POMEGRANATES : A HOLY AND WHOLESOME FRUIT

Pomegranates (Punica granatum) have garnered much of public attention as current research has found their consumption to have multiple health benefits. Little known to most people, the pomegranate received much attention long before the current trend, being extremely prominent in Tanakh, Mishneh and Talmud as a symbol of health and fertility, along with having a decorative function. With its religious significance and medicinal benefits, the pomegranate definitely bears a closer look. Pomegranates play a significant role not just for Jews, but also for many other religions and cultures. They are mentioned in many stories of ancient Greek mythology. For example, in the myth of Persephone, pomegranates are involved in the Greek explanation for the seasons of the year. The myth is that Persephone is tricked by Hades, the god of the underworld, into eating three pomegranate seeds, which subsequently condemn her to reside, for the three winter months each year, in the underworld. During those months in the underworld, the world was barren as her mother, Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, mourned for the temporary loss of Persephone [1]. Pomegranates also often appear in Christian religious decorations; broken pomegranate fruit is considered a symbol of the suffering of their deity. In Islam, the Koran states that pomegranates grow in the gardens of paradise, whereas in Hinduism they are associated with the earth goddess and lord Ganesha, the god of beginnings, as well as being a symbol of fertility and prosperity [2]. With the widespread importance of pomegranates, it is no surprise that they are connected to one of the first stories of Tanakh. The story of Adam and Eve’s eviction from Gan Eden focused on the eitz hadat tov v’rah, a tree whose fruit was forbidden to them, as its consumption imparted the ability to distinguish between good and evil. The identity of the particular species of tree is not stated in the text. Some Jewish scholars believe that the tree was the pomegranate tree [2]. It is intriguing, in light of the recently discovered medicinal properties of pomegranates, that Eve saw the fruit as “good for eating and a delight to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6) The pomegranate continues to appear in Tanakh, often being used to characterize the land of Israel as a fertile land of abundance. In Deuteronomy 8:8, when describing the good land to which G-d was bringing the Jews, the pomegranate is included in a special category of produce known as the shevah minim, or seven species. These seven agricultural species are the defining plants of Eretz Yisrael and show the wealth of the country. In Numbers 13:23, the spies sent to scout out Israel bring back pomegranates, along with grapes and figs, to confirm G-d’s words that the land was rich and fruitful. While in the desert, the Jews complained that there were no pomegranates, exemplifying the barrenness of the desert (Numbers 20:5). Later in Tanakh, the pomegranate is also symbolic of a more unfortunate event, when in Joel 1:12, the ruin of pomegranates is used to represent the devastation that accompanied the destruction of the second temple: “The vine has dried up, the fig tree withers, pomegranate, palm and apple the trees of the field are withered and joy had dried up among men. ”