Parshat Bereshit
Genesis 1:1 - 6:8
A lawyer once explained to me that you can divorce a spouse, emancipate yourself from your parents (being legally, financially and morally independent from your parents), in some states you can disinherit yourself from your children (such as cutting them out of your will), but there is no remedy at law to severe a sibling relationship, you are brothers or sisters for life.
On this Shabbat we return to the beginning of the Torah and read Parshat Bereshit. Within the first few chapters of the Book of Genesis we are introduced to the first set of siblings, Cain and Abel. Each brother brings an offering to God. When God shows favor to Abel’s and ignores the one brought by Cain, Cain is overcome by sadness. After God tries to comfort him we read, “Cain said to his brother Abel…” The sentence is left hanging. We are never told what Cain says to his brother or any details of their exchange, we only know the outcome. “And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.” God then says to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answers, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:8-9)
Cain and Abel are only the first of many siblings to struggle with one another. Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Leah and Rachel, and Joseph and his brothers also demonstrate feelings of jealously, inadequacy and insecurity. They compete with one another and, like Cain, often have a desire for revenge. Each generation of the Genesis family demonstrates the complexities of sibling relationships.
God never gives a direct answer to Cain’s question, but some suggest that the entire Torah can be seen as an affirmative answer. In The Holiness Code which is read on Yom Kippur Afternoon we read, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart” (Lev 19:17). Rarely does the Torah command feelings rather than behaviors. But, as Samson Raphael Hirsch suggests, “we can never stop being related to a brother, even if he hurts us. Therefore, we are forbidden to hate him.” Through good times and bad, we are our brothers and sisters keepers. We are to love each other always and care for one another deeply. We have an eternal responsibility to our siblings.
As we journey through the Book of Genesis and encounter the struggles and conflicts of siblings, let us turn toward our own familial relationships and ask, “How am I my brother’s or sister’s keeper?”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alissa Forrest
Back