Some Context:
- God creates the world, and everything in it in 6 days and rests on the 7th day (Shabbat).
- God places Adam in the Garden to work and protect it. God shows him around and tells him that he can eat of any tree in the garden except for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - "Because the moment you eat from it, you shall die"
- Then God decides Adam shouldn't be alone - so while he's sleeping God creates an "Ezer Kenegdo" for Adam (a helper mate) and Adam names her Eve!
- The Two of them were Naked and didn't feel any shame.
(א) וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙ הָיָ֣ה עָר֔וּם מִכֹּל֙ חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה אַ֚ף כִּֽי־אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֔וּ מִכֹּ֖ל עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃ (ב) וַתֹּ֥אמֶר הָֽאִשָּׁ֖ה אֶל־הַנָּחָ֑שׁ מִפְּרִ֥י עֵֽץ־הַגָּ֖ן נֹאכֵֽל׃ (ג) וּמִפְּרִ֣י הָעֵץ֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּתוֹךְ־הַגָּן֒ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים לֹ֤א תֹֽאכְלוּ֙ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְלֹ֥א תִגְּע֖וּ בּ֑וֹ פֶּן־תְּמֻתֽוּן׃ (ד) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הַנָּחָ֖שׁ אֶל־הָֽאִשָּׁ֑ה לֹֽא־מ֖וֹת תְּמֻתֽוּן׃ (ה) כִּ֚י יֹדֵ֣עַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים כִּ֗י בְּיוֹם֙ אֲכׇלְכֶ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְנִפְקְח֖וּ עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע׃ (ו) וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָֽאִשָּׁ֡ה כִּ֣י טוֹב֩ הָעֵ֨ץ לְמַאֲכָ֜ל וְכִ֧י תַֽאֲוָה־ה֣וּא לָעֵינַ֗יִם וְנֶחְמָ֤ד הָעֵץ֙ לְהַשְׂכִּ֔יל וַתִּקַּ֥ח מִפִּרְי֖וֹ וַתֹּאכַ֑ל וַתִּתֵּ֧ן גַּם־לְאִישָׁ֛הּ עִמָּ֖הּ וַיֹּאכַֽל׃ (ז) וַתִּפָּקַ֙חְנָה֙ עֵינֵ֣י שְׁנֵיהֶ֔ם וַיֵּ֣דְע֔וּ כִּ֥י עֵֽירֻמִּ֖ם הֵ֑ם וַֽיִּתְפְּרוּ֙ עֲלֵ֣ה תְאֵנָ֔ה וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּ לָהֶ֖ם חֲגֹרֹֽת׃
(1) Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that God יהוה had made. It said to the woman, “Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” (2) The woman replied to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden. (3) It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’” (4) And the serpent said to the woman, “You are not going to die, (5) but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like divine beings who know"good and bad.” (6) When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate. (7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.
Think... Pair... Share... What questions do you have about this Foundational Text?
Why did Eve take that Bite?
Side note... Eve takes a lot of heat for this choice!
Eve Was Right to Eat the "Apple": The Importance of Narrative in the Art of Lawyering by Sally Frank
Eve has long been advanced as a prototypical woman. There have been allegations to the effect that Eve was ignorant and easily duped into eating an apple by a wily serpent. She then used her feminine wiles to seduce her husband, Adam, into eating the fruit as well. In so doing, Eve is said to have brought about the fall of humanity. Men in Western culture have used this story for millennia to explain and justify the subservient position of females in society. They have claimed that women, like Eve, are easily duped into committing wrongful acts and should therefore be under tight control of their husbands or fathers. Many also view women as dangerous temptresses who will lead men into wrongdoing.
What can they "see" now that their Eyes are Opened?
ונפקחו עיניכם. לראות מה ראוי להיות בדרך העולם ומה שאינו ראוי. דדבקות באהבת ה׳ אע״ג שהוא מחכים בהפלגה מ״מ הוא מעביר עין מד״א. וכדאי׳ בעירובין נ״ד אמרו על ראב״פ שהי׳ יושב ועוסק בתורה בשוק התחתון וסדינו מושלך בשוק העליון. ומש״ה לא הבין האדם כי לא נאה לעמוד ערום לפני ה׳. ומכ״ש האשה לא הי׳ לה דעת ועין כלל אלא אהבת אישה:
(1) And the eyes of both of them were opened: To see what is fit to be the way of the world, and what is not fit. Since even though the love of God wizens greatly, it nevertheless diverts the eye from the way of the world.
Haamek Davar on Genesis 3:5:1
והייתם כאלוקים יודעי טוב ורע, “and you will be like G-d, knowing good and evil.”... Prior to his sin, Adam’s intellect was totally spiritually oriented; it was not concerned with matters of the body. He was not even familiar with such matters. He was completely unaware of the carnal implications of nudity, etc. This is why the serpent spoke of “you will become intimate (an alternate meaning of ידע) with good and evil.” The serpent had been careful not to say: “you will know truth and falsehood,” or words to that effect.
You should pay special attention to the wording of verse seven ותפקחנה עיני שניהם וידעו, “the eyes of both of them were opened, etc.” The Torah deliberately did not write that as a result of this opening of their eyes ויראו, “they saw,” but it wrote וידעו, “they knew” that they were naked.
ותרא האשה כי טוב העץ למאכל. התחילה להסתכל בו אמרה כמה יפה פרק זה כמה ריחו ערב ודאי אינו דומה לסם המות ולא לחינם צוה הק' שלא נאכל ממנו ונחמד לה העץ כדי להשכיל שהיתה חומדת אותו כדי להשכיל, אמרה כמדומה שהנחש אומ' אמת ואכלה ונתנה לאישה ומיד נכנסה בהן ערמומית וגאוה וגסות וקנאה ותחרות וחמדנות וצדייה לצדד ולחני' ולעשות במחשך מעשיהם ולגזול ולגנוב והמרוצה לעשות, התחילו לומר גנאי לבריות כמונו להיות חשופי שת ומגולי ערוה עשו להם חגורות לכסות ערותן ויצאו מן הגן לרוח היום מקום שאין אילנות מעכבין את הרוח כי כן דרך הגנבים שמתרחקין ממקום שגנבו שם כלו' אפי' שם לא היית
The woman saw that the tree was good for food: She began to observe it. She said, "How beautiful is this fruit; how sweet is its smell - it is certainly not like poison. Yet the Holy One did not command us not to eat from it for nothing." And the tree was desirable to her to contemplate; as she desired it, in order to contemplate. She said, "It appears that the serpent is speaking truth." So she ate it and gave it to her husband. And immediately slyness, pride, coarseness, jealousy, competition, covetousness and malice entered into them; to entrap and flatter, and to carry on in the dark, to rob and to steal. And they quickly began to say, "It is a disgrace for creatures like us to be 'baring buttocks' and revealing our nakedness." They made loincloths for themselves to cover their nakedness and they went out of the Garden to the breeze of the day, a place that there were no trees blocking the wind. As this is the way of thieves, to distance themselves from the the place in which they stole; meaning to say, "I was not even there."
קאסוטו בראשית פרק ב
אין כאן הבחנה בין טוב לרע... אין הכוונה כאן להבחנה, לבחירה... אלא לידיעה אובייקטיבית בכל הדברים... עד שלא אכלו מן העץ היו כילדים קטנים שאינם יודעים כלום ממה שעומד מסביבם... על סמך זה אפשר להבין את טעם האיסור... האם בשעת בריאתו היה תמים כילד בן יומו וכילד בן יומו היה מאושר בתוך הגן... מתוך אהבה האבהית אסר עליו ה' אכילת הפרי שהיתה פותחת לפניו את שאר ידיעות העולם. מקור הדאגות והמכאובים...
Cassuto on Genesis 2
There is no test here between good and evil, and the intention was not to test or to choose... Until they ate from the tree, Adam and Eve were like little children who didn't know anything aside from what was happening around them. The reasoning behind the prohibition must be understood in connection with this status; if at the moment of his creation Adam was pure like a newborn child, then he would be happy to be like a newborn child inside of the garden. Because of Hashem's love for Adam, He prohibited Adam from eating from the tree because Hashem did not want Adam's eyes to be opened to worldly knowledge. This is the source for worry and sorrow.
**i.e. Loss of innocence
And how have we interpreted this moment since then?
