DOUBTS
“But of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, Hashem said, "You shall not eat of it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die” (3:3).
The snake said, “lest you die”, as if the matter was open to doubt, whereas Hashem had said, “… for on the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die” (2:17). The evil inclination’s main power lies in its ability to cast doubt and blur the truth, until eventually its victim sins due to a lack of clarity and lack of conviction about the reality of sin and punishment. Amalek has the gematria of safek, and indeed his method is to sow doubts in our hearts. The importance attached to removing doubts from our consciousness is evident from the very first sentence of the Mesillas Yesharim: “The foundation of piety and the root of perfect service [of G-d] is for a man to clarify and become convinced of his obligation in this world.” If a person clarifies and becomes convinced of his duty in this world, the evil inclination will not be able to persuade him to sin. During this time of year, following the Yamim Nora’im, it is incumbent on us to follow up on the resolutions that we had adopted, and not allow the evil inclination to sow doubts in our hearts.
WICKED INTELLECTUALS
“And He said, "Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree (HaMin Ha’Etz) of which I commanded you not to eat” (3:11)?
The Gemara (Chulin 132b) says, “Where is Haman mentioned in the Torah? HaMin Ha’Etz.” What is the connection between the wicked Haman and the Eitz HaDa’as? Contrary to the common assumption that intellectuals, scientists, artists and so on, are incapable of immoral behavior, in reality even someone who has imbibed wisdom from the Eitz HaDa’as is still capable of being a base murderer like Haman. In fact, an intellectual will only use his intellect to justify base character traits and evil actions. Hence, Chazal are telling us, “from where did Haman, the arch-murderer, who set out to annihilate the Jews, receive his wickedness? He received it “from the tree,” meaning from the intellect, which the Eitz HaDa’as symbolizes. Not only did his intellect not prevent him from his desire to annihilate an entire nation, but he used it to justify and rationalize it.
In recent times too, Germany, the cradle of the Enlightenment, turned into a nation of cruel murderers, killing six million Jews, including two million children. The vast majority of the German population, hitherto considered to be the epitome of enlightened intellectuals, cooperated with the Nazis, or, at the very least, were willing accomplices, without uttering a word of protest. Clearly then, wickedness is completely divorced from intellectual knowledge or ability.
DIFFICULTIES
“… and dust shall you eat all the days of your life” (3:14).
Dust is readily available, so this seems more like a blessing than a curse. However, in truth, a trouble-free existence is not the type of life Hashem intends for us. Rav Sternbuch recalls a bachur who asked the Rosh Yeshivah, Rav Schneider, for a brachah before his wedding. Rav Schneider asked him what blessing he wanted, and the young man replied, “That everything should go smoothly in life.” Rav Schneider responded that that was no brachah, and he blessed him instead that when he would be faced with difficulties, he would overcome them successfully. Something attained without effort has little value, and it is only by surmounting difficulties that a person becomes elevated and realizes his potential.
PARNASSAH
Moreover, someone who has all his needs taken care of loses his connection to the Almighty, since he feels that he no longer needs to pray to Him. Accordingly, before the curse, the nachash had some intellect and was dependent on Hashem—like man—but, after the curse, he lost his connection to the Creator. Sometimes a wicked person finds it easy to make a living and becomes wealthy quickly, whereas a righteous person may find it difficult to even make ends meet. At a superficial glance, it looks as if the wicked person has been rewarded by Hashem, and the righteous one has received a punishment. However, the opposite may be the case: the wicked person may have been rejected by Hashem, and therefore been granted wealth as a punishment, so that he will not feel any connection to the Creator; and the righteous person may have been sent financial difficulties so that he will merit forming a connection with the Creator through his prayers. Hence, those who have been granted wealth should live with the constant awareness that we are all equally dependent on Hashem, and without His constant Providence, we would not enjoy any sustenance even for a moment.
EASIER TO LOSE MONEY THAN ONE'S HONOR
“And Hashem said to Kayin, "Why are you annoyed, and why has your countenance fallen” (4:6)?
Why does the Torah seemingly repeat itself, saying: Why are you annoyed, and why has your countenance fallen? Rav Yisroel Salanter pointed out that when a butcher’s animal is declared treif he will likely accept such a psak willingly, acknowledging the righteousness of divine judgment, but if the same person has a judgment handed down against him by a Beis Din, this is very difficult for him, to the extent that he may even curse the dayan. It is much easier for him to accept a monetary loss than to accept a situation in which someone has won a dispute at his expense and impugned his honor. Accordingly, Hashem was asking Kayin, “Why are you annoyed?” Are you really bothered by the fact that I did not accept your offerings, or are you more concerned that your countenance has fallen, and that your brother Hevel has gotten the better of you, and impugned your honor?
BOOK OF GOOD DEEDS
“This is the narrative [literally, “book”] of the generations of man; …” (5:1).
Rav Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkovsky told Rav Sternbuch that Rav Chaim Eliyahu Meisels of Lodz once visited Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, and the latter gave him a copy of his sefer “Achiezer” as a present. Rav Chaim Eliyahu was very pleased and Rav Chaim Ozer said to him, “When will we merit to have the Rav put out a sefer?” He replied that he had one, and when Rav Chaim Ozer asked to see it, he told him to follow him, and he showed him promissory notes in which he had undertaken to support talmidei chachamim, widows and orphans in the city of Lodz. Rav Chaim Eliyahu said that this was his book, since it says, ‘This is the book of the generations of man’, which refers to the good deeds a person has performed, and I am so busy with this book that I do not have the time to write a book like Rav Chaim Ozer”.
Rav Chaim Ozer did not respond, but on his deathbed, he asked Rav Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkovsky to come closer, and he told him that he now sees that Rav Chaim Eliyahu was right, the main book a person takes with him for eternity is the book of his good deeds.
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