אור החיים — והנחש היה ערום

Q — Why did Chava fail to resist the serpent when righteous people today routinely overcome the yetzer hara's enticements? And why would God create a being whose purpose is to seduce people into sin?

A — Or HaChaim partly defends Chava: people resist temptation today because they recognize the seducer as 'און ומרמה' — deceit and falsehood — but Chava had no way of knowing that God had created a creature precisely to test her ('לנסותה'). The deeper point is that the מסית exists as a chesed: spiritual attainment is proportional to the struggle overcome ('לפום צערא אגרא'). The stronger the seducer, the greater the heights a person can reach by defeating him — 'אין השגה זולת אמצעות נצחון המסית.'