“The Lord God formed the man of dirt from the ground and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). “The Lord God formed” – it is written: “A king will uphold the land with justice [but a man of terumot destroys it]” (Proverbs 29:4). “A king” – this is the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He. “Will uphold the land with justice” – as He created the world with [the attribute of] justice, as it is stated: “In the beginning, God [Elohim] created” (Genesis 1:1).1Throughout the creation narrative, God is referred to as Elohim, indicating his attribute of strict justice.
“But a man of terumot destroys it” – this is Adam the first man, who was the ḥalla of the completion of the world.2Ḥalla is separated after the completion of the dough, and is endowed with sanctity, given to a priest to eat. Adam was intended to be the sacred finale to the creation of the world. Ḥalla is called teruma,3Teruma refers to a portion of something set aside as sacred. as it is stated: “The first of your kneading basket [you shall separate as a loaf, as teruma]” (Numbers 15:20).
Rabbi Yosei ben Ketzarta said: It is like a woman who mixes her dough with water and [then] separates its ḥalla from its midst; so, too, first “a mist would rise from the earth”4Forming a dough-like mixture with the earth. (Genesis 2:6), and then, “The Lord God formed [man]…”