ACCOUNTABILITY
OF ADAM: PARSHAT BEREISHIT
Shira
Smiles shiur 2020/5781
Adapted
by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Bereishit, the narrative of
creation, introduces us to every creature in our universe, culminating with the
creation of Adam, mankind, as the crown of creation. We know the lofty
potential Hashem envisioned for mankind, but on his very first day on earth,
Man succumbed to temptation and ate fruit from the tree God Had commanded him
not to eat. The dialogue Hashem then initiates with Adam provides many insights
and lessons for all of us throughout the generations.
Hashem begins with
an innocent question, calling out to Adam, “Ayekah/Where are you?” No
one would presume to think that Hashem was unaware of Adam’s whereabouts. As
Rashi understands this opening line, Hashem was approaching Adam gently, not
wanting to terrify him with an immediate, harsh scolding. In fact, says Rav
Zeidel Epstein, Hashem is teaching us how we should begin our conversations
with someone who may have wronged us, not in an accusatory tone but in a
conciliatory, friendly tone.
While Man was the
most exalted of God’s creatures, able to intuit Hashem’s presence constantly
beside him, he still had the capacity to fall from that exalted position.
Before the sin, Adam was with his Creator; after the sin, he distanced himself
from his Creator, writes Rabbi Wachtfogel. Eating of that fruit so muddled
Adam’s vision that he became blinded to the presence of Hashem, writes Rabbi
Tatz in Worldmask. When Hashem interacts with man, He approaches him in
the same manner and context that the individual perceives Him. Since Adam hid
after having sinned, and he could no longer “see” God, Hashem approached Adam
from the same perspective, as if He could not see Adam and did not know what
Adam had done, “Where are you?.. Have you eaten of the tree?..” This was the
beginning of doubt in Hakodosh Boruch Hu, a doubt most manifest in Amalek who
would later instill doubt into Bnei Yisroel.
In Ohel Moshe,
Rabbi Scheinerman suggests that Hashem was asking two distinct questions in
this dialogue. First, where are you, how have you distanced yourself from Me
and fallen from your exalted position to these depths? Second, since you have
transgressed My explicit command, there needs to be an accounting. While Adam
did teshuvah for his sin and the relationship could be repaired, the damage to
Adam’s exalted stature was permanent.
The ideal form of
Man as Hashem originally created him was so exalted that the angels wanted to
sing his praises as they did for Hakodosh Boruch Hu Himself, for they
recognized the divinity within him, writes Rabbi Friefeld citing the medrash in
Kohelet in In Search of Greatness, such was the greatness of Adam
Harishon. And his body shone like the sun, tells us another medrash. All this
changed with the first sin. But when Bnei Yisroel stood at Mount Sinai, they
regained that same exalted stature. Even the angels bore witness by descending
with crown to coronate each member of Bnei Yisroel as they again were imbued
with the spirit and light of the Divine. They had returned to the tzurat
haAdam/form of Man that had been primal Adam. When Moshe descended from the
mountain, his face was infused with that same light that had infused Adam’s
body. The Torah writes that when Bnei Yisroel arrived at Mount Sinai, vayichan
ha’am/the nation encamped, vayichan/in the singular form, as one
man, writes Rashi. As one man – extrapolates Rabbi Friefeld – as that first
man, Adam.
The path to
regaining the exalted from of original Adam is through the Torah. That’s why
the Torah has two hundred forty eight positive commandments to parallel the
number of limbs and organs in the human body, and three hundred sixty five
negative commandments to parallel the number of blood vessels. It is through
Torah observance that we can hope to approach the perfection of our tzurat
haAdam that Hashem had envisioned for mankind.
We fall into sin
so easily because we think that sin is just some dirt adhering to us
externally, writes Rabbi Chaskel Levenstein in Chochmat Hamatzpun. We
don’t realize that the effects of sin change our essence and distances us from
God, as it did for Adam. Our souls yearn for the completion and wholeness that
comes from reconnecting to our Maker. That’s why in Chasidus, the men would
spend time preparing themselves for their daily prayers and that reconnection,
and then spend a significant amount of time after prayers to come down
gradually from that elevated state of being in the presence of the Divine. And
the day after a yom tov, adds Rebbetzin Smiles, is also meant to be a day of
slowly coming down from that connection, from being tied to the yom tov, a day
of Isru Chag. Do we ask ourselves, as we come down from the high of yom
tov, “Ayekah?” We
are meant to take something of yom tov with us and integrate it into our post
yom tov lives. If we do not come out somewhat changed, the yom tov experience
will remain meaningless. This would be like a tailor who neglects to knot the
end of his thread so that all his work will unravel, an analogy Rabbi Biderman
presents.
We need to yearn,
seek and work for wholeness, to ask ourselves Ayekah, to strive to
approach the level of our forefathers. Hashem called out el ha’Adam/to
all mankind, “Ayekah,” writes Rabbi Zaks in Menachem Zion. He is
calling out to us, urging us to wholeness, to bring back the perfected tzurat
ha’Adam.
Man goes through
spiritual stages of growth just as a child goes through developmental stages of
growth. If a child does not reach benchmark norms for walking or talking,
parents take the child for evaluation and help to grow to the next stage. If a
person at age thirty is praying and doing mitzvoth by rote, the same way he did
at age ten, he is not growing toward his potential, writes Rabbi Ochion in Ohr
Doniel. Just as we appraise a child’s growth, Hashem examines our neshama
every night to see if we are growing spiritually at a proper rate. If we
haven’t grown from our life experiences, writes Rabbi Pincus, we have missed
the point of life, and we are like a storekeeper who works all day moving
around his merchandise and interacting with people but earning no money. We
need to exude a quiet sense of godliness, a tzurat ha’Adam as Hashem
initially created Adam.
The Gemorrah says
that Adam “goes from one end of the earth to the other.” Man was created with
this thirst for knowledge of the world, for knowing the world and its wonders
brought a sense of connection to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. In earlier times, man
merely looked up toward heaven and felt that connection immediately, writes
Rabbi Zaks. We’ve lost that ability today. Without realizing it, people look
for connection by gathering news from around the world, and today we make
connections through technology. Hashem has given us the knowledge to create
these technologies to satiate our desire for knowledge of the world, for we’ve
lost the innate wisdom. To the extent that we can disconnect from the
distractions of the world, we are able to reconnect to the Source of everything
and to our own essence. Where are we in the spiritual journey of our lives? Are
we reaching for our potential as complete human beings? Are we doing mitzvoth
that will bring us closer to our goal, or are we sinning and moving ourselves
further away from the perfection that comes with connecting to Hakodosh Boruch
Hu?
When Hashem
created Adam, He took him around and showed him the entire creation in all its
beauty, writes the Shvilei Pinchas, Rabbi Friedlander. Hashem exhorted
him, as Kohelet says, “Look at Hashem’s work to fix that which was
distorted,” be careful not to destroy it, for then who can fix it. As the Zohar
tells us, each of us contains within ourselves all of creation. We are meant to
elevate our mini worlds to Hashem’s service. Where are we in that service? Are
we succeeding?
Each of us was
created singly. Each of us has a unique inner essence that strives to know and
serve Hashem in its own personal way, writes Rabbi Uri Weissblum in Heorat
Derech. To serve Hashem in our greatest capacity, we need to identify our
unique character. Often we will be drawn to a particular mitzvah, perhaps
encouraging others, perhaps working on shul maintenance, and this inclination
will point you to your unique service. Make your service personal. As we say
daily in Oz Yoshir, “Zeh Keili ve’anveihu/This is My (personal)
God and I will glorify Him.” Ayekah, what makes you uniquely you, what
mitzvah excites you?
Don’t look outward
to compare yourself to others and to their aspirations. If you do so, you will
merely become part of the crowd, never achieving your personal destiny. Look
inward to your uniqueness, discover who you are, and from that vantage point,
you can start the teshuvah process. This was the message Yosef Hatzadik was
conveying to his brothers when he revealed himself to them, continues Rabbi
Levovitz. “Ani, Yosef/It is I, that same Yosef,” recognize that core
that has always been me. Yosef was living a life uniquely his, growing in his
spiritual greatness. Where are we? Are we continuing to sanctify our personal
sanctuaries, or are we turning the Ayekah/Where are you to Eicha/How
could it have come to this? Elevation or destruction is up to me alone, “If I
am not for myself, who am I and will be for me?” Keep the vision of who you are
always before you. No matter how old and battered that vision may be, it will
still lead you to your inner self.
How do you access
that inner self? Rabbi Frand teaches us that we get the message from the wish
we give to a baby boy at his bris, “May this little one become great.” A baby
is born as a completely self centered being; may he grow to consider others, to
be godlike and giving in life. Give emotional support with an encouraging word
or a compliment. When you are bringing in a chair to a meeting room, bring an
additional chair for someone else. As Hashem is full of chesed, emulate Him and
become a baal chesed in ways that you personally come across. The more
you expand your world by reaching out to others, the more godly you become.
We must take
personal responsibility for our actions. When Adam made excuses instead of
taking responsibility for transgressing God’s command, he distanced himself
from Hashem Only by accepting responsibility, writes Rav Michel Twersky in Yiram
Hayam, can we correct and rectify our action, and reconnect to Hakodosh
Boruch Hu.