In my book, Adam, the Blueprint of Creation and the Tree of Life, I argue that the Torah reveals a divine code embedded in creation, human DNA, and history. At its center stands the Etz HaChayim — the Tree of Life — representing total dependence on Hashem, covenant fidelity, and the path to redemption.
Parshat Beha’alotecha: The Tipping Point
Right after leaving Mount Sinai — after the “wedding” and honeymoon with God — the people immediately began to complain. Rabbi David Fohrman of Aleph Beta calls this the tipping point. The Ark of the Covenant, with its golden Cherubim facing each other, traveled before the people as a symbol of divine leadership. Yet the people rejected the miraculous manna, God’s direct daily provision.
“Our souls are dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna.” (Numbers 11:6)
This rejection echoes the Garden of Eden. God gave Adam and Chava trees for food, yet they reached for the one tree that represented self-mastery instead of dependence.
Trying to Make the Manna “Ours”
Rabbi Fohrman highlights a profound detail: “The people would go about and gather it, grind it in a mill or pound it in a mortar, boil it in a pot, and make it into cakes” (Numbers 11:8).
God gave them a perfect, ready-to-eat miracle every morning — bread from heaven that tasted like whatever they desired. Yet they took that gift and tried to turn it into something made by their own hands. They ground it, pounded it, baked it — they worked to make it “theirs.”
This is the same sin as the Garden. Instead of gratefully receiving the manna as a daily act of dependence, they tried to possess and control it. It’s not just what we complain about, but how we relate to what God gives us.
The Spies and the Question: “Is There a Tree?”
The crisis peaks when Moses sends the spies:
“See the Land… is it good or bad (הַטּוֹבָה הִוא אִם־רָעָה)… Is there a tree in it or not (הֲיֵשׁ בָּהּ עֵץ אִם־אַיִן)?” (Numbers 13:19-20)
Moses asked about one tree — the Tree of Life. Ten spies brought a bad report through the lens of the Tree of Knowledge — fear and self-reliance. Joshua and Caleb answered with the Tree of Life: “The Land is very, very good… Hashem is with us.”
Cherubim, Tov, and Ra — The Hidden Pattern on the Ark
The Ark, topped by the two Cherubim, carries a hidden numerical pattern. In Genesis, “tov” (good) appears four times before man. After the Tree of Knowledge, “ra” (evil) appears five times. A final “tov” appears when the people describe Egypt as good during their complaints — completing 4 tov + 5 ra + final tov. This pattern sits between the Cherubim, where God speaks, holding the memory of humanity’s choice and the hope of repair.
A Personal Giant: My Daughter’s Story
The spies’ dilemma is not ancient history.
In our family right now, we’re facing the same kind of question the spies had to answer. My 23-year-old daughter is bedridden, on oxygen, with a feeding tube. She needs 24-hour care, and we don’t know how much longer we’ll have her. I would leave for Israel tomorrow if I could — but I will not leave my daughter behind.
The spies looked at the giants and said We can’t.’ I’m looking at my daughter and saying the same thing. I understand their fear now in a way I never did before. Sometimes the ‘giant’ in front of you isn’t a walled city — it’s the responsibility to care for someone you love more than your own dreams. I’m learning that trusting God doesn’t always mean moving forward. Sometimes it means staying right where you are and continuing to love with everything you’ve got.
This is the vulnerability Rabbi Fohrman and David Bloch speak about. True faith sometimes looks like trusting God while staying exactly where love requires you to be.
We Are One Family — The DNA Evidence
Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson’s book Traced shows that all human Y-chromosome DNA traces back to three men (Noah’s sons) and mitochondrial DNA to three women (Noah’s daughters-in-law). We are literally one family — the 70 nations are brothers and cousins, all children of Adam. The Tree of Life Blueprint is written in our DNA. The first question — “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9) — still echoes.
The Source Code: Jacob, Esau, and the Ten Sayings
Rabbi David Fohrman, in his Shavuot series A Book Like No Other, reveals that the story of Isaac, Rebecca, Esau, and Jacob in Genesis 27 is the source code for the Ten Sayings. He identifies 37 precise textual parallels in the same order. The healing of the human family — repairing “Am I my brother’s keeper?” — is encoded here. The Jewish people carry this code. To erase them would destroy the instructions for healing Adam’s children.
Pirkei Avot and Practical Wisdom
“Who is rich? He who is happy with his portion.” (Pirkei Avot 4:1) “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.” (Pirkei Avot 2:16)
The wilderness generation had manna but called it “nothing.” We are called to gratitude and faithful action where we stand.
The Question for Us Today
Do Christianity and Islam follow this Torah Blueprint of the Tree of Life — radical dependence, covenant loyalty, and family repair? Or do they represent rewritings of Hashem’s original Torah?
For now, my manna is to love and care for my daughter. That is my act of trust. When her season ends, I will ask again about the Land.
The generation that learned these lessons entered the Land. May we choose the Tree of Life and answer “Yes” to “Are you your brother’s keeper?”