Stepping into the Light

Three months ago, I posted a piece called "Cain's Gift", wherein I hinted that when Cain asked God "Am I my brother's keeper" the answer may have been "no". I didn't follow up on that until now because, frankly, my memory isn't what it once was and the thought that inspired the above suggestion escaped me. The little runt came back today as I fell into an afternoon nap.

When God asked Cain where was Abel, God knew the answer, and Cain knew that God knew the answer. When Cain answered with his famous rhetorical question, he was being both evasive and facetious.

The traditional public answer to Cain's question is "yes", when we look at the word "keeper" as meaning "responsible for the care of". But I don't think that's the sense Cain was using when he asked the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" I think Cain meant basically, "It's not my turn to babysit Abel." He was being a smart butt. And he'd be right: no, it wasn't his turn or his duty to babysit Abel, especially since Abel seems to have been self-supporting. What Cain failed to acknowledge, however, was that he was his own "keeper". He may not have been responsibile to guard Abel every minute, but he was responsible with every breath to guard his own behavior and line it up with God's will.That's part of the meaning of being made in God's image. (Genesis 1:27)

On that note, here's a quote to make us all think further about our relationships to our "brothers" and "sisters":

"Intolerance lies at the core of evil. Not the intolerance that results from any threat or danger. But intolerance of another being who dares to exist. Intolerance without cause. It is so deep within us, because every human being secretly desires the entire universe to himself. Our only way out is to learn compassion without cause. To care for each other simply because that 'other' exists." (by the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the Lubavitcher movement from 1951 until his death in 1994)