ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף בראשית 3:21

V. 6. ויקבר אתו בגי. Nach Sota 9b ist das Subjekt von ויקבר der vorhergehende על פי ד׳ ,ד׳, und wird daselbst 14 a darauf hingewiesen, wie Anfang und Ende der תורה Gott selbst in vom Menschen nachzuahmender Übung der גמילות חסדים an Lebenden und Toten zeigt, Bereschit 3, 21 gibt Gottes Beispiel als מלביש ערומים, unsere Stelle alle דרש רבי שמלאי תורה תחלתה גמילות חסדים וסופה .קובר מתים גמילות חסדים תחלתה גמילות חסדים דכתיב ויעש ד׳ אלקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם וסופה גמילות חסדים דכתיב ויקבר אותו בגי. Nach ר׳ ישמעאל (Sifri zu Bamidbar 6, 13) wäre aber אתו reflexiv, er begrub sich, er legte sich selbst ins Grab, um dort zu sterben, ähnlich wie אתו אל פתח אהל מוער (Dewarim 6, 13) und והשיאו אותם עון אשמה (Wajikra 22, 16); siehe daselbst. – קבורה ,ולא ידע איש את קברתו: Grab, wie מצה אל קבורתה (Bereschit 35, 20), וקברתני בקבורתם (daselbst 47, 30). Wenn man erwägt, welchen oft an Abgötterei streifenden Kultus die Grabstätten großer, um die Menschheit verdienter Männer gefunden haben, so begreift man die Größe dieses letzten Zuges im Lebensbild unseres Mosche.

נבקעו כל מעינות תהום רבה וארבות השמים נפתחו, “all the fountains of the great ‘deep’ were opened and the ‘windows’ of the heavens were opened.” Actually, we would have expected the Torah to write: “on this day the windows of the heavens were opened as well as the all fountains of the “deep.” The Torah should first have mentioned the waters from the “higher” regions before mentioning the waters from below the earth. It is possible to explain the unusual order of recording the origin of these waters as a sign that the Torah wanted to stress the punitive nature of what occurred as being something that could be felt immediately. We find that whenever the waters originating in the heavens are mentioned as a source of blessing the Torah mentions those waters before referring to moisture on the ground. For instance, when Moses blessed the people in Deut. 33,13 he speaks of ממגד שמים מטל ומתהום רובצת תחת, “with the heavenly bounty of dew from above and with the deep waters crouching below. We may deduce that this is why the Torah did not write: “G-d brought the deluge upon earth,” but “the waters of the deluge were found on earth” (verse 11). The Torah did no wish to associate G-d’s name with a statement which may lead the reader to conclude that G-d initiated what is perceived as evil. You will observe that even in verse 23 where the Torah writes וימח את כל היקום, “He blotted out all existence,” the Torah does not identify the subject of “he,” although G-d’s name had not appeared for several verses previously. All of this is part of the Torah’s policy not to associate G-d with initiating disaster if it is at all avoidable. As soon as the force of the deluge abated somewhat and the waters cooled off, the name of G-d, albeit His attribute of Justice, אלוקים, is mentioned in 8,2 when G-d is reported as making a beneficial wind blow over the earth. Even in Genesis 3,16 where the Torah narrates what G-d said to Chavah when He decreed her punishment, the Torah refers to G-d only in the third person, i.e. impersonally, writing אל האשה אמר וגו', “to the woman He had said, etc.” The same applied in 3,17 where G-d is reported as telling Adam about his punishment. As soon as G-d provided man and his wife with clothing, however, (3,21) we find that all of a sudden the Torah refers to G-d again as ה' אלוקים.

Though Man is born without clothing, the Torah tells us that his first sin differentiated him from the other creatures around him and made him feel a need to cover himself. Once he felt this need, it led to two different outcomes: First man clothes himself by sewing together fig leaves (Bereshit 3:7).¹⁸¹Bereshit 3:7. A bit later, Adam strangely tells God that he is still naked (Bereshit 3:10).¹⁸²Ibid., 3:10. Several commentators note this peculiarity. See, for example, R. Moshe Alshich and Abarbanel on Bereshit 3:10. God then responds by clothing him anew in what the Torah describes as “skin-clothes” (Bereshit 3:21).¹⁸³Ibid., 3:21. Described as kotnot ohr, or “skin-suits,” it is not clear whether this means that they were made from some type of leather (i.e., suits made from skins) or whether they were simply “suits for the skin.” On the surface, the second set of clothes would seem redundant, since Adam’s claim that he was still naked was simply untrue. To leave it at that, however, would give us merely a superficial understanding of the event. Based on our experience with the Biblical text’s sophistication and nuance, we know that we have to look further to understand what the Torah is trying to express.