Page 74 - BERESHIT

The Rambam asks why Adam and Chava received the gift of knowledge
to discern between good and evil. They did not deserve any reward for the
sin that they did.

Adam and Chava had the Name of Hashem encrypted within theirs. The

letter from the word and the from the word form the Name

of Hashem. When Chava sinned, she lost her connection to that letter and

caused a rift in the Name of Hashem. Adam ate from the Tree out of

concern, and his good intentions, coupled with his teshuvah, were

rewarded by the gift of knowledge and the return of the Shechinah.

Nadav and Avihu were punished even though they had good intentions.
Either they brought the incense offering, knowing and desiring their death,
or the Divine service would still continue even after their passing. Adam
however did not eat with such motivation, and there was no one to take
his place.

Another reason why Adam sinned was to show the Angels his mortality.
At first, the Angels did not differentiate between Adam and Hashem. By
seeing his fallen stature, the Angels could see who the Creator was and who
was man. Thus Adam’s sin was done with virtuous intent.

David Hamelech was a reincarnation of Adam. He, too, did what appeared
to be a sin. In reality, Batsheva was already divorced when her husband
went into battle, and David did not sin.

Hashem knew the outcome of the events with Adam and Chava from the
start. Hashem did not tell Adam about the enticement of the serpent, nor
did He prevent them both from sinning. Hashem wants the struggle
between good and evil to exist in the world, in order to give man his
well-deserved reward for his choice of good over evil.

Through Torah one can climb the ladder of perfection and scale the
heights of Heaven. The possibility of being like Hashem is what tempted
Chava to eat. Just as Hashem created the world, he gave man the ability