Review of lesson four:

Thank you for joining us for our fourth lesson of Biblical Reflections: Finding Yourself in the Book of Genesis. Here’s a quick recap:

A. Response to Catastrophe

Cain and Abel coped very differently to the tragedy of the expulsion from Eden. Abel became a shepherd. Since sheep graze most of the day, this left him ample time for spiritual pursuits. Cain, however, turned to farming, a far more arduous pursuit. This made him much more vested in the material world.

B. A Philosophy of Gift-Giving

In time, both brothers brought offerings before G-d. Cain’s was rejected, whereas Abel’s was accepted. The gifts diverged in two ways: Cain was the first to bring his offering. However, Abel’s gift was far more generous.

Cain, the materialist, nonetheless recognized that he needed G-d’s assistance in order to succeed in his pursuits. Thus, he sought to “bribe” G-d through bringing such a gift. Yet he found it too difficult to give up the best of what he had.

Abel, on the other hand, felt a strong desire to connect to G-d, but attributed little value to the physical world. Thus it did not initially occur to him to bring such a gift. However, once he saw Cain offering a physical gift, , Abel decided to do the same, and generously gathered the best of what was his as an offering to G-d.

C. Dealing with Rejection

Cain responded to G-d’s rejection of his sacrifice with anger and despair. G-d addressed both emotions. First, G-d explained that there was no need for him to feel angry or blame Abel for his rejection, for Cain was able to control his own fate through his action. Likewise, there was no need for him to despair of ever finding favor in G-d’s eyes, for it within the power of every individual to control the inclination to evil. G-d told Cain that it was up to him to see G-d’s rejection of his sacrifice as constructive criticism, rather than an act of unfair discrimination.

D. The Fatal Argument

Yet G-d’s warning to Cain went unheeded. Cain picked a fight with his brother, and in a fit of range, killed him.

Cain and Abel were different in nature, but had they found a way to bridge their differences, could have made a perfect team, each completing the other. Abel could have provided the spiritual focus while Cain, skilled at laboring, could have provided the material resources for bringing spirituality into the material world. Unfortunately, they chose separate paths, each wanting to be self-sufficient. However, neither world-view was sustainable alone.

E. Justice is Done

Adam was expelled from Eden to return to “the land from which he was taken.” His mission was to fix the earth’s spiritual imperfections. Cain betrayed this mission by abusing the earth instead of elevating it. Adam caused a gap between man and the natural resources of the world. Cain widened the gap by taking the land and turning it into an ally for his crime. As a consequence, Cain couldn’t retrieve adequate sustenance from the earth. He was forced to spend the rest of his life as in itinerant wanderer, constantly searching for sustenance.

Biblical Reflections: Lesson Four - Death in the Family

Lesson four:

During our first three classes, we discussed Adam and Eve, their sin, and their subsequent expulsion from the Eden. We outlined the irrevocable transformation of humanity as a result of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, as well as the quest to reclaim innocence.

This week, we will see the effects of this traumatic event on Cain and Abel, the “next generation.” Both grew up in the shadow of expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The “quick-fix” of paradise had been lost, and it would now be a long and arduous road to rebuilding the perfect world.

How would Cain and Abel cope with such a formidable task? They had to begin by learning how to interact with one another and with G-d. Their approaches were incompatible, and their conflict had catastrophic results. By examining their story, can we learn to avoid their mistakes? I’m looking forward to seeing you for our fourth lesson at the Chabad Torah Centre.

Review of lesson three:

Thank you for joining us for our third lesson of Biblical Reflections: Finding Yourself in the Book of Genesis. Here’s a quick recap:

A. The Downfall and Cover-Up

The forbidden fruit opened the eyes of Adam and Eve to the experience of the external and the physical. As a result, they felt ashamed, a consequence of the soul’s discomfort with the body’s potential to pursue its own desires. To alleviate these unpleasant feelings, Adam and Eve wove “aprons” from fig leaves to cover their nakedness.

But clothing can serve other purposes besides merely covering up what we do not want to reveal. Clothing can also serve to adorn and to beautify. Through their instinctive covering of their bodies, Adam and Eve showed sensitivity to their weakness and a desire to rectify their sin. So G-d crafted form them fitted shirts from fine animal skins as a symbol of their restored worthiness.

B. Consequences

Through their error, Adam and Eve set into motion irrevocable changes in the nature of their interaction with the world and with each other. While these changes are often perceived primarily as punishments, they are also the natural consequences of eating from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

Adam, for example, was forced to start working the land and foraging. Due to the sin, the world became coarser, for good and evil became mixed and intertwined. Although humans were given the task of elevating the G-dly sparks within creation, the sparks within edible vegetation were now harder to reach and purify. If humans would extract food from the land too easily, they would become arrogant and self-indulgent. Therefore, the land now needed to be tilled and cultivated. The challenges in earning a livelihood and bringing for the earth’s produce would induce feelings of humility, thereby making people more sensitive to G-d and more suited for purging the evil that was introduced through the sin.

Eve’s punishment, difficulty in childbirth, was also a consequence of the world’s transformation. Birth marks the marriage between body and soul. Now that body and soul became less synchronized, birth also became a more strenuous and painful process. The relationship between husband and wife complicated. Man and woman previously functioned in union, but after the sin, they lost their natural balance.

The serpent’s curse consisted of being forced to crawl on its belly and eat dust. Since the serpent had attempted to hijack spirituality for its own purposes, it was condemned to live devoid of the need to turn to G-d.

C. G-d’s Perspective

It is a mistake to surmise that the sin set the world off course. Both good and evil are divine creations, and both are imbued with a deeply rooted divine essence. Evil opposes divine will, but only because G-d wills it to do so. Kabbalah gives the analogy of a king who asks a woman to attempt to seduce his son in order to test the strength of son’s character. Just as the woman’s actions are conducted in the service of the king, Satan does his work in order to fulfill G-d’s plan.

Sin contains a hidden goodness that is normally inaccessible, shackled behind unbreakably hard shells of evil. However, a person who sins and repents is able to release these hidden sparks of goodness, for sometimes the sin is itself the impetus to turn away from evil and come close to G-d.

Eve recognized this hidden benefit of evil, though she grossly underestimated the power of evil to swallow goodness in its wake. Women light Shabbat candles as a means of rectifying Eve’s sin, transforming darkness into light.

Next week, we’ll examine the next generation, Cain and Abel, the two sons of Adam and Eve. Each coped with the expulsion from Eden quite differently, and they found themselves locked in a gruesome battle. We’ll evaluate the two conflicting worldviews and their underlying lessons.

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Can we ever reclaim innocence?

Last week, we discussed how Adam and Eve, created by G-d’s own hand, were able to commit the unthinkable sin. This week, we consider the aftermath of that fateful moment.

Immediately, they were racked with shame and regret. The power of evil was unlocked in the world. It was clear that the act had not had the desired consequences. Yet what was done could never be undone. Or could it?

Can we ever reclaim innocence? In lesson three, Adam and Eve are given the tools to rediscover the Garden of Eden. We, their children, have inherited this quest. The path has been long and arduous, sometimes elusive, but we are assured that one day, we shall return to an Eden that is all we imagined and more.