706. By the Sweat of Your Brow

“And God said, ‘Let the earth put forth grass… fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind.’” RASHI interpreted “fruit tree, that the taste of the tree will be as that of the fruit. But she [the earth] did not do so. Rather, ‘And the earth put forth… fruit bearing tree,’ and not a ‘fruit tree.’ For this reason, when Adam was cursed for his iniquity, she, too, was mentioned for hers.”

“And to Adam He said … ‘Cursed is the ground because of you; in sadness you will eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles will it grow for you, and you will eat the grass of the field.’” “Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, ‘When the Creator said to Adam, ‘Thorns and thistles will it grow for you,’ his eyes teared. He said to Him: ‘Master of the world, will I and my donkey eat off the same manger?’ When He told him ‘By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread,’ his mind was eased’” (Pesachim 118a).

1) How can it be that the earth would transgress against the will of the Creator? Can it choose?

2) Why was she not punished for her iniquity right away, but He waited with the curse until after the sin of the tree of knowledge?

3) Why did he say that he and his donkey will eat from the same manger? Is it appropriate to say to the Creator that he wants better food? After all, our sages said, “Therefore, man was created after the creation of all the animals so that if he wants to boast, he will be told, ‘The mosquito came before you.’” We should ask what this comes to teach us in day-to-day life.

The tree that bears fruit: We see that a thought yields an action, and the action should be like the thought, since the act that a person does is fine, and there is nothing to add to it. Even if he is the righteous of the generation, he will still not place Tefillin on his right hand. However, in the thought there is a difference between people.

It is the Creator’s wish that the taste of the tree will be as that of the fruit, that the thought will be as complete as the act. Man is the tree of the field. Hence, he gave a hint in the land to know how man should behave. For this reason, the earth showed that the thought will not be as the act, meaning that it will be Lo Lishma [not for Her sake].

For this reason, afterward, Adam HaRishon came and sinned, meaning Lo Lishma, and was punished for this. That punishment should also be in the earth, so the man will see that the punishment was insinuated. Hence, precisely after the sin, when Adam was cursed, the earth was punished. Therefore, the earth does not have a choice, but such was the will of the Creator, that she would symbolize the shape of the man, and that she would symbolize the punishment.

Nachmanides writes that everything is in the form of unification; hence, the curse is also for correction.

Also, the matter of “thorn and thistle” means that he is not worthy of enjoying, that the taste of Mitzvot [commandments] Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] is as that of thorns and thistles, but all the flavor will be in corporeality, like the donkey.

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread,” meaning through repentance.