What changed when Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the tree of knowledge? Previous to the eating, the soul and body were completely united - the soul illuminated the body. During the havdalah ceremony on Saturday night, we hold our fingernails up toward the candle, and look at the reflection of the candlelight in them, representing the bodies of Adam and Eve - how they shined before the sin. Kabbalah describes their bodies as 'cotenot or' - 'garments of light.' Rather than hide the inner soul, their skin revealed! That's why they wore no clothes; originally there was no feeling of shame.
Why does nakedness cause a feeling of shame? Isn't it natural? The mystics explain that it's because of our inner awareness that we contain an inner angelic being that's being housed in an outer animal-like body. This dichotomy between the two causes shame - my soul is being represented outwardly by a body similar to an animal's. One response is to cover the nakedness in shame, the other (Jewish) approach is to hide the body in a way that demonstrates a dignity. This is known as dressing 'tzniut' - 'modestly.' Like a King or Queen who wears clothing in a way which hides the body, but also reveals that they are royalty.
The word for skin in hebrew is 'Or' with an ayin, while light is 'Or' with an alef. The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Alef - ﬡ - It holds a special importance as a letter which indicates particular holiness; it's the letter of the soul. It is made up of 2 yuds and a vav, numerically equivalent to God's name which is 26. It's connected to the word commander - Aluf, and some have postulated that English words with similar meaning have ancient roots in the letter alef, such as elevate & aloof. Whenever an alef is exchanged for an ayin, it refers to a lowering in holiness. The word Or can also be read as "Iver" - blindness. This is what occurred after the eating of the fruit, as the garments of light turned into garments of skin (from alef to ayin). From revealing the soul to hiding it; blinding us to its existence through concealment. Why do you think we call skin - hide? It's no coincidence that the next 3 letters after alef is bet, gimmel, daled which spells beged - meaning garment or traitor. The garment of the soul, the body, is traitorous to what's inside of it.
When you looked at Adam or Eve originally, you saw a soul. Afterward, you noticed, faintly, a body as well. Now it's the inverse: When looking at another, we see the body. Through much effort and sensitivity, one may notice the faint glow of an inner soul. When we desire something material, what do we say? "I'd like to have that" in 1st person. And what does our soul, our conscience respond? "You shouldn't do that." The soul has taken the back seat. Most, if not all spiritual paths and religions have worked to fix this problem since the sin of Adam & Eve, through asceticism - denying of the body through celibacy and denial of physical pleasure; from nuns and priests to Buddhist monks and Islamic abstinence from wine. Judaism has always included wine in spiritual celebration and emphasizes the holy power of marriage. Jewish commandments - Mitzvot - is a word connected to tzavta, meaning binding/connecting. By doing Mitzvot, we bind the physical with the spiritual, the soul with the body. Through our actions we are able to uplift the physical - reverting the world and body back to their original state, and even higher, ultimately leading to the final redemption when we will be able to see everything and everyone for what they really are inside - their true essence revealed.
Shabbat Shalom!
-Rabbi Daniel
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