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In Bereishis 1:29 we read:

And G-d said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, on which is the fruit yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.

The Or HaChaim HaKadosh (ad loc.) explains, based on the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 21:7), that if Adam would have waited until Shabbos, he would have been allowed to eat from the tree of knowledge:

[...] they, of blessed memory, have already stated (Bereishis Rabbah 21:7) that if [Adam] had waited until the eve of Shabbat, he would have sanctified with wine [of that fruit] - so far [their words]; and from their words, you learn that [this] prohibition was not [to be] forbidden forever.

This is also quoted in sefer Magid HaRakiah Al HaTorah, Bereishis, by Rav Daniel Glatstein shlita (Parshas Bereishis, p. 86-87).

One opinion is that by Shabbos, the tree of knowledge would have been elevated above the concept of death.

Another opinion is given by the (Chasam Sofer Al HaTorah, Parshas Vezos HaBeracha) (although I don't understand that explanation). This explanation seems also to go against the lesson that Hashem wanted to teach us knowledge, and not that we've gotten it via the tree of knowledge, per Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Hoffmann. Refer also to the Chasam Sofer Al HaTorah here. Another possibility is given by Rav Shmuel Engel, known for his She'eilos U'Teshuvos Maharash Engel. He writes that according to halacha, nothing is considered to be in existence until it reaches a third of its way through (cited by Rav Glatstein in The Light And The Splendor, p. 361).

I am, however, looking for more explanations on why, if Adam would've waited until Shabbos, the fruits from the tree of knowledge would have been permited for him to eat from.

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  • Hi @Shmuel what does the part "Why wait three hours?" in your title have to do with the question?
    – Dov
    Commented Jan 23 at 20:28
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    @Dov fair enough, edited it. I thought I've read somewhere that it was three hours until Shabbos, but that may be my mistake and mixing stuff up. The question is now edited :)
    – Shmuel
    Commented Jan 23 at 20:33
  • @Shmuel you did torah.org/torah-portion/ravfrand-5775-achareimos
    – Rabbi Kaii
    Commented Jan 23 at 20:59
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    @Shmuel I don't know, the reason I shared the article is it brings you a nice source for three hours
    – Rabbi Kaii
    Commented Jan 23 at 21:28
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    @Shmuel you are asking for mefarshim, and that's fair. Maybe I saw all of the above in mefarshim but would have to see, and might be nice to think of a reason why specifically Shabbat, but I'm not there yet sorry!
    – Rabbi Kaii
    Commented Jan 23 at 21:44

1 Answer 1

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One is not supposed to eat or drink on Friday more than other days of the week. After the 9th hour one should not eat any meal (S"A O"H 249:2). Adam was commanded not to eat from the ninth hour and he ate in the tenth hour (Sanhedrin 38b).

On that note, there is a 3 way argument what the tree was (Brachot 40a).

  1. Grapes (corresponding to "Mishteh" in the S"A)
  2. Figs (possibly a formal meal S"A O"H 184:3)
  3. Wheat (a formal meal according to all).
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  • TY, but why was the Eitz HaChaim then permissible, based on this explanation?
    – Shmuel
    Commented Feb 19 at 16:20
  • I don't know of a source that says what the fruit of that tree was. The Midrash says it's Torah (Pirkei d'Ribbi Eliezar 12:3) sefaria.org/Pirkei_DeRabbi_Eliezer.12.3
    – Mordechai
    Commented Feb 19 at 17:26
  • But let's continue on the path that "one is not supposed to eat or drink on Friday....", why then did G-d say that eating was permitted, but the one thing that was not permitted was the Eitz Hadaas. Adam could've and was permitted to eat from everything else, even if it was Shabbos, only not from the Eitz HaDaas.
    – Shmuel
    Commented Feb 19 at 20:34
  • Fine, I edited dessert out... I could say that the other foods, not of 7 species are not considered a meal, we see Adams curse had to do with bread. Or you can say the other foods wouldn't have brought pleasure (Figs are considered the most "pleasureful" of the 7 species since they are the only ones that you eat the whole thing including skin and the seeds (before gmo grapes) see also sefaria.org/Shabbat.140b.7) and a Talmid Chacham is supposed to wait to have pleasure on shabbat (sefaria.org/Ketubot.62b.5).
    – Mordechai
    Commented Feb 19 at 21:37

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