SEVEN SPECIES OF PLANTS (Shev’at ha Minim)
FRUITS FOR WHICH THE LAND OF ISRAEL IS FAMOUS:
Wheat, Barley, Grapes, Pomegranate, Figs, Honey, Olives.
Each of them has its own meaning:
Wheat is human food. Bread is baked from it, which then becomes part of the human body.
Barley is animal food. Every Jew has a part called the "animal soul".
Grapes - wine is made from bliss, it helps to be cheerful and strong.
Pomegranate - Jews are "full of commandments, like pomegranate seeds."
Figs - Adam and Khava "sewed" clothes for themselves from ... fig leaves.
Honey - honey, which is described in the Torah, is not ordinary bee honey, it is made from dates.
Olive is a bitter food. Teaches us to work in exile when we feel the bitterness that we are far from the Highest.