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In Bereishis 1:29 we read:

And G-d said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, on which is the fruit yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.

The Or HaChaim HaKadosh (ad loc.) explains, based on the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 21:7), that if Adam would have waited until Shabbos, he would have been allowed to eat from the tree of knowledge:

[...] they, of blessed memory, have already stated (Bereishis Rabbah 21:7) that if [Adam] had waited until the eve of Shabbat, he would have sanctified with wine [of that fruit] - so far [their words]; and from their words, you learn that [this] prohibition was not [to be] forbidden forever.

This is also quoted in sefer Magid HaRakiah Al HaTorah, Bereishis, by Rav Daniel Glatstein shlita (Parshas Bereishis, p. 86-87).

One opinion is that by Shabbos, the tree of knowledge would have been elevated above the concept of death.

Another opinion is given by the (Chasam Sofer Al HaTorah, Parshas Vezos HaBeracha) (although I don't understand that explanation). This explanation seems also to go against the lesson that Hashem wanted to teach us knowledge, and not that we've gotten it via the tree of knowledge, per Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Hoffmann. Refer also to the Chasam Sofer Al HaTorah here. Another possibility is given by Rav Shmuel Engel, known for his She'eilos U'Teshuvos Maharash Engel. He writes that according to halacha, nothing is considered to be in existence until it reaches a third of its way through (cited by Rav Glatstein in The Light And The Splendor, p. 361).

I am, however, looking for more explanations on why, if Adam would've waited until Shabbos, the fruits from the tree of knowledge would have been permited for him to eat from.

Shmuel
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  • Hi @Shmuel what does the part "Why wait three hours?" in your title have to do with the question? – Dov Jan 23 '24 at 20:28
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    @Dov fair enough, edited it. I thought I've read somewhere that it was three hours until Shabbos, but that may be my mistake and mixing stuff up. The question is now edited :) – Shmuel Jan 23 '24 at 20:33
  • @Shmuel you did https://torah.org/torah-portion/ravfrand-5775-achareimos/ – Rabbi Kaii Jan 23 '24 at 20:59
  • @RabbiKaii fantastic article, thank you! It says "He did not have that yet. He was not strong enough to resist." - he then says that this was given when he waited until Shabbos, but the link I still don't see. Why does kedushas Shabbos gives a man this? – Shmuel Jan 23 '24 at 21:14
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    @Shmuel I don't know, the reason I shared the article is it brings you a nice source for three hours – Rabbi Kaii Jan 23 '24 at 21:28
  • My instinct for an answer is that Hashem was saying "either get daat from Me, or get it from the tree, you have three hours to decide". At the end of the three hours, Hashem would have taught Adam the daat, and then it would have been ok to eat the tree. We would have received the knowledge in the proper way, so the tree making it "internal" would be more like an "icing on the cake" to go with the lessons we had learned from Hashem. Getting it from the tree without His guidance is the problem, and means we need to figure it out ourselves (until Avraham etc accepted Torah) – Rabbi Kaii Jan 23 '24 at 21:36
  • @RabbiKaii nice chiddush and that aligns with the idea of Rabbi Hoffmann. However, why specifically Shabbos. If everyone has a nice answer, please feel free to post it :) – Shmuel Jan 23 '24 at 21:41
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    @Shmuel you are asking for mefarshim, and that's fair. Maybe I saw all of the above in mefarshim but would have to see, and might be nice to think of a reason why specifically Shabbat, but I'm not there yet sorry! – Rabbi Kaii Jan 23 '24 at 21:44
  • @Shmuel The significance of the 3 hours is because, like is recounted in Sefer HaDorot, the transgression of eating from the fruit occurred in the 10th hour of the day on Erev Shabbos, 3 hours before the first Shabbos began. The suggestion seems to be that the prohibition against eating was only intended for the time of that day specifically. This also relates to delaying eating until after the 7th hour, like is mentioned in the laws of Shabbat, in order to eat with desire; desire that is acquired from eating from the Tree of Knowledge. – Yaacov Deane Feb 19 '24 at 02:37
  • @YaacovDeane Okay, but he was permitted to eat from the Eitz HaChaim, wouldn't that have been considered eating as well? – Shmuel Feb 19 '24 at 15:53
  • @Shmuel If you look at the commentaries around the page, they seem to be bringing out the idea that the limbs of their bodies were only regarded for reproduction, not with desire. The acquisition of desire only comes from the Tree of Knowledge. That focuses on increase in life, meaning Tree of Life only. But another detail to note is that in Bereshit 1:29 the restriction on the fruit from trees is not mentioned. See also the emphasis from Ramban to Bereshit 2:9. The collecting of fruit was not prohibited, only eating the raw fruit. Take note about laws for erev Shabbat and what can be tasted. – Yaacov Deane Feb 19 '24 at 20:46
  • @YaacovDeane, thanks for pointing in a direction. Please refer to my latest comment on Mordechai's answer "why then did G-d say that eating was permitted, but the one thing that was not permitted was the Eitz Hadaas. Adam could've and was permitted to eat from everything else, even if it was Shabbos, only not from the Eitz HaDaas" - please feel free to put something into an answer, I have troubles understanding this concept to be honest. G-d said eat from everything, except this one tree. So saying that Adam was not permitted to eat because he needed to wait until Shabbos, seems difficult. – Shmuel Feb 19 '24 at 20:52
  • @YaacovDeane would you be able to make an answer, including sources, for what you wrote on Feb 19, 20:46 (comments)? That way, I would still be able to give you the bounty-awards :) – Shmuel Feb 26 '24 at 15:59

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One is not supposed to eat or drink on Friday more than other days of the week. After the 9th hour one should not eat any meal (S"A O"H 249:2). Adam was commanded not to eat from the ninth hour and he ate in the tenth hour (Sanhedrin 38b).

On that note, there is a 3 way argument what the tree was (Brachot 40a).

  1. Grapes (corresponding to "Mishteh" in the S"A)
  2. Figs (possibly a formal meal S"A O"H 184:3)
  3. Wheat (a formal meal according to all).
Mordechai
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  • TY, but why was the Eitz HaChaim then permissible, based on this explanation? – Shmuel Feb 19 '24 at 16:20
  • I don't know of a source that says what the fruit of that tree was. The Midrash says it's Torah (Pirkei d'Ribbi Eliezar 12:3) https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_DeRabbi_Eliezer.12.3 – Mordechai Feb 19 '24 at 17:26
  • But let's continue on the path that "one is not supposed to eat or drink on Friday....", why then did G-d say that eating was permitted, but the one thing that was not permitted was the Eitz Hadaas. Adam could've and was permitted to eat from everything else, even if it was Shabbos, only not from the Eitz HaDaas. – Shmuel Feb 19 '24 at 20:34
  • Fine, I edited dessert out... I could say that the other foods, not of 7 species are not considered a meal, we see Adams curse had to do with bread. Or you can say the other foods wouldn't have brought pleasure (Figs are considered the most "pleasureful" of the 7 species since they are the only ones that you eat the whole thing including skin and the seeds (before gmo grapes) see also https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.140b.7) and a Talmid Chacham is supposed to wait to have pleasure on shabbat (https://www.sefaria.org/Ketubot.62b.5). – Mordechai Feb 19 '24 at 21:37