http://en.allexperts.com/q/Orthodox-Judaism-952/Original-Sin.htm

Rabbi Moss - "The Jewish view of the sin of Adam and Eve is very different from the Christian one. In fact, when looked at deeply, it is questionable whether the sin was evil at all.

Judaism is emphatic that a person is born innocent - not evil, not good either, but innocent. We are given a clean slate. But we are not born into an innocent world. The world we are born into is one of challenge, difficulty, pain and evil. But all these are merely means to an end: it is through facing challenges that we grow as human beings, through going through difficulty we bring out deeper resources from within, through pain we become stronger and by combatting evil we create a world of good. So all negativity in the world is just a facade - behind it is ultimate goodness.

That's how reality is now. But it was not like that in the beginning. Adam and Eve were pure beings who entered a perfect world. There was no challenge, pain or death in their world. The "knowledge of good and evil" was a tree that they were told to stay away from in order to maintain this perfect world. "On the day you eat from the tree you will become mortal" said G-d. Eve picked up on a nuance in this warning. Here is my reconstruction of Eve's thought process:

G-d is giving us a choice. We can either remain perfect in a perfect world, or we can ingest the knowledge of good and evil and become imperfect (mortal). What should we choose? Well, G-d created us with a purpose. But what purpose could there be in remaining perfect? G-d was perfect before we were created, so what are we adding? Our purpose must be to face imperfection and make that perfect too, through our own efforts. That's something only we can do, because only we can be imperfect (G-d "can't" do that). So she ate of the tree and convinced Adam to eat it too.

Mortality was not a punishment for eating the fruit, but rather the natural consequence (because only a perfect being is immortal). So too the other "curses" - pain in childbirth and difficulty in making a living are the natural consequences of Eve's choice, because from now on, all achievement has to be earned, which means that nothing can be "born" without hardship.

As descendants of Adam and Eve we have inherited this path - the path of facing challenges, fighting evil and trying to bring the world back to its previous perfection. Every time we overcome a negative urge, or we transform an evil situation to a holy one, we win a battle in this war. We make the world a little bit more comfortable for G-d's presence to be manifest. When the sum total of all the good in all generations reaches a certain point, G-d will send the Messiah. He is a human leader who will teach the world how to put the finishing touches on the work of perfecting the world. He will bring material peace between all nations of the world, he will make peace between the spiritual ideals of how the world should be and the practical reality of how the world is, he will bring down the heavens and reveal them on earth. And he won't die, nor will anyone, because evil and death will have been vanquished for ever."

 Wikipedia - Quran
God announced to the angels that He would create a viceregent (man) on the earth. The angels questioned this, wondering why God would create something with the capacity to disobey Him:
002.030 Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent (man) on earth." They said: "Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?" He said: "I know what ye know not." 002.031 And He taught Adam the names of all things; then He placed them before the angels, and said: "Tell me the names of these if ye are right." 002.032 They said: "Glory to Thee, of knowledge We have none, save what Thou Hast taught us: In truth it is Thou Who art perfect in knowledge and wisdom." 002.033 He said: "O Adam! Tell them their names." When he had told them, Allah said: "Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth, and I know what ye reveal and what ye conceal?"[Qur'an 2:30] (Al-Baqara [The Cow])

God then commanded the angels to prostrate (bow down) to Adam. The angels prostrated but Iblis (Satan), out of haughtiness, refused to bow. God cursed him because of his disobedience. Iblis sought respite and vowed to mislead Adam and his progeny. He misled Adam and his wife Eve to eat from a tree that was forbidden for them by God. Due to their disobedience, God ordered the removal of Adam and Eve out of paradise and down to earth. God promised that the earth will be a dwelling place for them and their children a limited time (Until the Day of Judgment). The Qur'an Al-A'raf (The Elevated Places) verses 7:11-27 detail the story of the Fall.

Islam interprets the account of the fall as being simply historical, Adam and Eve's disobedience would have already been known to God even before he created them, thus draw no particular theological implications for human nature. That is, man's setting, condition, and environment have in essence changed - but not man himself. Quite simply, because of Adam's actions, he and his wife were removed from the garden, forced to work, suffer pain in childbirth, and die. However, even after expelling them from the garden, God provided that people who honor God and follow God's laws would be rewarded, while those who acted wrongly would be punished.

Good comment, yet the teaching of "original sin" in the church was not even thought of until 394 a.d. (c.e.) by St Augustine. So the concept that man is inherently "sinful" is a new thought in the overall age of the book. 

I disagree that it is semantics. -1. being born clean and free of sin and then obtaining sin as you live your life is different then saying - 2. you are born a defective product and there is no way to fix you.

1. is fixable as you repent of "sinful ways", realizing that there is a chance to "redeem" yourself by your actions in your lifetime. Which makes a relationship with God personal, obtainable and allowing the cleansing of the sin to become strictly between you and God without a third person intervention. Or in my opinion, "I went in talked to my Dad, told him what happened and promised to try and be better, He accepted that I had learned a valuable lesson and we are good with each other now."

2. is unfixable - you are defective and there is no chance of "redemption" unless of course you abide by the rules and thoughts of a theology.  You as a person have no input on the cleanness of your soul. You also can have a personal relationship with God except that the outcome of this relationship has no bearing on your soul. You can only be cleaned by a third party entity that may or may not deem you worthy of saving. my opinion on this "I went to my Brother, told him my story, explained that I was sorry for doing a wrong thing, I will change my ways, and could He go and talk to Dad and explain the situation so that Dad will like me again. Because Dad really doesn't want to talk to me, but He really likes my Brother."

As far as everyone being able to interpret, we do that everyday. As you note, ask ten people anything in the bible and you get ten "correct" answers. Each is proven by that person's theological leader. 

It seems to me, first of all, that the author of this article thinks sin is perfectly okay and necessary. This, of course, is contradicted in the very verses he used to try to prove his point. And what is the point of winning the "battle of good and evil" if there ISN'T any evil?? Secondly, this whole thing seems to be a matter of semantics. Man sins because he is not perfect, vs. man sins because he is inherently sinful. Who cares? The point is that we all have sinned, whether we think it comes from being imperfect or from being inherently sinful.

I like this thought.  Because you have come across a point that I feel is extremely necessary in our world.  Who cares what the point of view is? I applaud you if you feel this way, because then you are presenting a view that it doesn't matter what one's belief is, but how does the world become a less "sinful" place. Yet, wars have been fought over the milennia because in theology they care.

Agree