Today we start a new topic, as we enter the third week of שובבים/Shovavim, which is an acronym for שמותShemot, וראה Vaera, באBo, בשלחBeshalach, יתרו Yitro, and משפתיםMishpatim, the six weeks that go through the exile and eventual redemption from Egypt. So for the next few weeks, we will discuss this topic. It's important to note that it has strong kabalistic ramifications. There are people that fast during these days and people that say Tehilim. We should at least know these days exist. For our level, we will focus on the simple concept of one of the main messages of Yetziat Mitzrayim, which is humility.
Kabalistically, the days of Shovavim are there to fix the sin of Adam HaRishon. In Bereshit 3,4 the snake approaches Chava and tells her, Don't worry about eating from the tree. You won't die if you eat from the tree. כִּ֚י יֹדֵ֣עַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים כִּ֗י בְּיוֹם֙ אֲכׇלְכֶ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְנִפְקְח֖וּ עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע׃
The whole reason why God doesn't want you to eat from the tree is that God knows that the day you eat from the tree, your eyes will be opened up and you'll be like a God who knows good from bad.
So the snake's selling point was, 'Eat from the tree, you'll be Godly.'
Rashi adds, "All craftsmen hate their fellow craftsmen," due to competition. And therefore, the snake says, God ate from this tree and He doesn't want you to eat from it because He doesn't want you to be Godly. And if you eat from the tree, you'll be Godly. You'll be able to create worlds.
(It's worth noting here that the snake was the first to speak Lashon Hara, as he spoke Lashon Hara against God. That's why the snake has the eternal punishment of Tsaraat/ leprosy, a type of skin ailment which is spiritual. As we know, the snake sheds his skin constantly because he is the eternal leper.)
Back to our story: The snake sells Chava and Adam on Eat from the tree, you'll be a creator.
What does that mean? It means that man, because he's so great, he was created the image of God, he really is Godly. Not in the sense that he's in competition with God, but in that he has powers in this world. Man is powerful. Man impacts the world. But he has to know, at the end of the day, that he's a creation, and therefore he has to humble himself to God. But the snake was selling this concept to man and man bought into it because we have that nature of gaava/hautiness. We want to be in control but we have to humble that to God.
Interestingly, The Gemara in Masechet Chulin says on the pasuk in Devarim when God describes why he loves the Jewish people, לֹ֣א מֵֽרֻבְּכֶ֞ם מִכׇּל־הָֽעַמִּ֗ים חָשַׁ֧ק יְהֹוָ֛ה בָּכֶ֖ם וַיִּבְחַ֣ר בָּכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־אַתֶּ֥ם הַמְעַ֖ט מִכׇּל־הָעַמִּֽים׃ /God doesn't love you because you are so great in numbers. We're not so great in numbers. Rather, He chose you because you're less than all the nations. You have a smaller population, simply speaking. But the Gemara says that's not what it means. Chulin 89A tells us, Hashem says, You know why I love you? Because even when I give you greatness, you humble yourselves. I gave greatness to Abraham, and what did he say? 'I'm ash and dust.' I gave greatness to Moshe and Aharon, and what did they say? 'What are we?' I have gave greatness to David Hamelech and what did he say? 'I'm a worm not a man.' The three greats were all tremendously humble, and that's why God loves us.
The Shelah HaKadosh adds that the word Adam אדם, stands for the three people that reached humility and fixed that fundamental sin of man Avraham, David and Moshe . And that's why it says in Pirkei Avot, be extremely humble. מאד מאד -and the word מאדhas the same letters, Mem Alef and Daled- Moshe Avraham and David! Moshe was the most humble of men and so on. So people have a built-in struggle between being humble and arrogant. The Shelah Hakadosh says (Parashat Ekev) that is why Adam was called Adam-Adama/dirt, Like it says, נפשי כעפר לכל תהיה My soul should be dust to everybody. We say that every day in our Amida before we walk back our three steps. So God built into man, so to say, an advantage by calling him Adam. 'You come from an adama and therefore don't become arrogant.' And yet the snake was able to convince him.
So how do we fix this? God punished Adam and Chava, but he didn't punish them because he wanted to take revenge. Punishments from God are intended to fix us. So man's, so to say, punishment was 'You're going to eat from the ground through hard work, your whole life.' You're going to work hard at the land. As for Chava, 'You're going to have a difficulty in childbirth. You're going to have difficulty in pregnancy. You're going to have difficulty in raising your children.' How is that measure for measure? The answer is, when are man and his wife closest to being creators? Man is a creator when he puts a seed in the ground and it grows fruit. When is woman a creator? When she gives birth to the fruit of her womb. Children are called the fruit of the womb. And when a man and his wife are close to becoming creators, Hashem makes it difficult. A lady goes through a difficult childbirth and says, Please Hashem, help me get this baby out. Hashem says, "One more time, what'd you say?"
I need you.
"Aha, you need Me? You can't do it on your own. You're not a creator."
And man, whether he is in the office or on the field, says, 'Hashem, I need you. I need the order to go through. I need the order to get here. I need them to pay. I need you.' That is the humbling experience of childbirth, child rearing and bringing home a livelihood. And the purpose of it all is to fix the original sin of man, which is the thought that I'm in control and I'm in charge.
Interestingly, the snake who came to Adam and Chava stood upright. He didn't want to bow down to God. He didn't want to humble himself to God. That's why the Gemara in Bava Kama 16A says that the spine of a deceased person, after seven years, become a snake. But the Gemara says this only happens to someone that did not bow down in his prayers when he said, Modim. What exactly is the connection between the two things? The Torat Chaim says that we bow at Modim because the purpose of it is to humble ourselves. We thank Hashem for all the wondrous things that God does us every single day. The snake is the antithesis of this. So that person who doesn't bow at Modim is following in the ways of the snake, who didn't want to humble himself to God, and he sells that attitude to humanity as well.
So the job of each one of us, individually, throughout these 6,000 or so years- is to fix that sin of Adam. And we do that by working on our humility.