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The Greatest Story Never Told
The Relationship of the Gentile and the Torah
By Ariel Bar Tzadok


The Sin of Urbanization

Urbanization is a unique act of the human species. Urbanization is the building of collective habitats which are inclusive of all needs of human society. The urban society is a man made attempt to control his nature and environment. Urbanization and its foundation technology are an attempt by mankind to use human intelligence to develop and manifest mastery over the world of nature and nature's creator, G-d, the L-rd.

The original sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden was to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Good and Evil. Adam did partake of this knowledge. The Bible clearly says that his eyes were open and he did become like G-d. He did not become G-d, but like G-d in that Adam too could now use his mind to create an environment in his own image, even as G-d created one in His.

The creations created by mankind are expressions of the unique human knowledge, that was received by Adam upon partaking of the forbidden fruit. Therefore, since the beginning of modern human history dated from Adam, all human development is an expression of the knowledge which is, in and of itself, blemished. Remember the Tree of Knowledge gave forth fruit that was both good and evil. Human technology, the byproduct of our knowledge, therefore, is a two edged sword which can be used as either a blessing or a curse.

Cain violated his High Priest birthright by not offering the proper sacrifice to G-d. He added insult to injury by murdering his brother. G-d banished Cain from living in the world that He created. This was the meaning of Cain's banishment from before G-d. Cain would no longer be able to live in harmony with nature, for the blessings of nature, symbolically called "the face of G-d" was concealed from Cain. He would never again experience the blessings of what nature has to provide. Cain, therefore, created his own nature, he used the evil side of the knowledge of the Tree and created an environment which by its intrinsic nature was a manifestation of his own evil.

The city which Cain built and every city thereafter manifest at their psychological core an expression of knowledge which has its source in the evil side of the original forbidden fruit. Urbanization and the technology that comes forth from it, therefore, is man's attempt to create an alternate nature other than what G-d had originally ordained. This was the first form of rebellion against G-d. Yet, it must be remembered that the sin of banishment and the rebellion that came forth from it was not placed upon all mankind but only upon Cain and those descended from him.

Cain, however, was not the only one of the children of Adam to have gone astray. The children of Adam and Eve's third son, Seth also followed a path away from G-d. The difference was that the path followed by Enosh, the son of Seth, was not overtly a rebellious path, but rather was followed mistakenly, similar to the mistake and confusion of mother Eve in the
Garden.