View source for Etz Chaim

{{short description|Tree of Life in Hebrew}}
{{About|the Hebrew phrase and its uses}}
{{Rquote|right|And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the [[tree of the knowledge of good and evil]].|[[Book of Genesis|Bereshit]]|{{bibleverse|Genesis|2:9|HE}} 1917 [[Jewish Publication Society]] translation}}
'''Etz Hayim''', also transliterated as '''Eitz Chaim''' ({{lang|he|עץ חיים}} {{Transliteration|he|‘Ēṣ Ḥayyīm}}, meaning "[[Tree of Life]]"), is a common term used in [[Judaism]]. The expression can be found in {{bibleverse|Genesis|2:9|HE}}, referring to the [[Tree of life (biblical)|Tree of Life]] in the [[Garden of Eden]]. It is also found in the [[Book of Proverbs]], where it is figuratively applied to "wisdom" {{bibleverse|Proverbs|3:18|HE}}, "the fruit of a righteous man" {{bibleverse|Proverbs|11:30|HE}}, "a desire fulfilled" {{bibleverse|Proverbs|13:12|HE}}, and "healing tongue" {{bibleverse|Proverbs|15:4|HE}}.

==Usage in Hebrew==
{{Rquote|right|My son, forget not My instruction, and may your heart keep My commandments; [...] It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and those who draw near it are fortunate.|[[Mishlei]]|{{bibleverse|Proverbs|3:1,18|HE}}}}
{{main|Tree of life}}
* Etz Chaim is a common name for [[yeshiva]]s and [[synagogue]]s as well as for works of [[rabbinic literature]].
* The term ''Etz Chaim'' (plural: {{lang|he|עצי חיים }} {{Transliteration|he|Atzei Chaim}}) is also used to describe each of the wooden poles to which the [[parchment]] of a [[Sefer Torah]] is attached. A hymn including the aforementioned verse {{bibleverse|Proverbs|3:18|HE}} ({{Transliteration|he|Etz ḥayim hi lamaḥaziqim bah, v'tomkheiha m'ushar}}) is sung in all [[Ashkenazi]] rites as the [[Torah]] is returned to the [[Torah ark|ark]].<ref>[http://zemirotdatabase.org/view_song.php?id=206 "Eitz Hayyim Hi"]</ref>
* In [[Kabbalah]], the [[Tree of life (Kabbalah)|Etz Ḥayim symbol]] ({{Transliteration|he|Etz Ha-Hayim}}, The Tree of Life") is a mystical symbol used to understand the nature of God and the manner in which he created the world. The term ''[[Etz Hayim (text)|Etz Ḥayim]]'' is also the title of one of the most important works in Jewish mysticism, written by [[Hayyim ben Joseph Vital|Ḥayim Vital]] in the course of twenty years following the death of his master, [[Isaac Luria]], in 1572, presenting and explicating Luria's systematic reconceptualization and expansion of the insights of the [[Zohar]] and other earlier mystical sources.  Vital's ''Etz Chaim'' is the foundational work for the later [[Lurianic Kabbalah]], which soon became the mainstream form of Kabbalah amongst both Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewry up to the modern period.  This massive multi-volumed work circulated only in manuscript form among mystics for over 100 years, and was first published in 1782.

==Educational institutions==
{{Main list|Etz Chaim Yeshiva (disambiguation)}}
*[[Etz Chaim Yeshiva]], Jerusalem
*Congregation Etz Chaim ([[Lombard, Illinois|Lombard]], [[Illinois]])<ref>Their website can be found [https://congetzchaim.org/ here].</ref>
*Congregation Etz Chayim ([[Palo Alto]], [[California]])<ref>Their website can be found [https://etzchayim.org/ here].</ref>
*Congregation Etz Chayim ([[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]], [[Ohio]])<ref>Their website can be found [http://www.etzchayimtoledo.org/ here].</ref>
*Congregation Etz Chaim of Ramona ([[Ramona, California|Ramona]], [[California]])<ref>Their website can be found [http://www.etzchaimramona.org/ here] and their Facebook page can be found [https://www.facebook.com/EtzChaimRamona/ here].</ref>
*[[Eitz Chaim Schools]] ([[Toronto]], [[Ontario]])<ref>Their website can be found [http://www.eitzchaim.com/ here].</ref>

==English publications==
* First volume of Hayim Vital's [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] [[Etz Hayim (text)|text Etz Hayim]] has been translated in ''The Tree of Life: Chayyim Vital's Introduction to the Kabbalah of Isaac Luria&nbsp;– The Palace of Adam Kadmon'', Donald Wilder Menzi and Zwe Padeh, Jason Aronson 1999. Introduction gives overview of Lurianic system
* ''[[Etz Hayim Humash]]'': a Hebrew-English [[Torah]] commentary with [[haftarot]], created by the [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative movement of Judaism]], with commentary by [[Chaim Potok]].

==See also==
* [[Tree of life (disambiguation)]]
* [[Pittsburgh synagogue shooting]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://zemirotdatabase.org/view_song.php?id=206 Five tunes to the hymn sung as the Torah is returned to the ark]

[[Category:Hebrew words and phrases]]
[[Category:Jewish symbols]]
[[Category:Trees of life]]
[[Category:Garden of Eden]]
[[Category:Book of Proverbs]]

[[he:עץ החיים (פירושונים)]]
[[lt:Etz Chaim]]