Questions tagged [adam]

Questions related to Adam, the first man.

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Different names for man

What is the difference between the Hebrew words 'adam', 'ish' and 'enosh'? In Genesis, the word adam is used until the woman is brought to him and then he calls her 'Ishah' and refers to himself as '...
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When was Adam restored to favor?

In the Guide for the Perplexed (Part 1, Chapter 7), Rambam quotes the Midrash which states that during the 130 years when Adam was under rebuke, he begat spirits, i.e demons; when, however, he was ...
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Man like God or separate from God

Bereshit 3:22: ויאמר ה' אלקים הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו לדעת טוב ורע Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil" Is this the correct translation? ...
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Is adam the first person [duplicate]

Was adam really the first human created ? I've heard that there were other humanoid or other humans created beside from adam outside of Gan eden.
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If we Jews don’t believe that we do not suffer from the sins of our fathers

I’m going to preface this first by writing a question: The Christians believe that Jesus died for our sins of the world- to which i personally do not believe that at all- the Christians believe that ...
TheTribeOfJudah's user avatar
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Why was Adam created age 20? [duplicate]

The Midrash says Adam and Chava were created age 20. Why so? Looking mainly for an answer as to why they weren't made babies and raised like we are (rather than asking what's special about 20?). Happy ...
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What both Hashem and the snake said about death after eating the fruit doesn't seem to match what ended up happening?

Hashem says: וּמֵעֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע לֹא תֹאכַל מִמֶּנּוּ כִּי בְּיוֹם אֲכׇלְךָ מִמֶּנּוּ מוֹת תָּמוּת׃ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for on the day ...
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Eitz Chaim; Shaar Rachel v’Leah / Yahel Ohr / Derech Mitzvotecha

Can anyone point me to an English translation of Eitz Chaim - Specifically Shaar Rachel v’Leah, chapter 2 - please? I've come across a reference to it in relation to Adam and Eve's relationship and ...
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Who is Rabbi Koryah?

I have been reading up on Midrash Rabbah Bereshit 19:3 concerning Adam's location whilst Chava is speaking to the snake. When it says that Adam had previously had sex with Chava and was now sleeping, ...
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Why didn't Hashem warn Adam and Chava about the curses?

Simple question, why did He surprise them with curses? Initially He just said they will surely die if they are the fruit. After they do, He then tells them that not only will they die but lots of ...
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Did Adam establish a justice system?

One of the mitzvot given to Adam was to establish laws and courts. Was Adam successful in setting up a working justice system, and if so, do we know any practical details of how it operated and/or for ...
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Talmudic legend about the souls refusing to enter Adam's and Hava's bodies?

Ted Hughes, in the Crow collection, has a poem named A Childish Prank (full text), which is a grotesque narration of Adam's and Hava's creation. In March 1976, at the Adelaide Festival Writers’ Week, ...
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Soul Fruit - what do we know?

Bereshit 2:9: ויצמח יהוה אלהים מן־האדמה כל־עץ נחמד למראה וטוב למאכל ועץ החיים בתוך הגן ועץ הדעת טוב ורע And from the ground Hashem, God, caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and ...
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Hashem lamenting to Adam after he hid: "you used to delight talking to Me" - Source?

*During learning recently I stumbled across a beautiful passage (most likely a midrash) where Hashem was crying about how He missed is surprised how Adam would delight in talking to Him, but now he is ...
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If they hadn't eaten the fruit

I recall hearing (many years ago) a medrash that said that if Adam and Chava had not eaten of the Eitz Hada'at, and made it to Shabbat, Mashiach would have come. I have been unable to find it. I was ...
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Did any rabbis say that Adam and Eve did not have sexual intercourse in the garden? [closed]

Rashi as well as other rabbis said that Adam and Eve had intercourse in the garden. However, did any rabbis say that they did not have intercourse before they sinned?
Terjij Kassal's user avatar
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Looking for medrash regarding briyas ha'adam

I've heard referenced a medrash that says at the time of brias ha'adam, the melachim were so taken aback by adam that they thought maybe it was a type of deity, or that they should be worshiping him ...
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Did (and if so, how) Cain's descendants survive the Flood?

In Genesis 15:19, God lists the Kenites among the peoples inhabiting the Promised Land. From this point on, they appear in: Numbers 24:21-22 (here prophesied against by Balaam), Judges 1:16 (as ...
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In the wake of the banishment from Eden, Adam and Eve start their family

In the wake of the banishment from Eden, Adam and Eve start their family: וְהָאָדָם יָדַע אֶת־חַוָּה אִשְׁתּוֹ וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד אֶת־קַיִן וַתֹּאמֶר קָנִיתִי אִישׁ אֶת־יהוה׃ Bereshit 4:1 "And ...
Reuben Pontes's user avatar
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How could Adam HaRishon have contained all the souls that would ever be inside of him, including evil, even before the sin?

I recall a concept from the teachings of the Arizal and elsewhere that before eating of the tree of knowledge, Adam HaRishon contained all the souls that would ever exist within him, but the good and ...
ShipBuilding's user avatar
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2 answers
135 views

Would Adam rebel against God?

I heard that if Adam was left alone, without a wife, he would eventually rebel against God. Is that correct?
Renan Suchmacher's user avatar
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Why did Adam attribute himself to dirt rather than God's soul?

"And you, [God said], what is your name? [Adam] said to him: It would be right to be called Adam, since I was created from the dirt (adamah)." Bereishit_Rabbah.17.4 It would be logical that ...
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Why didn't Adam name fish and insects? [duplicate]

When Adam named animals, the Torah mentions three categories: cattle, wild animals, and birds: "וַיִּקְרָא הָאָדָם שֵׁמוֹת לְכָל־הַבְּהֵמָה וּלְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְכֹל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה..." ...
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Was Man Created Alone?

I am looking for a source which I (thought I) came across once regarding creation of man. From what I remember it said that man was actually created in multiple places. Or rather more than one man was ...
Shmuel's user avatar
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Who discovered Sexual intercourse [closed]

Who discovered sexual intercourse . How did Adam HaRishon know how to procreate with Chava. Did G-d tell him and then it was passed down?
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What Rabbinic interpretations of the Garden of Eden narrative treat "the serpent" as more the protagonist, instead of the antagonist?

Most interpretations of the Garden narrative treat Adam and Even as protagonists, and the serpent as the antagonist. I am interested here in interpretations that flip some roles. As one example, I ...
ShipBuilding's user avatar
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3 answers
299 views

Why don't humans have the best version of organs?

Scientifically speaking, a better version of an organ could be found in many animals (besides the human brain, maybe). IIRC, octopuses have better eyes, birds have a more efficient cardiovascular ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Forgiveness of Adam's sin

Why do we suffer for the sin not committed by us, is it not contrary to Ezekiel 18? Can we ask for this sin to be forgiven? and how do we repent from something we have no access to?
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Why did God plan to create both "בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ" but only created "בְּצֶלֶם"?

"וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ..." "וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ...׃" "And God said, “Let us make ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Why didn’t the sages sense a problem with "in God's image"?

The Talmud (Megillah.9b and Tractate_Sefer_Torah.1.9) lists the 13 places/verses that felt problematic in the translation into Greek. "י״ג דברים שינו בה: אלהים ברא בראשית. אעשה אדם בצלם ודמות ...
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Created in the Divine Image

The Torah tells us that Adam was created in the divine image (Gen 1.26-27; 5; 9.6). If the divinity had a body, then we would suppose this means that Adam was created as the divinity's Doppelgänger, ...
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6 votes
1 answer
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Walking behind a woman if you can't see her

The gemara in עירובין יח has a very interesting discussion, it wants to know according to the מ"ד that אדם and חוה were created together back-to-back שני פרצופים, who walked first (i.e. which ...
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My father is better than your father

Posting for someone else: The Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a) writes that one reason that Adam was created alone was "so that one person will not say to another: My father, i.e., progenitor, is greater ...
רבות מחשבות's user avatar
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How are humans that were formed "from dust" different from animals that were formed "from earth"?

"וַיִּיצֶר ה"א אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה" Genesis.2.7 "וַיִּצֶר ה"א מִן־הָאֲדָמָה כָּל־חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה..." ibid. 19 So according to Rashi and others, Adam was ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Why "God formed Adam dust" and not "from dust"?

"וַיִּיצֶר ה"א אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה" Genesis.2.7 Literally, the verse reads "God formed Adam dust from the earth", like if "dust" was an adjective. ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Why are gentiles forbidden from keeping Shabbat if Adam and Even are considered to have lit the first Havdalah candles?

Judaism forbids gentiles from keeping Shabbat. It's one of the activities which is unique to Jews and their relationship to Hashem. To contrast this, we have the Noahide laws which were given to the ...
Michael's user avatar
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Has anyone ever eaten from the Tree of Life?

Obviously, the Tree of Knowledge was eaten from by Adam and Chava, but is there any evidence or sources that discuss the Tree of Life?
Castle's user avatar
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Who named trees and plants?

Following questions about naming animals, in Genesis narrative, God creates Earth, it grows plants and trees, God creates animals, then man, man names animals. Who named the plants, for example, the 7 ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Adam wiser than angels - meaning and implications

אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן מֶה הָיְתָה חָכְמָתוֹ? כְּשֶׁבִּקֵּשׁ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לִבְרֹאת אֶת הָאָדָם ... אָמַר לָהֶם אָדָם שֶׁאֲנִי רוֹצֶה לִבְרֹאת חָכְמָתוֹ מְרֻבָּה מִשֶּׁלָּכֶם, מֶה עָשָׂה כִּנֵּס ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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2 votes
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Cursing the ground because of the imagination of the heart?

In Genesis 3:17 G-d says that the ground shall be cursed because of Adam. Later on in Genesis 8:21 G-d tells Noah that He will never curse the ground again (since the devisings of man’s mind are evil ...
Levi's user avatar
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Source that Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge because they desired autonomy

I remember hearing once that Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge because they found G-d's presence in the Garden of Eden to be overbearing and they desired autonomy, so they rejected his sole ...
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Who existed that might have killed Cain? [duplicate]

In Gen. 1:28 we find G-d instructing them (Adam and Eve) to be fruitful and multiply. Also in Gen 3 we see that her named “the mother of all the living.” Then in Gen. 4 we see G-d telling Cain “...
Tim's user avatar
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What positive knowledge was earned from eating the forbidden fruit?

Implicitly, the tree was called "the tree of knowledge of good and bad", and we all know the "bad" part - they realized the wickedness of their nakedness. My question is simple: ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Did Adam commit an act of Ahavas Yisroel or self-sacrifice to eat from the Tree of Knowledge?

I've seen on non-Jewish websites explaining the fact that Adam ate from the tree was because he loved Eve more than he loved God, or that he did an act of self-sacrifice so that Eve wouldn't suffer ...
larry909's user avatar
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What became of Hevel's body?

We read of his fate but we are not told if he was buried or who may have buried him. We can presume Adam and Chava grieved and gave his body a resting place but that is speculation. Is there drash ...
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Adam & Eve as parable- Kefira? [duplicate]

Is believing that the Adam & Eve story was a parable and not to be read literally, considered Kefira (heresy)? Are there any Gedolim that sanction this position? I know there are other very ...
Lee N.'s user avatar
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Skin color Adam and Chava

What skin color did adam and chava have? I learned that if all people indeed came from them at least one of them had to have a dark skin color.
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Did Adam and Chava have a child before they sinned? Was childbirth not painful before they sinned?

Did Adam and Chava have a child before they sinned? Was childbirth not painful before they sinned? In Bereshit 3:16, it says, To the woman He said, "I shall surely increase your sorrow and your ...
ninamag's user avatar
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Why Adam wasn’t explicitly commanded to pass his knowledge on to others?

I'm still trying to grasp the way of transmission of the Torah knowledge from day 1. This question can equally deal with two phenomena: the commandment of eating the forbidden fruit or the commandment ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Was Adam aware of his other part before separation?

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 ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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