What was the fruit of the tree of knowledge back in the garden of Eden? TB Sanhedrin 70

The eighth chapter of our massekhet on TB Sanhedrin 68b begins discussing the rebellious son, בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה. “The Torah (Deuteronomy 21:18-21-gg) describes the punishment given to a son who steals money from his parents to eat a gluttonous meal of meat and wine in the company of lowly men. If his parents bring him to court for this act, he is exhorted to desist and is punished with lashes. If he repeats the same misdeed and is again brought to court by his parents within the same three-month period, he is considered a stubborn and rebellious son [ben sorer umoreh]. He is liable to receive the death penalty, which in this case is execution by stoning.” (TB Sanhedrin 68b, Sefaria.org)

The window to be a rebellious son is a very short one. The child is liable from the age of 13 years old to 13 years old and three months. Only addiction to meat and wine qualify him to be a rebellious son. If he steals money from his parents for any other food including nonkosher meat or drink he is not liable. He is also not liable if the meat and wine he drinks is for the purpose of a mitzvah like eating ma’aser sheni (מַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי), the second tithe, in Jerusalem.

Today’s daf TB Sanhedrin 70 goes on a tangent about the benefits and the harm of drinking wine. After the flood Noah drinks himself to a stupor and the midrash chastises him for not learning from Adam’s mistake.

“The Gemara continues to analyze the passage relating to Noah. The verse states: “And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.” In explanation of this matter, Rav Ḥisda says that Rav Ukva says, and some say that Mar Ukva says that Rabbi Zakkai says: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Noah: Noah, shouldn’t you have learned from Adam the first man, whose banishment from the Garden of Eden was caused only by wine? The Gemara notes: This is in accordance with the opinion of the one who says that the tree from which Adam the first man ate was a grapevine.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The notion that the tree of knowledge was an apple tree only comes from Christian tradition. In fact, the rabbis argue what was the fruit of the tree of knowledge that Adam and Eve ate and not one of them suggested an apple.

“As it is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Meir says: The tree from which Adam the first man ate was a grapevine, as, even today, nothing except wine brings wailing and trouble upon a person; most sins are caused by drunkenness. Rabbi Yehuda says: The Tree of Knowledge was the wheat plant. This is proven by the fact that, even today, an infant does not know how to call out to his father or mother until he tastes the taste of grain, and for this reason wheat is called “the Tree of Knowledge.” Rabbi Neḥemya says: The Tree of Knowledge was a fig tree, because it was with the matter with which they sinned that they were rehabilitated, as it is stated: “And they sewed together fig leaves, and made for themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7).” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rabbi  Yehoshua ben Levi objects to identifying the fruit. “Rabbi Azarya and Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Far be it that God should have revealed [the identity of] that tree to any man, nor will He reveal it in the future.” (Berasheet Rabba 15:7, Sefaria.org translation)

God wants to protect the dignity of the fruit. If we actually knew what the fruit of the tree of knowledge was, we would pointed it out and say something to the effect, “This fruit because the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden.” Now if the Torah goes out of its way to protect the dignity of an inanimate object and not embarrassed it, how much more so should we be careful about the dignity of our fellow human beings who are created in God’s own image!