The Torah often describes the Land of Israel as a land flowing with milk and honey. Rashi explains that the honey referred to in the verse is not made by bees but is made from dates, one of the unique seven fruits designated by God as native to the Land of Israel:
For God your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams of water, of springs and underground water flowing forth from valley and in mountain. A land of wheat and barley and grape and fig and pomegranate, a land of olive oil and [date] honey. (Deuteronomy 8:7-8) The Hebrew word for date (tamar) has the numerical value of 640, the same numerical value as that of the Hebrew word for sun (shemesh). Tellingly, date palms only grow well if they are exposed to a great deal of intense sunlight. In the photosynthetic process, green plants and various other organisms transform sunlight into chemical energy and ultimately food. One of the by-products of this process is oxygen; released into the air, this oxygen is crucial to providing the atmospheric balance necessary for human beings to exist on the planet. Another by-product is the fruit of the tree. On the glycemic scale, which measures natural sugar content in foods – the amount of sugar immediately available to someone who eats a particular food – dates are at the very top of the list. Like all food produced by plants, the sweetness of the date has its ultimate source in the light of the sun.
The process of photosynthesis provides a wonderful analogy to the ideal spiritual process that humanity should be engaged in. Human beings should integrate the light of God into their lives, using it as a burst of energy and life force to motivate their every thought, speech, and action. This Divine light shines through every point of space and in every moment of time and is especially channeled through the Torah and mitzvot. Tzaddikim are conscious of God’s presence at every moment in their lives and constantly transform Divine light into the energy that fuels their lives of holiness and purity. By just living their lives, they have the opportunity to transform the world and influence all those who come into contact with them.
Chassidut teaches about a crucial spiritual process called Hamtakat Hadinim (Sweetening the Judgments). Conscious effort and prayer can transform adverse circumstances, which seem to only possess the potential for anguish and strife, into positive experiences. By recognizing the potential good and possible rectification hidden in these circumstances, we can “sweeten” them. According to the Sages, the Land of Israel was referred to as a land flowing with milk and honey because this alludes to the fact that the hardships necessary to acquire the Land contain a sweetness ever ready to be revealed to those who undertake the spiritual path of “sweetening the judgments.”
