Knowledge of good and evil

כ

כ

We now reenter the age old cycle of the Torah portions beginning with a Parasha loaded with various and diverse topics, from the description of the creation and its implications, be they scientific or psychological; on to the creation of man and his philosophical existential meanings; ending with the complex relationship of Cain and Abel as an archetype for human relations in general and brothers in particular; and passing through many major points such as: humans as social creatures, humans as creators, as sinners, as God’s partners etc.

Focusing on the story of the sin (?) of the tree of knowledge, we will look into its Hassidic interpretation, and try to offer an interpretation of our own as well.

Over the years I have noticed in conversations on the subject the interesting phenomenon of referring to the story as the sin of the tree of knowledge, instead of the tree of knowledge of good and bad. It seams to me this abbreviation is based upon a misconceived intuition that the religious institution is apposed to the concept of freedom of knowledge, hence the commandment to refrain from eating its fruit.

Arguably, the roots of this misconception can be found in the ruthless persecution of scientific advancement in the middle ages by the Catholic Church, and the image of Galileo’s writings, which we all hold today to be true, being burned for their contradictions to catholic dogma and to the very story of creation.

However, there may be deeper theological root to such a claim. There is the Mishna in Sanhedrin that condemns those who read in the ‘external books’ not to share a part in the world to come. There are various sources in the Talmud that leave no room for studies that are not Torah centric,[1] whether because human wisdom is not worthwhile in comparison to that of the holy scriptures, or simply because the commandment to devout oneself to the study of Torah does not leave time for any other study. This way of thought is expressed in its extreme by the “Haredi” outlook and society.

Another source to “blame” is the Jewish enlightenment movement of the late 18th century, and the conception that it was their sins that brought on the horrors of the holocaust, a claim that is occasionally made by various religious groups and individuals.

The Hassidic teachers viewed the basic “sin of all sins” as pride and ego, therefore the religious ideal they placed as their goal was the elimination of the ego, annulment of the self, or Bitul Hayesh.

In order to demonstrate how all of the Torah revolves around this pivotal concept, let’s take a look at one of the major negative focuses in Jewish law - idol worship. According to this view, creating an icon of God is ones way to express his need to subordinate God to his own will, the complete opposite of the principle of elimination of the ego and subordination to God, with humility and faith.

The tree of knowledge of good and evil is human reflective awareness, and the “sin” is the sin of selfness, and is an archetype of the basic human condition. This awareness causes one to have an “outsider” point of view, always judging and questioning: “Is it good or bad, wrong or right?” in contrast to the tree of life - the way of a more simple flow, being one with the world and the self. This awareness is what is missing in the verse “Now they were both naked, the man and his wife, but they were not ashamed.” (Bereshit 2 ,25) explaining why they were not ashamed, an ability they gained only after eating from the forbidden fruit.

All the commandments can be explained in this fashion, as a resistance to the tree of knowledge of good and bad, the tree of ego and pride. The concept of commandment in itself is a matter of subordination to a higher will.

All this being said; whether this “knowledge” is actually a sin or an incurable part if the human condition, is a question worth looking into in itself.

כ

[1] For instance, Menachot 99a: “go find a time which is neither day nor night, and then you may devout yourself to Greek studies”.