ארורה האדמה בעבורך... כי עפר אתה ואל עפר תשוב
It is difficult to understand the way in which Adam HaRishon, the crown of Creation, Hashem’s handiwork, transgressed His explicit command, a command that was punishable by death. If this is so, as the Rambam states in his Moreh Nevuchim (1,2), why was he punished so severely? Anybody can err. Furthermore, why did Chavah believe the serpent’s assurances over Hashem’s explicit warning? Indeed, something was wrong with her reply to the snake, “Lest we die” (Bereishis 3:3). Did Hashem not say that death would clearly be the punishment? In his Madreigos Ha’Adam, the Alter, zl, m’Novardok, Horav Yosef Yozel Horowitz,…