GEN353 Only man feels shame and embarrassment.  Every animal in the world was born naked and remains naked for its entire life.  It never thinks of itself as naked, and is never clothed (unless it is in a circus or the pet of an overzealous owner).  In a similar manner, all animals feel no shame in relieving themselves in public or in front of other people.  According to the Midrash, the feeling of shame was given by God to man in order to distinguish him from all other creations.  Otzar Hamidrashim, “Ma’sim” 9  AMJV 94

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GEN352 ... the blessed Lord is “of eyes too pure to behold evil” Habakkuk 1:13, and did not make anything defective or shameful.  It is He who created man and woman and He created all their organs and prepared them according to their functions, and made nothing disgraceful.  The clearest evidence for this is that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve went about undressed and they were not ashamed [this verse]. All this took place before they sinned, while their minds were fixed on pure thoughts and their intentions were only for the sake of Heaven.  Therefore, their sex organs were, for them, no different from eyes or hands or other organs.  But when they strayed after physical pleasures and no longer intended their actions for the sake of Heaven, then “they knew they were naked” Genesis 3:7.  This should be understood as meaning that just as hands, when they write the scroll of Torah, are considered honorable and praiseworthy and exalted, but when they steal or otherwise indulge in dishonorable acts are regarded as ugly—so was it with the organs of generation of Adam and Eve: before they sinned it was one way, after they sinned quite different.  Just as we ascribe honor and praise to any organ when it serves to do good, and shame and ugliness when it is the instrument of evil, so was it with regard to the first man’s sexual apparatus. Accordingly, the ways of the Lord are all just and pure and clean. What is obscene is the result of man’s wrongful actions.  GOODSOC 105-6

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GEN354 The Sages have said [of this verse] “Intellect is shame and shame is intellect.”  And they did not known the way of modesty nor have the ability to discriminate between good and evil until they ate from the Tree of Knowledge Genesis 3:7.  Thus, all living creatures, with the exception of man, do not have shame, not having wisdom.  And all who are wise of heart known the value of intellect and wisdom through which one attains to a knowledge of truth, and also an acknowledgment of the Oneness of his Creator, Blessed is He, and to His Divine service, and by means of which one may attain to the rank of anger.  And since the quality of wisdom is so great, it must be paralleled in greatness by its related trait, that of shame.  … One should exert himself to conduct himself in accordance with this noble trait and employ wisdom in cultivating it until it is implanted in his soul, to enthrone it above all his impulses, and to regard it as more important than his other traits, for through it one attains most of the virtues and guards himself against all unseemly traits.  TZADIK 81

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GEN355 The yetzer hara (evil inclination) may (try to) make the laws against evil speech (lashon hara) seem so stringent that the person will begin to think that everything is considered lashon hara, leading him to conclude that it is impossible for a person to refrain from transgressing and still live normally.  He’ll think that he needs to completely disconnect himself from worldly matters in order to avoid lashon hara.  This tactic is similar to that employed by the sly Serpent, who said to Chavah, “Perhaps Hashem said you shouldn’t eat from any tree in the garden.”  [The Serpent suggested that Hashem’s prohibition was not limited to one tree, the Tree of Knowledge, but included all the other trees in Gan Eden as well.  This made Chavah feel that it was impossible to abide by Hashem’s commandment, which prompted her to sin by eating from the one tree whose fruit was actually prohibited.].  SEFER 19

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GEN357 The first sin in history was brought about through the power of speech. Had not the serpent convinced Eve through words to eat of the fruit and then, later, had not Eve convinced Adam with words to similarly sin, the course of human history would have been very different, as the punishments of the serpent, woman, and man changed their natures forever. Midrash, Tanchuma, Genesis 8.  Proverbs 18:21 tells us that the tongue can control life and death, that is, through our use of speech.  Indeed, many of the most terrible killers in the history of mankind, such as Adolf Hitler, did not actually murder anyone with their own hands but used speech to inspire many others to kill.  AMEMEI 276

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GEN358 The first sin in the Torah involved incitement to commit wrongdoing, as the serpent provided Eve to sin by convincing her that there was nothing wrong with eating the fruit.  AMEMEI 118

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GEN356 See [[GEN324]] Genesis 2:23 “said”  BLOCH 148-9

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GEN359 Whoever increases words brings on sin. Pirkei Avot I:17. A classic illustration of this can be found in the Biblical account of the Serpent’s subtle inducement of Eve to eat of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge.  When he asked her about the prohibition, Eve asserted that the Almighty had commanded: “And you shall not touch it.” [this verse]. Actually, Eve had “increased words,” because the Divine command had never really prohibited touching the tree.  Once she uttered this exaggeration, it was easy for the Serpent to make her touch the tree and show her that no ill effects resulted.  Then he could argue by analogy that eating would likewise result in no harm. When you add words that are unnecessary you can be led to sin.  Our Sages tell us that even speaking well of your friend can often lead to slander.  Talmud, Arakin 16a.  You may start off with a perfectly innocuous remark that a certain man is a wonderful father.  Your companion, warming to the subject, may then be tempted to point out that while this is true, the man is terrible husband! A third person present may pick up the thread at this point and reinforce the last speaker with a vile anecdote about the man and his business life.  What started out as “harmless” gossip can end in misunderstanding, envy, and hatred.  In fact, the more you may then attempt to defend the man, the more you may stimulate and arouse the others to refuse your opinion with all sorts of allegations and insinuations.  The more you talk, the more sin you are causing. There is a Hassidic teaching that everything under the sun teaches a moral lesson, even modern inventions: for example, the train, the telegraph and the telephone.   From a train you can learn that sometimes because of a minute you can miss making an entire trip.  From the telegraph you can learn that for each word there is a charge.  From the telephone you can learn that what you speak here is heard “over there,” in the supernal realms.  SINAI1 105

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GEN360 Every Hebrew new that the term Elohim is equivocal, designating the deity, the angels, and the rulers governing the cities.  Onqelos the Proselyte, peace be on him, has made it clear, and his clarification is correct, that in the dictum of Scripture, [this verse], the last sense is intended.  For he has translated: And you shall be as rulers.  EWM 130

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GEN361 [Adam] disobeyed the commandment that was imposed upon him on account of his intellect and, attaining the apprehension of generally accepted opinions, he became absorbed with considering things base or noble.  The he new how great his loss was, what he had been deprived of, and upon what a state he had entered.  Hence it is said [this verse] and not: knowing the false and the true, or apprehending the false and the true.  EWM 131-2

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