Adam Knew Chavah: The Tzaddik's Thought in Union

22“And the man knew Chavah his wife; she conceived and bore Kayin.” At first glance the word “knew” is hard to understand. The verse could have said, “And the man came to Chavah …” But it is like what we find with Avraham Avinu, who said to Sarah, “Behold, now I know that you are a woman of beautiful appearance.”¹ I have heard that this is written in a sefer: Avraham had come to Egypt, where the people were steeped in lewdness, and their thoughts of immorality brought a thought about his own wife into his heart as well. That is why he said, “Now I know.” (I heard the explanation at length, but I give it here in short.) For this is the way of the true tzaddik: he has no thought, fantasy or desire at all, even for his own wife. Even when he is with his wife, his mind must then be on the upper worlds, so that he does not know at all that he is with his wife.

23This is the meaning of “And the man knew Chavah his wife.” At the time of their union Adam gave his mind to it and knew that she was his wife. That is why “she conceived and bore” Kayin (קין), who, as the Zohar says, was a kina (קינא), a nest, of impurity.²

24This is what Chazal mean by “Two went up to the bed, and seven came down.”³ The bed, mitah, hints at a lofty level, as in “Behold, the bed of Shlomo.”⁴ Adam rose to that lofty level with “two,” that is, with two thoughts, for his mind held this world as well, as we saw with the word “knew.” So “seven came down”: through this he caused seven lofty levels to descend.⁵ But a person who conducts himself in holiness raises those seven levels up. Understand this.