Ideal vs. Reality

Since we have started Bereshit, I have noticed a theme that I think we have seen before in Chumash class. In many situations that Bnei Yisroel have found themselves in, there seems to have been some sort of expectation of how things would go. Hashem has stated, either after the situation or before, that there was a way that things were supposed to go, or an ideal. However in many cases, things do not go as planned. The reality and the ideal do not always match up.

In Devarim and Bamidbar, we learned about what was supposed to happen versus what actually happened. Bnei Yisrael were supposed to enter Israel only a few weeks after leaving Egypt. But instead, they were sentenced to forty years of wandering in the desert until they ultimately entered the land of Israel. There was an ideal, but then there was the reality.

In Bereshit, we see the ideal of Adam and Chava in the garden of Eden and acting almost like infants. They have no desires and are seemingly innocent and maybe even naive. However something goes wrong- they sin. They are expelled from the garden and are faced with the consequences of a life of toil and pain in childbirth.

In both cases, we see a form of punishment. But perhaps these are both actually natural and logical consequences. Is this idea of the ideal versus the reality a theme of the narrative stories in the Torah? Personally, I think that these stories set up the standard in our lives that human nature is prone to mess up. I do not think that Hashem expects the ideal because I think Hashem realizes it is impossible for everyone to behave perfectly and without flaw. Our forefathers made mistakes so maybe Hashem is showing us that maybe we will make mistakes too. However, we cannot forget that when we do, there are consequences that follow. But I think it is important to strive for the ideal, even when sometimes we are stuck with reality.