What was that tree [of knowledge] from which Adam and Eve ate? Rabbi Meir said: It was wheat. When a person does not have knowledge, people say: That person has never eaten wheat bread in all his days.27This shows that wheat is a food that stimulates knowledge and intelligence. Rabbi Shmuel bar Yitzḥak asked before Rabbi Ze’eira, saying to him: ‘Is it possible that it was wheat?’
He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘But is it not written that it was a “tree”?’ He said to him: ‘It [the wheat in Eden] rose to a great height, like the cedars of Lebanon.’28And therefore could rightly be described as a “tree.” Rabbi Yaakov bar Aḥa said: There is a dispute between Rabbi Neḥemya and the Rabbis.29They were discussing the blessing over bread, which praises God for “bringing forth bread” from the earth.
The difficulty is that bread does not, of course, grow from the ground. Rabbi Neḥemya said: [“Blessed be God…] who brings forth [hamotzi] bread from the earth, [meaning] that He brought forth bread from the earth in the past.30Hamotzi (“who brings forth”) can also connote an event in the past (see Numbers 23:22). When Adam was created and placed in the Garden, finished bread grew from the ground. This was discontinued when he sinned.
The Rabbis say: [Blessed be God …] who brings forth [motzi] bread from the earth, [meaning] that He will bring forth bread from the earth in the future,31Motzi (“who brings forth”) can also connote an event in the future (see Exodus 6:7). In the Messianic future finished bread will grow from the ground. as it is stated: “There will be bread [pisat] from grain upon the earth” (Psalms 72:16). Lefet32Lefet means turnip.
In some dialects, the word pisat (translated in the Psalms verse under discussion as bread) also means turnip. The midrash explains the connection. – there is a dispute between two Amora’im, Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥak and Rabbi Shmuel bar Ami. One said: Lefet – was it not [once] bread [lo pat]?33In Adam’s day one did not need to eat turnips, because there was bread growing from the ground. And the other said: Lefet – is it going to be bread [lo pat] in the future?34In the Messianic future, instead of turnips there will be bread growing from the ground.
Rabbi Yirmeya recited the blessing before Rabbi Zeira: Who brings forth [hamotzi] bread from the earth, and he praised him. [Did he act] in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Neḥemya? This is bewildering.35In a dispute between an individual rabbi and the Rabbis as a group, it is the view of the majority that should be followed. In this case, Rabbi Neḥemya was arguing with the Rabbis. [No,] it was, rather, so as not to slur the [adjacent identical] letters.36The word before “hamotzi” is haolam, which ends with a mem.
Were one to recite the word as motzi, the first letter of motzi would be slurred with the final letter of haolam. Using the word hamotzi solves that problem. Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai said: They [the forbidden fruits that Adam ate] were grapes, as it is stated: “Their grapes are grapes of poison, clusters of bitterness for them” (Deuteronomy 32:32) – those clusters brought bitterness to the world. Rabbi Abba of Akko said it was a citron.
That is what is written: “The woman saw that the tree was good for eating…” (Genesis 3:6).37Implying that the tree itself had a good taste. Go out and see which is the tree whose wood has a taste like its fruit, and you will find only the citron. Rabbi Yosei says: They were figs. It is a matter that is derived from its context.38After the sin, Adam and Eve used fig leaves to hide their nakedness (Genesis 3:7).
This is analogous to the a prince’s son who sinned with one of the maidservants. When the prince heard, he expelled him and had him removed outside the palace. He circulated among the houses of all the maidservants, but none would receive him. But the one with whom he sinned opened her door and received him.
So, too, when Adam the first man ate from that tree, the Holy One blessed be He expelled him and had him removed outside the Garden of Eden. He circulated among all the trees but none would receive him.39They would not allow him to use their leaves to clothe himself. What did they say to him? Rabbi Berekhya said: ‘Here is the thief who deceived his Creator.’
That is what is written: “Let no arrogant foot come to me” (Psalms 36:12) – the foot of one who was arrogant towards his Creator. “Let the hand of the wicked not move me” (Psalms 36:12) – you may not take a leaf from me. But the fig tree, whose fruit he had eaten, opened its door and received him. That is what is written: “They sewed fig leaves” (Genesis 3:7).
What [type of] fig was it? Rabbi Avin said: It was the berat sheva species, as it brought seven [sheva] days of mourning to the world.40As a result of the sin, death, and the ensuing seven-day period of mourning, was introduced into the world. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: It was the berat elita species, as it brought weeping [elita] to the world. Rabbi Azarya and Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Far be it that God should have revealed [the identity of] that tree to any man, nor will He reveal it in the future.
See what is written: “A woman who will approach any animal [to copulate with her, you shall kill the woman and the animal]” (Leviticus 20:16) – though the person sinned, what sin did the animal commit? [The animal did not sin,] but it is [killed] so that the animal should not pass through the marketplace, where people would say: This is the animal on whose account so-and-so was stoned.41And the memory of that woman would be sullied.
If He is concerned about the dignity of his [Adam’s] descendants [even though they had committed a grievous sin], is it not all the more so regarding his [Adam’s] own dignity [after his sin]? That is a rhetorical question.