Bereishis 5776:           My Brother's Keeper

By Rabbi Joshua (imperatively known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

The Torah records the murder of Hevel by his brother Kayin, in reaction to God's acceptance of Hevel's sacrifice and rejection of his own. When God confronts Kayin and asks, "Where is Hevel your brother?" he responds, “I don't know, am I my brother's keeper"? (Bereishis 4:9). This response is quite puzzling, as pointed out by Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz. Kayin was the one who initiated the bringing of a sacrifice to God, and this entailed deep, esoteric knowledge. Could such a person think that he could hide the truth from God?  Rather, says Rav Chaim, Kayin was fooling himself, claiming that he had not sinned, while knowing full well that he had.

R. Avraham Schorr, in his HaLekach VeHaLibuv, looks at Kayin's response from a different perspective. He says that Kayin did not understand that his own connection with God would be strengthened by assisting another person, in this case, his brother.  Indeed, he was his brother's keeper, and was called upon to love him as himself. Although Rabbi Schorr does not mention it, the Ramban in Parshas Kedoshim says that this love entails wishing the best for one's fellow, even if that results in his friend being more successful than he is. Based on a teaching of the Beis Yisroel, R. Schorr says that helping the other person develop his relationship with God actually strengthens his own relationship with Him. Had Kayin truly been interested in the quality of his service to God, he should have done so precisely through encouraging his brother in his own service.

Readers old enough to remember will recall that at the beginning of the movement to free Soviet Jewry, buttons were sold with a picture of a shofar, and the words, "I am my brother's keeper" painted on them, turning Kayin's question into a statement. This was a lesson that Kayin chose to ignore, thus leading to tragedy. The Torah's imperative to love our fellow as ourselves calls on us to avoid that mistake.