[Avodah] Why "This Time?"

[Richard Wolberg]

"And the man said: 'This time it is bone of my bones, and flesh of my  
flesh; this shall be called Woman, because she was taken from man.'  
" (2:23)

QUESTION: The words "zot hapa'am" — "this time" — seem superfluous?  
Why is it used?

ANSWER: According to the Gemara (Niddah 31a), there are three partners  
in the formation of man: Through Hashem, he receives a soul, through  
the father the bones, nails, and brain, and through the mother, skin  
and flesh. Adam emphasized that this time, and only this time, the  
bone and the flesh both came all from the same Source.

ri
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