Adam’s Sin

Rav Eliyahu Dessler in Michtav Me’eliyahu, addresses the question of what type of free will did Adam have before eating from the Tree of Knowledge. The tree was meant to give the ability to tell the difference between good and evil. Didn’t Adam and Eve already have this ability?

Rav Dessler explains that Adam was a most perfect being, before having sinned. His essence was complete purity, and he did not have internal struggles. His vulnerability did not come from internal struggles, but from the outside.

This is how the Serpent was able to convince Eve that it would be worthwhile to eat from the forbidden tree. If you think things are good right now, if you eat from this tree, you will be like G-d Himself!

Adam used extremely bad judgement in allowing himself to accept this argument. As a result, death was instituted for man, and the evil inclination, the Yeitzer Hara was created to be part of each individual.

This meant that man’s struggles came from within. He had to constantly work at resisting temptations, rationalizations, and laziness, in order to make the correct choices for his life.

Clearly, the world would have been a completely different place, had Adam not sinned. We are still dealing with these challenges each day. We must realize that the battle with the Yeitzer Hara, is very real. The Talmud in Kiddushin tells us that Torah is the antidote to the Yeitzer.

We must make the study of Torah a priority, and we must place ourselves and our families, in the best possible environment to grow spiritually and conquer our weaknesses.

Adam’s sin led to a change in the nature of man. His struggles became part of him. The Book of Job has a verse that says, אדם לעמל יולד, “Man was born to struggle.” We must be aggressive in our quest to reach our full potential, and not allow ourselves to fall at the hands of human weakness.