Parashat Bereshit

The first of the not only speaks of creation and construction, it is also full of death and destruction. Chief among these foundational stories of our humanity is the tragic story of the first brothers, Kayin and Hevel. Because Kayin lived longer, he does more and speaks more than the brother murdered by his hand. Consequently, our attention when reading this story is often drawn to Kayin. We want to know what motivated him to bring the first sacrifice that a ever brought; we want to know what characterized his sacrifice, and why it was not accepted; we want to know why Kayin was so incredibly angry. But it is the character of Hevel, though only briefly glimpsed, that can teach us a tremendous amount about what it means to truly serve with an independent, but also humble, spirit.

A close reading of these verses yields two important insights into Hevel’s choice to bring his sacrifice. First, the inspiration for Hevel’s offering appears to be the behavior of his ,and Hevel himself also brought , לוְהֶבֶ הֵבִ יא גַם הּוא older brother, as the language of strongly implies. Of course, it is not unusual for younger siblings to want to do what their older brother or sister have done. What makes Hevel special is the second component of Hevel’s choice that he chose to imitate Kayin in bringing a sacrifice, even though he didn’t see that Kayin’s sacrifice was acknowledged by God in any way.

From all appearances, Kayin’s sacrifice was not accepted, but Hevel is not deterred by this. Hevel is not assuming that his success is determined by whether or not his brother was successful. Although Hevel does imitate Kayin initially, he considers his identity and his own actions to be completely independent of his brother’s. Perhaps more significantly, it appears that Hevel is not necessarily looking for acceptance from God or validation from his brother or parents or anyone else. He brings his offering because he wants to bring it, not because of any advantage or praise that might accrue to him on its account. Hevel was moved to bring his flocks to God perhaps because he felt grateful, or because he thought it would bring him closer to God, but not because he thought he was ensured success.

Hevel demonstrates how important it is not to let someone else’s failures determine whether you yourself are willing to do what they have done. Hevel is able to look at the silence that meets his brother’s sacrifice as not necessarily determining whether or not his sacrifice will be met with the same unresponsiveness and opacity from God. Hevel doesn’t look at what did happen and see it as the proof of what will happen; he looks at what could happen. He knows that he is not in his brother’s shadow. Hevel understands that he could follow in Kayin’s footsteps and nevertheless end up in a new, different, and better place.

God teaches the lesson to Kayin that Hevel intuitively understands: Even if the first sacrifice has failed, the second sacrifice might succeed. Hevel sees what has happened to his brother and thinks, “Maybe I can learn from him, and maybe I can improve upon him. Maybe I can achieve what has not yet been accomplished.” Hevel’s optimism is fostered by looking at his fate as being independent from his brother’s—he is willing to try again. Kayin is depressed because he can’t imagine things getting better. He sees the acceptance of his brother’s sacrifice as something threatening, rather than inspiring. He sees it as fatal, rather than as hopeful.

This dynamic is prevalent in all of our lives and touches on questions from the most trivial like what to wear or what food to serve, to the most fundamental questions of our identities as moral people and servants of God. The question of whether to charge our own path or follow the example of others. The question of whether to accept the feedback we receive from others—whether explicitly or implicitly—or to choose to be true to ourselves, our personalities, and our priorities. This tension will not and should not be entirely resolved, but Hevel presents a good picture of the way we can learn from others, but not feel that our fates necessarily will or must follow theirs. Hevel teaches us not to be discouraged by past results and instead to be encouraged by future possibilities.

Shabbat Shalom.