What is "pardes"

Pardes is a 1997 Bollywood musical drama film directed by Subhash Ghai. It was released on 8 August 1997. The film stars Shahrukh Khan, Amrish Puri, Alok Nath, and newcomers Mahima Chaudhry and Apurva Agnihotri. The film was a commercial, critical and musical hit. Mahima Chaudary won the Best Newcomer Award for her performance. The film was remade in Telugu as Pelli Kanuka (1998).

"Pardes" refers to (types of) approaches to biblical exegesis in rabbinic Judaism or to interpretation of text in Torah study. The term, sometimes also spelled PaRDeS, is an acronym formed from the same initials of the following four approaches:

• Peshat — "surface" ("straight") or the literal (direct) meaning.
• Remez — "hints" or the deep (allegoric: hidden or symbolic) meaning beyond just the literal sense.
• Derash — from Hebrew darash: "inquire" ("seek") — the comparative ( midrashic) meaning, as given through similar occurrences.
• Sod (pronounced with a long O as in 'sore') — "secret" ("mystery") or the esoteric/mystical meaning, as given through inspiration or revelation.

Each type of Pardes interpretation examines the extended meaning of a text. As a general rule, the extended meaning never contradicts the base meaning. The Peshat means the plain or contextual meaning of the text. Remez is the allegorical meaning. Derash includes the metaphorical meaning, and Sod represents the hidden meaning. There is often considerable overlap, for example when legal understandings of a verse are influenced by mystical interpretations or when a "hint" is determined by comparing a word with other instances of the same word.

Some books such as Tolaat Yaakov, divide Pardes into Peshat, Remez, Din (law), and Sod. According to this understanding, Derash is divided into the homiletics, which are classified under Remez, and legal interpretations, which are classified under Din.

Pardes may refer to:

Pardes ( Hebrew: orchard) is the subject of a Jewish aggadah ("legend") about four rabbis of the Mishnaic period (1st century CE) who visited the Orchard (that is, Paradise):

Four men entered pardes — Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher ( Elisha ben Abuyah), and Rabbi Akiva. Ben Azzai looked and died; Ben Zoma looked and went mad; Acher destroyed the plants; Akiva entered in peace and departed in peace.