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Kinah 19: Shame


“Oh my soul … be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions.” T.S. Eliot

“Yours, my Master, is the righteousness..
And ours is the shamefacedness…” (Kinah 19)

“They were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25)
“He said, ‘I heard the sound of You in the Garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, so I hid.’ And He said, ‘Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten of the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” (3:10-11)

“I was afraid,” not, “I was ashamed.”

Adam and Eve were not ashamed because, “They sewed together a fig leaf and made themselves aprons.” (3:7) They were ashamed by their nakedness, not their sin.

Perhaps they could have responded, “Yours, my Master, is the righteousness,
and ours is the shamefacedness,” and things would have developed differently.

This Kinah is our opportunity to recreate that moment in Eden and respond as Adam should have.

We will “be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions.” A simple step that can repair worlds.

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

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