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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door; its desire is towards you and you can conquer it’. And Kayin said to Hevel his brother; and it was when they were in the field and Kayin rose against Hevel his brother and killed him.” It seems like Hevel gets a rough deal here. We know that names are very significant in Judaism and relate strongly to our character – yet Hevel’s name means ‘insignificance’, or in modern Ivrit, ‘nonsense’! Now there are some strange names around today, but I’ve never heard of anyone called, in essence, nothing! Chava does not even give a reason for why Hevel is given his name, as opposed to her proudly announcing her first son as Kayin, a name which means ‘acquisition’ and ‘purchase’. It seems that for Chava, and presumably Adam as well, Kayin was real, actual and significant. Hevel was an afterthought and worthless. It must have come as a shock to everyone when of all people, God accepts Hevel’s offering! Kayin seemingly cannot believe it. He was brought up to believe that only he is important, perhaps in terms of inheritance or in other ways. How could Hashem put him in second place? This event went against what Kayin saw as the natural order or life. Kayin’s response was simply a reaction against this – he felt that by removing the source of the problem (Hevel) he could solve it. The justification for this crime was easy: in Kayin’s mind, Hevel was completely worthless. This is evident in his reaction to being ‘found out’: “And Hashem said to Kayin ‘Where is Hevel your brother’? And he said ‘I do not know – Am I my brother’s keeper?’” (Bereishit 4:9) Rashi says that this was said with the expression of wonderment – Kayin genuinely did not think this was a problem. Now, we have seen that Kayin’s actions were more than just a rash reaction to an incident over who’s offering to Hashem is nicer’ – rather, that incident was a catalyst for a wider problem: Kayin did not value Hevel’s life.
One of the themes of Sefer Bereshit is the intrinsic value of each and every life. So far, we have looked at what happens when people are not viewed as having intrinsic worth in an extreme way. The Torah, naturally, guards against this happening and teaches us to see everyone as part of Hashem’s plan for the world, and therefore important. This is why the Jewish people descend from Avraham, someone who went to great lengths to care about every single person, irrespective of whether they caused him difficulty.
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We saw an example of this last week when we learned how great he was at welcoming guests when he was unwell! In summary: The story of Kayin and Hevel raises some important questions for us. Do we see every single person as worth something? How often do we dismiss people and say ‘they’re worthless/annoying’? Do we care about those outside our own circle of family, friends, community and even people? In Bnei Akiva, are we working towards an ideal in which every single person is seen for their values or are there still issues with nicknames, bullying and favouritism?
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Can you think of some other examples of where characters in Bereshit do not value the lives of others? What should Kayin’s reaction have been after God challenged him?
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Play/skit of the Kayin and Hevel story: use props and a set and go for the Disneyland effect! Ladders: Give each pair a key word from the story
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Mr Men Game: Give everyone a character from Mr Men and they have to act it out throughout the peula. This shows how much we ‘act out’ our personalities, just like Kayin and Hevel. You can also learn from here the importance of not having degrading nicknames. Personality auction: Action different traits e.g. “good public speaker”, “funny”, “introspective” - they could bid in fake money or in willingness to do funny tasks. Discuss how we sometimes see some traits as more important/valuable than others. Is this right?
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Court Case: Put Kayin on trial, both for the crime and (assuming he is found guilty) the sentence. Freezeframe: Use the Kayin and Hevel story and explore what could have happened if Kayin had thought differently.
Ethical dilemmas debate: o A train has lost control and is hurtling down the track towards a group of five people. You can switch the tracks, but then the train will hit one person who is not currently in danger. Who do you save?
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A group of people are visiting a seaside cave and a pregnant woman has got stuck in the entrance, trapping everyone inside. The tide is about to come in and everyone will drown except for the pregnant woman, whose head will be above the water level. You have a stick of dynamite that you could use to blow up the entranceway and save everyone apart from her. What do you do? A university has one scholarship that they can give someone to fund their degree. There are five applicants, none of whom will be able to afford the course without the scholarship: a child prodigy who finished their A-levels aged 12, a single mother with two children, a boy from a poor background who would be the first in his family to go to university, a cancer survivor, someone from an ethnic minority that isn’t represented at the university. Who should get the scholarship?
Look back at Bereishit 4:1-8. How do the members of the ‘First’ family relate to each other? Are there differences between them? Does the modern world value everyone as equal? Who are the kinds of people who are valued less?
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