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2022 by Rabbi Dr. Zvi Aviner
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Sin Is Shameful in YHVH Eyes
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Acquiring the Perception of YHVH
Consequently, a drastic change took place in them:
“And the eyes of both of them were opened,
And they knew that they were naked,
And they sewed fig leaves together,and made themselves cloths.” (Genesis 3: 7)
Their eyes opened – they understood something new.
Now they knew good from evil, which are YHVH’s values.
Because, as we’ve learned, “evil’ in the Torah, is always “in YHVH’s eyes.”
As the name of the Forbidden Tree implies,
they received the knowledge of evil, and of YHVH,
on a practical, personal, intimate level of daat,
that made them ashamed of their nakedness.
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Ashamed of Nakedness
One is not ashamed of nakedness while walking
before ELKM, the CREATOR of Nature.
There is nothing wrong or illogic in nakedness.
But one is ashamed of nakedness stranding before YHVH,
because nakedness negates Her Holiness,
and because nakedness invokes sexual promiscuity
which YHVH hates.
That is why they covered their nakedness immediately,
after eating the Forbidden Fruit of Daat Good and Evil.
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Ashamed of Sinning
And you can also say that they were ashamed of the fact
that they had sinned!
They were ashamed of having disappointed YHVH’s expectation of them.
One is not ashamed when standing before ELKM the JUDGE.
But one is ashamed of standing as a sinner, before our Loving Mother YHVH.
With this, Sin got a new aspect:
Sin is a shameful act in YHVH eyes!
Some say that this notion is the strongest motivation against sinning,
provided, of course, that the person knows what YHVH is all about.
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Have they gained by Sinning?
Many commentaries wonder, how is it that they gained something good,
like the perception of YHVH, by sinning?
Is it right to say that sinners may be rewarded?
The answer is that obtaining the perception of YHVH,
while living in the harsh, Merciless world of ELKM,
is actually a great burden and a challenge to Mankind,
rather than a reward.
A sophisticated lizard or a spider, given few more million years to develop,
would not feel any burden living in the harsh, merciless world of ELKM.
Since neither the spider nor the lizard have any clue of a world with Hessed, Mercy,
For them living under the rule of “eat and be eaten” seems perfectly right and just.
It is only Mankind, wearing the prism of YHVH over our eyes,
that can feel the tension between the Attributes.
Only Mankind knows that the world could have been built differently,
under YHVH alone, like in the forthcoming Eternal Sabbath.
Hence receiving the daat of Evil, is not a ‘reward’ in a regular sense.
It is, rather, a burden, a source of agony, making us realize how
merciless the Universe is.
But why didn’t they lose Eden right away?
On that we’ll learn next class.