Q&A: Retreat from the Tree of Knowledge?
Retreat from the Tree of Knowledge?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I noticed something interesting and wanted to hear the Rabbi’s opinion about whether it has any validity, and if the Rabbi agrees with it, perhaps to get an explanation of the matter. And here is the point: in the last chapters of history we see phenomena that could be called a human retreat from the conclusions of the Tree of Knowledge: 1. Less sense that there is a problem with nudity, and less need for fig leaves. 2. With postmodernism, a person’s sense of “knowing good and evil” has declined, and he no longer claims to be like God in this respect.
And in parallel we also see a trend of weakening in the curses: less “in pain you shall bear children” (epidural, etc.), less “and he shall rule over you,” and also much less “by the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread.”
I’d be happy if you have any insight that could shed light on this issue.
Answer
Hello.
This sounds to me like a homiletic idea (admittedly a nice one), but not anything beyond that (see Column 285). And as a sign of that, I could just as easily make the opposite homiletic argument. In postmodernism there is definitely a sense of knowing good and evil. Only the wording is different. It’s a facade.
If you still want an explanation, it may be that the prevention of pain and suffering is what creates in people a sense of ease that allows them to change norms and go around naked. They don’t have something else troubling them. In the age of coronavirus, people will be less likely to go around naked and to fight for their right to do so (even supervision of phones is accepted fairly reasonably in such a situation).