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Simchat Torah, the Cain Mutiny, and Religious Responsibility

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Simchat Torah, the Cain Mutiny, and Religious Responsibility Sukkot and Rabbi Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern Lamm's Legacy Senior Advisor to the Provost of Yeshiva University and Senior Program O! cer of YU's Straus Center for Torah and Western ought SIMCHAT TORAH, THE CAIN MUTINY, AND RELIGIOUS RESPONSIBILITY מִ נְחָ ה לַה': (ד) וְהֶבֶל הֵבִיא גַם הוּא מִבְּ כֹרוֹת imchat Torah is a celebration world and the creation of the rst צֹאנוֹ וּמֵחֶ לְבֵהֶ ן וַיִּשַׁע ה' אֶל הֶבֶל וְאֶל מִ נְחָ תוֹ: ,of the world’s largest book club. man and woman, we might consider (ה) וְאֶל קַ יִן וְאֶל מִ נְחָ תוֹ לֹא שָׁ ﬠָה וַיִּחַ ר לְקַ יִן SJews across the globe unite in amid our current socially distanced מְ אֹד וַיִּפְּלוּ פָּ נָיו: joyfully commemorating completion moment, how lonely, isolated, and of the yearly Torah-reading cycle and precarious Adam and Eve must have In the course of time, Cain brought an starting it again. ough the current felt in navigating a new world. And, as o! ering to the Lord " om the " uit of the pandemic has unfortunately precluded we proceed to read Parashat Bereshit , soil and Abel, for his part, brought the a regular completion of the cycle we come across a heroic and inspiring choicest of the # rstlings of his $ ock. % e and the usual festivities will also be act of one of the earliest humans, a Lord paid heed to Abel and his o! ering, curbed, we nonetheless unhesitatingly moving gesture amid uncertainty. but to Cain and his o! ering He paid no begin reading our holy Torah again. Cain brings a sacri ce. heed. Cain was much distressed and his .face fell (ג) וַיְהִי מִקֵּ ץ יָמִ ים וַיָּבֵא קַ יִן מִפְּרִ י הָאֲדָמָ ה As we reread of God’s creation of the 14 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Sukkot 5781 Cain, we recall, was so named by his mother, because, as In a tale with literary and thematic parallels to the # rst she said, “I created ( kaniti ) a male child with the Lord.” sibling rivalry and fraught jealous rivalry, Joseph is sold by Blessing God for the fruit of her womb, Eve thanked God his brothers into slavery. for His help in allowing the child to be born. And so, as Like with Cain and Abel, rulership is at stake: Jonathan Grossman notes in his Creation: ! e Story of Beginnings (YU Press and Maggid Books, 2019), her son, Joseph & His Brothers Cain and Abel בראשית פרק ד בראשית פרק לז a! er growing up, follows suit. Cain too has produced ֲ(ז) הִלוֹא אֵם תִּיטיְב שֵׂאְת וִאם ַ(ח) וְיֹּאמֶרוּ לוֹ אָחֲיו הָמ! fruit, this time of the agricultural variety, and, just like לֵֹא תִיטיַב לֶפַּתַח חָטּאת רֵֹבץ ִתְּמָ! ﬠֵלינוּ ִאָם מִשׁוֹל תְּמֹשׁל his mother, thanks God for what has " owered. And he ְוֵאֶלְי תָּשׁוּקתוֹ ְוַאָתִּה תְּמָשׁל בּוֹ: ָבַּנוּ וִיּוֹסְפוּ עוֹד שֹׂנֹא אַתוֹ ﬠל did so while ful# lling his parents’ mission, having been ֲח!מָֹתְיו וַﬠְל דָּבָריו: commanded to work the ground and toil in it. As a means of thanking God, he innovates the central ancient religious Surely, if you do right, ritual, a practice that inspired our own daily prayers. He His brothers answered, & ere is upli! . But if brought a korban . “Do you mean to reign you do not do right, Sin over us? Do you mean to crouches at the door; Its At this stage, Cain seems poised to be a religious hero. rule over us?” And they urge is toward you, Yet you Clearly the focal point of the narrative (his brother hated him even more for can be its master.” Abel’s name, unlike his own, was given no explanation), his talk about his dreams. he movingly o$ ers to God a sign of gratitude. As Moshe Halbertal has wri% en, “& e gi! of sacri# ce to God, who is & ere is the seeking of brothers: in the # rst place the provider of the good and in no need of (ט) ַויֹּאֶמר ה' ֶאל ַקִין ֵאי ֶהֶבל (טַז) וֶיֹּאמֶר את ַאַחָי אֹנִכי it, functions as a token of submission and gratitude.” ָאִחי ַויֹּאֶמר לֹא ָיַדְﬠִתּי ֲהֹשֵׁמר ָאִחי ְמַבֵקּשַׁהִגָּידָה נִּא לֵי איֹפֵה הם ָאֹנִכי: רֹﬠִ ים: ,But Cain’s act is met with brutal disappointment. God for reasons unexplained, does not accept Cain’s sacri# ce. He answered, “I am & e Lord said to Cain, But Abel’s is accepted. “Religious sacri# ce is a costly act of looking for my brothers. “Where is your brother self-giving, in denial of natural inclinations, that is o$ ered Could you tell me where Abel?” And he said, “I in suspense, under conditions that threaten failure, for the they are pasturing?” do not know. Am I my purpose of establishing a relation with the transcendent brother’s keeper?” reality” writes scholar David L. Weddle. And Cain’s sacri# ce failed. Isolation in # elds holds the possibility of danger: ַ(ח) וֶיֹּאמַר קִיֶן אל ַ(טו) וִיְּמָצֵאִהוּ איְשׁ וִהֵנֹּה תֶﬠה ַבָּשֶּׂדה ַ(ו) וֶיֹּאמֶר ה' אָל קִיָן לָמָּה חָרָה לְ וָלָמָּה נְפָלוּ פֶנֲי: (ז) הִלוֹא אם ֶהֶבָל אִחַיו וְיִהִי בְּהָיוֹתם ַוִיְּשָׁאֵלָהוּ הִאיֵשׁ לאמַֹר מְה תַּבֵקּשׁ: ֵתִּיטיְב שֵׂאְת וִאם לֵֹא תִיטיַב לֶפַּתַח חָטּאת רֵֹבְץ וֵאֶלְי תָּשׁוּקְתוֹ וַאָתּה ִתְּמָשׁל בּוֹ: ַבָּשֶּׂדהַוָיָּקַם קִיֶן אל A man came upon him wandering And the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you distressed, And why ֶהֶבָל אִחיו ַוַיַּהְרֵגהוּ: ,in the # elds. & e man asked him is your face fallen? Surely, if you do right, ! ere is upli" . But if “What are you looking for?” Cain said to his you do not do right, Sin crouches at the door; Its urge is toward brother Abel ... ְ(כ) וַﬠָתְּה לכוּ ְוַנַהְרֵגהוְּוַנְשִׁלֵכְהוּ בַּאַחד ”.you, Yet you can be its master and when they ַהֹבְּרוֹת וָאַמְרַנוּ חָיָּה רָﬠֲה אָכָלְתְהוּ וִנְרֶאה Following the sacri# ces, Cain is the one God addresses, not were in the # eld, ַמִה יְּהֲיוּ ח!מָֹתיו: Abel, whose o$ ering had been received. God is invested in Cain set upon his Cain’s potential, encouraging continued e$ orts at goodness “Come now, let us kill him and brother Abel and despite disappointment and unrequited entreaties. But throw him into one of the pits; killed him. then things go south. History’s # rst religious hero becomes and we can say, ‘A savage beast mankind’s # rst villain. Cain murders his brother. devoured him.’ We shall see what Cain’s decision to be not his brother’s keeper, but his comes of his dreams!” destroyer, amid what was surely anger and disappointment, And the blood of brothers stands to be spilled: receives, later in Sefer Bereshit, a comforting and restorative echo. 15 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Sukkot 5781 .eir familial future is assured ְ(יא) וַﬠָתָּה אָרוּר אָתּה ַ(כו) וֶיֹּאמְר יָהוּדֶה אֶל אָחַיו מֶה בַּצִע כּי As we, on Simchat Torah, begin Bereshit anew in the ִמָן הֲאָדָמֲה אֶשָׁר פְּצָתה ַנֲהרֶֹג אָת אִחינוּ ְוִכִסֶּינוּ אָת דּמוֹ: (כז) context of our own societal, ! nancial and communal ֶאִת פָּיהָלַקַחֶת את ְדֵּמי ְלְכוּ וִנְמְכֶּרַנּוּ לִיְּשְׁמֵﬠאִלים ְוָיֵדַנוּ אְל תִּהי precariousness, the stories of Cain and Abel, and Joseph ָאִחִי$ מָיֶּד$: ִבוֹ כָּי אִחְינוּ בָשֵׂרנוּ הוּאַוִיְּשְׁמֶעוּ אָחיו: en Judah said to his brothers, erefore, you shall and his brothers, remind us of the stabilizing force of “What do we gain by killing be more cursed than individual responsibility. Kindness toward another, now our brother and covering up his the ground, which as then, can be the antidote to despair, anger, doubt, and blood? Come, let us sell him to opened its mouth uncertainty. the Ishmaelites, but let us not do to receive your In a sermon delivered in 1955, Rabbi Norman Lamm, my away with him ourselves. A er brother’s blood from wife’s grandfather, spoke of the true nature of holiness. It, all, he is our brother, our own your hand. he said, “is for those whose hands must come to grip with esh.” His brothers agreed. real situations cold, brutal, una" ractive, unfeeling; and who can wrest from them cleanliness, warmth, pleasantness, And yet, as we know, Joseph does not seek vengeance kindness.” As we begin once again reading the holiest of against his brothers. In this story, the answer to the books, amid a dark and disappointingly long period of question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is met with a instability, we are reminded how religious heroism, and our resounding yes. Joseph assumes responsibility for his societal future, relies on our ability to bring kindness and brothers and provides for them, despite their earlier light to our brethren. antagonism and cold-heartedness. Stability for their family amid uncertain economic and social times is achieved. 16 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Sukkot 5781.
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