Adam's Big Mistake, and Why It's Ours Too
Rabbi Reuven Ibragimov
A Sin for the Sake of Heaven: Adam's Test and Ours Adam was created without a yetzer hara. Evil held no pull for him, and his whole being wanted only what God wanted. So how could he sin? Drawing on Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler's Strive for Truth, we look at the test in Gan Eden. Adam was never asked to choose between good and evil. He was asked to choose between two kinds of good, and the temptation came to him as a mitzva. Along the way we explore the two voices inside us, why evil feels so "real" to us today, and how curiosity and ego can lead even the greatest person astray. Sources include the Talmud, Midrash, Rashi, Ramban, Rambam's Guide for the Perplexed, and Rav Chaim of Volozhin's Nefesh HaChaim. The lesson for us: free will is not the goal. The goal is to rise to the point where evil has no pull at all.