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, 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.
