“Truth shall sprout from the earth”
Psalms 85:12
The mysterious verse, “Truth shall sprout from the earth” has been interpreted
in various ways. For some, the verse implies that textual knowledge cannot
substitute real life experience. Only experience can reveal a concept’s
limitations, context, and potency. In this vein, the chassidic master, Reb
Simcha Bunim of Pshischa, once quipped about the knowledge of a certain mystic,
“He has studied the map of Paris but never walked its streets!” Having studied
a map, one may know the location of every street by heart. Still, it would not
be wise to ask him for directions since he can’t tell how beautiful, safe or
congested any given route is. Only one who has walked the streets can offer sound
directions. Along tese lines our sages teach, “There is none wiser than he who
learns from experience.”[1]
In essence, Reb Simcha Bunim was unimpressed with the knowledge of this
particular mystic because it did not ‘sprout from the earth’. Unaccompanied by
real life application, it lacked the element of truth.
The Kotzker Rebbe had a different interpretation. According to him, just
as the potential of a seed to become a plant is actualised when the seed is
sown in the earth, one’s potential to be truthful and objective is only
realized after one figuratively lowers the self to the earth in humility. This
theme is echoed in the prayer, ‘Let my soul be as dust before all; open
my heart to Your Torah’. Only after egoism is reduced
can one study Torah with truth, that is, unclouded by the
bias of self-interest.[2]
Mumbaz,
an aristocratic convert to Judaism during the Talmudic period, used this verse
in another way.[3]
During prolonged famine, Mumbaz, out of exceptional generosity, exhausted his
personal treasury to provide the community with relief. His family complained,
“Your father gathered treasure and built upon his father’s treasure, but you
are squandering it all!” He retorted, “My father hid the treasures below [in
this world]; I am hiding them above [in Heaven]…He hid them where they can yet
be stolen, while I am hiding them where they cannot be stolen…for ‘Truth shall
sprout from the earth.’ Mumbaz meant that
the way to merit true –
eternal/Divine - goodness in the spiritual realm is by performing altruistic
acts on earth - for “truth shall sprout from the
earth.”
Perhaps the most
intriguing use of the verse is found in a Midrash describing the process that
preceded the creation of Adam, the progenitor of humanity:
‘As
G-d was about to create Adam, four spiritual qualities disputed as to whether
he should be created:
Kindness
said, ‘Let him be created for he will perform acts of kindnesses.’
Truth
countered, ‘Do not create him for he will be filled with falsehood’.
Righteousness
asserted, ‘Create him, for he will perform acts of righteousness’.
Peace
responded, ‘Do not create him for he will be filled with strife.”...
G-d
cast Truth to the earth and said, “Truth shall sprout from the earth.”[4]
In the next few blog posts we will look at some of the mystical commentaries on this enigmatic Midrash.
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