Learning all about the ideal world that was supposed to be in the garden and then the reality of human life outside the garden has been truly interesting for me. At first, I was in a way 'mad' at Chava for sinning because it ruined our chances of being part of that ideal world in the garden, but then I had a change of thought. Now, I, in a way, feel 'thankful' that Chava sinned. I don't think I could last a day in the garden. The second the snake approaches me, I would probably fall right in to his trap. In our world we have a sense of who the bad people are that we shouldn't follow and who the good people are that we should follow. In the gan it seems it would be nearly impossible to differentiate between the two because we are not as exposed. Yes, G-d did tell Adam and Chava not to eat from the tree of knowledge, but how can they 'understand' that commandment? They've never gone through something like that before. I think it is important that we live in a world that is not perfect and that perfect does not even exist. If something/someone is perfect than why are we here? For me, the beauty of living a Jewish life is the growth an individual makes in any area. For example, a ten year old does not at all have the same religious fervor that a thirty year old does. Going from low points to high points is what ultimately makes us stronger, and makes us appreciate and emulate G-d more. This is why I think it is so genius that G-d doesn't bring about a huge punishment every time we sin.
This is my view, but as I look over the worksheet we did, it doesn't seem like G-d 'agrees' with me. As a result of Chava's sin, great changes/punishments were given. Why is that? Do you think G-d really wants us to live in the Gan?
I really like how you mentioned that in Gan Eden they did not know the difference between the "good" and "bad" people and that we are able to tell the difference in our world. It seems to be that God was upset with Adam and Chava for sinning, but this seems like it must have been part of His ultimate plan. As we know, we were given free choice, so maybe God was just giving us a chance to see if we would be able to last in the garden, and we obviously failed. I do not see this as a terrible thing considering that we learned that Gan Eden is really meant for angels, and we are clearly not angels.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you mentioned that in Gan Eden they did not know the difference between the "good" and "bad" people and that we are able to tell the difference in our world. It seems to be that God was upset with Adam and Chava for sinning, but this seems like it must have been part of His ultimate plan. As we know, we were given free choice, so maybe God was just giving us a chance to see if we would be able to last in the garden, and we obviously failed. I do not see this as a terrible thing considering that we learned that Gan Eden is really meant for angels, and we are clearly not angels.
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