“And God said, ‘Let the earth put forth grass… a fruit-tree.’” RASHI interpreted that the taste of the tree will be as the taste of the fruit. Yet, she did not do so, but rather, “And the earth put forth… and a fruit-bearing tree,” and not the “fruit-tree.”
For this reason, when Adam was cursed for his iniquity, she, too, was included for her iniquity and was cursed, as it is written, “The ground is cursed because of you.”
The interpreters asked how it can be said that the earth did not obey the Creator. Does the earth have free choice? They also asked why the earth was not punished right away but rather together with Adam HaRishon.
We should understand this in the work. The earth implies man, as it is written in The Zohar, “The heart of the earth is people” (Beresheet 4, 61). The purpose of man’s creation was for man to engage in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] Lishma [for Her sake], as it is written, “Anyone who is called by My name, I have created for My glory.”
The Zohar interprets “My name” as “man,” as it says, “Anyone who is called by My name is man, for the Creator created him with His name, as it is written, ‘And God created the man in His image.’ He called him by His name when He brings out truth and judgment in the world, and He is called Elokim [God], as it is written, ‘You shall not curse God’” (VaYikra 104).
Lishma should be in two manners—in action and in intention. This is called “His mouth and his heart are equal.”
Sometimes, a person does something Lishma, and it is called Lishma because in the action, there is nothing to add, since even the greatest of the greatest cannot add to the action. That is, it cannot be said that one should put Tefillin also on the right hand, and so forth, as it is written, “Do not add and do not subtract.”
The main dispute among people is only on the intention, since one should try to make the intention the same as the action, and then it is called Lishma.
The Etz [tree] is man’s Atzmut [self/core], meaning the intention, and the “fruit” is the action. The Creator wanted the earth to elicit fruit trees, meaning that the flavors of the tree and the fruit will be the same.
But the earth implied (and Eretz [earth] implies mainly man) that the man who will be created will not have equal intentions and actions. It is still tolerable that the earth did not want to obey the Creator, but she elicited like the man who will be later.
It is understandable why she was not punished right away, since the man did not sin so there was nothing for which to punish her, since the punishment that the earth received also implies man, meaning man’s punishment.
Therefore, specifically after Adam HaRishon was punished, it is pertinent to punish the earth, meaning that man’s punishment will be apparent on the earth. This is why it was said, “The ground is cursed because of you,” and RASHI interpreted, emitting cursed things for you like flies, fleas, and ants, like those who go astray and people curse the breasts that nursed him.
Also, we should know that the curse is also a correction, as it is written, “The harms will not come from Him,” but it is a correction, for were it not for the curse, the man would find flavor in the fruit even though the aim is not Lishma. And had the man found sweetness even in the Lo Lishma, there would have been no need for man to exert in Lishma, since the Lo Lishma [not for Her sake] would completely satisfy him.
Conversely, after the curse, when man finds no sweetness that satisfies him in the actions, and feels as in the above-mentioned allegory, that demons are nursing off of his actions, and as it is written, “Thorn and thistle you will grow for yourself,” where one finds no flavor in the Lo Lishma, but rather “Thorn and thistle,” “And you will eat the grass of the field,” feeling the taste of grass, then there is room for man to see and exert that the actions will be Lishma, meaning that his fruit and tree will be equal.
This is the meaning of what our sages said, “Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said that when the Creator said to the man ‘Thorn and thistle you will grow for yourself,’ His eyes teared. He said to Him, ‘Master of the world, will I and the donkey eat from the same manger?’” (Pesachim 118).
That is, man will feel the same taste in Torah and Mitzvot as a donkey, who enjoys only corporeality. “Eating” means foods from which man enjoys in which he finds flavor. As the donkey enjoys and finds flavor only in corporeal things, so man will find no flavor in Torah and Mitzvot, but only in corporeality.
He was not at ease until the Creator said to him, “By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread,” meaning that through man’s labor, he will be rewarded with Lishma, and then he will feel the taste of bread and not of thistle and thorn.
Before the sin, Adam HaRishon found the same flavor in his tree and his fruit, as our sages said that the taste and the fruit of the tree of knowledge were the same. In other words, even while eating the tree of knowledge, the action and intention were Lishma, since the sin was not in the first eating, but rather afterward, as our sages said about the verse, “I ate, and I will eat more” (see “Introduction to Panim Meirot uMasbirot”).
Only after the sin was the act not as the aim. But through the labor in Torah and Mitzvot, man will be rewarded with Lishma and will be rewarded with “bread.” It follows that it was not a curse, but a correction, for by this, man will achieve the desired wholeness.