“Because you have done this…” (Bereishis 3:14)

Have you ever wondered why the snake, which began as an upright creature, was condemned to crawling on its belly as punishment? The Dubno Magid (Jacob ben Wolf Kranz of Dubno 1741–1804) explains with a parable.

A wealthy man, passing through a town where he had family, encountered a young relative, who seemed deeply troubled. “What’s weighing on you?” he asked. The young man sighed, “I’ve found a wonderful match, and would like to marry her, but her father demands a large sum to prove my financial stability. I have no way to gather such an amount, and I fear I will lose this shidduch forever”.  Touched, the rich relative promised, “Next time I visit, I’ll bring the money that you need to get married.”

Soon after, the wealthy relative returned with the money in hand, ready to fulfill his promise. To his surprise, he saw the young man as happy as can be. “What changed?” he inquired.  The lad replied, “I told my future father-in-law that you would provide the funds. That assurance was enough for him, and he allowed me to marry his daughter, trusting that the money would be coming shortly.” The shrewd businessman smiled and said, “If that’s the case, I have no need to give you the money. Once you’re married to his daughter, he won’t break up the marriage over a financial shortfall.” (Setting aside questions of business ethics for now.)

We humans are influenced by our peers, especially those who we admire or hold in high esteem, but rarely by those whom we deem inferior to us. A snake’s natural posture should indeed be prone, slithering along the ground, however, in order to persuade Chava to sin, it needed a commanding, upright position for her to take him seriously. After the transgression, Hashem declared, “You have fulfilled your task with an unnatural, upright stance. Now, return to crawling as you were meant to.”

This offers a lesson to prepare us for our own “yetzer hara”. Normally, after falling prey to the yetzer hara and committing the undesired act, the glamour fades, revealing the sin’s true, lackluster nature. The reason for this is because Hashem strips away the false shine post-transgression. I suggest that we hold onto the clarity of the post-sin images and feelings in our minds to deflate the yetzer hara’s allure when it challenges us. With this perspective, we can better resist its pull.