My Mom’s Advice
An exploration of the episode of Kayin and Hevel and why Kayin was punished.
If one were to ask me what my favorite Parashah is, hands down the answer would be Bereishis. There is so much happening here, it is phenomenally fascinating... and overwhelming. Unsure what part of the Parashah to focus on for this Dvar Torah, I asked my father his opinion. He suggested I focus on the story of Kayin and Hevel. I didn't think the sibling rivalry in our family was that bad, but I took on the challenge.
Let’s recap the story:
The story of Kayin and Hevel, like lots of stories in the Torah, has many interpretations. I will stick with the most basic version, based on the pesukim and Rashi.
Adam and Chava started off with 2 children: Kayin and Hevel. Kayin was a farmer and Hevel was a shepherd. At some point, Kayin brought a korban to Hashem from the fruits of the land. Hevel, too, brought a korban, but his was from the first of the sheep. Hevel’s korban was accepted by Hashem, while Kayin’s was not. Kayin was upset that his korban was not accepted. He lured Hevel into a field and murdered him. Hashem asked Kayin as to the whereabouts of Hevel, to which Kayin answered “I do not know, am I my brother's keeper?”
Hashem said to Kayin, the blood of your brother is screaming out to Me from the ground. Therefore, you should be more cursed than the ground, which is soaked in your brother's blood. Your farmwork will no longer yield fruit. You will become a wanderer of the earth.
Kayin didn’t really like this and responded that this punishment was too much for him. Additionally, he expressed fear that he himself would be killed.
Hashem assured Kayin that no one would harm him and promised that whoever killed him would be cursed. Retribution would only come seven generations later. Hashem placed a sign on Kayin so that everyone would know not to kill him.1
There is so much to say about this fascinating, cryptic and confusing episode. I would like to focus on one simple aspect. We do not find that Hashem commanded Kayin or even Adam not to commit murder, so why was Kayin punished for something he was never told not to do?
Furthermore, he was punished for murdering his brother. Is there room to assume that he did so mistakenly, after all death was not a thing that ever happened in the world, so how was he to know that his brother would die?
This question does not only apply to Kayin. Throughout the Torah we find those who have been punished for actions that they seemingly were never warned about. This happened with the Mabul, Sodom, Migdal Bavel, Ammon and Moav, amongst others. The punishments seem to outweigh the sin. We find by Sodom that even Avraham Avinu was unable to intercede on their behalf. All for actions that they were never warned about. Similarly, with the Mabul, there were two primary sins which caused Hashem to reset the world: corruption and wasting seed. Yet, Adam was only commanded not to do Avoda Zara, so where was the warning about the sins that they committed?
In his introduction to Talmud Bavli, Rav Nissim Gaon sheds light on this question. He explains that anything which the seichel, basic intellectual logic, would obligate you to, one is obligated to fulfill that thing and ensure that it is not transgressed. This is an obligation on humanity, even without a direct commandment from the Creator of the world about whatever the seichel is directing you to do or not do.
The mitzvos which were outright commanded to Noach or the Avos are mitzvos which are not basic logic, such as K’layim, Mila, Gid Hanasheh.
Rav Nissim Gaon explains that murder and robbery are forbidden because the seichel says that one should not commit murder or crime. It is not necessarily only because Hashem specifically commanded us not to commit such crimes2.
We see from this that there may have been one mitzvah which Adam was commanded with3, and seven for the children of Noach, but that is only referring to direct commandments. Commandments which are seichel based can be infinite. If one transgresses a mitzvah which is based on the seichel, he is punished just as a mitzvah which he was directly told about.
Rav Avraham Grodzinski4 explains this idea further. When creating Man, Hashem gave us a hidden tool called Chochma, wisdom. The purpose is to use this tool to understand and think about what we are doing, and where we are going. Therefore, one must follow whatever the seichel obligates one to. Rav Grodzinski explains that the punishment for not listening to your seichel, is greater than the punishment for other transgressions, as you are violating something you intrinsically understand.
This idea changes our understanding as to the severity of the punishment of Sodom, the Mabul and Kayin. What is obligated upon us by our seichel, is something that applies to all humans. This is not unique to Jews. All of mankind must use their seichel. This is a rule ingrained in the creation of Man. In any situation, we must stop and contemplate what is actually happening here. What does our basic intuitive logic dictate we should do? If it would be murder, robbery or rape - don’t do it. If logic dictates, it's ok - go for it. If you are a Jew there are added obligations one must consider.
Rav Grodzinski asks that if we are meant to lead our lives as dictated by our seichel, is our seichel not biased? Do we not make mistakes? To this, he explains that this is not necessarily referring to how we see things as individuals. This is referring to how humanity understands the action. Is it murder or is it punishment? Is it robbery or is it justified? What the general trend is in terms of how people act, would be the indicator of what the seichel of the people is and how one should act. Sometimes though, the entire society can become corrupt and biased too, as we see by Sodom and the Mabul. We must be careful that we use our seichel correctly and not become biased to think of ourselves only and not of all people.
Let us go back to our original question, why was Kayin punished so severely, after all he was not even warned about this? Based on the above, we can now answer.
Kayin should have used his seichel and remembered what Hashem told his father, Adam, which was that the day Man eats from the tree, he will be put to death. Kayin should have realized that there is a concept of death. Although he had no idea what death was, he should have kept the remote possibility of death in his mind while he was beating Hevel and be attuned to his seichel for when the punishment was sufficient, possibly before it was fatal .
We can learn from this a valuable lesson, which my mother always tells me - Use Your Seichel. When we use our seichel, we are using our intuitive logic to create a moral standard, which was God’s intention when He created Man.
Afterwards Kayin moved to Nod. Nod means “wander,” and is the same place that Adam had gone after he was exiled from the Garden of Eden. Kayin had a son and named him Chanoch. He then built a city and named it after his son.
Just as Hashem promised, Hevel was avenged seven generations later when Kayin died at the hands of his descendant Lemech. One day, Lemech, who was blind, went hunting with his son, Tuval Kayin. Because Lemech was blind, his son would tell him where to aim his bow, and Lemech would shoot. Tuval Kayin noticed an animal moving in the forest. He directed his father and Lemech let an arrow fly, killing the beast. Approaching the “animal” Tuval Kayin realized, to his horror, that it was none other than Kayin. When he told his father what he had just done, Lemech clapped his hands together in grief, mistakenly striking Tuval Kayin dead between his palms. (Rashi)
Sefer Ikkarim argues that there is only a punishment if they were commanded - Maamar 3 perek 7
Rambam - Melachim uMilchamos 9 is of the opinion that 6 mitzvos were given to Adam HaRishon.
Toras Avraham, Toras HaSeichel haEnoshi