Table Talk: Bereishit

The Rebellion of the Earth: God cursed the land after Adam’s sin because Adam’s body was formed from the earth. The earth already contained the seeds of rebellion. When God instructed the earth to produce trees with bark as edible as their fruit, the earth refused: “People will grab the bark rather than climb to pick a fruit. The trees will die.” So, the earth brought forth trees as we know them. (Hint: Don’t eat the bark!) Why was Adam responsible for his sin if the seeds of rebellion were part of his essence from his source, the earth? Is it possible that the earth had a point and that Adam’s choice was how to direct such arguments?

Two Unknown Heroines
4:19 -24) Adah and Zillah, the two wives of Lamech, rejected their husband’s advances. Rashi (Genesis 4:24) explains that the women had each fulfilled their obligation to “Be fruitful and multiply,” and did not want any more children because they foresaw that Cain’s family would end after seven generations. Adah and Zillah refused to have more children, but they fulfilled the obligation of “Be fruitful and multiply” knowing that those children would die. Why were they willing to have their children if they knew that they would not bear fruit nor multiply?