One of the central aspects of many of the world’s religions is the concept of an Original Sin and how it impacts on humanity. The question arises, since the Torah does relate Adam’s sin and punishment, why does future humanity suffer from Adam’s sin if the sin of each person is repaid individually? And if we look to Rashi for commentary he says that the Earth too was punished because it didn’t heed G-d’s command to bring forth trees whose fruit and wood would taste the same. Why was the Earth only punished after Adam had sinned? And how can the Earth with no intellect or free will be punished at all?
The Maharal posits a seminal commentary and explanation for this. First though we must remember and understand that G-d and His thoughts and actions are so completely different from those of humanity. “Lo machshevosei kemachshevoseichem”. My thoughts are not like your thoughts. There is nothing about G-d that we with our corporeal minds can fathom in the slightest. Therefore when G-d decides to do something we often can’t understand the process or reasons behind it nor can we question them.
The Maharal explains the commentary of Rashi on the verse that G-d commanded the Earth to bring forth “fruit trees bearing fruit” and the verse then says that the Earth made “trees bearing fruit”, that the Earth disobeyed G-d’s command and changed what was commanded and made plain wood trees that bear fruit instead of trees that are themselves fruity, bearing fruit. Maharal says that Rashi doesn’t really mean that the Earth “disobeyed” G-d’s command. The Earth has no yetzer hora or free will to make it consciously disobey a command. Rather the Maharal explains that G-d created the corporeal Universe with an innate flaw. The other half of creation, the spiritual universe, was created spiritually perfect. And therefore when G-d commanded the Earth to bring forth fruit trees, in its innate flaw it actually could not completely heed G-d’s command. Why then was it punished?
G-d created the universe with Mashpiim and Mekablim, effectors and effected, movers and the moved. What we can also call “cause and effect”. Hashem created the hierarchy of the “Heavens” or spirituality as being the causers or Mashpia factor, and Earth (universe) or corporeality as being affected or Mekablim “acceptors”. Hashem also created these two diametrically opposed but paradoxically intimately connected entities so that Heaven or spirituality is perfect and Earth or corporeal existence is flawed. As an example, the earth is not perfectly round. Interesting isn’t it?
Earth, due to its innately flawed nature could not produce fruit trees that would actually be in themselves fruit, even though this was G-d’s command. Did G-d know this would happen? Of course. Stick around. The tree is the causer and the fruit is the effect. Hence the flawed Earth being an acceptor of spiritual influence from the perfect Heavens could not make a perfect tree but could only produce the fruit.
Man was created from the essence of the Earth and therefore also has this flawed nature in him. So when Adam was commanded by G-d not to eat the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge it was because an imperfect man was not supposed to eat the fruit of a perfect tree. Seemingly Adam being flawed had no choice but to disobey G-d’s command. But here we come to the beauty of the Maharal’s explanation. True the universe is flawed. True that man as having a corporeal nature is also flawed. But man has a spiritual part, man has a divine soul.
Let’s go back to the Earth’s flaws. We know that Nature abhors a vacuum. Nature when confronted with a vacuum endeavors to fill that vacuum with whatever is nearby. When man is confronted by a flawed Nature, flawed with the prospect of a vacuum of spirituality in his life, man must act to fill that vacuum of spirituality with kedushoh, holiness. If not, Satan steps in and fills it with uncleanliness, tumoh, sins etc. The Torah states “l’pesach chatos roveitz”. At the door or opening or vacuum, sin sits ready to leap in. Good deeds, mitzvos, must be acted upon by man. And so Earth's "punishment" was to remain flawed. Earth was punished because it's most important creation, man, did not act to change Earth's flaw.
Adam, the original Man created from the Earth, ate the Causal Fruit. Man is a corporeal creature, a creature of Effect, and had no right to eat a Fruit which came from a Causal Tree whose fruit was also Causal. Had Adam not eaten the fruit, and therefore filled the vacuum and mitigated the Earth’s flaw, he actually would have risen to the level of a Causer in Creation.
And so we are "punished" as we remain oxymoron creatures, part corporeal animal and part spiritual soul, always on the alert for vacuums of kedushoh that must be filled. And that’s why Hashem gave us mitzvos which must become part of our innate nature so that every vacuum will be filled automatically by us through our daily lives filled with Torah and mitzvos.
The Maharal posits a seminal commentary and explanation for this. First though we must remember and understand that G-d and His thoughts and actions are so completely different from those of humanity. “Lo machshevosei kemachshevoseichem”. My thoughts are not like your thoughts. There is nothing about G-d that we with our corporeal minds can fathom in the slightest. Therefore when G-d decides to do something we often can’t understand the process or reasons behind it nor can we question them.
The Maharal explains the commentary of Rashi on the verse that G-d commanded the Earth to bring forth “fruit trees bearing fruit” and the verse then says that the Earth made “trees bearing fruit”, that the Earth disobeyed G-d’s command and changed what was commanded and made plain wood trees that bear fruit instead of trees that are themselves fruity, bearing fruit. Maharal says that Rashi doesn’t really mean that the Earth “disobeyed” G-d’s command. The Earth has no yetzer hora or free will to make it consciously disobey a command. Rather the Maharal explains that G-d created the corporeal Universe with an innate flaw. The other half of creation, the spiritual universe, was created spiritually perfect. And therefore when G-d commanded the Earth to bring forth fruit trees, in its innate flaw it actually could not completely heed G-d’s command. Why then was it punished?
G-d created the universe with Mashpiim and Mekablim, effectors and effected, movers and the moved. What we can also call “cause and effect”. Hashem created the hierarchy of the “Heavens” or spirituality as being the causers or Mashpia factor, and Earth (universe) or corporeality as being affected or Mekablim “acceptors”. Hashem also created these two diametrically opposed but paradoxically intimately connected entities so that Heaven or spirituality is perfect and Earth or corporeal existence is flawed. As an example, the earth is not perfectly round. Interesting isn’t it?
Earth, due to its innately flawed nature could not produce fruit trees that would actually be in themselves fruit, even though this was G-d’s command. Did G-d know this would happen? Of course. Stick around. The tree is the causer and the fruit is the effect. Hence the flawed Earth being an acceptor of spiritual influence from the perfect Heavens could not make a perfect tree but could only produce the fruit.
Man was created from the essence of the Earth and therefore also has this flawed nature in him. So when Adam was commanded by G-d not to eat the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge it was because an imperfect man was not supposed to eat the fruit of a perfect tree. Seemingly Adam being flawed had no choice but to disobey G-d’s command. But here we come to the beauty of the Maharal’s explanation. True the universe is flawed. True that man as having a corporeal nature is also flawed. But man has a spiritual part, man has a divine soul.
Let’s go back to the Earth’s flaws. We know that Nature abhors a vacuum. Nature when confronted with a vacuum endeavors to fill that vacuum with whatever is nearby. When man is confronted by a flawed Nature, flawed with the prospect of a vacuum of spirituality in his life, man must act to fill that vacuum of spirituality with kedushoh, holiness. If not, Satan steps in and fills it with uncleanliness, tumoh, sins etc. The Torah states “l’pesach chatos roveitz”. At the door or opening or vacuum, sin sits ready to leap in. Good deeds, mitzvos, must be acted upon by man. And so Earth's "punishment" was to remain flawed. Earth was punished because it's most important creation, man, did not act to change Earth's flaw.
Adam, the original Man created from the Earth, ate the Causal Fruit. Man is a corporeal creature, a creature of Effect, and had no right to eat a Fruit which came from a Causal Tree whose fruit was also Causal. Had Adam not eaten the fruit, and therefore filled the vacuum and mitigated the Earth’s flaw, he actually would have risen to the level of a Causer in Creation.
And so we are "punished" as we remain oxymoron creatures, part corporeal animal and part spiritual soul, always on the alert for vacuums of kedushoh that must be filled. And that’s why Hashem gave us mitzvos which must become part of our innate nature so that every vacuum will be filled automatically by us through our daily lives filled with Torah and mitzvos.
