Our First Shabbat of the Year

Shalom!

Well, now that you know what I'm up to, let's cut to the chase, shall we?

Vocab:
Shabbat = Sabbath
Shalom = Peace, hello, goodbye
Shabbat Shalom = May you have a peaceful sabbath

Genesis 4-5

 Beresheet 4:3-5 "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to Yahuah. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And Yahuah respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell."

How about a game of What's Wrong With This Picture? In order to do that, we'd better make a more vivid image for you. Ok, so Cain and Abel both decided to make a sacrifice to Yahuah. We don't hear of their parents doing this, so maybe Cain and Abel were trying harder to get on better terms with Yahuah than them. Anyway, "Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground." So he was probably tilling the land and he may have come up with some food that he didn't necessarily want, so he offered that, rather than the best that he had. Abel on the other hand, "brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat." He brought his very first lamb. He was probably pretty proud of that lamb, seeing as it meant that his flock was happy, but he gave it up. He was a shepherd, shepherds don't just give lambs up, but he did. Yahuah was happy with Abel, but unhappy with Cain. Cain was ticked. Abel may have been oblivious to his brother's unhappiness, it's hard to say. At any rate, the very first sibling rivalry was well on it's course and ready to spill blood.

Beresheet 4:6-7 "So Yahuah said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.'"

Yahuah is trying to explain to Cain that the way to be accepted and praised by Him is to do a good job. Easy enough. But he's also showing that if he doesn't do a good job, sin and temptation will reach for him, even though he should be able to conquer it. After all, all Cain wanted in the first place was to be accepted and praised again, right? ...Or was he trying to one-up his brother?

Beresheet 4:8 "Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him."

Do you suppose Cain was tricking Abel into following him into the field? That he knew what he was going to do, despite being the trusted big brother? Yet another question; did he know that whatever he planned on doing to Abel would kill him? It doesn't look like anyone else has died up to this point, maybe he didn't know that by doing what he did, he'd lose his brother forever.

Beresheet 4:9 "Then Yahuah said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' He said, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?'"

Just for future reference, Yahuah asked a rhetorical question. He knew where Abel was, as you'll soon find out. Oh, and another thing, siblings are always each other's keepers. If you're a big brother or sister, part of your job is to help watch over your siblings. You know the rules, maybe better than they do, so you can keep them out of trouble and take care of them. You may find this surprising, but they just might be more willing to listen to what you have to say than to what your parents have to say. That sort of depends on how much trust you've built up over the years, though.

Beresheet 4:10-12 "And He said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.'"

Cain just got demoted. He can't really farm anymore because the ground won't grow the best anymore. He's doomed to be on the run.

Beresheet 4:13-14 "And Cain said to Yahuah, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely you have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.'"

Maybe he did know what death was originally. He's afraid that he's going to die by the hand of the next person who sees him.

Beresheet 4:15 "And Yahuah said to him, 'Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.' And Yahuah set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him."

He understood Cain's fear and made it so no one who finds him will kill him. What that mark looked like, I'll probably never know, but it must have been something to really drum it into the other people's heads that if you find this guy, you don't want to mess with him because something a lot worse is gonna happen to you.

Beresheet 4:25-26 "And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, 'For Elohim has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.' And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of Yahuah."

I've got one question; When did men stop calling on His name? You'd think that since Yahuah was still very present on the earth, they wouldn't stop. Would they? Once again comes that recurring theme, people like breaking rules. But fortunately, they started up again on calling on His name at about the time of Seth and Enosh. How long do you suppose it's going to last?

Beresheet 5:21-24 "Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with Yah three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with Yah; and he was not, for Elohim took him."

What do you suppose that last sentence means? I take it to mean that Yahuah loved Enoch and his company so much that he didn't let Enoch die like all the rest, instead, he took him to a place where he would never die. I could be wrong, of course, but still.

Next reading is Genesis (Beresheet) 6-9

Shabbat Shalom!