Pardes (Jewish exegesis)
Pardes is a Hebrew term that refers to four different ways of interpreting the Torah, which is a holy book in Judaism. Think of the Torah as a really big puzzle, and pardes as a set of tools to help figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together.
The first tool is called p'shat, which means "simple" in Hebrew. It's like when you read a story and just understand it at face value. This way of reading the Torah is all about finding the literal meaning of the words and understanding the story without any deeper meanings.
The second tool is called remez, which means "hint" in Hebrew. This way of reading the Torah is all about finding hidden meanings and clues in the text. Think of it like a treasure hunt where you have to look for clues to figure out where the treasure is hidden.
The third tool is called drash, which means "seek" in Hebrew. This way of reading the Torah is all about finding moral and ethical lessons in the text. It's like when you read a story and learn a lesson from it, like "be kind to others" or "always tell the truth."
The fourth tool is called sod, which means "secret" in Hebrew. This way of reading the Torah is all about finding mystical and spiritual meanings in the text. It's like when you read a story and feel like there's something more going on beneath the surface, something that can't be explained by just the words on the page.
So, when someone talks about "pardes" in the context of the Torah or Jewish exegesis, they're referring to these four different ways of interpreting the text. And just like different puzzle pieces need different tools to fit together, different parts of the Torah may require different tools to fully understand their meaning.
The first tool is called p'shat, which means "simple" in Hebrew. It's like when you read a story and just understand it at face value. This way of reading the Torah is all about finding the literal meaning of the words and understanding the story without any deeper meanings.
The second tool is called remez, which means "hint" in Hebrew. This way of reading the Torah is all about finding hidden meanings and clues in the text. Think of it like a treasure hunt where you have to look for clues to figure out where the treasure is hidden.
The third tool is called drash, which means "seek" in Hebrew. This way of reading the Torah is all about finding moral and ethical lessons in the text. It's like when you read a story and learn a lesson from it, like "be kind to others" or "always tell the truth."
The fourth tool is called sod, which means "secret" in Hebrew. This way of reading the Torah is all about finding mystical and spiritual meanings in the text. It's like when you read a story and feel like there's something more going on beneath the surface, something that can't be explained by just the words on the page.
So, when someone talks about "pardes" in the context of the Torah or Jewish exegesis, they're referring to these four different ways of interpreting the text. And just like different puzzle pieces need different tools to fit together, different parts of the Torah may require different tools to fully understand their meaning.