We hope you all enjoyed the Sukkah crawl! Now it’s time to really get into the year, and we’ll start with a look at Parashat Bereishit. This week’s Torah reading is jam-packed with new beginnings: the beginning of the world, the beginning of humanity, the beginning of sin. A little later on in the parasha though, someone already finds themselves reaching an ending… Zoe Daniels and Chana Bernstein Svivot & Hadracha and Chinuch Workers
There is so much to speak about in Parashat Bereshit that sometimes we don’t focus on a very important episode that happens in Chapter 4. Kayin, also known as Cain, is a well-known character. Not only was he the first person to be born (think about it!), but Kayin was most famous for committing the world’s first murder, against his younger brother Hevel, also known as Abel, the unlucky victim. Murder is (hopefully!) not a concept that anyone of us is too familiar with and it may seem impossible to relate to this tale. So, if not murdering anyone is obvious to us, what can we possibly learn from the story of Kayin and Hevel?
We might not dream of committing a murder, but murder is not something that appears out of nowhere. Murder always has a motive, and we can all relate to feeling angry, vengeful, or hateful towards another person. But what specifically caused Kayin to murder his brother? Surely, he can’t have felt the world was too crowded when only four people existed? In order for us to be crime detectives, let’s look at the evidence leading up to the murder, a very short passage in Bereshit 4:18: “And the man had known his wife, Chava, and she conceived and gave birth to Kayin and she said ‘Man has acquired Hashem’. And she continued to give birth to his brother,Hevel; And Hevel became a shepherd and Kayin used to work the land. And it was at the end of some days; and Kayin brought from the fruits of the ground an offering to Hashem. And Hevel, he also brought, from the first of his flock and from their choicest; and Hashem turned to Hevel and to his offering. And to Kayin and to his offering he did not turn and Kayin got very angry and his face fell. And Hashem said to Kayin ‘Why are you angry and why has your face fallen?’ Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven, and if you do not improve yourself, sin crouches at the
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