ADULTERY-5/The Serpent and the Primordial Sin
1: The notion of Sin so far
As the story of Eden unfolds, Sin so far is:
1. Doing something that damages our connection to our CREATOR’S Lips
2. Disregarding the advice of our FATHER IN HEAVENS
3. Disobeying the command of the KING OF THE UNIVERSE
4. Doing something illogical, foolish, detrimental to our health and welfare
5.Damaging the Heavenly Court’s bond
But Adam and his wife need to learn something more about sin. For that they encounter the Serpent.
2: The spiritual level of Adam befo0re the Sin
They were naked and unashamed
The Torah describes the spiritual level of Adam and ‘the Woman,’ at that stage, as follows:
“And they were both naked, Adam and his wife,
And they were not ashamed…” (Genesis 2: 25)
The humans walked ‘naked yet unashamed.’ Why unashamed? Different opinions:
Because:
1. They were innocent like children (Seforno.)
2. They knew ’Right from Wrong’ but not yet Good from Evil (Maimonides) And there is nothing wrong in nakedness. It is, after all, natural.
3. They resembled beasts, which are naked yet unashamed of it.
4. They did not yet perceive YHVH’s values,namely Modesty.
All these explanations reflect a basic idea, that the humans were like young teenagers. They went around naked yet shamelessly, because there is nothing to be ashamed from something natural, It is YHVH who despises nakedness, and their awareness of YHVH were limited, only theoretical, not yet on the practical level of knowledge, Daat. They would gain that awareness of YHVH only if they eat of the Tree Of Knowledge Good and Evil. When and if they would encounter Evil, they would also appreciate YHVH who hates Evil. .
At that stage, while they walk around naked and unashamed of it, they meet the Serpent:
3: The spiritual level of the Serpent
The Torah describes the ultimate seducer, the Serpent in the following words:
“Now the Serpent was the most ‘aa-room’ (naked, or cunning)
Of all the beasts of the field which YHVH ELoKiM had made,
And it said to the woman: Has not ELoKiM told you
that ‘you shall not eat of any tree of the Garden?” (Genesis 2:25, 3:1)
The Serpent too walked around naked and unashamed of it
immediately after describing the naked humans, the Torah presents the Serpent. It was aa-room, which means in Hebrew two things:
1. ‘Aa-room’, naked and unashamed of it. It was a “beast of the field,” and beasts are not ashamed of their nakedness.
2. ‘Aa-room,’ smart, cunning
In both explanations, the Serpent resembled the humans. It was smart, could walk on two legs and talk. And like the humans it was naked and unashamed of it.
Hence the humans and the Serpent matched well.
It lacked the perception of YHVH
Moreover, the Serpent lacked the perception of YHVH. You can see that from the word it said to the woman:
“And the serpent was the cunning, aaroom from all the beasts of the field
that YHVH ELKM had made
And it said to the woman: had not ELKM told you do not eat from all the trees in the Garden?
And it told the woman:: Had not ELKM told you do not eat of that fruit and do not eat of it, lest you die,
For ELKM knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes would open
and you would be like ELKM, knowing Good from Evil…” (genesis 3:2-5 )
The verse starts by saying that YHVH ELKM had made the Serpent, yet when it talked to the woman it failed to mention YHVH. it mentions only ELKM.
Moreover, as smart as it was, the Serpent related the Knowledge of Good and Evil to ELKM only. This is in contrast to the fact that the term Evil is always in the eyes of the Merciful YHVH!
Indeed, as a Beast of “the field” the Serpent COULD not know YHVH.
The Story of CREATION tells us that all the beasts of the filed were made by ELKM alone. Adam is the only creature made by YHVH and ELKM, as it says “Let Us Make and Adam in our Form and Our Image.” A beast, smart as it might be, CAN perceive ELKM, but never YHVH. Adam, in contrast, is the only creature CAPABLE of perceiving YHVH.
What was the Serpent?
The last creatures made on the Sixth Day before Adam were the Crawling Creatures to their kinds. They had been made earlier, but they ruled Earth before the appearance of Adam. Indeed, following the demise of the Dinosaurs, Earth was ruled by giant snakes,large enough to accommodate two Greyhound buses in their skeletons.
Now had ELKM decided to continue the line of Evolution as before, without consulting YHVH, ELKM would have introduces new ‘social creatures’ as extension of the Snakes. These creature could be smart, talk and develop civilization like Man. Given enough time, the spiders or the ants could develop their own computers and space ships. They would be smart like Man, yet would never perceive Mercy, Compassion and Forgiveness since they were not created by the participation of YHVH.
So what was the Serpent? It was that putative creature, that ELKM would have created on Earth, had He not consulted YHVH to make Adam. The Serpent lived only in Virtual Eden, as a possible alternative to the humans.
This is why the Serpent could talk, walk and think like a human, even seen sexually attractive to the woman. It mentioned ELKM but failed to ever mention YHVH. .
4: The Serpent matched the woman
Was the woman too oblivious to YHVH?
Surprisingly, the ‘woman’ too did not mention YHVH to the Serpent, as it says:
“And the woman said to the Serpent,
we may eat from the fruits of the Trees of the Garden,
but of the fruits of the Tree which is in the midst of the Garden,
ELoKiM has said you shall not eat of it.” (Genesis 3:2-3)
The Serpent matched the Woman
Did she omit the name YHVH on purpose, because she was speaking to a beast?
Or did she identify with the Serpent due to her love?
Or did she herself, like the Serpent, lack before eating the fruit the full awareness of YHVH?
The Serpent as the Vehicle of SATAN
Unlike the popular notion of the Serpent, it was not Satan.
Satan in Hebrew is the Angel whose task is to prosecutor us in the Heavenly Court.
Satan is never punished, since it fulfills his task. The Serpent, in contrast, was judged at the end and punished. Hence it had a Free will, equal to the humans’ will. it only lacked the perception of the Merciful YHVH.. ,
The rabbis have described the Serpent as the ‘vehicle of Satan’, or ‘the camel on which Satan rides’ (Midrash.) It was a tool for Satan.
5: The lying serpent
“And it said to the woman: Has not ELoKiM said
You shall not eat of any tree of the Garden?” (Genesis 2:25, 3:1)
And the woman said to the Serpent,
we may eat from the fruits of the Trees of the Garden,
but of the fruits of the Tree which is in the midst of the Garden,
ELoKiM has said you shall not eat of it.” (Genesis 3:2-3)And the Serpent said to the woman, you shall not surely die,
for ELoKiM knows that on the day you eat of it
then your eyes shall be opened and you shall be like ELoKiM
knowing Good and Evil…” (Genesis 3: 4-5)
The lying Serpent
The cunning Serpent lied to the woman. It said: :
1. “Has not ELoKiM said..” One can’t see it in the English translation, but the Serpent began with “aa-f” expressing a great wonder: How COULD ELoKiM say this to you!” The Serpent sounded as if ELoKiM had deprived the humans from something good.
2: “Has not ELoKiM said…” it omitted YHVH.
3: “You shall NOT die…’ The Serpent openly lied. Eating the fruit would incur the death penalty, thereby encountering evil.
4: “You shall be like ELoKiM knowing Good and Evil…” The Serpent failed to appreciate that Evil is not a perspective of ELKM , but rather that of YHVH.
5:The Serpent depicted ‘Knowing Evil’ as a REWARD, rather than a BURDEN. The entire idea of Eden was to spare Adam the awareness of Evil.
6: The Serpent twisted ELKM’s intention, as if ELKM feared competition.
7: The Serpent took advantage of the fact that the woman had not heard YHVH ELKM warning herself. The Serpent therefore told her not to touch the fruit. When she did and nothing happened, she could easliy be convinced that ELKM had not told them the truth, .
6: Which Commandments they transgressed?
She accepted the lie
“And when the woman saw that
the tree was good for food
And that it was a delight to the eyes
and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
She took of its fruits and did eat it
and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat it.”(Genesis 3: 6)
She first looked at the fruit, then ate of it, then enjoyed it. Sin always comes on gradually, step by step. Not only she committed the sin, she also enticed her husband to do the same. Being a Serpent is infectious.
A sinner would entices others to join, to spread his guilt. .
What sin they committed, exactly?
They surely violated IDOLATRY by disobeying their FATHER-KING’s Advice and Command.
If you accept the notion that the married woman cohabited privately with the Serpent, she did commit a sort of ADULTERY, whether or not she did sleep with it.
To fill the gap, tradition says that Adam too had sexual relationship with the putative, beautiful Lilith, the female counterpart of the Serpent.
Now having violated the only two Commandments that were relevant to them in Eden, the humans lost their right to stay there.
We too may lose our right to live here on Earth, once we’ve violated the Seven Commandments of Noah that relate to us.
7: Their eyes opened, and they saw what?
.The effect of the eating was dramatic:
“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 loincloths.” (Genesis 3: 7)
“And their eyes were opened…” What exactly did they see? What did they gain? What could they gain by sinning?
Many commentaries are bothered by the notion that Adam and his wife GAINED something by their sin, that their eyes opened. They should have, rather, LOOSE something!
Indeed, they lost the right to live in Eden. But what new insight did they gain?
You may say they gained Knowledge (Daat) Of Good and Evil, where knowledge refers to Daat, the practical level of awareness, the first hand experience.
What exactly was it that changed their mind so drastically? Was it the sin itself, or was it a magic in the fruit? It does not mater. What matters is that they were innocent no more, children no more, simple minded no more. Now they acquired the knowledge of YHVH.
But that wasn’t yet a full knowledge of YHVH. For that they would have to live on Earth where the Angel of Death reigns. Meanwhile they still lived in Eden. They had to learn ONE MORE FEATURE OF YHVH before being driven out. What exactly did they have to learn? The Torah gives us the answer right away. : . . .
8: why did they cover their nakedness?
The eating caused their eyes to open up and cover their nakedness by fig leaves. This was the first awareness of YHVH that they COULD gain and feel in Eden, while living under the protection of the Tree of Life .
It means that ‘evil’ in YHVH eyes, in our Mother In Heavens’ eyes, is nakedness. It stands against Her Holiness.
Note that In ELKM eyes nakedness is natural, nothing to be ashamed of. As long they knew only ‘right from wrong’ which are ELKM’s criteria, they walked naked and unashamed.
Only the perception of YHVH that they had acquired by eating the fruit, made them ashamed of their nakedness.
In Eden, the only ‘evil in YHVH eyes,’ something She despises, was nakedness.
Moreover, their nakedness reminded them their ADULTERY.
Tradition says that here on Earth, the human heart opens up to accept YHVH not before puberty, when our heart opens up to sexual love. It comes for a boy at age 13 and for a girl at age 12. This is also the time their can accept the yoke of the Torah. One can’t accept the Torha without accepting YHVH.
9: A new level of Sin
By this events Adam gained a new level of Sin: as something shameful in YHVH eyes. Sin is something that taint us in Her loving eyes. Sin is unaesthetic,
So far Adam learned in Eden the following notions of Sin:
(1) As something that severs our spiritual umbilical cord that connects us to the CREATOR’S lips
(2) A violation of our FATHER IN HEAVENS advice
(3) A violation of our KING Command
(4) Something not right, foolish, with bad consequences
(5) Something that disrupts the Heavenly Court,that set our defense away from our prosector
(6) Something unaesthetic in YHVH eyes, that makes Her disappointed by us. .
At that pint in the story, Adam and his wife are still living in Eden. Despite their sin they were not yet driven out to live on Earth. It seems that they had to learn one more aspect of YHVH in Eden, before driven out. And that is : YHVH FORGIVENESS. .
Read also: “Genesis Vs. Science, Can They Match?” By Zvi Aviner, at www.smashwords.com