Ten Minutes of Torah

with

Rabbi Chaim Weiner

 

Bereishit - 5766

 

 

וַיֹּאמֶר קַיִן אֶל הֶבֶל אָחִיו וַיְהִי בִּהְיוֹתָם בַּשָּׂדֶה וַיָּקָם קַיִן אֶל הֶבֶל אָחִיו וַיַּהַרְגֵהוּ

 

Genesis 4:8   And Cain said unto Able his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Able his brother, and slew him. [Gen. 3:8]

 

 

 

Genesis Rabbah, 22.

 

And Cain said unto Able his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Able his brother, and slew him. [Gen. 3:8]

 

About what were they speaking?

 

One opinion said: Come, let us divide up the world. One takes the land and one take the things that may be carried. , as it is said: And Able was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the soil. [Gen. 4:2] Whereupon the one said: - The land you are standing on is mine. The other said: - The shirt on your back is mine! The one said: - Take off your clothes! The other said: Take off into the air! In the midst of this - Cain rose up against Able his brother, and slew him.

 

Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin in the name of R. Levi said: They both partook of the land and of the movable things. About what, then, did they argue? The one said: The Temple will be built on my land! For it is written: When they were in the field - and field is non - other than the temple (for Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin had found a verse - Micah 3:12 which speak of the temple as a field), for it is said, Therefore shall Zion for you sake be ploughed as a field. In the midst of this: Cain rose up against Able his brother, and slew him.

 

            Yehudah, the son of Rabbi Ami said: They argued about the first Eve. The one said: I shall take her, for I am the first born. The other said; I shall take her, for she was born with me. In the midst of this: Cain rose up against Able his brother, and slew him.

 

 

 

  1. What problem in the text is this Midrash trying to solve?
  2. What is the big philosophical question that the Midrash is trying to answer?
  3. (**) Rashi does not use this Midrash in his interpretation, because he says that it is not the simple meaning of the text. Why not?

 

** - extra hard question.