What's in it for the Snake?

Excerpts from the book of Rabbi David Fohrman The Beast that Crouches at the Door

Notes from Chapter 5
What's in it for the Snake

 The story about the two trees begins in preceding chapter 2:9, 2:16-17. 

After the pasuk about the trees, G-d declares that 2:18 "it is not good for man to be alone" and sets about trying to find a mate for him.  2:19 And the Lord God formed from the earth every beast of the field and every fowl of the heavens, and He brought [it] to man to see what he would call it, and whatever the man called each living thing, that was its name.  Adam does not choose a mate from all the animals, G-d creates Eve out of his rib, and only then the story returns to the Forbidden Fruit.  The snake comes along and offers the fruit to Eve. 

Why does Adam's search for a mate interrupt the story about the Tree of Knowledge?

Adam's rejection of all beasts of the field is crucial to the story of the Forbidden Fruit. 

The snake was the smartest of all animals, but Adam did not choose him as his mate.

Midrash Bereishit Rabbah, quoted by Rashi, says that the snake hoped that Eve would pass the fruit to Adam before partaking it, because the snake wanted to assassinate Adam and marry Eve.  Midrash is allegorical, sages often convey deep truths through the mysterious, allegorical garb of Midrash.  

Because Adam rejected animals in favor of Eve, the animal world - with the snake as its smartest representative - leveled a challenge to the first humans: "What makes you so special? What makes you so different from us that you stand alone and require one another as mates? We can be your soul mates, too…"

G-d gave Adam dominion over the animal world, setting him apart from the animals in a very fundamental way.  The human was atop the Creation, but was all alone in this powerful and dominating position.  The temptation of loneliness is to seek solace where it ought not to be sought.  For Adam this would mean seeking companionship among the animals, pretending, if only he could, that he is one of them.

If animals could challenge our right to dominate, how would they do so? Challenge of the animal world: "Are you really so different from us, that you stand above us? At your core, aren't you really one of us?" It's a question we could all ask ourselves.

The snake gives voice to these doubts. "Are you really so sure you need a human as a companion?  Why no choose a soul-mate from our world?"

G-d gave Adam a chance to see how futile it would be to find real companionship in the animal world.   Only after such trial could Adam appreciate the unique compatibility of Eve - 2:23 This time, it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Only after Adam's trial is humanity ready for the challenge of the serpent "Aren't you one of us?"

 What really is the dividing line between human and animal? The primal serpent walks, talks and is clever.  In what sense is he a snake and not a human? Why couldn't he be a fitting mate for Eve, after all?

To be continued in the next chapters...