What are the connotations of "va'Teire ha'Ishah ... "?
Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonasan: It means 'And the woman saw (Sama'el ... -Targum Yonasan).
Rashi: It means that the words of the Nachash appealed to her. 1
See Oznayim la'Torah, who elaborates.
What did Chavah see that convinced her to eat from the tree? What are the connotations of the various descriptions of the fruit?
Rashi: She saw that everything the snake had said about the tree was true; it filled her with pleasure and caused her to believe the snake completely. She saw that "it was good" - 'You will be like G-d;' 1 that it was "a delight to the eyes" 2 - 'your eyes will be opened', and that it was "desirable to become wise" - 'to distinguish good from evil'). 3
Ramban: Chavah thought that the prohibition against eating from the Eitz ha'Da'as was because it was poisonous, and she was now surprised to discover that its fruit was good and sweet. And she was further tempted to partake of it when she saw that it was "desirable to become wise" - meaning that it would make her able to choose between two opposites, and that appealed to her.
Seforno: She saw, based on the nature of the location, the air and the pleasant smell of the fruit, that it was good to eat; 4 "that it was "desirable to become wise" - seeing as Hashem had already informed them that it was "the Tree of Knowledge". 5
Targum Yonasan: She saw Sama'el, the Angel of Death, and she was afraid, 6 [and she knew] that it was good to eat, it was a balm for one's eye-sight and a pleasure to look at.
Bereishis Rabah (15:7): R. Aba says that she saw that the wood itself was good to eat - with reference to an Esrog-tree, whose wood tastes like the fruit. 7
See Sifsei Chachamim.
Moshav Zekenim: Why didn't she say to the snake, "If you ate from it, then you create worlds for us!"? Before eating, she did not know to contest like this.
It is not however clear, how she could see all these things. (See also the Seforno in Answer 3.)
Lev Eliyahu (Bereishis p. 28): How could she see that it is good to eat before eating from it? Once she transgressed the fence and touched it, the Tamei venom of the snake entered her, and she felt great pleasure in touching it, and the Yeitzer ha'Ra entered her.
Targum Yonasan was puzzled by the word "va'Tere", for all the things that the Pasuk mentions are not visible. Therefore he explains it in connection with the Sama'el, adding that she was afraid, as the word "va'Tere" as very close to "va'Tira" (commentaries). And, as the Pasuk continues, the fact that she saw the Angel of Death brought home the realization that the Eitz ha'Da'as was indeed what Hashem made it out to be. Refer to 3:2:1:1* .
Pgg: Initially she assumed that Hashem forbade eating the fruits. When she realized that the wood tastes like the fruit, she thought that the Isur was only to eat "me'Eitz ha'Da'as" from the wood - but the fruit would be permitted.
How did Chavah know that the fruit was "good to eat"?
Oznayim la'Torah: Because she first tasted some of the bark - which Chazal say had the same taste as the fruit. 1
See Oznayim la'Torah.
Knowing that she sinned, why did Chavah also offer some of the fruit to Adam?
Rashi: She offered him because she was afraid that, if she were to die and not he, perhaps Hashem would create another woman to replace her and Adam would marry her.
What is the word "Gam" coming to include?
Rashi: It includes the Beheimos and the Chayos, 1 to which Chavah also offered fruit from the Eitz ha'Da'as. 2
Presumably, this incorporates all living creatures, which explains why they were all included in the ensuing decree of death. In fact, a bird called 'Chol' refused to eat the fruit, and it never dies (Oznayim la'Torah, citing the Midrash Rabah).
It seems logical to say that Chavah offered her husband and the animals some of the fruit so that they too should die, since, as Chazal have said, 'Troubles that are shared by the community serve as a partial consolation'.
What caused Adam ha'Rishon to sin?
Seforno: He accepted Chavah's offer because a. he was her husband; and b. because 'he was with her' (presumably during intimacy). 1
Peninim mi'Shulchan ha'G'ra (in Pasuk #1 interpreting a Midrash): 'Because he saw [only] two of the three things that prevent a person from sinning - He saw 'le'An Atah Holech' - that a person is going to place of worms (which negates desire); 2 'Lifnei Mi Atah Asid Liten Din ve'Cheshon' - that he will have to give before Ha'Kadosh-Baruch-Hu (which causes a person to keep away from sin); but he did not see 'me'Ayin Ba'asa' - that he came from a putrid drop (which negates pride).
What was the great enticement in what the snake was offering?
Maharal (Derech Chayim 4:21, p. 205): Man is comprised of three forces - Guf (body), Nefesh (life- soul), and Sechel (intellect). 1 The Nachash used all of these aspects to entice Chavah. (a) "The fruit was good as food;" as a physical desire. 2 (b) "It was desirable to the eyes;" the sense of sight is associated with the Nefesh. (c) "It was coveted for understanding;" this appealed to her Sechel. 3 Man was drawn to the Etz ha'Da'as with all of his faculties. 4
Maharal is commenting on the Mishnah in Avos (4:21) which lists the three negative traits associated with these forces - desire, jealousy and [pursuit of] honor, respectively.
Maharal here interprets "the fruit was good" in the physical sense; this differs with Rashi on our Pasuk, refer to 3:6:1:1 . (CS)
It seems that the snake's main enticement was directed at the Sechel (intellect); whereas Chavah places this aspect last?
Maharal (Derush l'Shabbos ha'Gadol, Hagadah Shel Pesach, p. 214): Had she eaten only to benefit her Sechel, the sin would not have been so great; it would have been an "Aveirah Lishmah." But she mis-prioritized, and focused firstly on pleasure of the body, and desire of the eyes and heart. If she would have prioritized her Sechel, she would not have ended up sinning at all. The snake, however, focused on the Sechel, because one does not entice a [thinking] person merely by saying, "Sin, and you'll enjoy it."
Why did the Torah publicize Adam's sin? Hashem did not want to publicize Achan's sin (Yehoshua 7)!
Chochmah u'Musar (Vol. 2, p. 456): This teaches that creation of man was in a way that the greatest person can stumble, and all the more so a lowly person needs great zealousness lest he stumble in sin. This is Musar!
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "'The woman saw' - [She saw that] the snake's words appeared to be correct; they appealed to her, and she believed them." Why didn't Rashi interpret literally - that she saw that the tree had these qualities?
Gur Aryeh: She had already seen the tree itself before the snake began talking with her; what she saw now was the snake's words.
Rashi writes: "... [The words] appealed to her, and she believed them." Why does Rashi add this?
Gur Aryeh: Rashi is explaining why the Pasuk uses the idiom "she saw," rather than, "she heard."
Rashi writes: "'The tree was good' - to become like Hashem." The snake began by saying, "your eyes shall be opened;" why does Chavah change the order, and consider first that they would "become like Hashem"?
Gur Aryeh: The snake put the events in the order they would occur; first their eyes would be opened, then they would be as Hashem, and know good and evil. After hearing the full import of the snake's words, she jumped to the main point; that they would be like Hashem.
Rashi writes: "She gave also to her husband, along with her" - so that... he would not marry another woman." How do we know that this was her fear?
Mizrachi: Rashi infers it from the extra word "Imah" - "along with her." 1
Gur Aryeh #1: Usually, a sinner tries to cover up his sin. In this case, the woman shared what she had done with her husband; it must have been for this reason.
Gur Aryeh #2: Rashi continues that she shared also with the animals; surely this was not to open their eyes! Rather, it was so they would not continue living without her, and her motive was the same regarding her husband.
Gur Aryeh asks - Rashi does not focus on this word alone? Additionally, "with her" could simply mean that she wanted his eyes to be opened along with hers.
