After Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge, HaShem told him he would “return to the earth”. In other words, now that he violated HaShem’s commandment, he would be mortal and would eventually die. Despite the fact that we are all aware of the inevitability in life that we all die, the universal reaction when someone dies is one of shock. People age, they become infirm, they get sick. But when the moment of death happens, it is always a shock. Why is this?
The Ramban in his Toras HaAdam says a profound idea. When Adam was first created, he was created so that he should live forever. His persona encompassed all the human beings that would eventually be born in this world. Part of every human being in the world today is a remnant of that first man who was created by G-d. Therefore, part of us — deep down within our psyche — has the attitude “I am going to live forever.” Therefore, when a person dies, as inevitable as that fact is, there is shock and surprise. This phenomenon contradicts that part of each person in humanity who thinks “I will live forever” based on the way Adam was originally created.
