Halakhah for Shabbat 291:1

שבא נחש על חוה הטיל בה זוהמא ישראל שעמדו על הר סיני פסקה זוהמתן עובדי כוכבי' שלא עמדו על הר סיני לא פסקה זוהמתן א"ל רב אחא בריה דרבא לרב אשי גרים מאי א"ל אע"ג דאינהו לא הוו מזלייהו הוו דכתיב (דברים כט, יד) את אשר ישנו פה עמנו עומד היום לפני ה' אלהינו ואת אשר איננו פה וגו'

the serpent came upon Eve he injected a lust into her:1 [as for] the Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai, their lustfulness departed; the idolaters, who did not stand at Mount Sinai, their lustfulness did not depart.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The idea is that the serpent infected Eve (i.e., the human race) with lust, from which, however, those who accept the moral teachings of the Torah are freed. Cf. B.B. 16a: The Holy One, blessed be He, created the evil passions, but He also created the Torah as their antidote. Thus this passage does not teach the doctrine of 'Original Sin', which Judaism rejects; v. Hertz, Genesis, pp. 59-60, 'Jewish view on the " fall="" of="" man,"'.="" v.="" also="" weiss,="" dor,="" ii,="" p.="" 9.="" ');"="">2

Chofetz Chaim

Some additional great evils brought about by this despicable trait: It is well known that the sin of the [primal] serpent was brought about by the lashon hara that it spoke against the Holy One Blessed be He, saying [to Eve]: "He [G–d] ate from this tree [the Tree of Knowledge] and created the world," by which Eve was enticed to do likewise (viz. Shabbath 146a): "The serpent was 'intimate' with Eve and injected zuhamah ['pollution'] into her" — hence, [(the sin of) illicit relations], and also death to all mankind — hence, the spilling of blood. And through this [i.e., lashon hara] it induced Adam and Eve to transgress the will of the Holy One Blessed be He. It follows that one who speaks lashon hara adopts its [the serpent's] trait, which undermines the creation.

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