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.
We Begin with Kushiyot/Challenges/Difficulties in the Text:
- Grammatical inconsistencies (Words repeated, something left out, sentences that seem to not make sense)
- Theological inconsistencies (The Torah tells us something that is morally problematic or a character does something that isn't right)
- Ambiguities (Torah says something that can be interpreted in more than one way)
- Metaphor (The Torah uses a word or a phrase that isn't meant literally, but is figurative)
- Contradictions (The Torah says one thing here, another thing there)
- Superfluous language (The Torah includes information that doesn't seem important)
- Narrative Inconsistencies (The sequence of events is unclear or out of order)
What Questions/Kushiyot arise for you?
Who/What is this "Serpent?"
והנחש, another word for Satan, which itself is a way of describing the evil urge. (Baba Batra 16). The reason why this evil urge is compared to a serpent is that just like a serpent which makes itself as invisible as possible, blending in with its environment, and yet causes more damage than the most prominently visible obstacles, so the evil urge lurks where one does not suspect to find it. It is a common practice to name phenomena according to other well known phenomena,
** Satan? Jews believe in Satan?? not so much:
Satan in Judaism is not a physical being ruling the underworld, instead, in the Torah, the word Satan indicates “accuser,” “hinderer,” or “tempter.” Satan is more a metaphorical obstacle in one’s way - such as temptation and evil doings - keeping one from completing the responsibilities of tikkun olam (fixing the world). Satan is the evil inclination to veer off the path of righteousness and faithfulness in God.
Why does Eve seem to have a different set of instructions?
ולא תגעו בו NEITHER SHALL YE TOUCH IT — She added to God’s command (which did not forbid touching the tree, but only eating of its fruit) therefore she was led to diminish from it. It is to this that the text refers (Proverbs 30:6): “Do not add to God's words” (Genesis Rabbah 19:3).
ומפרי העץ אשר בתוך הגן. לא פירשה ומעץ הדעת טו״ר. מובן שהאדם לא פירש לה שהוא עץ הדעת טו״ר ... וכדאי הי׳ להרחיקה מאותו מקום. ומש״ה אמר גם ולא תגעו בו.
But of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the Garden: And she did not specify it - "But from the tree of knowledge of good and evil" - since Adam had not explained to her that it was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As he was concerned, lest she pine to eat it....
However it was worthwhile to distance her from that place. And because of that, he also said, "and do not touch it."
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:
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.