<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<style type="text/css" style="display:none"><!--P{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;} p
{margin-top:0;
margin-bottom:0}--></style>
</head>
<body dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt;color:#000000;background-color:#FFFFFF;font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<p>The following is from RSRH's commentary on Bereishis 3.19</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>By the sweat of your countenance shall you eat bread, until you return to the ground, for from it you<br>
were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Great importance is attached to the following further observation:<br>
The Divine judgment directs a curse at the earth and at the serpent, but<br>
this judgment contains not a hint of a curse against man. Man is not<br>
cursed in any way. Nothing was changed in man’s lofty calling or in his<br>
ability to fulfill it. Only the external conditions, only the stage on which</p>
<p>he is to fulfill his mission, have been changed — and even this happened<br>
only for his own good. The mission itself, his Divine calling and his<br>
ability to fulfill it, have not changed one iota. To this day, every newborn<br>
infant emerges from God’s hand in purity, as did Adam in his time;<br>
every child comes into the world as pure as an angel, to live and become<br>
a man. This is one of the cardinal points in the Torah of Israel and in<br>
Jewish life.</p>
<p><br>
But what a miserable and hopeless picture of man is drawn by those<br>
who err and deny his purity. On the basis of the story of <em>Gan Adin</em>, they<br>
have concocted a lie that undermines the moral future of mankind. We<br>
are referring to the dogma of “original sin,” on the basis of which they<br>
have built a spiritual structure against which the Jew must protest with<br>
every fiber of his being.</p>
<p><br>
It is true that, on account of the sin in the Garden of Eden, all of<br>
Adam’s descendants inherited the task of living in a world that no longer<br>
smiles at them as it once did, but this is so only because this same sin<br>
is still being committed over and over again. However, the express purpose<br>
of the present conflict between man and earth and of man’s resultant<br>
“training by renunciation” is to guide man toward moral perfection,<br>
which will pave the way for his return to Paradise.</p>
<p><br>
But to say that because of “original sin” <em>sinfulness is innate</em> in man,<br>
that man has lost the ability to be good and is now <em>compelled</em> to sin –<br>
these are notions <em>against which Judaism raises its most vigorous protest.<br>
</em></p>
<p><br>
<em></em></p>
<p>Man as an individual and mankind as a whole can, at any time,<br>
return to God and to Paradise on earth. Toward this end, man needs<br>
no medium other than devotion to duty, which is within the capacity<br>
of every human being. Toward this end, there is no need for an intermediary<br>
who has died and then been resurrected. This is attested to by<br>
all of Jewish history, from which we learn that, in subsequent generations<br>
God drew as near to men of purity as He did to <em>Adom Ha Rishon</em> before<br>
the sin. Avraham, Moshe, Yeshayahu, Yirmeyahu, and others like them<br>
attained God’s nearness simply by their faithfulness to duty. The first<br>
principle of Judaism — the one, free God — goes hand in hand with<br>
the second principle, namely, the pure and free man.</p>
<p><br>
The dogma of original sin is a most regrettable error of an alien<br>
faith. They think that, in consequence of this sin, sinfulness is innate<br>
in man, and that man can be saved from the curse of sin, only by virtue<br>
of the belief in a certain fact. In the story of <em>Gan Adin</em>, however, there is</p>
<p>no mention of a curse against man. To this day, every Jew avows before<br>
God: “The soul that you have given me is pure,”<br>
and it is up to me alone to keep it pure and to return it to You in its<br>
original state of purity. As our Sages teach us: There is no age in which people like<br>
Avraham, Ya’akov, Moshe, and Shemuel do not live” (Bereshis Rabbah<br>
56:7). In every age, in every generation, man is capable of ascending to<br>
the highest levels of morality and spirituality. </p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Let us also note: The earth was cursed for man’s sake; and as man’s<br>
degeneration increased, so did the curse upon the earth. The earth as<br>
it is today is not the same as it was in the past or as it will be in the<br>
future. Accordingly, any analogy between the earth’s present condition<br>
and its condition at the time of its creation is unfounded and is based<br>
on a false premise.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><Snip></p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><em>To refine and elevate earthly life, and bring life near to God and to</em><br>
<em>His Presence — that is the essence of God’s Torah and the essence of the</em><br>
<em>Divine rule.</em><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
</body>
</html>