THE CABALA OF SEVERITY

Beekeepers from Minnesota and across the country have asked the federal government for a temporary ban on one the most widely used pesticides until its effect on bees is clear.

The land of Israel is commonly known as the Land of Milk and Honey; the Cabala explains, Milk epitomizes Chesed/Kindness while Honey symbolizes Gevorah/Severity – in small amounts honey is sweet, but too much honey is poison. A small amount of severity goes a long way.

Herod, the freed slave who Rome placed as king over the Jewish People 2000 years ago, was renown for his cruelty. Once, Herod put his eye on a beautiful Jewish woman who, rather than be taken by the king, killed herself by jumping from a rooftop but the king took her anyway.

Herod put the young woman into a cauldron of honey to preserve her body from the disintegration of death, even though nothing stands before death – the most severe human experience. Another example of the severity of honey is the bee that stings and sometimes even kills.

To kill bees on a massive scale requires a substance even more severe than honey – pesticides. By poisoning the bees, the kindness derived from the plants cannot be realized. The proper balance between Chesed/Kindness and Gevorah/Severity is essential to life on Earth.