By Rabbi Moshe Pogrow
Until now, we have considered the curse upon the earth that followed Adam's sin to be strictly a lowering of man’s stature. But there is another side to the coin. This very descent, the expulsion from Gan Eden, is what enabled man to emulate his Creator.
Acts that are selfish and demeaning when we do them for ourselves become lofty and holy when we do them for others. One who exerts himself, with the sweat of his brow, to provide bread for others thus resembles his Creator. We are told, “As G-d clothes the naked, visits the sick, comforts mourners, buries the dead, so shall you clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort mourners, bury the dead, and so forth.”
This is the basis of Jewish love of fellow man, Jewish gemilus chasadim. This idea has turned the entire Jewish people into a society of gomlei chasadim, whose members are scattered all over the world.
When man was expelled from Gan Eden, he became dependent on the assistance of others. But it is this very need for the assistance of others that enables anyone who desires to elevate himself to reach the heights of emulating G-d. “As G-d clothes the naked, visits the sick, comforts mourners, buries the dead, so shall you clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort mourners, bury the dead."
Indeed, how numerous among the Jewish people are the gomlei chasadim, who devotedly give of their own energies and resources for the benefit of others!
This, once again, refutes the erroneous notion that Adam’s sin, the first sin in history, brought a curse upon man and forever deprived his descendants of the purity of their souls. In associating the teaching of gemilus chasadim with man’s expulsion from Gan Eden, our Sages impart to us a profound insight.
Had man not been expelled from Gan Eden and thus become dependent of the assistance of his fellow man, the mitzvah of gemilus chasadim would never have become available to us.
Based on the commentary of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch zt”l on Chumash, with permission from the publisher.
