When Adam and Chava ate from the forbidden fruit, G-d goes through the
charade of an interrogation process to find out who committed the crime,
even though he knows exactly who did it. Why does G-d do this? A possible
answer may be that the Torah wants to show us how they responded to
G-d’s accusation, which they did in the time-honored fashion of all human
beings by each passing the buck to the next one. Adam blames Chava, and
Chava blames the snake, but nobody takes personal responsibility.
Herein lies the Torah’s lesson. When problems arise in life, don’t play the
blame game. Instead, be a man and say, “The buck stops with me.” That’s
how you grow and transform yourself into a big person. Don’t blame your
spouse, parents, in-laws, coworkers, or friends. Had Adam immediately
admitted his mistake, all of human history may have been different. In life,
there are always enough people to blame for your problems, but that’s
the way of a coward. A courageous person says, “At the end of the day,
my behavior and mistakes are my own. I did them, and I can, and will, fix
them.”
Wishing you an inspiring Shabbos,
Rabbi Moshe Gruenstein