Musar para sa Genesis 3:6

But sometimes eating is mystically tied to sacrifices, like the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, say (Berakhot 55a), "And now, the table of a person atones." And that is in place of a sacrifice. And the idea is that eating has the physical and spiritual in it, as I cited before (s.v. OuDevar Zeh) in the name of the divine ARI, may his memory be blessed, the understanding of the verse: from everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord, a person lives (Deuteronomy 8:3): According to this, the connection between the soul and the body is through food, the spirituality of the food strengthens the power of the soul, and the materiality of the food strengthens the power of the body. The two of them are connected, just like the hidden soul inside the body. Through this, the body is sanctified and clings to the soul, while the body, which is the holder and container of the soul, then connects the book container with the book. And this is on condition [that] the righteous eats to satisfy his soul [alluding to Proverbs 13:25]. What I mean to say is that one is exacting in his eating, that it is from that which is permissible in his mouth and that there is no doubt or concern of a prohibition in it; and he only eats for his sustenance, and his purpose in it is to serve his Creator, to occupy himself with Torah [study] and commandments. And, also, that he gives to the poor from his bread [alluding to Proverbs 22:9], as will be explained later on at length. Then it is called a commanded meal; in this aspect, he is commanded to eat. For all of his eating is [then] an atoning altar, like a sacrifice, as per the below. But to know good and evil, the secret is [that] if it is desirable to [eat], etc. [alluding to Genesis 3:6], you shall not eat [it]. Rather, the purpose of the creation of man, who was made in [God's] likeness and image, was that the creation be similar to the Maker, as it were; to become similar to Him in all of his ways, as it is written: You are godlike beings (Psalms 82:6). So the food they should eat should be with the secret of the sacrifice, such that his eatings become sanctified.

We have a rule that in case a fire breaks out on the Sabbath, that whenever it is permitted to save the book, i.e. Torah scroll, it is also permitted to save the protective cover that such a Torah scroll is wrapped in together with the scroll (Shabbat 116). The relative importance of the body compared to the soul is similar to the importance in halachah of the ark of the Torah scroll to the Torah scroll itself. This is why in the future when the world will be full of knowledge of the Lord-a spiritual achievement-also physical matter such as the body will benefit through resurrection. It too will be able to absorb such knowledge. This is one of the important aspects in which the present sin-polluted world differs from an ideal world. The inferior status of matter in our world had its origin in Genesis 6,6, where the Torah says: ויתעצב אל לבו, He (G–d) was saddened concerning his (man's) heart. G–d saw that man no longer was using his body correctly, that the only area of spirituality left was man's heart. If man had "seen" with his heart instead of merely with his "eyes," [part of physical matter. Ed.] man's fall could have been avoided. We know from Samuel I 16,7: "for man 'sees' with the eyes whereas G–d 'sees' with the heart." Only G–d sees with His "heart." Man's decline began when the tree of knowledge appealed to Eve's eyes (Genesis 3,6). The purpose of man's creation had been to have the body as perfect as the soul, the body to be the היכל, "Sanctuary," whereas the soul would be the קדשי קדשים, "the inner Sanctuary." Both body and soul would have enjoyed a life of intelligence.

We find that Adam essentially violated three categories of sin: idol worship, sexual licentiousness, and bloodshed. He was also guilty of violating property rights, i.e. financial misdemeanors. Our sages describe Adam as a heretic in Sanhedrin 38. They describe him as "pulling his foreskin," (ibid. i.e. to make himself appear as if he had not been circumcised) He also cohabited with his wife who had previously been slept with by the serpent. As a result Adam's son Cain was infected with the pollutant of the serpent, the reason why he could become a murderer. [I recommend to the reader the commentary on this by Rabbeinu Chananel, who sees these accusations as being mouthed by the Gentiles, and who feels that the Talmud quotes them only in order to teach us how to respond to Biblical quotations taken out of context and used against us by our enemies. Ed.] As to Adam having sinned in property matters, this must be explained, seeing that the whole world belonged to him and he could not therefore become guilty of stealing, embezzling, etc. Rashi comments on Leviticus 1,2 that the reason why the Torah uses the word אדם as an example for someone who offers a sacrifice is, that just as Adam could not have brought a sacrifice from money which was not his, so anyone who offers a sacrifice is warned not to use stolen money for its purchase. Adam's sin consisted of his attitude to material things, described by the Torah as פורה ראש ולענה, "sprouting poison weed and wormwood" (Deut. 29,17). Adam displayed greed by eating from the tree of knowledge, which is described by the Torah as "inspiring desire in the eyes" (Genesis 3,6). He was a victim of the trait which our sages described when they said: "man does not leave this world without leaving behind half his desires unfulfilled, that having amassed his first million, a man already aims at the second million" (Kohelet Rabbah 1,34). Adam himself is alluded to in these three portions. Prior to his sin, Adam can be viewed as having been ראש המטות, "the (spiritual) head of all human tribes." Our sages describe the ministering angels surrounding Adam as paying homage to him, eager to hear his words of wisdom (Bereshit Rabbah 8,9). When the Torah says of the progress of the Jewish people in the desert in Numbers 33,2: "These are the departures of the Jewish people according to their journeys," this is a veiled reference to Adam who had been expelled from Paradise and forced to reside in various parts of the earth, a constant traveler. At the end of the same verse, the Torah reverses the description of these journeys by describing them as "their journeys according to the points of their departures."