First creation of Adam: What is the Serpent?

In this article, I will try to answer the following questions:

1. What is the Serpent?
2. What is the meaning of the punishment of the Serpent?
3. Why did the Serpent approach the Woman?

Before I present my opinion, it is necessary to consider the commentaries of the Sages.

Who or what is the Serpent?

According to the Midrash, the Serpent was an upright-walking animal the size of a camel with Satan for a rider. The Serpent pushed the Woman towards the Tree, according to some of the Sages, and raped her.

Abarbanel (Abarbanel on the Torah) believed the Serpent represented the imaginative quality of the Woman, but in the same book, he gave the description of the Serpent climbing up and down the Tree of Knowledge and eating the fruit. Evidently, these two opinions are contradictory.

According to Chassidic thought, the Serpent represented the inner voice of the Woman.

There are many questions here:

• How can an animal talk?
• Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyadi (the Alter Rebbe) posed the question: how can an animal know the thoughts of G-d?

The position of The Kabbalah of Information

My explanation is based on the ideas expressed in my previous articles. In brief:

• The two accounts of the Creation of Man given in the Torah describe two different events – two different Creations of Man.
• The first Creation of Man took place in the zone of the information space represented by the Sefira Malchut of the World of Atzilut.
• The creation of the Worlds Beriya, Yetzira, and Asyia was the result of the Sin of the Man.
• The commandment doesn’t make sense unless there is a way to break it.
• In the process of naming the animals described in the second account of the creation of Man, Adam received knowledge about animal traits of character, which are the drivers of the breaking the commandment.

In the Torah, we read (Genesis 3.1): “Now the Serpent was cunning beyond any beast of the field that Lord G-d (Havaya El-m) had made.”

From that, we can conclude that the Serpent was an animal named by Adam. Consequently, Adam acquired the traits of the Serpent’s character. So did the Woman.

“Most cunning” demands explanation.

Here, we should consider and analyze the structure of the Soul.

In Judaism, there exist two kinds of categorization of the Soul:

• “Vertical” – Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya and Yechida.
• “Horizontal” – G-dly soul and Animal soul

In his book Torah Or (The Light of the Torah), the Alter Rebbe explains that the structure of the soul is similar to the structure of the Tree of Sefirot.

The Kabbalah of Information follows the ideas of the Alter Rebbe.

According to the Kabbalah of Information, Creation is an information space made of concepts. The distance between concepts in the information space is determined by the similarity of their meanings. The Soul is a dynamic entity with a structure similar to that of the Tree of Sefirot (concepts) with the additional projection on the dimension of the concept of “Self.”

The similarity between the structure of the soul and the Tree of Sefirot allows the soul to interact smoothly (to reduce the distance) with the Tree of Sefirot, provided the soul embraces the concepts of the Tree of Sefirot.

In my article The Devil of the Other Side, I put forward the definition of Evil:

• Evil is the violation of any of the 613 commandments of the Torah.
• There is no Evil without the violation of any of the 613 commandments of the Torah.

In the information space of Creation, the Side of Good is represented by the concepts of the commandments, and the Side of Evil (Sitra Ahera in Hebrew) is represented by the concepts of the anti-commandments.

The transitional operator is the concept “don’t:”

• Do – don’t do
• Don’t do – don’t don’t do

In the line of thought of Judaism, the G-dly soul never sins. In terms of the information space, it always stays in the zone of the concepts of the commandments. The Animal Soul is free to move between the zones of the commandments and anti-commandments.

In my view, categorization into the G-dly and Animal Soul is conditional. A human being is aware of the concepts of Good and Evil (commandments and anti-commandments) but should discern between the knowledge of Good and Evil and the conversion of this knowledge into thoughts and actions.

The question is – what drives a human being to commit an act of Evil, and how does this process occur?  

Surely, the commitment to doing Evil is driven by the desire to receive some benefits. In order to do this, the soul must embrace the concepts of the Tree of Anti-Sefirot and move away in the information space from the Tree of Sefirot. But the soul’s knowledge of the concepts of the Tree of Sefirot is an obstacle in the way of commitment of Evil. This knowledge creates tension. To remove the obstacle, the soul employs the concepts of doubt and excuse, and that is precisely the role of the Serpent. The Serpent introduced the concepts of doubt and excuse to the soul of the Woman.

This helps us understand what the Sages meant by saying that the Serpent had pushed the Woman towards the Tree of Knowledge. By introducing the concepts of doubt and excuse, the Serpent reduced the distance in the information space between the soul of the Woman and the concept of breaking the commandment.

In the process of choosing, we analyze the consequences. If the consequences are bad, it’s highly unlikely that we will make a decision. Before the conversation with the Serpent, there was only one consequence of eating the fruit – death. The Serpent introduced an alternative outcome and seeded doubt and excuses in the soul of the Woman. Therefore, we can conclude that the Serpent represents the concepts of doubt and excuse. The question is, in which part of the information space do these concepts exist? They must certainly be a part of the Tree Anti-Sefirot.

The answer is in the Torah.

(Shemot – Chapter 4: 2-3-4)

“And the Lord said to him, ‘What is this in your hand?’ And he said, ‘A staff.’

“And He said, ‘Cast it to the ground,’ and he cast it to the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from before it.

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch forth your hand and take hold of its tail.’ So Moses stretched forth his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand.”

The staff represents (with its shape) the letter vav (Hebrew) – the third letter of the Tetragrammaton. In the Tree of Sefirot, the letter vav designates Partsuf Zeir Anpin – Sefirot: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod. So does the Serpent, which has the same shape as the staff. From that, it follows that the Serpent represents Partsuf Zeir Anpin of the Tree of the Anti-Sefirot.

This is confirmed by the ideas expressed by the Alter Rebbe (Staffs and snakes, Chabad.org). The Alter Rebbe says that the staff is the channel for bringing sanctity to the world. Consequently, the Serpent is the channel for bringing Evil to the world.

Earlier, I mentioned that the Sages opined that the Serpent raped the Woman. It was definitely not a physical action. Here is the explanation:

The Tree of Sefirot represents the multitude of the concepts in the information space. Different combinations of concepts constitute events (informational changes). Events occur in the zone of Sefirot Keter – Malchut, which represents the information space itself. The Tree of Anti-Sefirot represents the multitude of the anti-concepts, but crucially, the information space is one and the same. That means that the Tree of Sefirot and the Tree of Anti-Sefirot converge in Sefira Malchut, which is only one.

In the Kabbalah, the connection between the Sefira Malchut and Zeir Anpin is described allegorically as an intercourse. From that, we can understand the hints of the sages. The Woman (represented by Sefira Malchut) was connected to Zeir Anpin of the Tree of Sefirot (represented by the Man). By eating the fruit, the Woman reconnected (had intercourse) with Zeir Anpin of the Tree of Anti-Sefirot (represented by the Serpent). This is what the Sages meant by saying that the Serpent raped the Woman.

There is a clear analogy between the abovementioned events and the events that happened to Jacob’s family when they arrived in Shechem. In the Torah we read (Genesis Chapter 34:1-2-3):

“Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to look about among the daughters of the land.

“And Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivvite, the prince of the land, saw her, and he took her, lay with her, and violated her.

“And his soul cleaved to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob; he loved the girl and spoke to the girl's heart.”

Dinah (who represents the Sefira Malchut) went out – cut off the connection to the Tree of Sefirot, and was immediately raped by Shechem, who represents the Zeir Anpin of the Tree of Anti-Sefirot.

Intermediate conclusions:

1. The Serpent represents the information concepts of Zeir Anpin of the Tree of Anti-Sefirot.
2. The conversation between the Woman and the Serpent represents the inner voice of the Woman.
3. Adam acquired the concepts of the Tree of Anti-Sefirot through the process of naming the animals. Each animal represented one anti-concept.
4. The Serpent represents the Zeir Anpin of the Tree of Anti-Sefirot, which is the collection of anti-concepts. That is why the Torah calls him the most cunning of all the animals.

The punishment of the Serpent

In the Torah we read (Genesis Chapter 3:14-15):

“And the Lord G-d said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed be you more than all the cattle and more than all the beasts of the field; you shall walk on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

“And I shall place hatred between you and between the woman, and between your seed and between her seed. He will crush your head, and you will bite his heel’." 

1. “Cursed be you more than all the cattle…”

According to the Kabbalah of Information, a blessing is an opening of the information channels of the Tree of Sefirot, and a curse is the opening of the information channels of the Tree of Anti-Sefirot. Since the Serpent represents the collection of Anti-Sefirot (animals), it is cursed more than other animals.

2. “You shall walk on your belly…”

Rabbi Bahya ben Asher, in his commentary, explains this quotation as a reduction of the power of Evil by the nine levels of emanations.

The Zohar (Be aware of Serpent – Rider, Chabad.org) mystically interprets the phrase “on your belly” as cutting off the supports and legs of the Serpent.

In general, the idea of the reduction of the power of Evil is correct but demands clarification. Since the Serpent was not a physical animal, we should explain the meaning of cutting off its legs.

As I mentioned above, the Serpent represents the Zeir Anpin of the Tree of Anti-Sefirot, which includes Anti-Sefirot – Chesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod.

The concepts of the Sefirot Netzah and Hod represent the relationships of the soul with the World.

In the book Gates of Light (Sha’are Orah) written by the prominent kabbalist of the 13^th century, Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla, we read:

“The ‘legs’ referred to Netzah and Hod, which are the essence of YHVH Elohim Tzvaot, which are pillars of the Spheres and corresponding to them are the two pillars of Salomon, Yachin and Boaz. You already know that the Middle Line of the Spheres is the essence of the Tiferet, which is the essence of the letter vav, the third letter of the ineffable Name YHVH. These two pillars are positioned beneath the vav of the Name, for the letter vav is the essence of the word Shesh (six) [and the numerical equivalent of the letter vav is six], for it sustains the six Names: Gedulah, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod. Thus, the verse refers to ‘legs,’ which are Netzach and Hod.”

“…for the legs, knees and calves are symbolic of the Spheres Netzach and Hod…”

“…As the rabbis taught, ‘One is obliged to bend the knee during the prayer [of the eighteen benedictions] Modim’ [which comes from the root Hod]. For any blessing that is brought to the world comes from them; therefore, anyone who does not bend his knee at the prayer of Modim will have his spine changed into a serpent after seventy years.”

From the above, we can conclude that the “cutting of the legs” means nullifying the concepts of Anti-Sefirot, Netzach, and Hod, and consequently – significantly reducing the power of the Tree of Anti-Sefirot.

The seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe mentioned several times that the power of the evil impulse matches the intellectual power of human beings. The First Man possessed the maximum possible intellectual power, but the intellectual power of his descendants is much smaller; this is why the power of the evil impulse was reduced accordingly.

3. “And you shall eat dust all the days of your life.”

The First Man’s body was created out of the dust of the earth. Here, the earth is the zone in the information space corresponding to the Sefira Malchut of the world of Atzilut. Hence, the power of evil, as mentioned before, is restricted to the zone of Sefira Malchut.

4. “And I shall place hatred between you and between the woman, and between your seed and between her seed. He will crush your head, and you will bite his heel.”

The Kabbalistic explanation is as follows:

In the Kabbalah, the Sefira Binah (understanding) is called “Mother” (Ima – Hebrew), the Sefirot Chesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod are called “Children,” and the Sefira Malchut is often called the “Heel.”

“You will bite his heel” means exactly what I mentioned a few lines above: the power of evil is restricted to the zone of the Sefira Malchut. The rest is straightforward.

Why did the Serpent approach the Woman?

The reason, according to most commentators, is that it was easier to sway the Woman. This opinion is plausible, taking into account that the Woman didn’t hear the commandment and didn’t even have a name before the Sin, but, in my view, there is more to that.

Let’s imagine that the Serpent approached Adam. In this case the choice for Adam was either to eat the fruit and die, or not to eat and to stay with his wife. Considering that Adam had named the Serpent, the choice was obvious: not to eat.

The choice for Adam became much harder after he had realized that the Woman had eaten the fruit: not to eat and to lose his wife or eat and share the fate with his wife. From the Torah we know that Adam chose the latter.

The question is, what would have happened if Adam had chosen not to eat the fruit.

About that – in the next article.