Ask the Rabbi/Teacher

Question: 

What was the mark that [‘Elohiym] placed on Cain? With Abel dead, who was around living who would harm him?

Answer:

Truthfully, I do not know; the text is not specific in what it was.

There are numerous ‘guesses’ in rabbinic literature, but nothing that strikes me as adequate.

As to “who were living,” the Towrah makes allusions to others’ existence.

Bere’shiyth 4:16 & 17, speaks of Qayin (Cain) marrying and moving east and building a city when he got there. Many (mostly xtians) say the ‘first-family off-spring inter-married (Qayin & Sheth married sisters) but that is unlikely (and a Towrah violation). Notice chapter 4 tells us Qayin went east THEN ‘knew his wife, while he might have taken her w/him, it somewhat looks as if he got her there.

He also built a city and even though he lived a long time he could have built it by himself – this is just stupid.  Who needs a city (implying a bunch of buildings) just for oneself and a wife and child???? Obviously there had to have been others around to help build it and live in it. Not to mention the fact that as the only adult male he would have had to build night and day and done nothing else. No hunting/fishing/planting, etc.…the way to starve. So, again, there had to have been others. And of course the text does indeed mention others, even if not directly stating where they came from. My belief (gleaned from the whole Tanakh, not just a verse here and there) is that Man (the race of, in general) was created as well as an individual “group” who, for lack of a better phrase, were personally introduced to ???? Himself. Whether this took place at the same time is not evident (or in my opinion- relevant).

 

Question: 

Why is Seth the one “in the likeness of Adam” instead of Adam’s firstborn, Cain?

Answer:

Badly written english translation, lol. The text says in the Hebrew that Sheth was in the image (looked like his daddy) and resembled him. Two different words are used in the Hebrew here.  The Hebrew for resembled is H6754 tsalem and means (among other things) “a representative figure”.

Sheth took over, and passed down to his progeny his ‘status’ as the representative of ???? on earth. If you look at the many genealogies you’ll find that ‘Enowsh down through Noach down through ‘Abraham, Yitschaq (Isaac) and Ya’aqob (Jacob) through the slavery in Mitsrtayim (Egypt) and Moshe all down to the establishment of the House of Yisra’el, etc, etc, were ALL representatives of Yhuh on earth.

Question:  Did the rainbow appear for the first time when [‘Elohiym] made a covenant with Noah? From my reading, it never rained before that, that’s why people were incredulous about an impending flood; wasn’t there simply a mist in the atmosphere that moistened earth’s vegetation–until the water canopy in heaven was let loose . . .

Answer:

I don’t know how much fog (ground mist) you get in the Philippines, but you can see a rainbow in fog. I have actually seen rainbows in the shower with enough steam and the right lighting. Rainbows are nothing more than light-beams passing (bending) through a prism (in this case water [moisture] in the air). Under the correct circumstances you can shine a light through a glass prism and get a rainbow effect; no water needed. I’ll bet under the correct circumstances one might see a rainbow in a flowing river, while standing in it or on the bank, as well. The examples could prove to be endless and involve the laws of physics, which Yhuh invented :).

The passage states that Noach is (we are) to remember His promise of “no more floods” when we see a rainbow. It states nothing else. However, Bemidbar [numbers] 15:37-41 and Dabariym [deuteronomy] 22:12 are the passagesinstructing us on wearing tsiytsith (tassels) with a blue thread to ‘remember the Towrah’. It is a bit silly to think there were no blue threads or blue cloth even, before this instruction was given. In light of this, we can infer many things, but I tend to go with ‘the easiest explanation is usually the closest/correct one’.

As Noach was (roughly) 300 years old around the time he constructed the ark, he had plenty of years to come across many situations involving the sightings of rainbows (whether complete or partial ones). A sign does not have to be either new or particularly miraculous. It merely needs to be ‘visible’. Much like a road sign.

I hope this helps.

Benmara
hearoyisrael.net

Question:

Just one more question that popped up at our Shabbat Torah study today . . . since we no longer believe in “original sin” we were surprised with:

Psalm 51:7 “Behold in iniquity was I fashioned and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

How do we answer our former [christian/messianic]  teacher when he brings this up as proof text for original sin?

Thank you in advance, Shalom!

Answer:

Shalom —

If one uses “original sin” to mean that all individuals are decreed to damnation unless they believe in the Christian “savior”, that is totally antithetical to Jewish belief. We believe that God presents challenges and that we have the capacity and responsibility – and hence the reward and punishment – to overcome these challenges.

But, if you ask me if there are certain innate drives/forces in a person that are counter-spiritual I will say yes. We are definitely made of a physical component and that part of us makes demands and is part of the challenge. One formulation of our challenge is that our goal is to make our souls master over our bodies.

And there are things that are matters of environment. One who is born in South Bronx will have challenges presented  that are on a “lower” level (e.g.whether or not to mug someone today) than one who is born into Jerusalem aristocracy. The Almighty accounts for that when given the final reward! When one seeks to repent he must minimally fulfill four criteria:

* Regret. Realizing the extent of the damage and feeling sincere regret.
* Cessation. Immediately stopping the harmful action.
* Confession. Articulating the mistake and ask for forgiveness.
* Resolution. Making a firm commitment not to repeat it in the future.

Part of cessation is to be able to identify root causes that induce one to sin. It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. Realizing that we are formed in a way that is inimical to pure spirituality is a matter of knowing the enemy…..

For further study,

read “The Real Messiah” by Rabbi Aryeh  Kaplan

You may also want to check out:
http://messiahtruth.com/response.html
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/
http://drazin.com/
http://www.outreachjudaism.org/

The last, in particular, has a section “Let’s Get Biblical” and essays on original sin that you may find useful. The latter is at
http://www.outreachjudaism.org/articles/original-sin.html

I hope that this has been helpful.

With blessings from the Holyland,

Rabbi M. Younger
Aish.com

Question:

Why did G-d take an animal’s life to provide clothing of skin for Adam and Eve?
What’s wrong with covering nakedness with leaves?

This gives Christians/Messianics a springboard to justify blood atonement that only Jesus could fulfill, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.”

Answer:

Shalom —

Thank you for your note.

Our sages teach that it was not just any animal skin. Rather, it was snake skin!

This teaches that even when we sin, it itself can be a springboard for a rectification and even a new path with which to grow.

Regarding forgiveness there are four requirements when seeking atonement:

* Regret. Realizing the extent of the damage and feeling sincere regret.
* Cessation. Immediately stopping the harmful action.
* Confession. Articulating the mistake and ask for forgiveness.
* Resolution. Making a firm commitment not to repeat it in the future.

I think that the following article should help give us some insight into the matter:

The idea of how the animal offerings worked is most often misunderstood. Many believe that sacrifice was the only way to achieve atonement. Actually, atonement always was
accompanied by sincere prayer, teshuva (spiritual return), and charity. Hoshea (8:13) decries people bringing offerings without making an attempt to get closer to God. For this reason, their offerings were rejected.

The animal offering aided the atonement process, as it drove home the point that really the person deserved to be slaughtered, but an animal was being used in his/her place. The offering also helped atonement in many spiritual mystical ways. But we should not mistake the animal offering for more than what it is. It was an aid to atonement. It did not cause atonement.

Logically, how can one think that the death of an animal could atone for their sins? If a person were to commit an atrocity, such as murder, stealing, adultery, or even less severe sin, could one possibly think that slaughtering a cow and a sheep will atone for the sin? Of course not! God is not a child who is appeased by gifts and animal slaughter. God, the true judge, provides atonement for those who sincerely desire to fix their ways. An offering must be accompanied with the will to get closer to God (prayer), a promise to observe the words of the Torah more carefully (teshuva), and concern for God’s creation (charity).

The verse says: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit” (Psalms 51:19).
This teaches us that a person who does teshuva is regarded as if he had ascended to Jerusalem, built the Temple, erected the Altar, and offered all the offerings upon it. (Midrash – Vayikra Rabba 7:2)

When a person transgresses a mitzvah in the Torah, he destroys some of his inner holiness. He cuts himself off from the Godliness that lies at the essence of his soul. When a person does teshuva — “spiritual return” — he renews and rebuilds the inner world that he has destroyed. On one level, he is rebuilding his personal “Temple” so that God’s presence (so to speak) will return there to dwell.

Today, without the Temple service, one of the most powerful ways to teshuva is through the inspiration of prayer. In fact, the Talmud (Brachot 26b) says that’s why the main “Amidah” prayer is recited at the exact same time that the daily offerings weresacrificed!

The text of the “Amidah” was formulated by prophets who knew how to awaken deep yearnings within the Jewish soul. Through prayer, we are to achieve a spiritual desire for a full and total connection to God.

The following is from the Jewish prayer book:

“Master of the Universe, You commanded us to bring the Daily Offering at its appointed time; and have the Kohanim perform their service, and the Levites sing and play music at the platform, and the Israelites attend at their stations. And now, because of our sins, the Holy Temple is destroyed and the Daily Offering discontinued. We have neither a Kohen at his service, nor a Levite on his platform, nor an Israelite at his station.

However, you have said, ‘Let the offerings of our lips replace bulls.’ Therefore, let it be Your will, our God and the God of our ancestors, that the prayer of our lips be considered and accepted and regarded favorably before You as if we had offered the Daily Offering at its appointed time, and stood in attendance at its service.”

Also, the Jews have had an oral tradition from the time of Moses (when the sacrifices started) that God considers the study of offerings as if the offering was actually brought. This is evident from Leviticus 7:37 in which it states, “This is the Law of the elevation-offerings…” (Talmud – Menachot 110a)

(Additional sources: “Noda Beyehuda” I, O.C. 35; “Chatam Sofer” Y.D. 236 & 318; “Kovetz Teshuvot Chatam Sofer” 59.)

With blessings from the Holyland,

Rabbi M. Younger
Aish.com

QUESTIONS:

1. What was the mark on Cain?

2. Why was Seth [and not firstborn Cain] referred to as the one in the likeness and image of Adam?

3. Was the rainbow in the Noah story the very first rainbow ever seen by man, or was the rainbow a regular phenomenon at that time . . . it had not rained and there was a mist that watered earth’s vegetation, the flood released the canopy of water above the heavens . . . so I always thought there could not have been a rainbow previous to the flood?

Thank you in advance for your answer.

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Tue, Jan 3rd 2012 at 5:46 AM

REPLY:

Shalom ,

1. What was the mark on Cain?

It was a Hebrew letter from the Divine Name of G-d inscribed on Cayin’s forehead. I’m not sure which letter.

2. Why was Seth [and not firstborn Cain] referred to as the one in the likeness and image of Adam?

Please give me the Verse you are looking at please.

3. Was the rainbow in the Noah story the very first rainbow ever seen by man, or was the rainbow a regular phenomenon at that time .

There are opinions by the Jewish sages both ways on that one.

Regards,

Eliahu Levenson

On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 10:56 AM, JewishAnswers.org wrote:
~~~~ JewishAnswers.org ~~~~
You recently submitted a question to JewishAnswers.org.
Below is the response.
If you’d like to follow up with another question, send it via email to answ80374@jewishanswers.org.
Please note that all follow-up questions must be sent from sinai6000@gmail.com or they will be automatically rejected.

Follow up exchange:

Tue, Jan 3rd 2012 at 10:18 PM

So sorry, Rabbi, for not giving the exact verse about Seth.

Genesis 5 opens with the book of the generations of Adam.
In verse 1, it repeated that man was created in the likeness of G-d.
In verse 3, when Adam lived to be 130 years, it says he “fathered a son in
his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth.”

So I’m wondering if there were 2 previous sons born to Adam and Eve, Cain being the firstborn from the first parents should have been the son after Adam’s likeness and his image. But Scripture chooses to say it was Seth.

Why is this so? Some say that it is because it’s from Seth that humanity
comes, but Scripture also gives a genealogy for Cain . . . so humanity
comes from Cain as well. Unless the line being traced is to start over
with Noah and his sons. Did I answer my own question, or is there
something more to it?

Thank you, Rabbi, for answering the other questions.

Respectfully,

Sinai 6000

On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 10:56 AM, JewishAnswers.org < answ80374@jewishanswers.org> wrote:

JewishAnswers.orgWed, Jan 4th 2012 at 10:34 AM

Shalom,

That is not necessarily a listing of firstborn sons.

It is a listing of the generational progression to Noah, and also a year count to the Flood.

Regards,
Eliahu Levenson

Question:
Cain is the firstborn of Adam and Eve, not Seth. Adam was made in the image of God—why is it that it’s Seth, not the firstborn Cain, who is mentioned as “made in the image of man” or in Adam’s image? And what does that mean?

Answer:
Shalom —

Thank you for your question.

Rabbi S.R. Hirsch in his commentary to 5:3 points out that the phrase there, “in his form. like his image” is the opposite of 1:26. This possibly teaches us that Sheis was born in an inferior state but nonetheless endowed with the spiritual elements needed (i.e. free will) to fulfill Adam’s
task in the world.

Whereas, we may speculate, Cain had committed his sin and was no longer going to be in that chain of legacy to perform Adam’s original mission. Only the descendents through Sheis were to be the ones to carry on Adam’s mission….

Seforno notes on the words that Sheis was a greater tzaddik than his either of his older brothers (and hence the one to be Adam’s successor). The Ramban says that the phrase just teaches us his great degree of strength and beauty.

I hope that this has been a bit helpful.

With blessings from Jerusalem,

Rabbi M. Younger
Aish.com
———————-

Same questions; different Jewish website (Chabad.org) :

(1) Genesis 3:15 — What does it mean without the Christian messianic interpretation?

(2) Why is it that Seth, and not firstborn Cain, was “in the image of Adam”?

B”H
Hi,

1. Oddly enough, until you asked this question, I was not even aware that there was a Christian messianic interpretation to this verse. G-d is simply telling that there will now be enmity between humankind and snakes. We will try to crush them, and they will attempt to bite our heels, which is indeed the case.” You can see a detailed discussion of this here:

http://www.messiahtruth.com/gen315.html

2. About Seth, there are a number of views regarding why the Torah specifically mentions that he was born in Adam’s image. The Targum writes that, as Abel did not survive, there was no point in recounting that he carried on the image of Adam, and Cain was indeed not in the image of Adam. Following this vein, Nachmanides points out that this verse comes almost immediately after we read that Adam was created in the image of G-d. As Seth was the one who became the ancestor of Noah and all subsequent people, telling us that he was in the image of Adam and Adam was in the image of G-d tells us that we too are in the image of G-d.

Please let me know if this helps.

Yours truly,

Rabbi Menachem Posner
Chabad.org

Question: Who is the Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace of Isaiah 9:6? Missionaries say it is Jesus.

Answer:

Shalom —

Thank you for your question.

The proper translation is,
“For a child has been born to us,
a son has been given to us
and the dominion will rest on his shoulder;
the Wondrous-Adviser- Mighty-G-d- Eternal-Father,
called his name Prince of Peace.”
(Isaiah 9:5)

Taken in context, it is clear who the verse is referring to – King Hezekiah.

We mustn’t forget that Isaiah lived in the days of Hezekiah and many of these prophecies are directed to him or to the Jews who lived at that time.

In other words, ” the Wondrous-Adviser- Mighty-G-d-Eternal-Father ” is G-d! And He called Hezekiah the “Prince of Peace.”

To learn more, read the sixth chapter of the book “Their Hollow Inheritance” by Michael Drazin. You can read this book for free at www.drazin.com.

To read an excellent translation of the Bible, by the “Artscroll Stone Tanach” published by Artscroll. You can purchase it at www.artscroll.com.

With blessings from Jerusalem,

Rabbi M. Younger
Aish.com

Question:
Genesis 3:15 — what does it mean if we remove the Christian interpretation of it as the first messianic prophecy?

Answer:
Shalom —

Thank you for your interesting question.

There is nothing here other than a reference to the descendents of Eve. Since she is the one who had the confrontation with serpent (Adam comes into the picture through her) we discuss her offspring rather than Adam’s.

It is true that these verses deal with esoteric matters and a proper discussion is longer than these emails can easily contain. But, let me offer an insight about the serpent, his relationship to Man and this curse, from the commentary of Rabbi S.R. Hirsch:

From the point of view of the educational care for mankind, the eiva, the strong antipathy implemented in mankind towards snakes may be meant to bring home to his mind that it was “animal wisdom” that lead him astray, and to remind him of the gulf that separates Man from animal; and at the same time, by concrete example, to keep the fact constantly before his eyes that there must be a different criterion for good and evil than the dictates of blind instinctive inclinations. The snake bites as a result its natural impulse and still a snake bite is evil for mankind. Thus the moral evil of passion has may give satisfaction to man and still be injurious to higher matters and in other directions. So that the mere dictates of his senses may not tell Man what is good or evil. If we dare take it that the sight of a snake is henceforth to remind mankind to fight his lusts the [the verse] would say very significantly: Man is given greater strength over his lusts, than these have over him. Man can stamp his lusts on the head, they can at the most catch him on his heel. Further [the root] shuf is to catch unforeseen, when the other is careless. Only when Man is off his guard does the snake, and lust, catch him on his heel. By constant watchfulness and being always on one’s guard both can be avoided. And equally so, only when Man does not allow lusts to awake, to become passions, as long as snakes and lusts are still slumbering can he stamp both of them on the head, but not if he awakes and excites them.

I hope that this has been a bit helpful.

With blessings from Jerusalem,

Rabbi M. Younger
Aish.com

Question:
Why did God have to choose a “people”? Why didn’t he make all his laws and commands and relationship available to the world equally?
When it comes down to it aren’t we all the same in potential as well as flaws? I always thought He did so in order to have a group of people that could be an “example” to the rest…but the more I think about it, if I had three children, it doesn’t make sense to put all my focus into one just so the other two can see how its done.
Thank you for your time…

Answer:
Shalom —

Thank you for your interesting question.

As I understand it there is a two part answer.

First, as a father of multiple children I can tell you that each is unique and we attempt to find the particular niche in the family for each one. I have one son who is very devoted to his Torah learning and we do what we can to support that and to not cause him undo interruptions. On the other hand, he is less than talented in using his hands. I have another who has not yet matured in his Torah studies but is both musical and handy. I will look for ways for him to show off his talents (usually that means singing zmiros at the Shabbos table) and help fix things around the house.

So too,on an national level. Different nations do have different aptitudes and attributes – call it spiritual genetics if you want. That nation that is built in the way that makes it most fitting to be the agency by which God manifests Himself in this world is the Jewish people.

But it is a two way street.

Let us go back to the beginning. God is the ultimate source of good and desires (to the extent that we can use such words to describe Him) to bestow good. God could have bestowed on us the good of the world to come without the “bother” of us going through this world first. But that would have been nahama d’kisufa – bread of shame, the unearned reward. It is the greater good to allow us to earn our future reward than to just give it to us.

We earn, or better yet create, our reward by overcoming the challenges that we are presented with an recognizing and manifesting God’s presence in this world. This world is called olam from the root word he’elem meaning hidden. God presents us with a universe in which he is hidden (mostly by allowing to imagine that we have independent existence hence desires and ego issues). Our mission is to get past the “curtain” of our self-centeredness and reveal God.

Originally this challenge was presented to Adam who included all of humanity in his great soul. When he failed the test, the challenge was then re-presented, not to one person, but to the corporate body made up of all humanity. But most of humanity abdicated responsibility for this job and just one person, back in the time of history when nations were being founded, accepted the mission for himself and his descendants. That was Avraham our forefather.

So it is to Avraham, whom we may call a “proto-Jew”, for he was still but one individual that we look as the progenitor of our nation. He was followed by Yitzchak and Yaakov as patriarchs and then there is the time of transition until we have a nation that is formed at the exodus from Egypt and the revelation at Sinai. And now we are all descended of that core nation and back to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. And it is these descendents that are the “chosen nation”

I hope that this has been helpful.

With blessings from Jerusalem,

Rabbi M. Younger

Aish.com

Question:
What was the mark put on Cain?

Answer:

B”H

a. The word translated as mark is “ot,” which can also mean a letter or a sign. Thus, Rashi explains that G-d placed a letter of His holy name upon Cain, which served to protect him. Alternatively, Nachmanides understands it to mean that whenever he wandered G-d signaled to him the safe way to travel, keeping away from harm. Chizkuni means that G-d showd him an indentified sign of His protection so that Cain would not fear.

b. Scripture is telling us that even though Adam was in the image of G-d, he was given the incredible ability to give birth to a child with that same G-dly image. Some explain that this was the case by the other sons as well, but we are only told this by Seth from whom humanity came forth.—

c. There are different opinions regarding this. Some explain that the atmosphere of the pre-flood world was too thick for enough light to filter through for a rainbow to appear. Others disagree.

• It is important to understand the lessons of the story of Cain and G-d’s response, but we must also do as much as we can to understand the meaning of the texts. This is notoriously hard to do with a translation, which is why our sages mourned the day that the Torah was translated into Greek—seeing that its inner beauty and subtlety was stripped in the process.

• Seth was the one to which all of humanity (via Noah) can trace their lineage. Thus, it is important to tell us here, that we are all in the image of Adam who is in the image of G-d.

Please let me know if this helps.
Yours truly,

Rabbi Menachem Posner
chabad.org