What Tree Did Adam Eat From and Why God Hid It

"May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may its fruit wave like Lebanon" (Psalms 72:16). And what was that tree from which the first man ate? Rabbi Meir says: it was wheat. Rabbi Judah son of Rabbi Ilai said: it was grapes. Rabbi Abba of Acco said: it was a citron. Rabbi Yose said: it was figs. And all of them bring a reason for their words. The reasoning of Rabbi Meir who said it was wheat: it is the way of the world that of a person who lacks knowledge, people say, "this one has never eaten bread of wheat in his life." Rabbi Zeira asked before Rabbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac: it is written "tree" concerning it, and you say it was wheat? He said to him: they grew tall like the cedars of Lebanon and let their seed fall to the earth. The reasoning of Rabbi Judah son of Rabbi Ilai who said it was grapes: "their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter" (Deuteronomy 32:32), those clusters brought bitterness into the world. The reasoning of Rabbi Abba of Acco who said it was a citron: "and you ate of the tree" (Genesis 3:17), a tree whose wood is eaten like its fruit, and which is that? This is the citron. The reasoning of Rabbi Yose who said it was figs: "and they sewed fig leaves and made themselves girdles" (Genesis 3:7). Rabbi Joshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi: it is like a king who had a son and had many maidservants, and he would command him, saying, "My son, take care that you do not touch any of these maidservants." What did the son do? He went and sinned with one of them. When his father became aware of him, he drove him out and expelled him from the palace, and he went around to all the houses of those maidservants, and not one of them would take him in. You find that the very one with whom he had sinned, she opened her doors and took him in. So too, when the first man ate from that tree, all the trees heard them saying, "Here is the thief, here is the thief who deceived his Creator," who deceived his Master, "Let not the foot of pride come against me" (Psalms 36:12), that foot which stretched out in pride, let it not come against me, "and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away" (Psalms 36:12), do not shake me by hand, do not take leaves from me. You find that the tree that gave him its fruit gave him its leaves, "and they sewed fig leaves and made themselves girdles" (Genesis 3:7). What was the name of that fig tree? Rabbi Levi said: bar Eli, for it brought wailing and weeping into the world. Rabbi Berekhiah in the name of Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi: that tree from which the first man ate, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not reveal it and is not destined to reveal it. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: it is written, "and you shall kill the woman and the beast" (Leviticus 20:16). If the human sinned, what did the beast sin? Rather, because a stumbling came to the human through it, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said let it be stoned. Another interpretation: so that the beast should not pass through the marketplace and people say, "this is the beast on account of which so-and-so was stoned." The Holy One said: if I spared the honor of His children, it is fitting that I spare His honor.