By: Amots Dafni and Saleh Akel Khativ
The magnificent blossoms and fruits of the pomegranate have attracted the eyes and heart of man since time immemorial. In all the cultures of Central Asia and the Fertile Crescent, the home of the pomegranate, it holds a place of honor both in religious worship and in everyday life. The prestige of the pomegranate has spread, along with the cultivation of the tree for thousands of years, far from its original homeland. Beliefs related to it are common in many different religions, from the western Mediterranean to China. The pomegranate is considered in various cultures as a symbol of eternal life, majesty, beauty, wisdom, knowledge, abundance, fertility, femininity and chastity (and in some cultures actually a symbol of sexuality). The overflowing pomegranate fruit and full of juicy berries symbolizes an abundance of wisdom and knowledge as it is written: "Even those who are empty in you are filled with the commandment of a carmon" (Berachot, 17:11).
In the Jewish tradition, this tree is associated with beauty, abundance, royalty and eroticism. A common Jewish sermon says that the number of pomegranate seeds is 613 grains, which is the number of three thousand mitzvot, therefore the pomegranate is considered a symbol of piety and observance of the mitzvot. Some say that this is the origin of the custom of eating a pomegranate on Rosh Hashanah. In the blessing that blesses the pomegranate on the eve of Rosh Hashanah it is said: "May our rights multiply like pomegranates" The pomegranate is considered to be a symbol of beauty, the beauty of the beloved is already described in the words: "As a part of the pomegranate from your path" (Song of Songs, XNUMX, XNUMX) the Armenians claim that the number of pomegranate seeds is the number of days of the year. and symbolizes Armenia, fertility and good luck.
The pomegranate is considered a symbol of beauty and already in the Song of Songs the beloved is described as "like a pomegranate fruit, you will touch it from across the street" (Song of Songs, 4:3). Rabbi Yochanan was particularly beautiful: "Whoever wants to see the beauty of Rabbi Yochanan, should bring a silver cup from the goldsmith's shop, fill it with red pomegranate seeds, and place a bouquet of red roses around it, and place it between the sun and the shade - then he will feel the radiance, like the beauty of Rabbi Yochanan" ( Baba Metzia, FD: MG, translated by Yehuda Felix).
Humans associated the pomegranate with human fertility, life, abundance, and success, and these motifs appear widely in the literature and art of the Near East and the Mediterranean countries. Already in Assyria, the pomegranate fruit was considered a kind of womb with many seeds and therefore was a symbol of fertility. The connection to fertility is not only due to the abundance of seeds but also due to its red color, this color similar to blood "the fluid of life" ties the fruit to the life of the person. At weddings in Assyria and Babylon, pomegranates were served as a symbol of love and fertility.
Hera, the goddess in charge of marriage, is sometimes depicted as decorated with pomegranates, pomegranates were served in Greece at weddings and also in Rome as a virtue for fertility and the multiplication of offspring, since the pomegranate contains hundreds of seeds it is considered a symbol of fertility, success and life. In Armenia it is customary for the bride to throw a pomegranate and crush it to pieces, the common seeds guarantee that the bride will bear children. Among the Bedouins in the northern Galilee, it is customary to put pomegranate flowers near the entrance to the bride's house so that "we will all be united like the seeds of the pomegranate".
It is said in the Gemara (Berakhot, 17:11): He who sees pomegranates in a dream is a junior, the fruit of his business is like a ramona. As it is said (Song of Songs, 8:2) "Your tears are like intoxicating wine, from sour pomegranate." And if the people of the land he will observe the mitzvah that is said (Song of Songs, 4:3) "Like the palm of your hand." May your "temple" be? That even the Riknin in you are full of commandments like a lemon.
Haim Weiss emphasizes that all the solutions point to the connection between the pomegranate and an abundance of businesses, without the commandment that the pomegranate represents a plurality of something. For the wise student, the solution to the dream leads to a wish to learn Torah and to go with the people of the land. The dream symbolizes a multitude of future mitzvot. The same author emphasizes the pomegranate as an erotic symbol of the beloved in our sources. This is in contrast to the Greek dream solver Artemidorus, where a dream about the pomegranate has a negative meaning "a pomegranate means wounds, suffering because of the thorns (on the branches), slavery and submission because of the legend of Persephone" (who had to spend six months every year in Sheol because she unwittingly ate pomegranate seeds even though she was forbidden to eat anything).
It is told about a man who came to Ibn Sirin (a well-known Muslim scholar and dream solver of the seventh century who is considered the author of many dream interpretation books) and told him "I dreamed that I was holding a pomegranate in my hand and that I ate from it". Ivan Sirin answered him, "You will have a son and you will be pleased with him."
Another man turned to Ibn-Sirin and said "I dreamed that I was eating a pomegranate in season", Ibn-Sirin replied "Invest all your money in trade". This is what the man did and reaped profits. After that, the man dreamed that he was eating pomegranates that were not in season and repeated what he did last time but did not consult with Ibn-Sirin and lost all his money. He asked Ibn Sirin about this and he replied "What is the difference between eating (the pomegranate) out of season or in it?". This solution is similar to the accepted one in European folklore that dreaming of a pomegranate will bring luck and success, for the lovers it means loyalty, for the married it means wealth and children as well as great success in trade.
According to one of the stories from "One Thousand and One Nights" the Sultan was blessed with everything, except for the fruit of the womb. He prayed to God without ceasing. One night he saw a man who looked as holy as a prophet in his dream who instructed him what he should do. In order to fulfill his wish and the fulfillment of his prayers, he must take a pomegranate from the main gardener and eat as many seeds from it as he sees fit. In the morning the Sultan woke up, ate fifty pomegranate seeds, one for each of his wives and then made love with each of them and forty-nine of the fifty conceived."
Let's remember that the pomegranate is considered, all over the Middle East, as a virtue for fertility. In a Muslim tradition that attributes to Muhammad the saying that "You do not have a pomegranate that does not contain the seed of the pomegranate from the Garden of Eden. There is no person who has tasted the pomegranate and his heart did not turn his back on the devil and he left." That is why the pomegranate carries with it a blessing and in Morocco the pomegranate seeds are called "Tears of the Prophet".