Guest Post: Luke Has Been Thinking Too Much

It seems that the “Original Sin” parallels the sin/repent process. After Chava is pushed by the serpent, she then convinces Adam to eat from the “Tree of Knowledge”. Then when Hashem questions them, they both pass the buck instead of fessing up. 

Since they were being questioned, it can be seen that they were being given the opportunity to repent. Instead, Adam says, “It was the woman that you gave me.” All he had to do was say, “I have sinned” and the matter would have been settled. The world was never intended to be a Utopia, by virtue of the fact that man was given fee will. We can make mistakes, but we have to own up to them.

Adam was a “Kafoi Tov”, a denier of good. Every single problem we have as a people is a direct result of being “a denier of good”. We think that by slaughtering a couple of animals and whispering a couple of incantations, we will save or souls, instead provoking the thought that these actions were designed to do. In reality, treating our fellow human beings with respect is the most important thing that one can do. Adam not only sinned against God, he also threw his wife under the bus.

Every Yom Kippur we go through the process that Adam failed to complete, by admitting our sins. However, there is no true repentance without righting the wrongs against our fellow man.