Parshat Bereishit III In memory of Shimshon Ben Shalom

On this Pasuk Rashi explains that the land itself had some sort of sin that it performed and was punished.

Off the bat there seems to be a glaring question here. If the land actually sinned, and deviated from the will of HaShem, how can the verse then end off saying "And G-D saw that it was good"? Didnt the tree deviate from its role and sin, which shouldn't be considered good.. so what good is contained within the sin of the land?

To answer this question we are going to look into the words of the Ohev Yisrael (Apter Rav, Avraham Yehoshua Heshel on Bereshit). He asks the following question - how could it be possible that the land sinned against HaShem. I can understand the concept of mankind who is made of flesh and blood falling on occasion into sin since he has within him an evil inclination who is always trying to steer him away from the path of goodness and truth. Furthermore, the purpose of man is to battle with this evil inclination (so it makes sense that man would sometimes fall into sin). However, all the other creations were designed to fulfill the will of HaShem with absolute pleasure and joy, since they never were given an evil inclination. Over here on this point the Ohev Yisrael reveals a great matter. He says that really the land never sinned, rather it was just the opposite! The land did a tremendous act of service and committed a sin for the sake of Heaven, which was giving an opening for mankind, that in the case that man may come to sin, we can then rationalize the following -

Specifically that we are formed from the ground, and because of that fact, we sinned, because our roots are from the ground, who already had sinned. Basically saying that we inherited the nature or inclination to sin from the earth who had already violated the will of HaShem Yitbarach.

If so, the sin of man isn't such a big deal, since the land had already, for the sake of heaven, intentionally in order to make it easier for man to rectify his sins, had sinned.. and this opening for man that the land created is eternal and has the power to help fully rectify us. Because of all of this we see that the land did us a great and everlasting favor, in order to lighten the punishment upon man, since man came from the ground, and the grounds inception was in sin, and man is just simply continuing in the path of his roots.

With this information we can explain the following verse -

,Off the bat over here we have a question.. We can understand HaShem remembering our forefathers, since their memory is a merit and protects us, but whats going on here that the land needs to be remembered? However based on what we just established above (about the land sinning) this question can be answered and the verse make sense. This verse really means to say that HaShem will 'remember the land that sinned', and from this land man was taken, and the land caused the initial flaw within in man, causing man to chase after the mundane and evil. But in regards to the soul, there was no such sin or blemish - These are the words of the Ohev Yisroel.

And now, we can properly answer and settle our initial question that we asked - which was 'if the land sinned, how can the verse say "and G-D saw that is was good"' since the land deviated from what it was commanded to do?

Based on what we just established above we can actually see how the land did a good thing, since it was a sin for the sake of Heaven, in order to bring merit upon man, who was made from dust from the earth. So therefor man only sins since he was born with roots in sin, which was a great favor that the land did for all of humanity, and it would then make perfect sense for the verse to write 'And G-D saw that it was good' - and what we just said is correct with the help of Heaven.

With this information and understanding we can properly explain one of the verses sung on the High Holidays that was designed to bring merit and advocate on our behalf.

Off the bat, what is the importance of bringing up the land (dust)? What merit are we bringing upon ourselves by reminding HaShem that we come from the Earth? However, what we just established earlier makes this verse make complete sense. We are trying to remind/remember that man was formed from physical matter and was created from the ground. And this ground has initially deviated from the will of the Creator may He be blessed. So therefor, its not a wonder that mankind himself sins and violates the will of the Creator may He be blessed, and in reality, this is what we are coming to ask forgiveness for. Within this concept we can also understand what we say in the Tachanun prayer -

The explanation here of this specific plea to HaShem is to remind Him that we are of earth, and on this matter we are asking assistance (specifically because we come from Earth) that we experience salvation and HaShem should have compassion on us.