GEN390 By referring to the Israelites as “ingrates, descendants of ingrates,” [Talmud, Avodah Zarah 5a - AJL] Moshe emphasized the fact that this trait might be traced back to an earlier generation. The Sages trace this remark back to the transgression of Adam haRishon, who likewise sought to belittle another gift of God to man. When Adam was reproached by the Almighty for having partaken of the fruit of the Eitz HaD’as – the “Tree of Knowledge,” he made a futile attempt to vindicate himself. Crying out in self-righteous justification, he replied, “The woman whom Thou have given to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.” [this verse].  Like a delinquent, pampered son who blames his waywardness, not only on his own weakness, but rather on the fact that his father supplied him with all his needs and catered, even, to his desire for self-indulgent luxuries, so, too, did Adam seek to rationalize his own weakness, and to mitigate his own guilt, by disavowing entirely the great blessing which the Almighty had bestowed upon him by providing him with a wife and helpmate. Instead of being grateful for having been blessed with a wife, and stoically accepting his own rightful share of the blame, he pointed to this blessing as the very cause of his downfall. Here, as before, Moshe viewed this reply, not merely as an attempt at self justification, but rather as a manifestation of Adam’s deep-rooted recalcitrance and inability to acknowledge God’s kindness, lest he become obligated to express his gratitude and his indebtedness to the Almighty. [In a similar vein, Rashi likewise relates the transgression of the Dor Haflagah [generation that built the Tower of Babel] to the trait of kefiyas tovah [ingratitude], which he traces, in turn, to the transgression of Adam. See Rashi, Genesis 11:5]. FENDEL 243