Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Musar for Chagigah 31:15

דרש ר' יהודה ברבי נחמני מתורגמניה דריש לקיש מאי דכתיב (מיכה ז, ה) אל תאמינו ברע אל תבטחו באלוף אם יאמר לך יצר הרע חטוא והקב"ה מוחל אל תאמן (שנא') אל תאמן ברע ואין רע אלא יצר הרע שנאמר (בראשית ח, כא) כי יצר לב האדם רע

Rabbi Yehudah the son of Rabbi Nachmani, the translator of Reish Lakish, expounded: "What is [the meaning] of the verse, 'Do not trust in a friend, do not put confidence in a familiar friend (Micah 7:5)'? If the evil inclination tells you, 'Sin, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will forgive,' do not trust [him, as it is said], 'do not trust in a friend (heb. Rei'a)'. And there is no [term] 'friend' except for the evil inclination, as it is said, 'For the inclination of the heart of the man is evil (heb. Ra, with same letters as Rei'a) (Genesis 8:21).'

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

Adam ruined this state of affairs by interfering with the סוד היין, the mystical properties of the grapes. [I suppose that this is based on the tree of knowledge having been a grape bearing tree. Ed.] He followed an evil path by squeezing a cluster of grapes (and consuming its juice). Had he not done so, that "wine" would have remained in the state of what our sages call the יין המשומר בענביו, "the wine that remained preserved within its grapes (compare Berachot 34).” In that event he would have been like "the cistern that does not lose a single drop” [hyperbole for total recall, see Avot 2,11. Ed.]. He would have retained all the holiness that had been his when he was created. When Adam sinned, he did not only lose some of his former glory, fall from a "high roof" (to the ground), but he fell into a "very deep pit" (below the ground). This was a בור רק, an empty pit [allusion to the pit Joseph had been thrown in. Genesis 37,24], since it did not even contain the ingredients for the survival of the species. The species was wiped out at the time of the deluge as a direct consequence of Adam having polluted that "drop of sacred semen," and made it "evil smelling." Due to G–d's personal intervention, Noach was saved seeing he was righteous, and the righteous are the foundation of the universe. The present universe was founded by him as a result.
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