Oh, Brother!

OH, BROTHER: Two Stories about brothers, two different parshas, and two different issues. Lo and behold. Brace yourselves for an overwhelmingly meaningful blog post. Here we go. 

Going in chronological order, I shall start with the brothers Cian and Abel. Who were they, first of all? They were the sons of Adam and Eve. Why am I mentioning these brothers? Well, at first I wasn’t going to, but it is relatable to what we’re learning, so I might as well stick them in. They each had twin sisters, whom they were to marry. Apparently one of them was more beautiful than the other and they fought over her. Whatever the case was, it’s clear that it’s all a bit strange that they married their sisters. I know that this was before the times of the Torah and that there was really no other choice, but this is still kind’ve weird. I mean, I don’t understand why God didn’t make a few families or something so that people wouldn’t have to marry their siblings and direct relatives. A lot of people in the tanach marry their close relatives.

Questions on first topic (you can stop here and answer these questions; that’s totally fine with me)

1.     What is your opinion on this whole matter of the siblings marrying each other?

2.     Can you explain to me why we’re all not crazy if we come from a line of siblings marrying siblings? That’s some messed up stuff.

3.     Random, but why does it never mention anything about the daughters? Sometimes it mentions people’s wives but not the daughters (unless- was there that thing with that place when she got raped? Was that a midrash or was that in the tanach?). What’s up with that? What were they doing then? Does anyone care?

*Yes, I am aware that I did not even tell the epic story of Cian and Abel. If you really care so much, you can google it or post a comment telling us the whole story.

Now here come the boogers brothers we all know and love (and briefly mentioned in class what seems like forever ago).  Yes, I’m talking about Datan and Aviram, Aaron’s sons.  You know, the guys who were so excited to give korbanot but got too carried away and went into the kedosh hakedoshim- a restricted and sacred place- in order to give korbanot. Here are some things you guys can think about:

1.     I get how there has to be boundaries, but  did they really deserve death? I mean, they were really enthusiastic and that’s good, right?

2.     Why such a harsh punishment?

3.     Why didn’t Aaron object much? How could he possibly be satisfied with that?