Parshas Bereshit

WHERE ARE YOU?

 

This week’s parsha continues discussing the consequences of Adam’s punishment. When Adam heard Hashem calling out to him, after he sinned, Adam hid. The sin caused Adam to tremble when he heard Hashem’s voice, whereas before the sin, he could bear Hashem’s voice without fear. Hashem called out, “Ayeka—Where are you?”  Hashem, who obviously knew where Adam was asked him this question to get Adam to confess his guilt and repent. How is it that Adam hid from Hashem? Didn’t he know that Hashem, the all-knowing creator of existence, would know exactly where he was? Despite this awareness, Adam still hid because he felt such shame for his sin and now the shechina- Hashem’s divine presence- had departed from Gan Eden.

Nevertheless, Hashem persisted in questioning Adam, hoping he would confess his sin and do teshuva. However, instead of confessing, Adam blamed Chava for sinning, he said, “Did I sin as long as I was single? It was the woman You brought to me who seduced me and made me violate your command!” Hashem was displeased with Adam’s lack of remorse and how ungrateful he was for the wife He had given him.

Hashem then turned to Chava and asked her what she had done, hoping to get her to admit her sin and repent. However, she responded, “Master of the Universe, it was the snake who persuaded me to sin!”

Obviously, Hashem was displeased with their answers. Instead of taking responsibility for what they had done and asking Him for forgiveness, they just tried to shift the blame; therefore, they were eternally punished.

This infamous Garden of Eden story should shed light into our own lives. Throughout life, we too do many things that Hashem would not approve of, and that even we wouldn’t approve of. In order to avoid embarrassment and shame, we think of every excuse under the sun as to why we did what we did. When we are faced with these challenges, we must remember that Hashem is calling out to us saying, “Ayeka—Where are you?”  In other words, where is your higher self? Rather than getting defensive about past mishaps, we must take full responsibility for our sins, but recognize that that is exactly what Hashem wants from us. Once we take complete ownership for our sins, only then can we find the strength within to repent and avoid making the same mistake again. Let us learn from Adam and Chava rather than continuously repeating the mistakes of history. We have the formula to create change; it is up to us to take responsibility when Hashem asks us, ‘Ayeka,’ only then can we looking introspectively within and allow real change to be made.

Punishment

For sinning and shifting the blame, rather than taking ownership of their behavior, Adam and Chava were punished with the following:

Chava’s punishment:

1.     Discomfort of menstruation

2.     Discomfort from first relations

3.     Raising children will involve much self- sacrifice and hardship

4.     Pregnancies will cause much discomfort

5.     Labor pains

6.     Her husband will dominate her, but she will constantly seek him out

7.     Her desires will be in her heart

8.     She will be confined to the home and will not be able to appear in public without her hair covered

9.     She will not be accepted as a witness in the Bait Din- court

10. Death

To rectify for Chava’s sin, Hashem gave women the following mitzvot to follow:

1.     A woman is commanded to light candles before Shabbot. Since Chava extinguished the light of the world, when she had caused Adam to sin, when a woman lights Shabbot candles, she rekindles the lost light.

2.     A woman is commanded to take a piece of challah from her dough, to rectify Chava defiling the challah of the world—Adam.

3.     A woman is commanded to observe the laws of niddah- impurity laws- to rectify Chava’s sin of causing Adam’s blood to be spilled.

Adam’s punishment:

1.     Man’s strength will be diminished

2.     His height will be decreased

3.     He will become impure, as a zav- is a state of ritual impurity arising from abnormal seminal discharge

4.     He will become impure through wasting seed

5.     He will become impure through martial relations

6.     When he sows the harvest, he will harvest thorns

7.     He will eat grass, like the beasts

8.     Earning a livelihood will cause man mental sorrow

9.     Man will have to work for a livelihood with the sweat of his brow

10. Death

Unfortunately, man and woman have been plagued with these punishments until the days of machiach; however, by taking steps towards rectifying Adam and Chava’s sin through the fulfillment of the mitzvot, we will speedily bring back the sweet blissful days of Gan Eden.