiritual world in harmony with divine will. Not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents a necessary restriction to maintain unity with the divine Light, avoiding the separation that arises from dualism.

"Akol tokhel" (אכול תאכל) – "you shall eat" (or "you may eat freely"). This is a classic example of emphatic repetition in Biblical Hebrew. Akol = 1 + 20 + 6 + 30 = 57, Tokhel = 400 + 1 + 20 + 30 = 451, for a total of 508, which is no coincidence. Some commentaries link 508 to the meaning of certain words, such as Chanoch, the seventh patriarch, who “walked with God” and was taken without dying, suggesting that the act of eating freely may be linked to spiritual elevation when done in obedience. Thus, the Creator’s commandment is “only one: obey,” yet by not doing so He gives us the Torah with 611 commandments, plus the two directly spoken by Him at Mount Sinai for a total of 613. “Torah” (תורה) = 611. This is no coincidence: ת )400 + (ו )6 + (ר )200 + (ה (5) = 611. This represents the

611 commandments that were given through Moshe Rabeinu. The other two commandments (“I am the Lord your God” and “You shall have no other gods”) were heard directly from God at Mount Sinai. Therefore, 611 + 2 = 613 commandments (Taryag Mitzvot, תריג מצוות).