[Avodah] evolution - new creatures coming into existence, 7 days of creation

Zvi Lampel zvilampel at gmail.com
Wed Dec 21 18:19:10 PST 2011


ZL: ... Adam's expulsion from Gan Eden was during the 6th day,....

RMB:
  ...there is a medrashic line which has Adam eating the esrog of the
eitz hadaas on the future date of Sukkos. Then, as the moon started
shrinking, Adam thought that his expulsion was being followed up by a
slow disentegration of the universe..... Eruvin 18b and AZ 8a also imply
a much later date.

ZL: "Also"? I don't see how the above contradicts the Rambam's 
observation that all the Chachamim agree to the shitta that Adam's 
expulsion took place during the sixth day.

RMB:
They have Adam undertaking 47 days of teshuvah until
the winter solstice and days started getting longer. That would put the
cheit some time in mid-Marcheshvan or so! (Which might even be 7.5 mo 
after Adam's creation, if beNisan nivra
ha'olam.) This notion that everything happened on day 6 is subject to a 
machloqes,
and R Yochanan ben Chanina's (Sanhedrin 38b) isn't the only shitah.


ZL: I don't see anything about 47 days in either of those two sources. 
Eruvin 18b speaks of Adam doing teshuva for 130 years; AZ 8a has Adam 
fearing that his sin caused the world to start coming to an end upon 
seeing the days shortening so much, and thereupon fasting for 8 days.

And this is followed by a tannu rabbanan that *the day* that Adam 
HaRishon was created, he saw for the first time the sun setting, and 
feared the world was reverting back to darkness and ultimately tohu 
va'vohu, because of the sin he had committed. This clearly implies the 
sin was committed before sunset of the sixth day.

It seems pretty clear why the Rambam says this was agreed upon by all 
the Chachamim.

Zvi Lampel


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