Chava as Witch Mother

I have so many opinions about Genesis 2-3, and the creation of Adam and Chava and the Midrash of Chava. They swell my chest, and make my heart ache in ways I cannot articulate all of the time; I cannot shake my opinion that the entire story of their creation and banishment from Gan Eden was a story of some of the deepest forms of love that both HaShem and Humanity are capable of on every level.

Chava sits at the center of it all, though. She was so unique; the fist creation set apart from all of the others- made not from clay and water and breath like Adam and all of the Animals before her had been ... But directly from the side of another person. From Adam. The first birth to ever occur, even if not in the literal sense.

She was led to Adam bejeweled and veiled- presented as a radiant Bridal Queen. And Adam proclaimed "This, at last, is Bone of my Bones and Flesh of my Flesh" because the search for his companion was finally complete. But [ha-pa’am] is like [pa’amon] and [hitpa’amut] - at last, a bell, excitement; "at last this is she who will shape me and excite me".

She was filled with curiosity, and excitement, and childlike wonder for Gan-Eden. She explored. She reveled. She spoke. She made friends- one of them being the Serpent. And when she was asked "Did HaShem really say you could not eat from any tree in the Garden" she replied "only the one at the center, for then we will die". And the Serpent was truthful with her: "You will not die, but rather you will become like HaShem- seeing, and full of knowledge; capable of distinguishing Good from Evil".

The Orange was good- not toxic or murderous. More than good, even ... It could impart knowledge! It could make them more like their beloved Creator! And what could be better than that? And so she not only ate for herself, but she gave to her Husband to eat and enjoy as well (maybe just as fruit- maybe as something more). Because who wouldn't want their loving partner to also have the best? To also have the knowledge promised? To also be closer to and more like HaShem as she would be?

How on Earth could she have possibly known that she was such an innocent creature; nothing more than an endlessly naïve Child in an Adult's body, made miraculously whole and complete and immortal by the loving hand of a God who adored its creations and granted them Paradise. She had no way to understand what The Mysteries were, or even to comprehend that knowledge of The Mysteries would change everything for them- nor that that was What the Serpent had meant by saying "you will become like HaShem".

And when the time of their judgment came? Instead of lying about what had happened when HaShem approached them- which would have been the easy thing to do- they spoke through their newfound shame, and anxiety, and fear (things they had never experienced before!) with love and honesty; Adam said that Chava had given him the fruit (a truth, as Chava did indeed give him the fruit). And Chava said that she had been tricked by the Serpent (another truth, in a way, for surely the Serpent knew Chava could not fully understand the ramifications of her actions and yet it encouraged her anyways).

I refuse to lend credence to any viewpoints that say that they lied; that they shirked any responsibility; that they threw anyone "under the bus" and tried to weasel their way out of things. They did not speak untruths at any point. They only ever told the truth.

To be such a naïve soul at first, however, does not change the impact of knowledge once acquired- especially not knowledge of The Mysteries. And to be led upon a course, in a way, does not deny that one must still actively make the choice themselves; to excise agency over one's own life and behavior.

Who, then, to be a better Witch Mother than the Mother of All Things? She who actively exercised such control over her life and destiny? Who transgressed everything she knew to be "right" in one world in the pursuit of her own curiosity and insatiable desire for more and better things- and, as a result, found herself the resident of a world unlike any other before it? Who saw the potential for knowledge and- despite not even knowing what a powerful act it was- still grasped it in her hand, peeled back its skin, and consumed it whole? Who has already sought to give that knowledge to another out of love?

Who better to lead those Virgins on the path to The Mysteries than she who was once a Virgin led upon the path herself?