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וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹקים אֶת־הָאָדָם ... זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם׃

And God created man in His image, ... male and female He created them. (Gen 1.27)

Rashi brings Midrashim:

But according to a Midrashic explanation, He created him at first with two faces, and afterward He divided him. (Genesis Rabbah 8:1 and see Eruvin 18a)

Adam was very upset not having a spouse and was very happy to meet one after G-d split them apart (acc. to that Midrash). That implies he wasn't aware of his other half.

Why, weren't they symmetrical, wasn't the other, feminine, part alive and talking? What did Adam think his back was?

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  • Midrashim is not meant to be taken littery. According to Rambam, only fools read them at face value. Adam was born naturally, with a father and a mother like you and me.
    – Turk Hill
    Oct 27 '19 at 3:42
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    @Turk Hill what father and mother? The Torah says explicitly that HaShem directly created Adam.
    – Lo ani
    Oct 27 '19 at 6:49
  • The “Garden of Eden” story is a parable.
    – Turk Hill
    Oct 27 '19 at 12:28
  • @Loani See Rambam.
    – Turk Hill
    Oct 27 '19 at 12:37
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    @turkhill you keep saying things are parables, but any time somebody asks questions on those parables you try to shut them down. What's the point of parables if not to ask questions in order to understand them better?
    – Heshy
    Oct 27 '19 at 13:08
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I refer you to Ch. 2 verse 20:

וַיִּקְרָ֨א הָֽאָדָ֜ם שֵׁמ֗וֹת לְכָל־הַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּלְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּלְכֹ֖ל חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה וּלְאָדָ֕ם לֹֽא־מָצָ֥א עֵ֖זֶר כְּנֶגְדּֽוֹ׃‏

After assigning names to all creatures, Adam found no helpmate facing him.

The monkey had a Mrs. monkey to scratch his back; the cow could send the bull to find fodder for the calves.

But 2-faced Adam was alone; it doesn't say he didn't have a female counterpart, it says he couldn't see his soulmate face-to-face.

(Possibly in order to prevent him from wondering why he needed to deal with a soulmate; "Why couldn't I be created perfect, with an inborn ability to procreate?" So he was created so and discovered that he prefers to have a separate "better half".)

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  • I'm confused, nobody faced him I agree but did the parts talk to each other, were they aware of each other, because G-d talked to them both.
    – Al Berko
    Oct 27 '19 at 17:48
  • It's hard to imagine that Yetzir Kapo would be blissfully unaware of his backpack. But he only had an hour or 2 to deal with "her" - שעה ראשונה הוצבר עפרו, ...ה' עמד על רגליו, ו' קרא שמות, ז' נזדוגה לו חוה - and during that time he was very busy discovering and naming the animals. (And there wasn't a whole lot to talk about, besides for the weather...)
    – Danny Schoemann
    Oct 28 '19 at 9:40

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