וַיִּקְרָא ה' וגו' אֶל הָאָדָם וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אַיֶּכָּה (ג, ט)
And Hashem called to the man and He said, “Where are you?” (3:9)
The Slonimer Rebbe zy”a (Sefer Divrei Shmuel) explains this pasuk with a story:
A chasid was standing on a bridge in the center of the city of Warsaw, and he saw people running here and there. From his vantage point, they appeared to be all jumbled and mixed up, and he became very confused. He said, “Ribono Shel Olam. Where are You and where am I?”
So too, Hashem said to Odom Harishon, “Where are you?” He was telling him to think about himself and contemplate where he was before his sin – when he was on the level of a malach – and where he was now – after he fell so far from that level.
This question is very relevant to us at this time. We are now holding by Shabbos Bereishis, which is a time when every Jew has to ask himself: “Where am I?” Where am I holding in life? I just went through the month of Elul, Rosh Hashanah, the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, Yom Kippur, Sukkos, Shemini Atzeres, and Simchas Torah. I just experienced a tremendous hisorerus. Where am I now? How could I forget about those holy days so quickly? Where am I holding today?