The Way
of Cain
Rabbi
Levi bar Ido/E.L. Nydle Bnai Avraham
1
Yochanan (1 John 3:10-12)
By
this the children of Elohim and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone
not practicing righteousness is not of Elohim; also the one not loving his brother. Because this is the message which
you heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another, not as Cain was of the evil one, and killed his
brother. And for what did he kill him? Because his works were evil, but the
things of his brother were
righteous.
We all know
that our world today is flawed and in trouble. However, those flaws are not a
part of its true essence. All the murder, hate, rape, prejudice, imperialism,
and anger were not built into the original creation. Elohim looked at the world
of at creation and said:
·
And behold, it was very good-
vehineh-tov meod
Gen.1:31
Today, as we
look around us, we cannot say that the world is very good. Unfortunately the
First Commandment of the world is, What
exits is the Reality-Thou shalt have no other elohims before it. To imagine
a different reality is greeted with
hostility and cynicism. How then can
the status quo be changed? The healing and restoration (tikkun olam) will be done by flawed
human beings like you and I. The message of the Torah is one of transcendence
and compassion, and calls for Yisrael to be the ones who are the healers and
repairers. Yisrael and the Torah become the tools of social transformation and
restoration. It is only within the context of a social setting that the choices
between good and evil have to be made. It is also within that context that mans
responsibility to his fellow man must be viewed.
·
Isa
58:6-12
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the fetters of wickedness, to
undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break
every yoke? Is it not to deal thy
bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy
house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not
thyself from thine own flesh?
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall
spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee, the glory of
YHWH shall be thy rearward. Then
shalt thou call, and YHWH will answer; thou shalt cry, and He will say: 'Here I
am.' If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the
finger, and speaking wickedness;
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted
soul; then shall thy light rise in darkness, and thy gloom be as the noon-day;
And YHWH will guide thee
continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make strong thy bones; and
thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters
fail not. And they that shall be of
thee shall build the old waste places, thou shalt raise up the foundations of
many generations; and thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, the
restorer of paths to dwell in.
In Bereshith 6:5 it says, Vaayar YHWH ki rabah raat haadam baarets
vechol yetzer machshavot libo rak ra kol hayom. The thoughts of mankind
became focused upon evil all day .Man failed to recognize each other as human
beings created in the image of Elohim. Torah teaches the truth that ALL mankind
came from a single father and mother created in the image of Elohim. The sin of
non-recognition prevailed upon the earth. This is called racism. Racism is the
need to deny the others right to be taken care of by finding some aspect of the
other person which makes the other not really a human being like ourselves.
Racism and its proponents are more than willing to provide an outlet for anger,
jealousy, and rage by urging people to direct it at some demeaned other who is
the cause of our own non-recognition.
·
Gal
5:13-15
For, brothers, you were called to freedom. Only do not use the freedom for an opening to the flesh. But through
love serve one another. For
the whole Torah is fulfilled in one word, in this: "You shall love your neighbor
as yourself." Lev. 19:18 But if you bite and devour one
another, be careful that you are not consumed by one another.
This distorted consciousness manifested
in the words of Kayin (Cain) after
slaying his brother Hevel (Abel), Am I my brothers keeper
(watchman)? Notice the question remains unanswered by Elohim. This
is the same classic response by those who turn their backs on the homeless, the
widow, the orphan, and the starving. The Torah is very clear that we are our
brothers keeper. The origins of cruelty lie in the sin of not recognizing in
one another the image of Elohim that is an essence of our own being. We turn our
backs on the hurting and do not hear their pain. It is alienation from the
Higher Self and other people that causes a feeling of rejection. The resulting
action is violence towards those whom we feel are the source of our rejection.
The root of violence of any form is the unbearable feeling of rejection and
alienation. Only a murderer renounces the Torah obligations of
brotherhood. His own feelings of rejection, alienation, unworthiness, and sin
caused Kayin to violate the
interpersonal relationship instructions of the Torah. YHWH warned Kayin to change his psychological
outlook and not feel disappointed, dejected, rejected or alienated or sin would
overtake him. By harboring these emotions of envy, anger, and violence Kayin opened the door of his heart to
sin. Sin is the inflated presumption of the Ego which takes over the functions
of the Self.
·
James
1:14-15
But each one is tempted by his
own lusts, being drawn out and being seduced by them. Then having conceived lust brings
forth sin. And sin being fully formed brings forth death.
·
Gen
4:5 -7
but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth,
and his countenance fell. And YHWH
said unto Cain: 'Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance
fallen? If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted
up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee is its
desire, but thou mayest rule over it.'
In slaying
his brother Hevel, Kayin destroyed generations of his descendents. A murder not
only kills his victim, but something within the survivors souls as well. Their
lives will never be the same as before. Elohim says that Hevels bloods (plural-dmei) are crying to Me from the ground.
A more correct translation would read, The sound/voice (singular)! Your brothers
bloods (plural) are screaming/crying (plural)!We may not hear their cries
for justice, but YHWH does hear the cries of innocent blood and future
generations that are destroyed due to mankinds neglect for his brother. We are
all aware of the cries of the aborted unborn, but how many of us pay heed to the
cries of the unborn future generations that have been murdered by corporation
greed, starvation, violence, war, and diseases around the world? The bloods of
these innocent people that have been ignored screams from the ground to our
Father in the heavens.
·
He who destroys a single human life
is as if he destroyed a while world. Talmud
·
One mans blood is equal to all
creation- Midrash
·
Matt
19:19
Honor your father and your mother," and, "You shall love your neighbor as
yourself." Ex.
20:12-16;
Lev. 19:18; Deut. 5:16-20
·
Psalm
94:3-9
YHWH, how long shall the wicked, how long
shall the wicked exult? They gush
out, they speak arrogancy; all the workers of iniquity bear themselves loftily.
They crush Thy people, O YHWH, and
afflict Thy heritage. They slay the
widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. And they say: 'YHWH will not
see, neither will the Elohim of Jacob give heed.' Consider, ye brutish among the
people; and ye fools, when will ye understand? He that planted the ear, shall He
not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?
YHWH
asks Kayin, What have you done?When confronted
with his sin Kayin justifies his
violent behavior towards his brother with an insolent answer. We can try to
justify our lack of compassion and love towards our neighbor with false excuses,
but in the end we will be held accountable for our actions in this life.
Survivors of the
Holocaust not only remember the murderous Nazis, but also the cold indifference
of their neighbors who looked on and did nothing as they were being led away to
the camps and their deaths. Those who stand by idly and watch the innocent die
due to the cruelty and injustices of mankind are also accountable for their
silence. When people see others only in terms of what others can do to satisfy
their needs, then they become expendable. If they are expendable, then they are
not deserving of our love and care, and can be eliminated from society.
The
Torah juxtaposes the command to "love
your neighbor," next to the prohibition "not to stand idly by while another is in need."
(Leviticus 19:16-18). YHWH
demands man to answer for his deeds while upon the earth.
·
Lev
19:16
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt
thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor: I am YHWH.
·
Gen
9:5 -6:
And surely your blood of your lives will
I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it; and at the hand of man,
even at the hand of every man's brother, will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man
shall his blood be shed; for in the image of Elohim made He
man.
We, as
Yisrael, have a commandment to attain the qualities of goodness and kindness. We
are to rid ourselves of jealousy, hatred, falsehood, conceit, and prejudice, and
strive to acquire the virtues of humility, kindness, truth, and love for all
humanity. How can this be achieved? Only by recognizing the primacy of the soul
of a person and the subordination of the body can one attain this quality of
love. If we regard the body as preeminent then we can only have conditional love
for another.
From this perspective we can only see two
distinct human beings. When we recognize the primacy of the other persons soul,
then we possess genuine unconditional love for one another. Only when ones Ego
(yeshus) has been nullified can the
quality of essence be revealed in a person. By identifying with the other and
shedding ones autonomous limitations, the essence of the soul is
revealed.
We are all
caretakers of this world and its inhabitants, responsible to deal with the
problems. We cannot neglect the ethical instruction given to us in the Torah.
Everything on earth offers an opportunity for you to connect with others and to
grow. Every person you encounter is there because you need it at that
time. If someone needs help, it's part of your test in life, a message for you.
The Talmud asks, "Why was Adam created alone? So that every
person should say, 'the entire world was created just for me.'" This is a
recognition that everything -- including the needs of every other human being --
was created for you.
·
1
John 2:9-11
The one claiming to be in the
light, and hating his brother, is in the darkness until now. The one loving his brother rests in the
light, and no offense is in him.
But the one hating his
brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and does not know where
he is going, because the darkness blinded his
eyes
·
1John
4:20-21
If anyone says, I love Elohim, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the
one not loving his brother whom
he has seen, how is he able to love Elohim whom he has not seen? And we have this commandment from Him,
that the one who loves Elohim
also loves his brother.
H8104
שׁמר shâmar
BDB
Definition:1)
to keep, guard, observe, give heed1a) (Qal)1a1) to keep, have charge
of
1a2) to keep, guard, keep watch and ward, protect, save
life1a2a) watch, watchman (participle)1a3) to watch for, wait for1a4) to watch,
observe1a5) to keep, retain, treasure up (in memory)1a6) to keep (within
bounds), restrain1a7) to observe, celebrate, keep (Sabbath or covenant or
commands), perform (vow)1a8) to keep, preserve, protect1a9) to keep, reserve1b)
(Niphal)1b1) to be on ones guard, take heed, take care, beware1b2) to keep
oneself, refrain, abstain1b3) to be kept, be guarded1c) (Piel) to keep, pay
heed1d) (Hithpael) to keep oneself from.