“The best-worst friends you’ll ever have.”

I’ll never forget that big fight
Between my brother and I.
He ran after me with all his might,
Throwing things at me
And luckily, he missed me by just a few inches.
The shoe that he threw at me
Flew straight through the window and shattered it,
But…I didn’t get hurt.
You know, even though this all happened over thirty years ago,
I remember it as if it was yesterday.

Why?
Why do young siblings
Tend to fight?

Is it just because of their constant, daily interaction?!
Not necessarily.
We don’t fight as much with our friends…
I’m not complaining; my brother and I now get along.
But at the same time, the older I got,
The more I began to understand the situation.
I’d like to begin with the first brothers in history –
Yes, Cain and Abel.
Let’s learn their story
As it is related to the Bible
According to the Hebrew tradition’s perspective.
Cain, the son of Adam and Eve,
Knew that he was the “second generation of humanity.”
From Cain’s perspective, there was no need for another person.
He was the person of the second generation –
He was humanity.
This also explains what he chose to do,
To be a “cultivator of the land,” meaning: the master of this earth!
Inevitably, the “other” person [in this case, Abel] – was completely redundant…
In Hebrew, the word Cain means “acquired.”
Cain felt that everything was ready and belonged to him, acquired for him.
There was no need to make any corrections in his life.
He had no moral issues…

Abel, Cain’s younger brother,
Saw the world entirely differently.
First of all, he is called a “brother.” That is his first name.
“His brother, Abel…”
[This word is unnecessary in the Biblical narrative.
If he is the son of Adam and Eve,
Then he is Cain’s brother. Why does this need to be explicitly mentioned in the verse?!]
From here, we learn that the word “brother”
Is essentially part of his identity, the purpose for which he was born.
Abel’s realization that he is a person
Who is meant to help others
Leads him to choose an occupation that focuses on helping –
He becomes a shepherd.
It is as if he is constantly proclaiming:
“I am your brother, do not forget…”
When we think deeply, we understand that each of the brothers
Lived with a moral and behavioral mindset that was
Diametrically different than that of his brother.
Cain, who views himself as the master of the world in the second generation
Understands thinks and lives with the impression that his brother is superfluous,
Like his name – Abel in Hebrew means “emptiness.”
After all, he is unnecessary.
Cain thinks he can do everything. Alone.
He’s the “king” of the world…
His brother’s perception, his moral experience, is different.
For Abel, other people come first.
The result is that every person has a different role to fulfill.
Abel needs to teach Cain to give others space to live.
Cain may be the king of the world
But is it possible to turn him into a moral king, who agrees to include others?!

These two brothers must solve the problem of their lives together,
The “brothers equation.”

Abel faces a very complicated situation,
For according to Cain, he is useless.
If he doesn’t succeed in teaching Cain,
His fate is sealed…
Cain’s challenge was to allow his brother Abel to teach him
So that he would become a moral “king of the world,”
One that is able to allow different people to live alongside him.
Cain failed. So did Abel.
If they had both succeeded, they would have brought the Messiah.
Later, Jacob and Esau,
The sons of Isaac,
Also failed at the same task.
The pattern repeats itself in many families;
The firstborn child arrives in the family
And feels that he is the most important, the most special.
Everyone is so excited about him.
He is the next generation!
Until his brother arrives;
The role of the second child
Is to teach the firstborn child
To live with others in the world!
It’s not easy
For either one of them…
Sometimes they throw shoes at each other
Sometimes they even break the window of their home,
We just hope they don’t kill each other…
What needs to be the solution
When two people stand opposite one another,
Each with their own different self-awareness,
Sometimes completely contrasting?
The Bible’s answer, according to the tradition
Of the “chain of secret keepers” is clear:
Each person is obligated to recognize that the other person
Is also a creation, created by a shared Creator!
They share a common task
To be fulfilled with mutual respect
Between these two equal individuals,
Without one person invalidating the other.
Just as the Creator
Gave each person their own space in the world.
This is a moral and ethical perspective.
This is the key to moral behavior in our world.
This perspective is derived from the very recognition that the world was created,
And when we understand that the concept of creation means that the Creator, the Giver of life,
Gives life to every living being
And that He gives them free choice, even if a person acts contrary to God’s will.
Meaning, He gives “space” to others, to the creations.
Like the Creator, we also need to give others, people different than us,
The chance to live alongside us in the world.
Cain and Abel, the two first brothers in history,
Did not succeed in this task.
Each one failed in his capacity.
Looking deeper, it becomes clear that Abel [the teacher]
Paid a dearer price than Cain.
Since this is the main task that man must toil to achieve on earth.
As Abraham said to his brother’s son, Lot,
“Please may there not be strife between me and you…for we are brothers.”
We encounter this never-ending tension once again between Isaac and Ishmael the brothers,
Sons of Abraham.
And again with Jacob’s sons, especially

Between Judah and Joseph,
And later, in the continuous wars
Over the city of Jerusalem.
Wars between the Crusaders and the sons of Ishmael,
With each side trying to prevent the other from reaching the holiness.
Until the true master of the city arrives
The Hebrew nation,
Who belongs to the chain of secret keepers,
And allow everyone to access the holiness.

History awaits,
Not just Jerusalem!
When will humankind finally understand
Their responsibility?
When will people be wise enough to behave like the Creator,
Giver of life, who allows others to live – and they too
will give the stranger, the “other,”
Real space to live?
***
“When was the last time
You did something, for someone else?!”