Parashat B’reisheit (Genesis 1:1-6:8)

Once again we begin the cycle of studying our holy Torah, plumbing her text for meaning and insight. Genesis’ weekly readings are fast paced. This week the narrative encompasses not only the creation of the world but the archetypal stories of the first family – Adam, Eve and their children.

Last week, as we gathered in the sukkah, Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man brought us a very deep teaching (from a contemporary Jerusalem text called Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh) about the names Cain and Abel – in Hebrew, Kayin and Hevel.

The root of the Kayin is related to acquisition, possessions – our very way of being in the material world: kinyan is the process of ownership. Hevel, on the other hand, is a word connoting insubstantiality; it means vapor, breath, emptiness, worthlessness. The book Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), read in its entirely during Sukkot, uses the word hevel repeatedly to describe the difficulty the author has in making sense of human existence.

The story of Cain and Abel, then, is not just a story about sibling rivalry that highlights the unintended outcome of jealous, angry, and violent action. The brothers’ names bring us the opportunity to meditate on how a name can affect one’s way of being in the world: perhaps we are asked to contrast attachment with non-attachment. How does attributing these meanings to their names affect understanding of the story?

I invite us to consider this extra layer of meaning to a very old story and to gather together this Shabbat for an even deeper exploration of these ideas.

With blessing for wisdom of heart in our ongoing process of learning and study,

Rabbi SaraLeya