AND THE LORD SAID TO CAIN, "WHERE IS ABEL YOUR BROTHER?" AND HE SAID, "I DO NOT KNOW. AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?" AND THE LORD SAID TO CAIN, "WHERE IS ABEL YOUR BROTHER?" AND HE SAID, "I DO NOT KNOW. AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?"

(Bereishit 4:9)

 

Where is Abel your brother? - ...since He asked him: Where is Abel your brother? and did not ask, "Why did you kill your brother?" Cain thought He did not know and denied [the murder] and said: "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? - He goes to his work and I to my work, do I keep watch over him everywhere he takes his flock?" Adam did not deny [his sin] because he knew that God knows all human affairs. Even though He addressed him in language that implies uncertainty - Where are you? - he knew that everything is revealed before Him, may He be blessed, and that the question [Where are you?] was only meant to begin the conversation, and he [Adam] only hid out of embarrassment.

(ReDaK ad loc)

 

Am I my brother's keeper? - ...The cold egotism expressed by this answer serves us as a warning: he who does not share his fellow's yoke is a brother to the hater and destroyer. He will easily kill his neighbor if the later stands in his way.

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch ad loc)

 

When the Holy One Blessed be He asked him, "Where is Abel your brother?" he answered, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" - You are the Guardian of all creatures and You ask me about him?!

To what parable may this be compared? To a thief who stole objects during the night without getting caught.

The gatekeeper caught him in the morning and asked him: "Why did you steal the objects?"

He answered him: "I am a thief and I have not neglected my profession. You, however, are a gatekeeper by profession, why did you neglect your profession? And now you speak to me in this fashion?

Similarly, Cain said: "I killed him; You created the evil inclination within me, You keep watch over everything and allowed me to kill him; You, Who are the One called anokhi ["I" as in the verse Am I my brother's keeper? But also in I am the Lord your God] are the one who killed him, for if You had accepted my sacrifice as You had accepted his, I would not have been jealous of him.

(Midrash Tanhuma [Warsaw edition] Bereishit 9)

 

 

On Peace, Derekh Eretz, and Hesed that Preceded the Creation of the World

Yehoshua Granat

For Rabbi Ze'ev Gotthold

In Friendship, Esteem, and Gratitude

They will yet grow in old age.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The world view contained in this most famous of verses, and which is spun out in the course of the description of the six days of Creation, are so well known to us and so impressed into us that we are not always aware of its unique character. On the one side stands the One God, the Creator, and on the other side tangible Creation, formed in its various dimensions, mineral, vegetable, and animal, and at its heart is the human, created in the image of God... male and female. God's absolute singularity is very salient here, and He is clearly distinguished from the world He created; also salient is the universal concept of the human as human, literally "without difference of religion, race, or sex."

The Book of Proverbs (8:2-31) enriches this picture of the world with an additional dimension, that of wisdom: God's protégée, dwelling close to him, playing before Him at all times, personifying a spiritual-normative existence that can mediate between Him and man. The same wisdom which stood by God's side during the Creation (When He established the heavens, there I was) and even earlier (The Lord acquired me at the beginning of His way... when He had not yet made the land and the outsides) calls to man to take her for himself (Happy is the man who hearkens to me). True, as earlier as the Book of Ben Sira (24:7-28) this ancient wisdom is identified with the Torah that was given to Israel: "The book of the covenant of the High God, Torah commanded us by Moses, inheritance of the community of Jacob." The Sages concurred with this interpretation (Bereishit Rabbah 1:4) and placed the Torah at the head of several lists of items which "preceded the creation of the world," including the Throne of Glory, Israel, the Patriarchs, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah. These "items" mostly represent different aspects of the unique covenant between God and Israel. By placing their origins before Creation, the midrash expresses the exalted status of the covenant, as well as its everlasting validity. Below, we shall turn our attention to some lesser-known traditions which include a number of universal values, including peace, derekh eretz [literally: "the way of the land," meaning "good manners"], compassion, and hesed [loving-kindness] in the "exclusive club" whose members predate the Creation.

"What is the world's first-born?" Avinomos HaGreidi, a gentile philosophos whose discussions with Jewish sages are cited in the aggadic literature, asked this question of Rabban Gamliel. Rabban Gamliel answered: "Peace." He based his response upon the conclusion of the benediction, "Who forms light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates everything." The phrase "makes peace" precedes "creates everything"; from this we learn that after creating peace, God went on to create everything else.¹

There is a reason why, when speaking with a gentile, Rabban Gamliel asserted that God created peace - a strictly human value - before creating the rest of the world. It seems that he used this idea to establish common ground, mutual understanding and empathy with his interlocutor; he wished to bridge the gap associated with differences of religious identity. However, his statement is not at all an apologetic or forced; the Sages repeatedly remark upon how "Great is peace," a notion which is "woven throughout our prayers and benedictions."² The liturgical formulation, "makes peace and creates everything," teaches us that, "Great is peace, for it is equal to all of the work of Creation" (Sifri Bamidbar 42), meaning that: "Peace is equal to everything" (Sifra Behukotai 1:2), or in the words of the piytan [liturgical poet] Yanai:

As He spoke, the Creator of everything,

You set peace equal to everything.³

Peace between human beings is also described as being the purpose for the world's creation, "For the Holy One blessed be He created it only so that there would be peace between human beings" (Bamidbar Rabbah 12:4). Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel went so far as to state that, "The world stands [or "exists"] upon three things, on law, on truth, and on peace" (Avot 1:18), and the Jerusalem Talmud (Megillah chapter 3, page 5) adds: "And the three of them are actually one thing: when the law is applied truthfully, truth is established and peace is established."

We are used to citing the dictum, "Derekh eretz preceded the Torah." In its original provenance (Vayikra Rabbah 9:3), the dictum further states that humanity ordered its affairs without the help of the Torah all through the period between the Creation and the giving of the Torah. The basic unwritten principles of interpersonal behavior (derekh eretz) thus preceded the Torah, which was only received many generations after the founding of human society: "Derekh eretz preceded the Torah by twenty-six generations." This matter can be derived from Scripture itself: and He stationed from the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and the blade of the revolving sword, to guard the way [derekh] to the Tree of Life (Bereishit 3:24): "Derekh, that is derekh eretz, and after it comes the Tree of Life, which is the Torah." The targumim originating in the Land of Israel connect the phrase east [kedem] of the Garden of Eden with that which preceded [kadam] the creation of the world.⁴ It is no wonder that these traditions were eventually combined together, so that the same verse can teach us that the Torah (the tree of life) preceded Creation, but even so the Torah was still preceded by derekh eretz:

To guard the way [derekh] - that is derekh eretz, teaching us that derekh eretz preceded everything.⁵

Derekh eretz, that so basic and prosaic complex of obvious interpersonal conventions, was created even earlier than the Torah. Beyond the question of "historical" seniority, this notion also comes to greatly deepen the importance of derekh eretz and to emphasize its rationale; it is a call demanding that we appreciate and nurture derekh eretz.

The authors of the aggadot frequently mention that the presence of rahamim (compassion) and hesed (loving-kindness) was necessary from the earliest stages of creation. The Aramaic targumim of the Land of Israel rendered the spirit of God that hovered over the waters (Bereishit 1:2) as "the spirit of compassion from before God." The Sages state that, "From its beginning, the world was created only with compassion (or: with gemilut hasadim - acts of kindness), as it is said: For I said the world will be built with hesed (Mekhiltah Shira 9; Avot DeRabbi Natan A version, 4). But what is the relationship between that hesed and the Torah which preceded even Creation?

Halakhot Gedolot, a halakhic work dating from the Geonic period, offers and interesting drasha in praise of the Torah. Hesed addresses the Torah and mentions that while the Torah preceded both hesed and the world, it is in any event in need of hesed and its observance will remain incomplete without hesed, since the world was created for hesed. This point is illustrated by a charming domestic parable:

Even though you preceded me, you need me, since the world was created for my sake.

It can be compared to a beautiful and praise-worthy woman who still needs to grow her braid so as to adorn herself with it.⁶

Without hesed, the Torah cannot be a "Torah of hesed" (Proverbs 31:26), and so, despite its innate potential beauty, without hesed the Torah will remain unkempt: raw, wild and lacking charm.

According to the authors of the aggadot, the world and the Torah are not alone in being dependent upon hesed; even the divine Throne of Glory, God's own seat, needs hesed: "Even the Throne cannot persist without hesed, for it is said: And the Throne shall be established through hesed (Isaiah 16:5). This daring notion is also expressed in a domestic parable:

To what may this be compared?

To a chair that had four legs, and one of them gave way.

He took a bundle to prop it up.

So it was with the Throne above. As it were, it broke

Until the Holy One blessed be He propped it up. And with what did He prop it up? With hesed.⁷

The Throne of Glory, the most paradigmatic and magnificent symbol of God's exaltedness, kingship, and justice, cannot stand without the help of that humble "bundle" - hesed - which is not part of the halakhah per se nor is it part of the secrets of the divine Merkava ("Chariot"); it exists entirely beyond the letter of the law/

We should then not be surprised to discover that in the piyyut "Azarta Oz Milifnim," one of the "Briyot Olam"⁸ piyyutim for Yom Kippur, the anonymous author states that before creating the heavens ("You had not yet roofed those of the little finger"⁹) God "surrounded" His Throne with hesed:

You had not yet roofed those of the little finger

You surrounded Your Throne with hesed.¹⁰

Citing a similar tradition, the French piytan Binyamin ben Shmuel addressed God with a plea to save his people, "With hesed that preceded all."¹¹

We have seen that the authors of piyyutim and aggadah placed the universal values of peace, derekh eretz, and hesed alongside - and even beyond - the Torah, the Temple, and the Throne of Glory, as entities which existed before Creation, as "firstborn of the world". In this way they expressed the high station which they wished to ascribe to these values. May the year that now comes to us for the good be brimming with hesed and the Torah of hesed with derekh eretz and peace.

[1] Avot DeRabbi Natan, B version, 24. Also see: M. Kistor, "'Na'aseh adam': hayihud bein ahdut leribuiy"in Suggiyot BeMehkar HaTalmud, Jerusalem, 5761, pp. 30-31.

2 See: Z. Gottheld, "Tarbut HaShalom BeTeffilot Yisrael," Mahanayim 121 (5729), pg. 89. And compare: "Great is peace, for all the blessings and prayers conclude with peace" (Derekh Eretz Zuta 11:19).

3 Z. M. Rabinowitz, Mahzor Piyutei Rabbi Yanai LeTorah UlaMo'adim, II, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv 5747, pg. 163.

4 See E. Shena'an, Mikra Ehad VeTargumim Harbei, Tel Aviv 1993, pp. 99-101.

5 Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 1; and compare: E.E. Urbach, Me'Olamam shel Hakhamim: Kovetz Ma'amarim, Jerusalem 5762, pg. 420.

6 See: A. Aptowitzer, "Drasha BeShevah HaTorah, Hakdamat Halakhot Gedolot" Sinai 4 (5700-5701), pg. 182; and compare: N. T. Hildesheimer, Hakdamat Sefer Halakhot Gedolot, Jerusalem 5747, pg. 13.

7 Midrash Tehillim 89:2 (and see Buber's edition pg. 191). Compare to Avot DeRabbi Natan B version, 24: "The Throne of Glory has four legs: righteousness, judgment, hesed, and truth, for it is said: Righteousness and judgment are the basis of Your throne; kindness and truth come before Your countenance (Psalms 89:15); and Tanhuma Vayeira 1 (based on the same verse): "I placed hesed before truth, righteousness, and judgment."

8 See A. Fleischer, Shirat HaKodesh HaIvrit BeYemei HaBeinayim, Jerusalem 5768, pg. 174.

9 The poetic formulation is based upon Isaiah 40:12: and measure the heavens with His little finger and Psalms 104:3: Who roofs His upper chambers with water.

[1]0 This follows the version of the piyyut in a geniza fragment published in the Academy for the Hebrew Language's Ma'agarim. On being surrounded with hesed, compare Psalms 32:10: Kindness will encompass him, and the description of Creation in Kedushata LePinhas HaKohen: You surrounded it with deeds beyond discernment[...] You surrounded them with Your hesed and Your truth" (S. Elizur, Piyutei Rabbi Pinhas HaKohen, Jerusalem 5764, pg. 544).

11 Compare: D. Goldschmidt (editor), Mahzor LeYamim HaNora'Im lefi Minhagei Benei Ashkenaz lekhol Anfeihem, vol. 1: Rosh HaShanah, Jerusalem 5730, pg. 188.

Yehoshua Granat is completing his doctoral thesis Az Milifnei Bereishit: Mesorot VeDarkhei Itzuvan Befiyut HaKadum al Reka Mekorotav

 

Man was Created Singly

Man was created alone in the world, so that families would not quarrel with each other. And if now, when man was created singly, they quarrel with each other, had he been created two at a time, how much more so!

(Tosefta, Sanhedrin 8:2)

 

Therefore man was created singly... for the sake of peace among men, so that one will not say to his fellow: My father is greater than your father.

(Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5)

 

Man was Created Last

Our Rabbis taught: Man was created on the eve of the Sabbath; why? So that the heretics would not say: The Holy One blessed be He had a partner in creation.

Another thing: So that if he becomes haughty, He could tell him: The mosquito preceded you in Creation.

(Sanhedrin 38a)

 

By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread until you return to the soil, for from it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust shall you return.

(Genesis 3:19)

 

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When the Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to Adam (Gen. 3) Thorn and sting-shrub shall it spring up for you, tears flowed from his eyes. He said to Him: "Master of the Universe, are I and my donkey to eat from the same trough?!" When He replied: "By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread," Adam was relieved.

(Pesahim 118a)

 

When God gave him and the other living creatures all the grass of the fields, tears flowed from his eyes, for it is not proper that that Man should be equivalent with all other living creatures with regard to his livelihood. Therefore the Holy One said to him: "By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread," meaning that Man will need intelligence for this activity, and every act of intelligence is achieved through effort and work, for it does not happen by itself like a phenomenon of nature which happens by itself, - it requires intelligent effort. All this is to make Man, who is intelligent, unique, for all his food shall be produced by human endeavor, which is based on intelligence - and this is what is suitable for him.

(MaHaRaL of Prague, Netivot Olam, Book I, pg. 129)

 

...all the pain of a life of sadness is expressed in the word "bread" (lehem). Food is also called "prey" (teref), because it is torn from nature; it is also called "bread", because it is achieved in a social conflict, everyone fighting everyone. (Trans. Note - The Hebrew root l'h'm' means both bread and fighting). Were Man able to devote himself to spiritual activity, and not only to his daily bread, Man would not fight Man, and the concept of possessions would not carry so much weight. However, Man's life is dependent upon the piece of bread, he obtains it only through "pain"; therefore, once he has torn food from nature, he struggles against others to protect his possession. And there are those who fight before the tearing - lest another attain nature's resource.

 (Rabbi S. R. Hirsch ad loc)

 

Progress and the legal System do not Guarantee a Civilized World

Although Cain and his sons founded a city and a political collective, inventing laws and crafts for the management of society, never-the-less, if reason will not speak, and if there are not honest people who are by nature lovers of justice, laws will not help; for if a tyrant rises, he will laugh at ordinances, and plunder law and justice.

(Malbim Breishit 4:23)

 

After mentioning the inventions introduced to humanity by Cain and his sons, [the Torah] presents Lemekh's song, proving that material progress did not bring moral progress. Violence was rife, and those generations gloried in acts of violence. The traits hated most by God were precisely those most valued by men. In such a situation, it became impossible for the Judge of all the earth not to do justice. All achievements of material culture are worthless without moral virtue.

(Prof. M.D. Cassuto, Me'Adam ad Noah, pg. 130)

 

 

 

 

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