A Soulful Journey

  When the Lord created Adam, the first being, He took the man through the Garden of Eden.  "See My works.  Look at how exquisite they are!  All that has been created is for you.  Do not spoil or desecrate this word because there is no one to repair it after you." Kohelet Rabbah 7:13  

  Rabbi Yossi said, "Adam comes before every person at the moment when they are about to leave this life in order to declare that the person is dying, not because of Adam's sin, but on account of his or her own sins.  As the Sages say, "there is no death without sin"."

...And to show the greatness of the Holy Blessed One, for while a person stamps many coins from a single mold, and all that are produced come out alike, the King of Kings, the Holy Blessed One, has stamped every person with the mold of the first Adam, yet not one of them is like his fellow. And so, each and every individual is obligated to say, “For my sake was the world created….”  Mishnah Sanhedrin, 4:5

There once was a man who suffered greatly. Many bad things happened to him and he was tired of all the tragedies he had endured. So we went to his rabbi seeking advice.  He asked, “How do I get rid of this sadness, these terrible tragedies?” The rabbi in soft language told him, “You could live a life free from sadness but it comes at a high price.” “And what is that price?” asked the man. “The price,” answered the rabbi, “is that you end all love.  Banish your children, get rid of your friends, divorce your wife.  Then you will never have to endure the sadness of illness or death.” “But I will be lonely beyond words!” exclaimed the man. “Ah!” said the rabbi.  “That is the price of living without love.” "It is not good for man to be alone " are the words God uttered when he saw His first creation Adam, pining away because he had no one in his life.  This is an important lesson in life.

When God led  Adam  around the Garden of Eden, God said, ‘Look at My works. See how beautiful they are, how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil or destroy My world–for if you do, there will be no one to repair it after you.”  -Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13

"A little light dispels much darkness." - Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

B en Zoma (Berakhot 58a) compared his life and that of Adam, the first man on earth: kama yigos yiga adam harishon ad sh’motzo pat lechem I’echol, “ How much trouble, how much labor poor Adam had to indulge in until he had a piece of bread to eat.  He had to plough, plant, sow and reap and grind, knead and bake,” v’achar kach ochal , “ and only then did he have a piece of bread to eat.”  V’ani ashkim u’motze kol davar muchan , “ And I arise in the morning and find all prepared for me!”   And consider what Adam had to do in order to have a garment to wear.  He had to shear sheep and spin and weave.  Only then did he have a garment to wear, v’ani ashkim umotze kol davar muchan .  – Rabbi Israel Levinthal

“As God drove Adam and Eve out of Paradise and saw them leaving, His heart went out to them and he gave them the smile of a child. When God took away prophecy from Israel, He felt pity for them and gave them the Talmud.”   – Rabbi David Weiss Halivini

There are four couples that are interred in Kiryat Arba: Adam and Havvah, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzhak and Rivkah, Yaacov and Leah. -Eruvin 53a

Who were the first Communists in history? Adam and Eve.  They walked around naked, had one fruit between them, and they thought they lived in paradise.  – David Harris

When Adam first saw the setting sun he cried, "Woe! I must have committed a sin for which the world is growing dark and reverts to its original chaotic state.  This is the death decreed by heaven for me!" Adam sat up all night fasting and weeping; Eve weeping at his side (k'negdo).  But then as the sun began to rise in its first rays of daylight, Adam declared, "This is part of the way of the world.  This is part of the way of the world!"  - Avodah Zarah 8a

“The first mention of sin in the Bible is not in connection with Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, but relates to Cain killing his brother Abel in a fit of jealousy…”   -Harold Kushner Real s in happens when we hurt one another.

"Rebbe, since you know all things, tell us what did Chava do whenever Adam returned home late?" "She counted his ribs."  - Hasidic Once burnt we never forget the fire.

An argument took place among the people of a small town as to who was more important, a doctor or a lawyer.  One group said a doctor was more necessary because he must treat the sick.  The other said that the healthy should be taken care of first.  The Jews always lost out with the gentiles because there was no lawyer.  The rabbi intervened and gave his opinion. "A doctor was essential as soon as man was created, when God cut out Adam's rib.  A lawyer came later on, when Cain killed Abel."

The myth of Prometheus tells when he steals fire from the gods and is discovered, he is chained to a rock for his crime. In Jewish tradition, Adam is shown how to make a fire by rubbing two sticks together, by God. In our tradition, He is not a jealous God, safeguarding His secrets but allowing instead man to enjoy all that remains on the earth. The one exception is on Shabbat when man should refrain from certain actions.   – Rabbi Louis Jacobs

T he biblical edge on women:   “Adam means adama, or dirt. Eve in Hebrew is Chava, or life… The Midrash takes the knife and twists it.   “Why are men unstable and women stable?   Because men are from dirt and women from bone.     Put water on dirt and it becomes mud.   Put water on a bone and it just drops off.”   Rabbi David Eidensohn

There is a talmudic tale told of Ima Shalom.  One day she was visited by a Roman.  He questioned her why God stole a rib from Adam while he was asleep. "Why did God have to steal it?" Ima Shalom replied with another story about a thief who stole a beautiful silver sup and replaced it with a golden one. The Roman laughed heartily and said that he would have been quite happy about that kind of theft as it left him richer than before. Ima Shalom then said that this is how Adam felt when God stole one of his ribs and left a woman in its place.

The story is told of Adam, the first man, who whenever he went for a long walk by himself and returned later, Eve would be sure to count his ribs . - Louis Jacobs

While Adam was asleep God away a rib and made it into a woman. ”Wasn’t it deceitful to take a part of a man’s body without his knowledge?” a sage was asked. Before answering he said, “If you gave someone a silver coin and got in return many pieces of gold would you say it was robbery?”

The folklorist literature of the Midrash tells the thought-provoking story that when God was about to create man, the angels came to him with different views. Some of them supported the divine plan for man's creation, while others supposed it.

 Among the strongest opponents with the Angels of truth and peace. "He will be full of lies," said Truth. "He will be terribly quarrelsome," said Peace.  What did God do? He took truth and cast it on to the ground, where it shattered into many pieces. Then He created Adam. 

Now we come to the obvious question: why did God shatter Truth rather than Peace? Or, why did he not break both offending angels?

Like every piece of rabbinic folklore, the story is told not only because it is a good story; it is usually that, of course, but it is told because they wish to submit a lesson and, like all oriental teachers, they also found that the best way to teach a lesson is through the parable.

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