Bereshit: Fratricide and its Origins

1
CALEV BEN DOR
Bereshit Fratricide and its Origins
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1 And Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived
and bore Cain, and said 'I have gotten a man
with the help of God.' 2 And again she bore his
brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but
Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And it came to
pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the
ground an offering to God. 4 And Abel, also
brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the
fat thereof. And God had respect to Abel and his
offering 5 but to Cain and his offering He had
not respect. And Cain was very angry, and his
countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said to Cain
'Why are you angry? and why is your countenance
fallen? 7 If you do well, shall it not be lifted
up? and if you dont do well, sin couches at the
door and its desire is to you, but you may rule
over it.' 8 And Cain spoke to Abel his brother.
And it was when they were in the field, that Cain
rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9
And the LORD said unto Cain 'Where is Abel your
brother?' And he said 'I dont know am I my
brother's keeper?' 10 And He said 'What have you
done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to
Me from the ground. 11 And now cursed are you
from the ground, which has opened its mouth to
receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12
When you till the ground, it shall no longer
yield its strength to you a fugitive and a
wanderer you shall be in the earth.'
What were they arguing over? They said, 'Let's
divide up the world.' One took the land and the
other took the movable objects. The first then
said, 'The land you're standing on is mine,' and
the other replied, 'What you're wearing is mine.'
The one said, 'Take off your clothes,' and the
other replied, 'Fly!' From this, Cain's rose up
against Abel to kill him. Rabbi Yehoshua of
Sachnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi Both took
land and both took movable property, so what were
they arguing over? One said, 'The Temple will be
built within MY domain,' and the other said, 'No,
in mine!' As it says, 'And it was when they were
in the field' (Genesis 48), and 'field' can only
connote the Temple, as it says, 'Zion shall be
plowed like a field' (Jeremiah 2618). Rabbi
Yehuda says, 'They were arguing over the first
Eve' (Bereshit Rabbah 22). "Rabbi Avahu asked,
the first Eve had returned to the dust already,
and what were they arguing over?' Rav Huna said,
'Over a female twin born with Abel. Cain said, 'I
am taking her because I am the first born,' and
Abel said, 'I am taking her because she was born
with me.' And from this, Cain rose up
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2
The Question of Responsibility
God said Were is Abel your brother? Cain said
I dont know. Am I my brothers keeper? You are
the keeper of all creation and you ask me?? To
what is this similar? To a thief who stole things
in the night and was not caught. In the morning
the gatekeeper caught him. He said to the thief,
"Why did you steal those things?" He said, "I am
a thief and I didn't let down my profession, but
you, your profession is to guard the gate, why
did you let down your profession? And now you ask
me this? And this is what Cain said (to God)
"I killed him because you created in me the
evil inclination. But You--You are the keeper
(haShomer) of all things, why did you allow me to
kill him? You are the one who killed him--You who
are called I (Anokhi), for if you had accepted my
sacrifice as you did his, I wouldn't have been
jealous of him!" (Tanhuma Bereishit).
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Your Brothers blood cries out to me / against me
from the ground Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said It
is difficult to say this thing, and the mouth can
not utter it plainly. Think of two gladiators
wrestling before the king had the king wished,
he could have separated them. But he did not so
desire, and one overcame the other and killed
hum, he the victim crying out before he died
who will plead my case against the king
(Bereshit Rabbah 22
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And Cain said to Abel his brother This means
that Cain told Abel what God had said to him
(about the sacrifice) and how upset he was that
God preferred Abels. And Abel was happy. And
Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed
him.. Daat Hazkenim on Beresht (48)