1)

Why does the Torah insert the (otherwise superfluous) word ?Vayi?hyu Sh?neihem Arumim?

1.

Oznayim la?Torah: Because, it was only now, after Hashem had separated Adam and Chavah, and they were two people, that there would have been reason to be embarrassed to walk around naked.

2)

Seeing as Adam and Chavah were intelligent enough to name all the animals, why did they not know the basic tenet of Tzeni'us (modesty)?

1.

Rashi: Although Adam and Chavah were highly intelligent, they did not possess a Yeitzer ha'Ra. 1

2.

Seforno: Every action that Adam and Chavah performed was for the sake of Hashem (without any other motive). Consequently, the parts of their body with which they were intimate were no different to them than the mouth, the face and the hands are to us. 2

3.

Maharal (Be'er ha'Golah, Be'er 5, p. 93): The union itself of husband and wife is not at all disgraceful; on the contrary, the continuation of Creation depends on it! Rather it is when physical desire has taken control of a person that he feels shame. Before the sin, reproduction involved no more innate desire than any other physical activity, and there was no need to keep covered.


1

See Sifsei Chachamim.

2

Lev Eliyahu (Bereishis, p. 111): Since the Yeitzer ha'Ra was not inside them, matters of intimacy were like other matters. Refer to 2:9:3:1**.

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