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Why did Adam separate from Chavah for 130 years after the sin, yet immediately return to her when Lemech's wives challenged him? The separation stemmed not from the decree of death, but from Adam's fundamental misunderstanding of what a wife is meant to be—an ezer, not an equal decision-maker. Only when correcting Lemech's wives did Adam grasp his error: Chavah was always his true zivug, and his failure to appreciate her proper role had been his own fault all along.
This shiur explores a puzzling narrative from Bereishis involving Adam HaRishon's separation from Chavah and his encounter with the wives of Lemech. According to Rashi (רש"י)'s second interpretation, Lemech's wives separated from their husband because they knew the Mabul was coming and the descendants of Kayin would be destroyed, so they saw no reason to bear children. When they came to Adam for guidance, he rebuked them, saying they should not interfere with Hashem (ה׳)'s decree and should fulfill their obligations. The wives countered by pointing out Adam's hypocrisy: "You separated from your wife after death was decreed on the world—how are you different from us?" Immediately, Adam returned to Chavah after 130 years of separation. The fundamental question is: How could Adam give mussar to Lemech's wives for doing exactly what he himself had been doing for over a century? Why did he not realize this inconsistency until they pointed it out? If he understood the principle well enough to rebuke them, why was he violating it himself?
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Bereishis 4-5 (Lemech and Adam)
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