The Forever War
Sometimes the longest stories are written with few words. They become long simply through repetition: time after time, across generations. One such story is that of Kayin and Hevel, perhaps fifteen pesukim in length, yet a constant across millennia.
Adam had two children: the elder an arable farmer, the younger a shepherd. Both brought sacrifices to God. The younger’s was accepted, the elder’s was not. Despite God’s encouragement that he could better his ways, the elder killed the younger in a fit of jealousy.
What went wrong? It would be a mistake to think that this is just another of the sibling rivalries that dominate Bereishit. In those stories, deed supersedes birth, and the younger brother supplants the elder. But there are no winners in the Kayin and Hevel story; both end up dying—one directly and one indirectly as a consequence of their quarrel. Humanity, in both senses of the word, descends from a third child.
וְהָ֣אָדָ֔ם יָדַ֖ע אֶת־חַוָּ֣ה אִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וַתַּ֙הַר֙ וַתֵּ֣לֶד אֶת־קַ֔יִן וַתֹּ֕אמֶר קָנִ֥יתִי אִ֖ישׁ אֶת־יְקֹוָֽק: וַתֹּ֣סֶף לָלֶ֔דֶת אֶת־אָחִ֖יו אֶת־הָ֑בֶל וַֽיְהִי־הֶ֙בֶל֙ רֹ֣עֵה צֹ֔אן וְקַ֕יִן הָיָ֖ה עֹבֵ֥ד אֲדָמָֽה: (בראשית ד:א-ב)
Adam was intimate with his wife Eve; she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have acquired a person with the Lord.” She then bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain was a tiller of the soil. (Genesis 4:1–2)
Note: the two brothers were twins—one pregnancy is mentioned for two births. Both have names, yet only one is explained: Kayin’s name is chosen with focus on the remarkable nature of human birth.
Hevel’s name is unexplained but can mean a few things: vanity, breath, nothing—all things which allude to the futility of human pursuit. Hevel is a word which always conjures up associations with the opening verses of Kohelet:
הֲבֵ֤ל הֲבָלִים֙ אָמַ֣ר קֹהֶ֔לֶת הֲבֵ֥ל הֲבָלִ֖ים הַכֹּ֥ל הָֽבֶל: מַה־יִּתְר֖וֹן לָֽאָדָ֑ם בְּכָל־עֲמָל֔וֹ שֶֽׁיַּעֲמֹ֖ל תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ: (קהלת א:ב-ג)
Utter futility!—said Kohelet—Utter futility! All is futile! What real value is there for a man in all the labour he toils beneath the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:2–3)
So, we have two children whose names, roles, and perhaps their fates, are sealed from birth. Why?
Adam was created and given only one command: not to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil. However, he was given a broader mission, one which had two parts:
וַיִּקַּ֛ח ה’ אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּנִּחֵ֣הוּ בְגַן־עֵ֔דֶן לְעָבְדָ֖הּ וּלְשָׁמְרָֽהּ: (בראשית ב:טו)
Hashem, God, took the human and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and guard it. (Genesis 2:15)
Working the garden (the world) is an act of progress. Guarding it is an act[1] of preservation. The twins did the obvious: each took on one of their father’s roles. One sought to progress the world, one sought to conserve it. True to his name, Kayin sought to conquer and acquire the world alongside God. For Hevel, his world and the world were a mere breath. It would be in vain to try to change it. So Hevel sacrificed animals. The ground was cursed; how could it be pleasing to God? What Hevel accepted, Kayin denied. He would work the ground, make something of it, and even bring it to God.
These two terms לעבדה (to work-develop it) and לשמרה (to protect-maintain it) detail two different roles and two different directions of travel. לשמרה (to protect-maintain it), is past-oriented; the world as is needs to be maintained. לעבדה (to work-develop it), is future-oriented; the world needs to progress.
Each, almost by definition, leads to the negation of the other. Only looking to maintain the past makes progression in the future impossible. Solely seeking progress ignores the blessings of the present and the lessons of the past.
To want to conserve, you must see the good in the present. To want to progress, you must see the present as insufficient. Each son chose just one of these paths. The result was a disaster. Each role, untethered from its opposite, resulted in the destruction of both. Hevel, past oriented, was assigned to the past. His name was given tragic added meaning, his own life, taken by his jealous brother, was fleeting and futile.
The story of Kayin and Hevel is followed by a list of innovators. Kayin himself is the first recorded city builder (4:17). Among his descendants are the first sheep and cattle herder (4:20), the innovator of musical instruments (4:21), and the first weapons forger (4:22). This is in line with Kayin’s ethic of לעבדה (to work-develop it). Progress comes from seeing the problems with the here and now and trying to fix them. Innovation stems from Kayin, as does his eventual destruction. He was killed (see 4:22–23, Rashi), tellingly, by the weapons invented by his namesake and descendant, Tuval Kayin. A future that tramples on the past will ultimately become a past trampled on by the future.
Ultimately, a third son, Shet, is born. We are told (5:3), the first for a son of Adam, that he was made in the likeness and image of his father. He carried both roles. Adam, in turn, was made in the image of God. God created the world, so it cannot be that bad. However, God created us to partner Him in improving it, so it cannot be all good. Yet. The role of man was to appreciate all that was good and improve all that could be made better.
Parshat Bereishit ends with the birth of Noach, a descendant of Shet. In a long list of names of the ten generations which descended from Adam (5:1–32), Noach’s name is given an explanation:
וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֶת־שְׁמ֛וֹ נֹ֖חַ לֵאמֹ֑ר זֶ֠֞ה יְנַחֲמֵ֤נוּ מִֽמַּעֲשֵׂ֙נוּ֙ וּמֵעִצְּב֣וֹן יָדֵ֔ינוּ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵֽרְרָ֖הּ יְקֹוָֽק: (בראשית ה:כט)
He named him Noah, saying, “This one will provide us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands, from the soil which the God cursed.” (Genesis 5:29)
According to Jewish tradition[2], Noach was also an innovator. He made the first plough. Noach saw that the earth was cursed. He did not deny it, yet he did not accept it. He just made something that would make it a little easier.
[1] For want of a better word.
[2] Bereishit Rabba 25:1, Rashi 5:29, Radak 5:29.
