“And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.” (Genesis 3,8)

And that was the end of a promising beginning.

On the onset of Genesis, at the beginning of the first book of Moses, there are two brothers born to Adam and Eve.

One becomes a Sheppard. The other- a vegetables farmer. Being the first born children in the world makes everything they do exciting and virginal.

One day they come up with the idea to bring an offering to the LORD; to the creator of their wonderful new world. However, one of them, Cain, made a mistake in the process and therefore “…and the Lord turned to Abel and to his offering. But to Cain and to his offering He did not turn…” (Genesis 4:4-5). Cain needed to make some sort of a change, an improvement, so next time his offering will be accepted. Moreover, God Himself turned to him (to Cain) and encouraged him not to give up!

 

The next thing we learn is the following verse that is quoted at the beginning of this article: “And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.” (Genesis 3,8)

Halt. Let us re-read. After all, these are the words of God. Each verse, every word, nay, even each and every letter bears meaning; carries a message for us to decipher if we only pay attention. Upon re-examination it might seem that something is missing in the verse “And Cain spoke to Abel his brother,{what did he speak? What did they say???} and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.” (Genesis 3,8)

 

While investigating this chapter in our weekly study, we suggested that there could have been an easy and obvious way for the story to continue: “And Cain spoke to Abel his brother: Hey Abe! How did you prepare your offering? Because something in the way I did mine was not right. And Abel answered: Sure big bro’ this is what I did… and Able showed him the proper way of bring an offering…and they lived happily ever after..”

 

But it never happened!

Something was said (“And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field…”) but what?  WHAT DID THEY TALK ABOUT?? What was their last conversation before Cain murdered his brother?

I argued that there must be a purpose for the Torah to omit this discussion. There must have been nothing of relevance said in those last minutes, before that outrageous crime. Cain spoke about the weather maybe, the crops of the season… everything that will disrupt Abel from what is going to happen, about everything else rather than what really needed to be discussed. The Torah does not record what he said because it was as if he didn’t say anything!

In essence, the last thing Abel heard, when he looked at his brother’s face before the rock went down on him was… silence. Plain. Gurnisht.

“And Cain spoke to Abel his brother [???silence], and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. “

 

In our weekly Torah portion we are reaching the completion of Genesis, and tragically it almost ends with a similar story of Josef and his brothers. Again the disability to talk things through can bring the worst of all:

 

“And his brothers saw that their father (Jacob) loved him (Josef) more than all his brothers, so they hated him, and they could not speak with him peacefully… So now, let us kill him, and we will cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him,’ and we will see what will become of his dreams.” (Genesis 36:4,20)

When God created Man, He blew into him that extra piece of soul that separates man from animal. That extra wind, or spirit, is defined by our sages as the ability to converse. (“Ruach memallela”- Rashi/Unkelus) That is what steps us up from all other creatures. When we do not converse we are not anything above the lowest creature. Unfortunately, when man behaves like animal, it is in the worst sense, in the most inhumane manner.

Baruch Hashem, the story of Yoseph and his brother ultimately ends differently. How did that come to be? Yehuda approaches Yoseph and speaks to him! He tells the whole story. He explains the situation. This crucial moment is epitomized by the Torah naming this Parasha with one single word that marks the turning point: Vayigash. In English: And he approached. There is a halt to the flow of events. Yehuda stops the development of a new tragedy by making a point to approach Yoseph with his point of view; with speaking to him, talking it out! His words dissolve the wall between the lost brother and his siblings. They weep, they make peace and the Jewish nation continues to grow from that point on, teaching us its lesson on the way:

 

If you love your brother and you have an un-finished business with him – you talk it through.

Speak it out because it’s the only way to solve real problems.

Converse because you care and because we all share collective responsibility. When we see our Jewish fellow about to commit a sin, we have a moral obligation (from the Torah) to persuade him not to do it. In a respectable manner, with caring words, with humbleness and sincere intention we are to talk him out of it.

Challenge the other’s ability of understanding and maybe forgiveness.

 

If it comes down to it, loud confrontations might not be a pleasant thing, but then again, unplaced silence can kill.