Hi everyone,
This past week in Chumash we learned about the sin of Cain. In class, we talked about how even though God did not directly warn Cain not to kill, it was implied when Adam was told that he must act in "tzelem elokim" and that we are above animals so we should not act like them. When reading over this, it can become clear to us that this means that we should not kill, but was Cain really supposed to know this? We have also learned about the Torah and all of the laws that God gave to the Jews, plus, we also know that it is morally wrong to kill. However, Cain was not exposed to anything like this since he was a part of the first family on earth! So, was Cain at fault for wanting to kill his brother? Maybe he needed this test to show him that he is not allowed to do such things.
But, then we learn about the harsh punishment that God gives to Cain. God is going to send him into exile! Doesn't this punishment seem pretty harsh? And, why wasn't Cain surprised by this punishment? Did he actually know all along that he would be punished for doing something like this? And, if so, why would he kill his brother in the first place? This whole perek seems to be very confusing! Shouldn't the Torah explain the story in a less vague way??
Yes! He was totally at fault!
ReplyDeleteI'm no psychologist or anything, but not killing seems to be, like, a basic tenet of humanity.
We can't just go around killing people.
The punishment was not too harsh, he killed his brother!
Why does the story need to be more specific? We get the main idea. Bottom line is that he killed him. And God thought that we could do better. God thought that He/She/It didn't need to tell us not to kill people because it's such a natural thing. Apparently not. . :-/