JLI: The ‘Original Sin’ & the Clash Between Judaism and Christianity

What really happened in the Garden of Eden? Was humanity doomed from the very first sin, or was imperfection always part of God’s plan?

In this thought-provoking talk, Rabbi Professor David Bashevkin — host of the ‪@18forty10‬ podcast and author of Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought — explores the Jewish vs. Christian understanding of the “first sin.” While Christianity views Adam and Eve’s act as Original Sin that broke a perfect world, Judaism sees it differently: failure itself was woven into creation, giving humanity the mission to bring the world closer to perfection.

Discover why Judaism rejects the idea of Original Sin, what the Torah really means by “It is not in heaven,” and how Teshuva (return) shows that no one is ever too far gone to come back.