Walking the Line: Choosing Good in a Complicated World
Parshat Bereshit-Genesis 1:1-6:8
Why is it so hard to make the right choice? We often know what is good, yet our decisions get tangled up in desire, doubt, or convenience. The Torah’s story of Eden is not only about humanity’s first mistake—it’s about the ongoing challenge, and opportunity, of moral choice.
“And the LORD G-d commanded the man, saying, ‘You may freely eat from every tree of the garden; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat’” (Genesis 2:16–17).
In Hebrew, the word for “knowledge” is da’at—not just information, but a knowing that binds head and heart. Before Adam and Eve ate from the fruit, good and evil were external and obvious. Once they tasted it, however, the struggle between good and evil became part of our inner lives. Right and wrong were no longer simple to separate; they became woven into human thought, desire, and experience.
The serpent didn’t force Adam and Eve to eat; it only suggested. The real change came when they made that suggestion their own. From that moment on, the human heart became the battleground where good and bad wrestle for expression. As Rambam (Maimonides) later taught, free will is always ours, but clarity is not guaranteed. Choosing the good path now requires vigilance and effort.
The sages sometimes taught through parables to help us see truth in everyday terms. A Chassidic Rebbe once pointed out a wild, overgrown garden outside his window. “When G-d created the world, everything was perfect. But He wanted us to be gardeners—to pull weeds, plant seeds, and bring order out of chaos. If everything stayed perfect, we would never grow. The struggle is what makes us partners in creation. Every time we sort through the tangle and find a little light, we transform ourselves—and the world.”
Adam and Eve’s choice brought us out of innocence and into responsibility. Life is not about avoiding struggle but about engaging with it faithfully. Each choice we make becomes part of the slow work of turning the wilderness back into a garden.
We may wish the path between good and evil were clearer, but our humanity is shaped by wrestling with complexity. Each time we choose honesty over convenience, kindness over indifference, or courage over fear, we are planting seeds. Each small act of clarity transforms the soil of our lives.
With every honest choice, we reclaim a patch of Eden.
I wish you a good week and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yonatan Hambourger