A Taste of Torah - B'reishit

This week we begin the Torah again with the first portion, B’reishit, at the beginning of the book of Genesis. One of the narratives in this portion is the story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel are Adam and Eve’s sons. Each makes an offering to God. When Abel’s offering is accepted and Cain’s is not, Cain becomes enraged and kills his brother. God confronts Cain and asks him, “Where is your brother, Abel?” Cain responds and says, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s guardian?”

The Hebrew words that translate as ‘am I my brother’s guardian’ are ‘ha-shomer achi anochi.’ The Hebrew letter hey at the beginning of the phrase is translated as what is called an interrogative hey, a hey that indicates that a question is coming. But the other use of a hey at the beginning of a Hebrew word is to indicate the word ‘the.’ So, the sentence could read, “The guardian of my brother is ‘Anochi.’” Anochi is one of the Hebrew words for ‘I.’ It is the word for ‘I’ that God uses to refer to God’s self. Cain could be saying to God, “The guardian of my brother is Anochi; You, God, should have been looking out for my brother.” Up until this point in Torah, no one has ever died. It is possible that Cain didn’t even know that he was capable of killing Abel and he reminds God that God is responsible, too. We bear responsibility for our actions, but we have the authority to hold God accountable, too.