A midrash cited in the sefer Kol Eliyohu (Parshas
Bereishis 5), explains why Odom Horishon sinned. Very
cryptically, it declares: "Because he saw two and did not see
three."
According to the Vilna Gaon's explanation, there is nothing
puzzling about this statement at all: "This is an explicit
mishnah in Ovos (3:1): `Consider three
things and you will not come into the hands of sin: Know from
where you came, to where you will go and before Whom you will
give justification and reckoning. . . .' Since Odom
Horishon was the handiwork of HaKodosh Boruch Hu, he
was only able to consider only two of these three." Odom was
a perfect and direct creation of HaKodosh Boruch Hu.
Consequently, he had no biological origin to contemplate.
According to the Rambam, Rabbeinu Yonah and other
commentaries on this mishnah, giving serious thought
to our biological origin should bring us to humility. Hence,
we will be saved from the middoh of gaivah.
Odom could consider the grave, for Hashem warned him that the
consequence of disobedience is death. Also, he was certainly
aware that all this thoughts, speech and actions are known
and judged by HaKodosh Boruch Hu. However, since
Hashem created Odom, he did not have the benefits of the
humbling thought of, "know from where you came."
Similar to the way the Gaon understood the midrash,
the sefer Maalos HaMiddos, based on the Pirkei
DeRebbe Eliezer, traces the source of Odom Horishon's sin
to gaivah. The thirteenth perek of Pirkei
DeRebbe Eliezer quotes the posuk in
Bereishis (2:20), which describes how, "Odom gave
names to all the animals and to the birds of the sky and to
every beast of the field . . ." With this feat, Odom's wisdom
surpassed the intellect and understanding of the
mal'ochim, for Odom succeeded in naming Hashem's
creatures whereas the mal'ochim did not.
The sefer Maalos HaMiddos then comments that as a
result, Odom's "heart swelled and he became proud, and sought
a higher excellence inappropriate for him." When Odom's
sechel triumphed over the mal'ochim he felt a
spark of pride, just enough to give rise to a notion of
superiority that was inappropriate and beyond his calling.
The Pirkei DeRebbe Eliezer continues to describe how
the mal'ochim became jealous of Odom. They conspired
against him, and employed the Nochosh to bring Odom to
sin.
Odom was thus faced with a test, and of all the tests
possible, Odom was most appropriately tested through the
middoh of pride. Being only able to see two instead of
three made Odom vulnerable to gaivah, for he lacked a
vital safeguard against pride. Appropriately then, in order
to give Odom an opportunity to triumph over this
susceptibility, Odom was ultimately going to be faced with a
nisoyon of gaivah.
His failure cast him out of Gan Eden and fated him to die.
Death was an appropriate remedy for Odom's condition, blessed
with sechel and prone to gaivah. Can we imagine
anything more humbling than death?
*
We must be very careful not to misjudge or adopt an overly
simplistic understanding of Odom Horishon. The Midrash
Tanchuma (Parshas Chukas 16) discloses that after their
deaths, all the tzaddikim appear before Odom Horishon
and complain, "You caused us to die." Odom answers them by
saying, "I have one sin, [whereas] each and every one of you
has no less than four transgressions."
Odom Horishon proved that he was wiser than the
mal'ochim; nonetheless, the ultimate and sole source
of all his wisdom was Hashem Yisborach. To acknowledge
this is true wisdom; to forget it is death. The posuk
in Tehillim (111:10) "Reishis chochmoh, yiras
Hashem . . ." is generally understood to mean that the
beginning - - the source of wisdom -- is yiras Hashem.
"Reishis" usually means: "the start or source of
something."
However here, the Chossid Yaavetz explains "reishis"
with a different and novel interpretation. Namely, that
within the context of this posuk, "reishis" means:
"that which is praiseworthy and that which is the purpose
of it." Therefore, according to the Chossid Yaavetz, the
posuk is teaching us that the purpose and praiseworthy
goal of wisdom is yiras Hashem.
If we are given wisdom, it must be used to fear our Creator.
Gaivah subverts all this.
The Ramchal writes in his sefer, Mesillas Yeshorim
(Chapter 22) that, "Chochmoh, more than anything else,
brings a person to conceit and pride, for it is the inherent
virtue of man himself; his distinguishing quality --
intelligence." However great one's intelligence may be, as in
the case of Odom Horishon, nevertheless there is no
comparison to the infinite Wisdom of our Creator -- and this
should be a humbling thought. As great as Odom's triumph of
intellect over the mal'ochim was, it was nil in
comparison to the Divine wisdom of his Creator, for it is
written in Tehillim (147:4,5) "He counts the sum of
the stars; giving names to all of them. Great is our Master
and abundant in strength, His understanding is infinite!"
Could Odom's achievement of naming animals and birds compare
to that?
*
With infinite wisdom, Hashem deemed that gaivah be an
essential aspect of Odom's personality. Moreover, the
middoh of gaivah was required in order that
there be an acid test of Odom's perfection; to see if Odom
would perfect himself.
The midrash (Shemos Rabboh 23:13) states that
HaKodosh Boruch Hu created four species with the
middoh of gaivah: "The proudest of the
creations is man; the proudest of the birds is the eagle; the
proudest of the animals is the ox; the proudest of the beasts
is the lion. All were granted sovereignty and given
greatness."
If these four sovereigns were created with a streak of
gaivah, it must be vital for their success. A lion,
for example, as proud as he ever will become, will not suffer
because of it. No doubt, the prouder a lion is, the better a
king of beasts he will turn out to be.
Only Odom is warned about and punished for gaivah.
Also, and paradoxically so, gaivah was the catalyst
for Odom's plunge from excellence. If so, man must have a
different measure of success than any other creature.
The Obligations of Status
The gemora (Brochos 34a-b) stipulates that when a king
prays Shemoneh Esrei he must bow many more times than
an ordinary Jew. Tosafos explains that excess bowing is
presumptuous for an ordinary Jew and therefore prohibited.
For a king however, extra bowing is mandatory. Rashi explains
why: "Anything that is more elevated is required to submit
and humble itself." If Odom was given the middoh of
gaivah it must play a vital role in fulfilling his
purpose in this world, for precisely because of his elevated
rank he was required to humble himself.
In contrast to the other three sovereigns, Odom Horishon was
required to direct and control his pride. The Vilna Gaon, as
quoted in the sefer Even Shleimoh, said, "That the
main purpose of a person's life is to always intensify one's
efforts to change his character and if not -- why live?" If
Odom was created with gaivah, it was in order to give
him the opportunity to rule over himself. Odom was created
with pride in order to overcome it, and by doing so to master
and perfect himself.
Odom was created as perfect as could be, but with one
intentional weakness -- a non-biological origin. Thus Odom
was inherently prone to gaivah. On the other hand, he
was given intelligence to overcome any inclinations towards
gaivah.
Life is Truth
There is an irrefutable link between life and emes.
And conversely, there is an equally undeniable connection
between death and gaivah.
The very first se'if of the Orchos Chaim LeHaRosh
warns us to "distance ourselves from gaivah to the
utmost." In his footnote to this se'if, HaRav Shmuel
Halevi Schechter zt"l wrote, based on the mesorah
he had from Kelm, that "there is no greater falsehood
than for those who are destined to die to be haughty."
Likewise, in Mesillas Yeshorim (Chapter 11) the
Ramchal writes: "Gaivah is nothing but an actual
blindness by which the person's mind does not see his
shortcomings or acknowledge his faults." Our greatest
imperfection is the fact that we are mortal and hence must
leave this world. To the extent that we chose to deny or
ignore this fact, our shortcomings will increase.
Therefore acting as a counterbalance, is the primary,
indispensable middoh of emes. The middoh
of emes becomes corrupted in proportion to the degree
that we forget or deny the truth of our origin -- and the
inevitable nature of our fate. Gaivah, more than
anything else, conceals these truths. Denial is sheker
and death.
The gemora (Sanhedrin 97a) tells how Rovo originally
thought that truth does not exist in the world for, as Rashi
explains, "There is no person in the world who can always
speak the truth." This was until Rav Tovus -- others say it
was Rav Tovuhmi -- declared that "he would never lie, even if
he were given all the riches in the world." Rav Tovus went on
to describe how he once discovered and eventually settled in
a place called Kushtah.
Kushtah was a place where no one ever lied and consequently,
no one ever died before their time. Rav Tovus married a local
woman and they had two sons. One day, while his wife was
washing her hair, a neighbor knocked on their door and asked
to see her. He thought that it would not be polite to tell
the truth, so he said she was not home. Soon after, his two
sons died. The town's people gathered and asked why this
happened. After telling the story, they forced him to leave
town in order to insure that no further deaths would
occur.
In his commentary on this gemora, the Maharsha
explains how emes was able to give life and longevity
to those who lived in Kushtah. "Since the seal of HaKodosh
Boruch Hu is emes, and through it the world exists
. . . The one who lies destroys the seal and the foundation
of the world . . . And conversely, one who does not lie
establishes himself and his world with the seal of Creation,
which is emes. Therefore, no person would die before
their time, for it is sheker which causes untimely
death."
Pride is the greatest falsehood of all, and hence the primary
cause for premature death. Appropriately, when the
gemora in Sotah (5a) mentions the many awful
consequences of gaivah, a shortened lifespan appears
high on the list. Conversely humility, the opposite of
gaivah, is the basis of life and longevity.
The posuk specifically mentions life as an outcome of
humility: "Eikev anovoh [the result and reward of
humility] is yiras Hashem, riches, honor and life"
(Mishlei 22:4). "Eikev" according to Rashi
means "because of." According to the Vilna Gaon it means "the
end result -- and the reward." The "eikev" (in these
two senses) of humility is yiras Hashem. If preceded
by yiras Hashem, the other benefits of wealth, honor
and life can follow.
The Vilna Gaon explains that the two dividends of wealth and
honor accrue in proportion to the nullification of the two
harmful middos of greed and arrogance -- both of which
are absent from the one who is humble. Life, as the Gaon
continues, is the result of yiras Hashem, as the
posuk (Mishlei 19:23) teaches, "Yiras Hashem
brings life . . ."
The gemora Chulin (89a) cites three great individuals
who were humble and all were blessed with long lives. Avrohom
Ovinu, who lived to be one hundred and seventy-five years,
declared, "I am dust and ashes." Moshe Rabbenu and Aaron
Hacohen said, "What are we?" They both lived to be at least
one hundred and twenty years old. Also Dovid Hamelech, who
lived to be seventy, said, "I am a worm and not a man."
The gemora states they all remained humble in spite of
HaKodosh Boruch Hu's blessings of honor and glory to
them. This was proof that they were truly worthy of their
distinction. As the Mesillas Yeshorim (Chapter 22)
comments on this gemora: "The person with an honest
heart will not allow himself to be deceived by any
distinction that he may possess. He knows the truth; that
even with this [distinction] he has not yet left his lowly
state . . ."
Chochmas Odom
Death was not the only consequence of Odom's transgression.
Odom almost lost his mind. The gemora Pesochim (118a)
explains, "When HaKodosh Boruch Hu said to Odom,
`Thorns and thistles will sprout for you [and you shall eat
the grass of the field.] his eyes flowed with tears. Odom
cried out to Hashem, `Master of the Universe! Shall I and my
donkey eat from the same trough?' "
According to the Maharsha's explanation, Odom was fearful
that if he were to eat the same kind of food as the donkey,
his intelligence would degenerate to the same level as a
donkey's. This dreadful thought humbled Odom to tears. Odom
had good reason to cry, for the whole purpose of his
intelligence was to acknowledge his Creator in order to serve
Him faithfully. The gemora concludes by saying that
when Hashem told Odom, "By the sweat of your brow you shall
eat bread," Odom was comforted and became optimistic that his
mind and intelligence would remain human.
The decree of death did not overwhelm Odom Horishon as much
as the fear of losing his mind. Odom was created betzelem
Elokim, which Rashi (Bereishis 1:26) explains to
be the exclusively human ability to "understand and gain
wisdom." The possibility of losing this gift of creative
intelligence was a fate worse than death, for Odom Horishon's
whole purpose and place in Creation depended on him having
intelligence and using it properly.
Chochmoh, our gift of intelligence, is thus a razor-
sharp double-edged blade. Using it properly brings success.
Using it improperly brings ruin. In the second chapter of
Mesillas Yeshorim, the Ramchal teaches us that the
only way to elude the yetzer hora is with "great
wisdom and an all-embracing outlook." Furthermore, this
by itself is not enough, as the Ramchal continues, "It is
obvious that even if a person will be watchful over himself,
he does not have the ability to save himself without the help
of HaKodosh Boruch Hu -- for the yetzer hora is
very powerful."
When Odom, in the slightest way imaginable, succumbed to
gaivah, the Nochosh was then able to tempt Odom
and thereby test his loyalty to Hashem's command not to eat
from the Eitz Hadaas.
Rabbeinu Yonah writes in his sefer Shaarei Teshuvoh
(1:27) that gaivah will render a person helpless
against the yetzer hora, since "the haughty person is
given over into the hands of his yetzer; Hashem will
not be with him to help him, since he is loathsome to
Hashem." Therefore, once gaivah had found even a
small place in his heart, Odom lacked the full amount of
siyata deShmaya that was required to succeed against
the Nochosh and its arguments.
The Problem -- and the Solution
So this is the essence of the problem that is the dilemma of
man: without wisdom we are surely lost to the clutches of the
yetzer hora. However, the greater the intelligence,
the more prone we are to fall prey to the illusions of pride,
which will lead to an unfortunate fulfillment of the posuk
(Devorim 8:14), "Your heart will grow great and you will
forget Hashem your G-d . . ." If this should happen, we are
surely helpless against the yetzer. For if we have
forgotten Hashem and instead rely on our own abilities,
Hashem will not send forth the siyata deShmaya we so
desperately need for all success in life.
Hashem created Odom with the potential for gaivah to
creep into his heart -- just enough to allow for a test. This
test had the potential to create in Odom a different and
greater dimension of perfection -- the perfection of Odom
perfecting himself. This was Odom's predicament and the
purpose of his creation; to overcome gaivah with
emes and thereby abolish the paradox, emerging humble
and perfect.
After his transgression, death became a necessary reality, as
Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaarei Teshuvoh 2:25) writes about
the posuk (Bereishis 1:31): "`And Hashem saw all that
He had made and behold, it was very good.' This is death, for
death is also good; to humble people and that there should be
fear of Hashem in their hearts and that Olom Hazeh
should not become paramount."
The foremost unbiased understanding that we must have about
ourselves, our reishis daas -- the primary and
paramount core of unshakable knowledge that will carry us
successfully through life -- is: We are created beings and
therefore destined to die. Gaivah cannot coexist with
such thoughts.
Since we are created betzelem Elokim, blessed with the
ability to think, we must reason with ourselves to arrive at
an untainted vision of what we are, where we came from and
where we are going. We need siyata deShmaya to always
remember this and siyata deShmaya requires
supplication and prayer.
The Ramban, toward the end of his Commentary on Parshas
Bo, sums up in two words the purpose of public prayer.
Every day, we gather together to publicly declare,
"Bri'osecho Anachnu! -- We are Your Creations!"
Just before we stand up to begin our Shemoneh Esrei we
declare that Hashem Yisborach: "Lowers the haughty and
elevates the humble," and then we begin, with humility, our
prayers.
