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Thursday, October 8, 2026

Bereshis 8

Corrections
  • [71:24] I said we follow the Rambam that you don't have to name the sin. In fact that's the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 607:2), following Rabbi Akiva (Yoma 86b); the Rambam (Teshuvah 2:3) requires naming it.

This class runs from the end of the Gan Eden story to Kayin's family, Bereshis 3:20 through 4:22. It covers Chava's name, the leather garments Hashem made, the Tree of Life being closed off, and Adam's repentance. Then come Kayin and Hevel: their offerings, Hashem's warning to Kayin, the murder, Kayin's punishment and his mark, and the builders, musicians and weaponsmiths who came from him. Two ideas keep coming back. First, free will means a person has to earn his own perfection. Second, real teshuva (repentance) is not guilt or a half-hearted confession. It means turning regret into fuel and making a real change, and a partial confession earns only a partial reprieve.

The pesukim

Bereshis 3:20

וַיִּקְרָ֧א הָֽאָדָ֛ם שֵׁ֥ם אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ חַוָּ֑ה כִּ֛י הִ֥וא הָֽיְתָ֖ה אֵ֥ם כׇּל־חָֽי׃

The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all life.

Adam named his wife Chava, "because she was the mother of all life (chai)." If the name came only from chai, she should have been called Chaya. The form Chava hints at chivya, the Aramaic word for serpent, because she listened to the serpent, ate from the tree and gave the fruit to her husband (Bereshis Rabbah). Adam chose an Aramaic hint over a Hebrew one because the angels do not understand Aramaic (Shabbos 12b). He did not want to shame her in front of them. So her name carries both ideas: mother of all life, and the one who followed the serpent.
Bereshis 3:21

וַיַּ֩עַשׂ֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים לְאָדָ֧ם וּלְאִשְׁתּ֛וֹ כׇּתְנ֥וֹת ע֖וֹר וַיַּלְבִּשֵֽׁם׃

God made leather garments for Adam and his wife and He clothed them.

Hashem made garments of leather for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Until now they had covered themselves with fig leaves they sewed themselves. Now Hashem Himself dresses them in proper clothing. The Torah ends with chesed (kindness), and here is the chesed it begins with. We are commanded to walk in Hashem's ways, so we must provide the poor with what they need, especially clothing. The Me'am Loez says the shame of wearing tattered clothes can feel worse than death itself.
Bereshis 3:22

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ׀ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֗ים הֵ֤ן הָֽאָדָם֙ הָיָה֙ כְּאַחַ֣ד מִמֶּ֔נּוּ לָדַ֖עַת ט֣וֹב וָרָ֑ע וְעַתָּ֣ה ׀ פֶּן־יִשְׁלַ֣ח יָד֗וֹ וְלָקַח֙ גַּ֚ם מֵעֵ֣ץ הַֽחַיִּ֔ים וְאָכַ֖ל וָחַ֥י לְעֹלָֽם׃

God said, "Man has now become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now he must be prevented from putting forth his hand and also taking from the Tree of Life. He [can] eat it and live forever!"

Hashem says that man has become "like one of us, knowing good and evil," and must now be stopped from reaching out to the Tree of Life, eating and living forever. Man differs from every other creature. He is not born good or evil but in the middle, with free will to choose either way. Adam could now have chosen to eat from the Tree of Life. Hashem closed it off because He wants man to build his own perfection through hard work, not receive immortality as a freebie. The lesson is to take responsibility for your own existence and earn it yourself.
Bereshis 3:23–24

וַֽיְשַׁלְּחֵ֛הוּ יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים מִגַּן־עֵ֑דֶן לַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֻקַּ֖ח מִשָּֽׁם׃

God banished [man] from the Garden of Eden, to work the ground from which he was taken.

וַיְגָ֖רֶשׁ אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּשְׁכֵּן֩ מִקֶּ֨דֶם לְגַן־עֵ֜דֶן אֶת־הַכְּרֻבִ֗ים וְאֵ֨ת לַ֤הַט הַחֶ֙רֶב֙ הַמִּתְהַפֶּ֔כֶת לִשְׁמֹ֕ר אֶת־דֶּ֖רֶךְ עֵ֥ץ הַֽחַיִּֽים׃

He drove away the man, and stationed the cherubim at the east of Eden, along with the revolving sword blade, to guard the path of the Tree of Life.

Hashem sent man out of Gan Eden to work the ground he was taken from. He drove him out and stationed the cherubim east of Eden, with the revolving blade of a sword, to guard the path to the Tree of Life. The chapter of the sin ends with the way back to the Tree of Life sealed, so that Adam could not return and eat from it.
Bereshis 4:1–2

וְהָ֣אָדָ֔ם יָדַ֖ע אֶת־חַוָּ֣ה אִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וַתַּ֙הַר֙ וַתֵּ֣לֶד אֶת־קַ֔יִן וַתֹּ֕אמֶר קָנִ֥יתִי אִ֖ישׁ אֶת־יְהֹוָֽה׃

The man knew his wife Eve. She conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have gained a man with God."

וַתֹּ֣סֶף לָלֶ֔דֶת אֶת־אָחִ֖יו אֶת־הָ֑בֶל וַֽיְהִי־הֶ֙בֶל֙ רֹ֣עֵה צֹ֔אן וְקַ֕יִן הָיָ֖ה עֹבֵ֥ד אֲדָמָֽה׃

She gave birth again, this time to his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd, while Cain was a worker of the soil.

Adam knew his wife Chava, and she gave birth to Kayin, saying, "I have acquired a man with Hashem." Then she gave birth to his brother Hevel. Hevel became a shepherd and Kayin worked the soil. Kayin comes from kinyan, "acquisition." According to the Ramban, Chava hoped this son would be her lasting acquisition after she died, a man who would serve Hashem. Hevel means vapor or emptiness. Chava gave him that name to show that everything material a person gains in this world is worthless. All that remains of a person is his good deeds, his provision for the World to Come.
Bereshis 4:3

וַֽיְהִ֖י מִקֵּ֣ץ יָמִ֑ים וַיָּבֵ֨א קַ֜יִן מִפְּרִ֧י הָֽאֲדָמָ֛ה מִנְחָ֖ה לַֽיהֹוָֽה׃

An era ended. Cain brought some of his crops as an offering to God.

"At the end of days," Kayin brought an offering to Hashem from the fruit of the ground, which was flax seed. The phrase points to a specific day. The commentaries give four opinions on which day it was, from the fourteenth of Nisan to Yom Kippur.
Bereshis 4:4

וְהֶ֨בֶל הֵבִ֥יא גַם־ה֛וּא מִבְּכֹר֥וֹת צֹאנ֖וֹ וּמֵֽחֶלְבֵהֶ֑ן וַיִּ֣שַׁע יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־הֶ֖בֶל וְאֶל־מִנְחָתֽוֹ׃

Abel also offered some of the firstborn of his flock, from the fattest ones. God paid heed to Abel and his offering,

Hevel brought from the firstborn of his flock and from the fattest, and Hashem paid heed to Hevel and his offering. He offered a whole sheep, still in its wool, on the same altar where Adam had brought his offering. Hashem showed His acceptance by sending down fire that consumed Hevel's offering and not Kayin's. Kayin was stingy. He brought flax, the least valuable produce, and so his offering was not accepted. When you bring a gift to a King, you bring the best you have and not the cheapest, and the same goes for tzedakah (charity).
Bereshis 4:5–7

וְאֶל־קַ֥יִן וְאֶל־מִנְחָת֖וֹ לֹ֣א שָׁעָ֑ה וַיִּ֤חַר לְקַ֙יִן֙ מְאֹ֔ד וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּ פָּנָֽיו׃

but to Cain and his offering, He paid no heed. Cain became very furious and depressed.

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־קָ֑יִן לָ֚מָּה חָ֣רָה לָ֔ךְ וְלָ֖מָּה נָפְל֥וּ פָנֶֽיךָ׃

God said to Cain, "Why are you so furious? Why are you depressed?

הֲל֤וֹא אִם־תֵּיטִיב֙ שְׂאֵ֔ת וְאִם֙ לֹ֣א תֵיטִ֔יב לַפֶּ֖תַח חַטָּ֣את רֹבֵ֑ץ וְאֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ תְּשׁ֣וּקָת֔וֹ וְאַתָּ֖ה תִּמְשׇׁל־בּֽוֹ׃

If you do good, will there not be special privilege? And if you do not do good, sin is crouching at the door. It lusts after you, but you can dominate it."

Hashem paid no heed to Kayin's offering, and Kayin became furious and depressed. Hashem asked him why he was angry and downcast. If he did good, he would be lifted up. If not, "sin crouches at the door; it desires you, but you can rule over it." Kayin had brought a poor offering, yet Hashem tells him there is no point in anger or sadness. He should repent, and if he does, he will be forgiven. If he does not repent, the punishment waits for him at the door. The yetzer hara (evil inclination) works hard to mislead a person, but every person has the ability and the responsibility to overcome it.
Bereshis 4:8

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר קַ֖יִן אֶל־הֶ֣בֶל אָחִ֑יו וַֽיְהִי֙ בִּהְיוֹתָ֣ם בַּשָּׂדֶ֔ה וַיָּ֥קׇם קַ֛יִן אֶל־הֶ֥בֶל אָחִ֖יו וַיַּהַרְגֵֽהוּ׃

Cain said [something] to his brother Abel. Then, when they happened to be in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.

Kayin said something to his brother Hevel, and when they were in the field, Kayin rose up against Hevel and killed him. The Torah does not say what was said, and the commentaries fill in a quarrel between the brothers. In the fight Hevel was the stronger one. He pinned Kayin down, then let him go out of compassion, and Kayin used his freedom to kill him. The brother who showed mercy was killed by the one he spared.
Bereshis 4:9

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־קַ֔יִן אֵ֖י הֶ֣בֶל אָחִ֑יךָ וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א יָדַ֔עְתִּי הֲשֹׁמֵ֥ר אָחִ֖י אָנֹֽכִי׃

God asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I do not know," replied [Cain]. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

Hashem asked Kayin, "Where is Hevel your brother?" and Kayin answered, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" Hashem knew exactly where Hevel was, just as He knew where Adam was when He asked him. He asked so that Kayin would have a chance to defend himself and to admit what he had done. Kayin could have said that his evil urge overwhelmed him and that he had sinned. Instead he denied it. The lesson is that before punishing someone, you question him first, even when you already know what happened.
Bereshis 4:10

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מֶ֣ה עָשִׂ֑יתָ ק֚וֹל דְּמֵ֣י אָחִ֔יךָ צֹעֲקִ֥ים אֵלַ֖י מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃

God said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is screaming to Me from the ground.

Hashem said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to Me from the ground." The Hebrew says demei, in the plural: your brother's "bloods." Kayin did not only kill Hevel. He killed every descendant that would have come from him, and from the first people that meant countless generations. Anyone who commits murder kills not just one person but, in effect, all the descendants that person would have had.
Bereshis 4:11

וְעַתָּ֖ה אָר֣וּר אָ֑תָּה מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר פָּצְתָ֣ה אֶת־פִּ֔יהָ לָקַ֛חַת אֶת־דְּמֵ֥י אָחִ֖יךָ מִיָּדֶֽךָ׃

Now you are cursed from the ground that opened its mouth to take your brother's blood from your hand.

Kayin was now cursed by the ground, "which opened its mouth to take your brother's blood from your hand." The ground shared the blame. It soaked up all of Hevel's blood and left no trace, as if to help cover up the murder. A murder should leave some evidence behind, and the ground hid it. Nothing can be hidden from Hashem, and so the ground was included in the curse.
Bereshis 4:12

כִּ֤י תַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה לֹֽא־תֹסֵ֥ף תֵּת־כֹּחָ֖הּ לָ֑ךְ נָ֥ע וָנָ֖ד תִּֽהְיֶ֥ה בָאָֽרֶץ׃

When you work the ground, it will no longer give you of its strength. You will be restless and isolated in the world.

Kayin's curse: when he works the ground, it will no longer give him its strength, and he will be restless and wandering in the world. Until then, working the ground brought a large return. From now on it would give him far less. He would also always be weary and on the move from city to city, never settled.
Bereshis 4:13–15

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר קַ֖יִן אֶל־יְהֹוָ֑ה גָּד֥וֹל עֲוֺנִ֖י מִנְּשֹֽׂא*(בספרי ספרד ואשכנז מִנְּשֽׂוֹא)׃

Cain said, "My sin is too great to bear!

הֵן֩ גֵּרַ֨שְׁתָּ אֹתִ֜י הַיּ֗וֹם מֵעַל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה וּמִפָּנֶ֖יךָ אֶסָּתֵ֑ר וְהָיִ֜יתִי נָ֤ע וָנָד֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ וְהָיָ֥ה כׇל־מֹצְאִ֖י יַֽהַרְגֵֽנִי׃

Behold, today You have banished me from the face of the earth, and I am to be hidden from Your face. I am to be restless and isolated in the world, and whoever finds me will kill me. "

וַיֹּ֧אמֶר ל֣וֹ יְהֹוָ֗ה לָכֵן֙ כׇּל־הֹרֵ֣ג קַ֔יִן שִׁבְעָתַ֖יִם יֻקָּ֑ם וַיָּ֨שֶׂם יְהֹוָ֤ה לְקַ֙יִן֙ א֔וֹת לְבִלְתִּ֥י הַכּוֹת־אֹת֖וֹ כׇּל־מֹצְאֽוֹ׃

God said to him, "Indeed! Whoever kills Cain will be punished seven times as much." God placed a mark on Cain so that whoever would find him would not kill him.

Kayin said, "My sin is too great to bear." Some read this as a question: You carry the whole universe, so can You not carry my sin? He feared that whoever found him would kill him. Hashem answered that whoever killed Kayin would be punished sevenfold, and He placed a sign on him. Because Kayin confessed, which was a partial teshuva, Hashem was lenient and protected him. The exile stayed, because exile breaks a person and leads him to repent. A confession earns something, but only full repentance releases a person from punishment, so Kayin's punishment was only postponed: vengeance would come after seven generations.
Bereshis 4:16

וַיֵּ֥צֵא קַ֖יִן מִלִּפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב בְּאֶֽרֶץ־נ֖וֹד קִדְמַת־עֵֽדֶן׃

Cain went out from before God's presence. He settled in the land of Nod, to the east of Eden.

Kayin went out from before Hashem and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. The word vayeitzei, "he went out," suggests that he left happily and satisfied, as if to say: I got my sign, I'm fine. That shows his repentance was not complete. Nod comes from nad, "wandering," and so Kayin ended up living out his curse.
Bereshis 4:17–18

וַיֵּ֤דַע קַ֙יִן֙ אֶת־אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וַתַּ֖הַר וַתֵּ֣לֶד אֶת־חֲנ֑וֹךְ וַֽיְהִי֙ בֹּ֣נֶה עִ֔יר וַיִּקְרָא֙ שֵׁ֣ם הָעִ֔יר כְּשֵׁ֖ם בְּנ֥וֹ חֲנֽוֹךְ׃

Cain knew his wife. She conceived and gave birth to Enoch. [Cain] was building a city, and he named the city Enoch, after his son.

וַיִּוָּלֵ֤ד לַֽחֲנוֹךְ֙ אֶת־עִירָ֔ד וְעִירָ֕ד יָלַ֖ד אֶת־מְחֽוּיָאֵ֑ל וּמְחִיָּיאֵ֗ל יָלַד֙ אֶת־מְת֣וּשָׁאֵ֔ל וּמְתוּשָׁאֵ֖ל יָלַ֥ד אֶת־לָֽמֶךְ׃

Enoch had a son Irad. Irad had a son Mechuyael. Mechuyael had a son Methushael. Methushael had a son Lemekh.

Kayin knew his wife, and she gave birth to Chanoch. Kayin was building a city, and he named it after his son. His descendants were all builders. They assumed they would live forever, so they spent their lives building city after city instead of doing something meaningful, like repenting. They learned this from Kayin, who kept building when he should have been repenting to cancel the decree against him. That is why his line would be cut off. The Torah shows them to us so that we do not copy them.
Bereshis 4:19–22

וַיִּֽקַּֽח־ל֥וֹ לֶ֖מֶךְ שְׁתֵּ֣י נָשִׁ֑ים שֵׁ֤ם הָֽאַחַת֙ עָדָ֔ה וְשֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית צִלָּֽה׃

Lemekh married two women. The first one's name was Adah, and the second one's name was Tzillah.

וַתֵּ֥לֶד עָדָ֖ה אֶת־יָבָ֑ל ה֣וּא הָיָ֔ה אֲבִ֕י יֹשֵׁ֥ב אֹ֖הֶל וּמִקְנֶֽה׃

Adah gave birth to Yaval. He was the ancestor of all those who live in tents and keep herds.

וְשֵׁ֥ם אָחִ֖יו יוּבָ֑ל ה֣וּא הָיָ֔ה אֲבִ֕י כׇּל־תֹּפֵ֥שׂ כִּנּ֖וֹר וְעוּגָֽב׃

His brother's name was Yuval. He was the ancestor of all who play the harp and flute.

וְצִלָּ֣ה גַם־הִ֗וא יָֽלְדָה֙ אֶת־תּ֣וּבַל קַ֔יִן לֹטֵ֕שׁ כׇּל־חֹרֵ֥שׁ נְחֹ֖שֶׁת וּבַרְזֶ֑ל וַֽאֲח֥וֹת תּֽוּבַל־קַ֖יִן נַֽעֲמָֽה׃

Tzillah also had a son, Tuval Cain, a maker of all copper and iron implements. Tuval Cain's sister was Naamah.

Lemech married two women, Adah and Tzillah. Adah gave birth to Yaval, ancestor of those who live in tents and keep herds, and to his brother Yuval, ancestor of all who play the harp and flute. Tzillah gave birth to Tuval Kayin, who forged copper and iron, and his sister was Naama. Each son carried Kayin's line further from Hashem. Yaval was the first nomad, moving his herds whenever the grass ran out. He was also the first to build a temple for an idol, and he began the desire for idolatry, at first weakly, by bringing idols privately into his tent. Yuval was the first musician and used his talent to worship idols publicly. Tuval Kayin was the first smith and made swords and spears. Tuval comes from taval, "to spice" or "season": he "spiced up" his ancestor Kayin's killing, which until then had been done by hand.

English from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, used with the permission of the Kaplan family. Hebrew: Miqra according to the Masorah (CC BY-SA).

Takeaways

  • Give to Hashem and to tzedakah from your best, not from what is left over.
  • After a sin, don't sink into guilt: let your regret push you into teshuva.
  • The yetzer hara never starts big, so snap the first thin string before it becomes a ship's rope.
  • You are your brother's keeper.
  • Clothe the poor with dignity, because the shame of tattered clothes can feel worse than death.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

Two more explanations of the name Chava

  • The Abarbanel brings that Chava can also mean speech, as it does in Tehillim.
  • All the troubles of the world came through Chava's speech, because she talked Adam into eating the fruit. So Adam regretted calling her Isha, a name that tied her to man (ish), and renamed her for speech. "Mother of all life" then reads as "mother of all speech."
  • Another opinion explains "mother of all speech" differently. She spoke every language, understood the serpent and the other animals when Adam could not, and taught Adam all the languages.

What the leather garments were made of

  • Targum Yonasan brings that Hashem made the garments from the skin the serpent shed. One of the serpent's curses was that it would shed its skin.
  • Rabbeinu Bachya and the Ibn Ezra say the leather was tachash skin. The tachash was the brightly colored animal whose skin later covered the Mishkan (Tabernacle) in the desert.
  • The Gemara (Shabbos 28b) says the tachash of Moshe's time was a one-horned creature of its own kind that appeared only for the building of the Mishkan and was never found again. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's notes record opinions that it was a sea mammal or a giraffe.

Free will is itself Hashem's will

  • Hashem decreed everything in advance, yet He wants us to have free will and commanded that we have it. Our free will is His will.
  • Reward and punishment can only exist where there is free will. A creature acting on instinct cannot be rewarded or punished.
  • Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan translates "pen yishlach yado" as "he must be prevented from putting forth his hand," which shows that Adam had the real choice to do it.

Death as the last step of purification

  • A second reason Hashem blocked the Tree of Life: once Adam had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, eating from the Tree of Life would have done no harm in itself.
  • Part of full purification from sin is death itself. Death atones, and burial in the ground purifies the soul.
  • Once Adam sinned he needed that final step of purification, so Hashem would not let him become immortal.

How the Shechinah withdrew through seven heavens and came back

  • Man was created to be close to Hashem and to delight in the radiance of His presence, the closeness the Jewish people later felt in the Beis HaMikdash (Temple).
  • The Midrash in Bereshis Rabbah teaches that with each major sin the Shechinah (Divine Presence) withdrew one more heaven. Adam's sin moved it to the first heaven, Kayin's murder to the second, and the generation of Enosh, who began idol worship, to the third.
  • After them came the generation of the Flood, the Tower of Babel, Sodom and Egypt, which pushed the Shechinah all the way to the seventh heaven.
  • The Gemara in Brachos 3a cries, "Woe to the children banished from their Father's table." Hashem feels distant and hidden from us.
  • The same Midrash, which the Me'am Loez does not bring, says seven tzaddikim (righteous people) brought the Shechinah back down: Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Levi, Kehas, Amram and Moshe.

How Adam repented

  • Adam gave up all worldly things. He fasted for 130 years, wore only fig leaves and separated from Chava (Eruvin 18b).
  • He sinned on the day he was created. At the first sunset, as it grew dark, he panicked and thought his sin had darkened the world. When the sun rose in the morning he realized that night is simply the way the world works (Avos d'Rabbi Nasan; Avodah Zarah 8a).
  • He then built an altar and offered an ox with a single horn in the middle of its forehead, and Hashem accepted it (Avodah Zarah 8a; Tikkunei Zohar).

Why Adam's teshuva did not bring back immortality

  • Hashem foresaw people like Nevuchadnetzar and Chiram, king of Tyre, who would consider themselves gods. He made every human mortal so that no one could see himself as divine.
  • He could have let only the wicked die, but then people would serve Him just to stay alive. He wanted to be served because we owe it to Him.
  • Teshuva in those days worked like a compromise, a settlement made with Hashem. The Midrash uses that very word when Kayin tells Adam, "I repented and reached a settlement" (Bereshis Rabbah 22:13). The teshuva of Yom Kippur that we have now fully restores a person.
  • Some say Adam did not repent until after Kayin and Hevel were born, when Kayin's story inspired him.

Adam's twenty-six advantages: some highlights

  • The Me'am Loez brings the Chupas Eliyahu, which lists twenty-six ways Adam was destined for greatness beyond the rest of creation.
  • Hashem gave Adam the Cave of Machpelah in Chevron, which is near the gate of Gan Eden. According to the Zohar, Adam dug it with two levels and told his people to hide him in the lower one, so that no one would turn him into a god and worship him.
  • On the day he sinned, Adam immersed himself in the river Gichon and stayed there fasting and crying for seven full weeks, praying for forgiveness.
  • Some say Hashem Himself buried Adam.
  • Children were born within minutes rather than months: two went into the bed and seven came out, Adam and Chava with five children, Kayin with one twin sister and Hevel with two.
  • Hashem gave Adam a book of the secrets of Heaven that not even the angels had. After the sin the angels took it away, but Hashem gave it back so that the wisdom would not be forgotten and people would come to recognize Him.

The rest of Adam's twenty-six advantages

  • Even the clay he was formed from was spiritual, because it was Hashem's own handiwork. He was created fully grown, and created first: his body was formed before everything else, though the soul was breathed in only on the sixth day.
  • He was wiser than the angels. He was king of Gan Eden, where every delight was within reach. He ate the fruit of the garden and meat sent down from Heaven, and drank from the source of the Euphrates under the Tree of Life, all of it to sharpen his mind.
  • He wore garments like the Kohen Gadol's when he enters the Holy of Holies and had a perfectly matched wife. Hashem Himself performed the wedding, adorned Chava with twenty-four ornaments, and attended with the angels, who served them.
  • He was born circumcised, given 930 years when he should have died the day he ate, and shown the way of teshuva. Hashem showed him every tzaddik who would ever live; seeing Rabbi Akiva, he rejoiced at his Torah and grieved at his death.
  • He was created beautiful and intelligent. Though the Torah was not yet given and he had only the seven universal commandments, Hashem revealed to him the whole secret of Shabbos. When the earth worried it could not feed all of Adam's children, Hashem promised to nourish people at night so they would eat only by day.
  • After his death he was returned to his place at the head of the tzaddikim in Gan Eden. Whenever a tzaddik dies, angels bring him to Adam in the Cave of Machpelah so Adam can rejoice in his descendants. At the resurrection, Adam will rise before all the other righteous.

The twin sisters, and why intimacy is called "knowing"

  • The word es in the Torah always teaches something extra. "Es Kayin" teaches that Kayin was born with a twin sister, and the double es in "es achiv es Hevel" teaches that Hevel had two.
  • Before the sin, Chava was so beautiful that even Adam could not look at her. Her sin dimmed her beauty, and then he could look at her and "know" her.
  • Desire begins in the brain, which is where a person's knowledge sits, so relations are called knowing.
  • The Me'am Loez learns from this that a couple should be intimate only when their minds are alert, not half-asleep, very hungry, bloated or drunk.
  • Other commentaries explain that intimacy connects two people on a very deep level, so that they come to understand each other in a much more profound way.
  • Until Adam and Chava came together, the rest of creation did not know how to reproduce. The animals learned it from them.

Why Hevel chose to be a shepherd

  • The ground had been cursed because of Adam's sin, and because the land itself had disobeyed Hashem's command about the trees, so Hevel stayed away from farming.
  • Eating meat was still forbidden, yet shepherding took far less effort than working the land and left him more time to meditate and serve Hashem.
  • He could still benefit from the sheep's milk, butter, cheese and wool.

When the offerings were brought: four opinions

  • Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer and Targum Yonasan: on the fourteenth of Nisan. Adam told his sons that one day the Jewish people would bring the Pesach offering on that date, so each of them should bring an offering then.
  • The Zohar Chadash: on Rosh Hashanah.
  • Bereshis Rabbah: on the fiftieth day after creation. If the world was created in Nisan, that day was Shavuos. If it was created in Tishrei, it was the fifteenth of Cheshvan.
  • The fourth opinion reads "mikeitz yamim" by number: ketz equals 190, so it was 190 days after creation. If the world was created in Tishrei, that was the tenth of Nisan. If it was created in Nisan, it was the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur.

Giving whole coins, and where shaatnez comes from

  • In earlier times a coin's value went by its weight, and people would shave metal off their coins. Giving a clipped coin to tzedakah is cheating, and if you take change for it, it may even be stealing.
  • The Gemara in Bava Metzia (52a) discusses how much a coin can be worn down before it stops being worth its face value.
  • Kayin brought flax, which is what linen is made from, and Hevel brought a sheep with its wool. Hashem disliked Kayin's offering so much that He did not want the two ever mixed. According to Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer, this is the source of shaatnez, the ban on wearing wool and linen together. It is a chok, a law whose deepest reason we do not know.

Not guilt, but constructive teshuva

  • Guilt, meaning the depressed feeling of "I'm nothing" after a sin, has no place in Judaism. Hashem's question to Kayin, "Why are you angry? Why are you depressed?", says exactly that.
  • Hate what the sin did to you and where it brought you, then use that negative emotion as fuel to repent. Be constructive, not destructive.
  • Sometimes a person falls so low that all he can do is cry out to Hashem, and that is when he is closest to Him. Rock bottom can be one of Hashem's greatest gifts.

The yetzer hara grows like a ship's rope

  • In "lapesach chatas rovetz," the word chatas is feminine and rovetz is masculine. The yetzer hara starts out weak and shy like a female and ends up strong like a male.
  • It never begins with something huge like murder or adultery. Like a shy guest it suggests something small, such as "just take a look," and builds from there.
  • Think of the thick ropes that tie a cruise ship to the dock. Each one is made of thin strings you could snap with your fingers, and together they hold the ship. One small step plus another gives the yetzer hara its grip.
  • It works in stages. Something done once a month becomes daily and stops feeling wrong. The shame fades. Then there is no inner battle at all, because the sin is just routine.
  • As the rope thickens, the gate of teshuva narrows. Teshuva is always there, though, and Hashem helps the person who works to widen that opening.

What Kayin and Hevel were fighting about

  • The inheritance: the brothers heard that Adam had separated from Chava to repent and assumed he would have no more children, so they planned to divide the world between them.
  • Kayin claimed a firstborn's double share and wanted the place of Adam's altar, the spot where the Beis HaMikdash would one day stand. Both brothers expected to live to see it built.
  • Land against movables: Kayin took everything attached to the ground and Hevel took everything movable. When Kayin shouted at Hevel to get his sheep off his land, Hevel told him to take off his clothes, since those belonged to Hevel.
  • The sisters, according to the Zohar: the brothers had to marry their twin sisters to populate the world. Kayin, as firstborn, demanded Hevel's second twin, and Hevel refused.
  • Faith: Kayin said Hashem played favorites and that there is no judgment and no World to Come. Hevel answered that his offering was simply better and that Hashem does reward the righteous and punish the wicked. Their tempers flared into a fight.

How Hevel was killed and buried

  • Kayin had never seen a killing. He copied the way his father slaughtered the animal on the altar and cut Hevel's throat. According to the Zohar, he bit Hevel like a snake.
  • Kayin did not know how to bury a body. He watched kosher birds and animals bury one of their own that had been killed in a fight, and learned from them.
  • Bereshis Rabbah says the animals buried Hevel themselves and were rewarded with two blessings: the blessing over shechitah (ritual slaughter) and the blessing over covering the blood.
  • Another opinion says Adam and Chava found Hevel's body and learned what to do from a raven burying its mate.
  • The raven received two rewards. Its chicks are born white, so the mother does not recognize and abandons them, and Hashem feeds them Himself. And when a raven cries out for rain, its cry is answered.

"Can you flee from Me?"

  • Kayin wanted to run away. If he went home, his parents would surely ask about Hevel, and with no one else in the world, what excuse could he give? Then Hashem revealed Himself to him: "You may flee from your parents, but can you also flee from Me?"

"Your brother," and being your brother's keeper

  • Hashem said "Hevel your brother" because Hevel had treated Kayin as a brother: he had Kayin pinned and showed him mercy. Kayin did not act as a brother in return.
  • "Am I my brother's keeper?" is a dodge, and the true answer is yes. Deep down Kayin knew it, and the curse comes right after he denied that responsibility.

Hevel's soul, and Kayin's excuse

  • Hevel's blood cried out because his soul had nowhere to go. In Heaven he would be alone, and on earth he suffered seeing his body and blood spilled on the stones.
  • The Me'am Loez brings Kayin's defense: You are Master of the universe and watch over everything, so why didn't You stop me? Had You accepted my offering I would never have killed him. Jealousy destroyed me.

How long Hevel lived

  • Bereshis Rabbah (22:4) says Hevel did not live more than fifty days, so on that view the whole story, from his birth through the offerings to the murder, took place within the first fifty days of creation.
  • How could fifty-day-old children fight like men? People in those days matured far faster, as Rivka would later at three years old.

The animals that wanted to avenge Hevel

  • Wherever Kayin walked, the earth trembled under his feet as if in an earthquake.
  • When the animals found out it was because he had killed Hevel, they all wanted to tear him apart, and the serpent came to kill him.
  • Hashem warned them off. Kayin had no one to learn from, because he had never seen a murderer punished. The animals had now seen Kayin's punishment, so if they killed him their sin would be far greater.
  • Kayin asked how Hashem knew, since even his parents did not. Hashem answered that He carries the entire universe with His power.

Kayin's mark: six opinions

  • One opinion: a letter of Hashem's Name on his forehead. Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer has it on his arm.
  • Another: the sun rose early for him. Beasts of prey hunt at night, and like demons they have no power in daylight, so whenever animals came near him the sun came up.
  • Another: leprosy. He was wicked and did not deserve a miracle, so the animals recognized him by it and left him alone.
  • Bereshis Rabbah: a dog walked ahead of him as his companion and protector.
  • Another: Shabbos. The murder happened at twilight on Friday, and the merit of Shabbos protected him from all harm.
  • The Ibn Ezra: Hashem gave him courage, and he became fearless.

Adam learns the power of teshuva from Kayin

  • Nod lay east of Eden, where Adam had gone after being driven out. Murderers are sent east, just as the cities of refuge for accidental killers include three east of the Jordan.
  • Bereshis Rabbah: Adam asked Kayin how his judgment had gone, and Kayin said he had repented and Hashem had reduced his penalty. Adam struck himself and cried, "So great is the power of teshuva, and I never knew!"
  • Adam then repented and composed Tehillim 92, "Tov l'hodos laShem." L'hodos means not only to give thanks but to admit: it is good to confess before Hashem.
  • The first step of teshuva is confession. Must you name the sin? The Rambam (Teshuvah 2:3) says you must, following Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 607:2) rules like Rabbi Akiva that you do not have to (Yoma 86b); if you want to, you may, and when you confess quietly it is proper to. The general form is chatasi, avisi, pashati: I sinned by mistake, I sinned on purpose, I sinned to rebel, before You (Yoma 36b).
  • Next comes feeling the regret: I hate what this sin did to me, who it made me and where it brought me, when I could have been somewhere else.
  • Last comes kabbalah, a firm commitment: taking practical steps so that it does not happen again.

Lemech's two wives

  • In those days men took two wives, one for children and one for pleasure, because bearing many children could fade a woman's beauty. Once the first wife finished having children, she was cast aside.
  • The second wife drank a potion to make her sterile, wore beautiful clothes and stayed at her husband's side. This was not considered righteous.
  • Tzillah drank the potion, but it did not work. That is why the verse says "Tzillah, she too gave birth."

Who was Naama?

  • Naama means "pleasant." Some say she was Noach's wife, called pleasant for her good deeds, who stayed good even though her brother was wicked.
  • Others say she cannot have been Noach's wife. Kayin's descendants were decreed to be wiped out after seven generations because he never fully repented, so none of them survived the Flood.
  • According to this second view, the name is not praise. She had a beautiful voice and used it to sing before idols, a true sister of Tuval Kayin who followed his wicked ways.
Review questions
  1. Why did Adam choose the name Chava, and why did he hint at the serpent in Aramaic rather than Hebrew?
  2. What are the two reasons Hashem blocked Adam from the Tree of Life?
  3. Why was Hevel's offering accepted and Kayin's rejected, and which mitzvah is traced back to their two offerings?
  4. What does "sin crouches at the door" teach about how the yetzer hara works, and what does the ship's rope show?
  5. Why does the Torah say your brother's "bloods" in the plural?
  6. What does the word vayeitzei show about Kayin's repentance, and what did Adam learn when Kayin told him about his judgment?
Sources
  • Me'am Loez — the main text of the class: clothing the poor, intimacy with an alert mind, Kayin's defense
  • Gemara Shabbos 12b — the angels do not understand Aramaic
  • Bereshis Rabbah 19:7, 20:11, 22:4, 22:12, 22:13 — the Shechinah's seven heavens, Chava and the serpent, Hevel's fifty days, the dog as Kayin's sign, Adam and Tehillim 92
  • Bereshis Rabbah 22:8 — Kayin copying Adam's slaughter; the animals burying Hevel and the two blessings
  • Abarbanel — Chava as "mother of all talkers"
  • Targum Yonasan; Rabbeinu Bachya and Ibn Ezra — the garments from the serpent's skin, or from tachash skin
  • Gemara Shabbos 28b — the one-horned tachash of Moshe's time
  • Gemara Brachos 3a — "Woe to the children banished from their Father's table"
  • Gemara Eruvin 18b; Avodah Zarah 8a; Avos d'Rabbi Nasan — Adam's 130 years of repentance, the first sunset, the one-horned ox
  • Chupas Eliyahu — Adam's twenty-six advantages
  • Zohar — Adam's two-level burial cave, the dispute over the twin sisters, Kayin biting Hevel
  • Ramban on 4:1 — Kayin's name as Chava's lasting acquisition
  • Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer 21 — the offering on the fourteenth of Nisan, shaatnez, the letter on Kayin's arm
  • Gemara Bava Metzia 52a — worn coins and their value
  • Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 607:2; Rambam, Teshuvah 2:3; Gemara Yoma 86b and 36b — whether to name the sin; chatasi, avisi, pashati