Man and Woman: The Invincible Team
Parshat Bereishit 5769
©Rabbi David Lapin, 2008 (http://www.iawaken.org)
The Wisdom of Trust
The creation of Adam and Chava on the sixth day, inaugurated a short period of intellectual and spiritual grandeur for man, a grandeur that lasted for no more than six hours.[1] Then it was shattered – not by Chava or Adam eating from the forbidden fruit of the Eitz Hada’at, but because their union was compromised by the poison of mistrust.
Adam and Chava were super-intelligent. They were “arumim” (Chakimim, wise, according to the Targum Yonattan). Their wisdom however was not vested in their individual beings but in the unit of their togetherness: “Vehayu Lebasar Echad” (and they will exist as a single being). “And they were, the two of them together, man and wife, wise.” (Bereishit 2:24-25)
It is Adam who first compromises the integrity of their partnership. After Hashem instructs them not to eat of the Eitz Hada’at, Adam of his own accord uses the principle of siyag (a legal “fence” designed to make transgression less likely), and tells Chava that not only is eating the fruit forbidden but touching it is forbidden too. The snake (nachash) slyly proves to Chava that no harm results from touching the fruit, leading her to question the authenticity of the entire instruction that her husband purportedly received from Hashem. “Perhaps,” she thinks to herself, “the entire instruction my Rebbi (this is the last time she refers to her husband as rebbi,) gave me, is a lie.” (Avot DeRabbi Nattan 1)
Had Adam trusted Chava at the outset; had he taken her into his confidence, told her precisely what the Divine prohibition was and then taught her the principles of siyag, Chava would never have been seduced by the nachash. Had Chava trusted in her husband, she would not have succumbed to the snake’s seduction. Insufficient trust shattered the purity of their union, diminished their wisdom, and opened the door to the snake.
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