Adam trudged past the gates of Eden, his head low, his feet heavy
with remorse and pain. Then he stopped. A thought had struck
him. He spun around, looked up and exclaimed, "Wait a minute!
You had this all planned! You put that fruit there knowing I
would eat from it! This is all a plot! "And I can prove it: In
your Torah which You composed before the world was created, You
wrote, "This is what you should do with a man when he dies…"
"So You had planned death should be in the world! You only wanted
it should enter on my account!"
The Midrash does not record any retort to Adam’s cry. Only
silence. G-d saw the soul of Man that it was very great and He
asked, "How will all this greatness be realized?" And so, he
allowed Man free choice — to choose his own victories or to make
his own blunders.
Without failure, Man will never truly reach into the depths of
his soul. Only once he has failed, can he return and reach higher
and higher without end. Beyond Eden.
