Category: Beraishis Ch. 4

Chava named her first child קין. The root of this word is acquisition (by production). This displayed egotism. Instead of considering her duties to God upon the birth of a child and giving him a name reflecting that, the name Chava chose said “through my sacrificing my strength, with God’s help, I have acquired a male human being. (“This is my child. I earned him” GS)

Hirsch suggests that קין was born in Gan Eden. However the next son, הבל, was born after they were banished from Gan Eden. (but Hirsch does cite another opinion.) With the new troubles of life, her mood wasn’t happy and she projected her worry and feeling of burden when naming her child הבל which means transitoriness -existence whose continuity is held in check.

(This is a more mature understanding of life than previously but Chava was still projecting herself onto her son and not considering her duties to God regarding raising this child. GS)

(See RSRH later in this chapter, verse 25. After Kayin killed Hevel, Chava named the next child שת, meaning “foundation”. She now said ” God has put before me another seed (a new foundation to develop). – Chava had come to the realization of her duty to see her child as put before her by God and to develop and nurture that child to fulfill its duties. No longer was Chava considering her child as “hers” or projecting her experience onto her child. – GS)

Beraishis 4: 1-2
(pages 121-123)

Beraishis 4:25 (page 146)

The names Kayin and Hevel mean “Acquisition” and “Transitory”. The occupations they chose suited their personalities, expressed in their names.

Kayin became a farmer. Much energy is spent on tilling the soil leaving little time for spiritual growth. The moral risk involved in this occupation is the attachment to ownership. The farmer can become overly proud of the results of his hard work and of his possessions.

Hevel became a shepherd. Working with and caring for animals fosters humane feelings. The flock do not owe their existence to man. Therefore there is less risk of becoming too proud of ownership. This occupation doesn’t drain all one’s energies, allowing time for spiritual growth. (Our forefathers, Moshe and King David were shepherds).

Agriculture vs Shepherding – Egypt vs Israel
Over attachment to land and property dulls the spirit. The desire for property and more productivity leads to enslaving others. The farmer who needs good climate to prosper can easily come to worship the forces on nature. Slavery and idolatry first emerged in the midst of agricultural peoples.

Ancient Egypt culture was based on its agriculture. (The Nile river was its constant source of irrigation and was worshiped. – GS) It was a culture based on enslaving others and idolatry. The national success in the land’s production was the center of all. The individual had no value, with no dignity or freedom.

The Egyptian people had a particular dislike for the Jews who arrived in their midst, a tribe of shepherds. Their values were faith in God, the freedom of man and realizing man’s likeness to God.

Once granted their own land, Israel would also become an agricultural people and share these challenges with the rest of humanity. The Torah provides the Jewish people with the antidote to the dangers of such a life. Laws such as ערלה and כלאים remind us of God’s existence. Laws such as  שכחה, לקט  and פאה direct us to be humane and brotherly. (By faithfully following these laws, and the land prospering and society flourishing, the Jewish nation would model what God wants all of mankind to strive for. -GS)

Beraishis 4:2
(pages 123-125)

The offerings of Kayin and Hevel predate polytheism and idolatry, thus proving that offerings are not a concession to what was commonly practiced at the time of the giving of the Torah. (This is the Rambam’s view. The Ramban here proves him wrong. RSRH often sides with the Ramban. – GS)

Outside the temple מנחה means gift. In the temple it is a flour and oil offering. Throughout the book of Malachi, like here, מנחה is used to describe an animal offering.

The root of מנחה is probably נחה. נחה means “to lead”. Perhaps the meaning of the מנחה offering is to submit to the authority of God (saying to God that He leads us). If this is correct, the מנחה is a sign of homage.

Beraishis 4:3
pages 125-126

After the first harvest Kayin, the first born, representing the family, brought leftovers. His attitude was wrong. He felt he add to offer “something” to God. (Hirsch’s cites Malachi who blames Israel for the same thing. He adds, “People establish temples and churches with the same spirit in which they build hospitals and jails.”)

Hevel did not want to be represented by this and brought his own offering. He chose the first and the best of his flock. The first represents all the rest that comes after it. With his offering he was dedicating all of God’s gifts to the service of God.

God rejected Kayin, the first born’s offering and accepted Hevel’s.

 

Beraishis 4:4-5
pages 126-127

The firstborn, in theory, tends to the material and spiritual needs of the family. Every home worldwide would flourish spiritually- receiving God’s blessing and thus thriving materially. In reality, throughout history we find that the firstborn has not yet lived up to its calling.

Examples of firstborns who were rejected are: Kayin, Esav, Reuven and all the firstborn in the wilderness

This will only become a reality at the end of history. At that time all of life will become holy. Those who bear the burden of the home will automatically also be a priest, dedicated to God. Until then, very often those who bear the material burden are not the most fit to serve as the priest.

Mashiach is described as “a priest upon his throne” (Zecharia 6:13). He will be capable of being both priest and king, leading in spirit and directing the world in its material needs. (And this will inspire the rest of humanity to uplift all aspects of their lives.) Until that time, “the two crowns will be as a reminder in God’s Temple” (v. 14 there). (Perhaps this is referring to the Jewish king who sits beside the high priest who serves in the Temple – GS)

 

 

 

Beraishis 4:3-6
pages 127-128

Kayin was angry that God rejected his offering and despaired about his future. He allowed his selfish tendencies to overtake him and present an unacceptable offering to God. He felt that since he had such a nature, he had no ability to be different and to have any hope for the future.

God’s response was: Whether you will accept sensuality for good or for bad, sensuality waits at the door for this purpose; its longing is toward you that you should master it. (It waits outside, by the door, peacefully, not to harm you but for you to master it. Hirsch quotes a Midrash that says sensuality is upset when man fails and allows himself to be ruled by it.)

God created the power of sensuality, not that it should control you but that you should control it. You are not to suppress it or kill it, rather rule over it and guide it. That is its whole purpose and mission.

No human quality is, in itself, good or bad. Everything depends on moral use. Without opportunities for failure, there would be no free will and man would not become noble. Man was given both opportunities for sensuality and free will in order to master his natural tendencies and use them in the proper way.

Beraishis 4:6-7
pages 129-132

Kayin, shortly after killing his brother Hevel tells God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Kayin tells God it is not his task to look after his brother. He is busy enough tending to his own affairs.

This cold-blooded egoism expressed here serves as a warning: Whoever does not care about his fellow man, whoever adopts the motto “every man for himself” is not far from the hatred that impels a man to murder even the one dearest to him, when he fells that the latter stands in his way.

Beraishis 4:9

page 133

When man follows God’s instructions and lives a moral life, the earth works in harmony with man. Put another way, when man (אדם) is God’s footstool (הדום) the earth (אדמה) is man’s footstool.

Now that Kayin has done such a terrible crime, even though his calling was to work the earth, he will not succeed at that. The ground will not respond favorably to his efforts. He is נע, constantly moving. He can’t find a place to call his own.

He is also נד, isolated from society.

This is a harsher punishment than death. Indeed God declares his continuing to live to be seven-fold worse than death. His difficult existence will serve as a warning to anyone considering murder.

Beraishis 4:11-15
pages 134-139

Kayin was born with his mother Chava’s attitude of acquisition – “קניתי” (see Beraishis 4A Motherhood). His name קין means acquisition which defines his personality. His crime was due to the same root character flaw, jealousy (קנאה).

Now that he realized that he had lost everything as a result of his crime, true to his self centered personalty, he still doesn’t mention his brother and what he had done to him. He continues to focus on himself and tells God “(The results of) my crime are too much for me to bear.”

In other words, he could have tolerated the crime he committed had he himself not been so terribly affected. But this isolated and frustrated existence is too much for him to bear.

Beraishis 4:13
pages 136-137

Kayin, alienated from society and no longer able to work the land, turns away from God and sought to build for himself an independent life. He still had himself. He still had his mental powers and skills. This was man’s first attempt at establishing his life without God. He became a city-builder.

Agriculture reaches the city and is converted to meet human needs. Art and industry are developed. The “fields” of the city-dweller are his energy, mind and skill. In the countryside, the fields are cultivated. In the city, man is cultivated.

The Hebrew word for city, עיר, is related to the word עור which means “awake”. In the city, man’s capabilities are awakened.

We see the same contrast between the countryside and the city in other places in the Torah. The cities of the Levites who had no portion of the land. Also the cities of refuge, for someone who committed manslaughter. Also בתי ערי חומה are considered detached from their surrounding land. (See commentary on page 140 for more details)

Beraishis 4:16-17
pages 139-140

 

 

 

Midrash Rabbah, 23:2, teaches that all of Kayin’s descendants’ names allude to a rebellion against God that continued with each generation. RSRH suggests a creative interpretation of these names, each one symbolizing the essence or a critical component of that generation.

חנוך: This name means development and training. Without the land flourishing, Kayin was forced to rely on the abilities that are innate in every person and bring them from potential to reality. He created a structured system teaching his decedents how to harness their talents.

עירד, related to the word ערוד (which means a wild ass) means resistant. Chanoch attempted to train the next generation toward culture but this was met with resistance.

מחויאל means  מחוי אל – one in whom godliness has been blotted out. Later in the same verse he is called  מחי יאל – מחייאל meaning one who blotted out godliness. – At first, the young generation refuses to become boxed in and accept the development towards culture. As the generation became older it became worse and became proactive in seeking to blot out godliness in others around them.

מתושאל means seeking masses of people.
למך – When masses of people form the next stage is למך (Hirsch doesn’t know what that means and leaves this stage unexplained.)

למך had three sons:  יבל, יובל ותובל קין All three stemming from the root יבל which means to bring in. These three sons encompass all of man’s pursuits as follows:

יבל was the first man of property. The verse tells us he was the father of those who dwell in tents and breed cattle. This represents merchants and tradesmen. The basis of every economy.

• As the cultural level rises, man aspires from something higher than just possessions. This leads to….

יובל which is in the passive form is the opposite of יבל. He produces nothing. Produce is brought to him. יובל produces nothing tangible and is supported by businessmen. The verse teaches that יובל introduced music to the world.

• God departed from Kayin’s world which brought about a loss of inner harmony. Seeking to regain that, man seeks inner harmony through external stimulation. It awakens feelings and sensitizes the soul.

The prerequisite for industry and art is…

תובל means “production” – The very act of production. תובל created tools that enable production. He is named תובל קין indicating that he was Kayin’s major production and achievement.

Tuval Kayin’s sister is נעמה which means beauty. Beauty and taste added to industry is the start of progress. This combination is the first step towards higher values.

In this way, Kayin regains his ground. He no longer needs the produce of the field. His mind is his field. The villages bring their produce to the city. In return they receive all the benefits of urban industry.

However this replacement of God is hollow and unsatisfying. Kayin laments that he has gained nothing and has undone his past and his future. More on that in the next post.

This verse is written in poetic form, lending to Midrashic interpretation.
The verse reads: Lemech tells his wives: I have slain a man to my own hurt, and a child to my own bruising. If Kayin shall be avenged seven-fold , then Lemech shall be avenged seventy-seven fold.

Rashi cites a Midrash: Lemech was the grandson of Kayin, and was blind. He and his young son went out hunting, the boy acting as his eyes to help him locate animals to hunt. When the child spotted what appeared to be an animal he directed his father to shoot. Lemech mistakenly shot Kayin, his grandfather. When Lemech and the boy approached the dead “animal” the boy told his father that it wasn’t an animal, he had actually killed their grandfather, he clapped his hands together and exclaimed, “Woe is me, I have killed my own grandfather Kayin!” In that hand clap he inadvertently struck his son’s head and crushed it. In this way Lemech came to kill his own grandfather and his own son on the same day. Lemech reacted by saying, “By a bruise of mine (my blindness) I killed a man (Kayin) and by a blow of mine (clapping my hands) did I kill a child (his own child)!”

RSRH develops this Midrash further, explaining this episode metaphorically and as a continuation of the previous verses (which spoke of Kayin and his descendants setting out to harness and develop the creative thoughts and skills they possessed to build a city-world of industry and culture, removed from God) as follows:

“Adah and Tzillah, my wives, what we have achieved, setting our children on the path they have taken is no source of pride. The world of the city and all its productivity and culture doesn’t atone for Kayin’s sin. Rather, I have killed him. I have also murdered the youth, and by doing so I have wounded myself most of all.”

Culture is only holy and brings happiness if it is in the service of God. But when the previous generations were set on removing God from their lives and this is the culture they developed as an expression of the aspirations of those generations, this results in being just the same or worse than Kayin himself.  Such a generation sacrifices the past and the future without gaining anything for itself.

Beraishis 4:23-24
pages 144-146

אדם signifies the pure state of man. אנוש, related to אנס and ענש, signifies man in decline. (see here for etymology of Adam) (see page 147 for the etymology of Enosh)

Adam is a representative of God in the world. Enosh misuses his position and through violence and coercion he seizes power for himself.

It was then, starting with the generation of Enosh, that man first began to call in the name of God.

Hirsch quotes his teacher Chacham Bernays, with the following explanation of this verse:

The need to call out in the name of God shows a significant decline in man’s relationship with God.
Man began to forget the name of Hashem (the four letter name of Hashem as opposed to the name Elokim). They still recognized the existence of God as understood by the name Elokim. The name Elokim represents the Creator of the world who set all the laws of nature in place. (See Names of God in Concepts.) But the four letter name of Hashem represents a God who is involved in the lives of every individual and nation. It teaches that man is given the world to master it in accordance with God’s will and to uplift everything for a higher purpose. Society is to be subordinate to God’s will, not as a means of subjugating others. With God recognized as Master, men are freed from tyranny.

This explains why we pronounce this name of God by the word “אדנ-י” which means “my Master”.

Man, understanding his relationship with God as his Master, is Adam. This name of God gives man a feeling of dignity. Man comes to understand his smallness and at the same time he understands his role in the universe; that he is the crown of creation, the “footstool for the Divine presence”.

Returning to this relationship became the story of history for all of mankind.

Avraham Avinu, who called out in the name of Hashem was told that his descendants would be charged with teaching this relationship to God, once again. This became Israel’s mission.

Beraishis 4:26
pages 146-150