Editing Man is a Tree of the Field (section)

== The Power of Growth in Man ==
Man is a tree of the field, as angels and humans are compared to trees of the field. Just as trees grow from smallness to greatness, starting small until becoming a great tree, so too with the angels above. Although the angel Michael, for example, is from the attribute of chesed and love, nevertheless, before he says song or before being sent on a mission, this attribute is in smallness. When they send him or when he says song, the love grows with powerful strength. Therefore, during his mission, an angel can call himself by the name of the one who sent him, as written "by Me I have sworn, says Hashem." That is, during the mission he is so nullified to the sender that his entire being is called by the name of the sender—his attributes have grown beyond what they were, like the growth of a plant.

So too is the parable of man to a tree of the field: the attributes in a person are compared to plants. Just as a growing tree grows from smallness to greatness, so too the attributes in a person before contemplating the Creator's greatness are small. When he contemplates and deepens his knowledge of the Creator's greatness, the attribute grows with powerful strength of love, even more intensely than before. However, the physical tree that is compared to the attributes of man and angels is only a parable for the aspect of love in angels and souls, but is not comparable at all, except like the comparison of a parable to the intellect.

Similarly, just as a tree constantly grows from its birth until reaching its complete growth, so too man grows from birth until age 20. This means the tzelem (divine image) in man—the inner minds symbolized by the letter tzaddi in tzelem—grows from formation in the mother's womb and then from birth. Physical growth depends on spiritual growth, which is why physical growth stops at age 20 when spiritual growth reaches completion (while the intellect of the lamed and mem of tzelem, which are encompassing intellects, do not affect the essential spiritual existence of the person, so this is not evident physically). Just as physical growth comes specifically through water, so too the spiritual growth of a person comes specifically through the five chasadim of Abba, which are the aspect of water that grows the child, meaning the power of wisdom within him.

Just as the power of growth is only revealed through the tree, so too Torah and mitzvos are only revealed and actualized through the person who fulfills them.