We know he was driven out, but... where to? It's a question that's haunted Jewish tradition for millennia.
The book of Genesis tells us, "So he drove out the man" (Gen. 3:24). Simple enough. But Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating text from around the 8th or 9th century CE, fills in some of the blanks.
It paints a vivid picture: Adam wasn’t just cast out into some random wilderness. He went forth outside the Garden of Eden and made his abode on Mount Moriah.
Mount Moriah! Sound familiar? It should. According to tradition, this is the very same place where Abraham later bound Isaac, and where the Temple in Jerusalem would eventually stand.
Why Mount Moriah? Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer suggests a powerful reason: "…for the gate of the Garden of Eden is nigh unto Mount Moriah." It was as close as Adam could get to Paradise, a constant reminder of what he had lost. Exile, yes, but also a yearning for return. A longing for the divine presence he had known in the Garden.
And there's more. The text continues, "Thence He took him and thither He made him return to the place whence he was taken, as it is said, 'To till the ground from whence he was taken' (Gen. 3:23)."
So, not only was Adam near the gate of Eden, but he was also returned to the very ground from which he was created. A full circle. A harsh, but perhaps necessary, return to reality. The reality of working the land, of earning his bread by the sweat of his brow.
It's a beautiful and poignant image, isn't it? Adam, forever marked by his expulsion, forever yearning for what was, yet grounded in the very earth from which he came. It's a story of loss, but also a story of resilience. A story that reminds us that even in exile, we are connected to our origins, to the source from which we came. And maybe, just maybe, that connection is a glimmer of hope.