Eve’s Confusion

There is a clever explanation as to why Eve got confused regarding the instructions not to eat from the forbidden tree. She told the serpent that she was also not allowed to touch the tree. The Midrash says that he pushed her and made her touch it. The evil one said that just as no harm comes from touching the tree, no harm will come from eating it.

The reason for her confusion relates to the prohibitions of Pesach and Yom Kippur. On Pesach, we are not allowed to have Chanetz in our possession. We may “not see and not find.” This would mean we shouldn’t touch it, either.

On Yom Kippur, where there is a similar penalty of Karet, we are allowed to touch food. The prohibition only involves eating on this sacred day.

Eve thought her prohibition from eating from the tree, was similar to Pesach’s, which implied, no touching either.

The mistake she made by adding to G-d’s command was that she made it seem that it was His command. In reality, she added to His command on her own, which led to her downfall.

It is not necessarily wrong when someone takes upon himself certain stringencies. But it must be clear that these are his personal stringencies needed for his spiritual growth. When he makes the mistake in thinking that these were ordained by Hashem, himself, he has crossed the line. His good intentions will not bear fruit, since he is misrepresenting Hashem’s Torah.

We must learn from Eve, the serious consequences of misrepresenting Hashem’s Torah.