A question for Jews re:Adam & Eve?

Question

What is the theological stance of Jewish theologians (citing sources, please, if possible) regarding the Fall of Adam and Eve? Does it represent a fault particular to them? Or is it something which transmits from generation to generation? Also, is it something that the Messiah will redeem or "fix," or is it simply something that humanity must live with until the end of time? Just wondering if the Jewish take on it was different than the Christian one.

Answer 1

The first sin took man from being pure in service of God to acting against his will. Since then we are in a state of "fixing up" our mess up and have to return to pure devotion, as originally desired. At this time, or perhaps to allow this to occur, at the end of days the Messiah will come (who is not Jesus by Jewish belief). I don't know what the Christians believe.

Answer 2

As a Jew, a have some knowledge of this. We do not believe that Satan possessed the snake or anything like that. The common ideas I hear are that the snake tricked Eve and that Adam screwed up when relaying God's instructions regarding the tree to Eve. (God forbade eating the fruit, but Adam claimed it was touching the tree. This changed the way Eve reacted after touching the fruit.) The penalty is childbirth becoming painful. I do not believe that this idea is mentioned with regards to the messiah, but I'm not sure.

Answer 3

Well, it resulted in death being created (for people at least) and the need to work for our sustainance. Additionally, we were kicked out of "eden" (whether a literal or metaphorical place). I believe these results will be corrected duing the end-times (but not by the messiah. he's just a good king, not a miracle drug). (Though some jewish sages have different opinions as to the nature of the end-times. for example, maimonides beleives that we'll die eventually and enter a metaphysical heaven.)

The talmud discusses how after that first sin we acheived a certain separation from G-d -- which is the result of all sins in our understanding. When we reach a point where our knowledge of G-d is completely clear, it is said that that first sin is gone. So, for example, during the revelation at Mt. Sinai, the talmud says that we acheived that awesome, original state once again, but lost it because of the golden calf incident. During the end-times, we'll acheive that awesome awareness once again.

cheerio

Answer 4

Adam and Eve are mentioned in the book of Geneses in the Holy Scriptures. Eve did do wrong in the eye's of G-d. But, Jews do not believe in the concept of original sin and that we are all sinners because Eve sinned. Humanity has nothing to ''live with''.

Answer 5

The Christian concept of Original Sin is that since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, all human beings are born not only with a tendency to sin, but they are also born with the guilt of Adam and Eve, and for this guilt, all human beings die (see I Corinthians 15:21-22). In other words, Adam and Eve brought death into the world as a result of their sin, and because of this sin, all human beings die.

This is not what Judaism believes, because this is simply UnBiblical. The Biblical text tells us that Adam and Eve were not removed from the Garden of Eden because they sinned. (Please note that the first time the Bible uses the term, "sin," it is NOT in reference to Adam and Eve, it is in reference to the jealousy of Cain against Abel in Genesis 4:7.) Rather, Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden because there was another tree in the Garden from which God did not want them to eat. That tree was the Tree Of Life. How could Adam and Eve be held responsible for their 'sin' if the did not know the difference between Good and Evil, yet, since they had not yet eaten the fruit of The Tree Of The Knowledge Of The Difference Between Good And Evil?

But think about this logically! If Adam and Eve had to eat the fruit of the Tree Of Life to become IMmortal, then God made them mortal to begin with. Adam and Eve were created in such a way that Death was a natural part of their existence, from the moment of their Creation! This is why the animals are told to be fruitful and multiply before Adam and Eve ate the fruit.

The Biblical text of Genesis 3:22-24 tells us that Adam and Eve were almost like Gd and the Angels. They were almost like Gd and the Angels because they knew the difference between Good and Evil. Both Gd and the Angels know the difference between Good and Evil, but both Gd and the Angels are IMmortal as well. Because Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of The Tree Of the Knowledge Of Good And Evil, they, like Gd and the Angels, knew the difference between Good and Evil. However, Adam and Eve were not yet IMmortal because they had not yet eaten from the Tree Of Life. Therefore Gd separated Adam and Eve from the Tree Of Life by kicking them out of the Garden. This means that Adam and Eve did not bring Death into the world! We Human Beings do not die because of their sin, we die because Gd made Death a part of life from the moment of Creation. There is no such thing as Original Sin!

Genesis 3:22-24 And the Etrnl Gd said, Behold, the
man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:
and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of
the Tree Of Life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore
the Etrnl Gd sent him forth from the garden of Eden,
to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he
drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the
Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword
which turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree
Of Life.

Remember also that no one else can die for your sins, as we are taught in Deuteronomy 24:16, and other places in the Bible. This means that even if one believed that Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden (which they didn't), their descendants cannot die, and do not die, for the sin of Adam and Eve.