The Tree of Knowledge, says he, was not a tree or a food or a thing at all. Rather it was a way of eating. Whenever a person grabs self-conscious pleasure from the world, he falls, at that moment, from God consciousness, and eats from the Tree of Knowledge. Takkanas HaShavim Zadok HaKohen said that the Oral Law developed to its full potential after the victory of the Hasmoneans over the Greek culture, a culture characterized by deep analysis and hair-splitting argument. These virtues were converted to a holy nature with the victory of Israel over Greece. This was the fulfillment of the verse “God will give beauty to Yefet and this beauty will dwell in the tents of Shem” (as per Megillah 9b). After the victory, Jews could begin the successful integration of natural science, logic, and philosophy into the world of the Written Law. Only then could the Oral Law truly begin to flourish. Influence Zadok HaKohen's philosophy was a major influence on Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner. Rabbi Moshe Tuvia Lieff has given numerous lectures on the works of Zadok HaKohen. Works Resisei Layla Takkanas HaShavim Tzidkas HaTzadik Machashavos Charutz Sichat Malachei HaShareit Divrei Sofrim Poked Akarim Likkutei Ma'amarim Dover Tzedek Yisrael Kedoshim Ohr Zarua LaTzadik Pri Tzadik (Compiled by his students from his weekly classes) Otzar Hamelech (comments on the Rambam, and a long Tshuva on Tumas Ohel) References Bibliography External links Lectures from Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum of the Jewish Heritage Foundation Avichai Zur, "The Hidden Root – The Existential Paradox of Rabbi Tzadok ha-Kohen of Lublin", Tradition, 53:4 (2021), pp. 53-72. Hasidic rebbes Polish Hasidic rabbis Hasidic rabbis in Europe Kohanim writers of Rabbinic literature 1823 births 1900 deaths