The Mark of Cain: A Blessing or a Curse? with Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

Shalom aleichem everybody. Welcome back to the Yibaneh Midrash. Welcome home to Torah. We had such an unbelievable hug. I'm sure hopefully everyone else did as well. Um the only thing we're missing is the Beit Hamikdash, Mashiach and Hedrin, but besides that, here we go. We are starting the the Torah anew, parashah Devarim sheet. And um we are I'll just let you know, right? We want the people, whoever's listening, watching, to learn Hebrew. So there are links down below where you could find the original source sheets that we're using. And I implore you, right? Try, try, try again to learn a bit of Hebrew a little bit of Hebrew. Um also, I put in some previous links, links of previous shiurim classes on parashah Bereishit cuz we're going to be dealing with chapter 4 verse 15. So if you want to go back to some of the other previous classes, I uh certainly recommend doing so to get caught up, so to speak. So we're going to be in chapter 4 verse 15 and we're I'm going to label this the mark of Cain. The mark of Cain. Is it a blessing or a curse? Uh I actually want to just make sure that we dedicate tonight's learning to uh the refuah shleimah Breya bat Chava and Chaim Aryeh ben Rivka uh through the learning should be a refuah shleimah and b'ezrat Hashem. Um Here we go. So, in Genesis chapter 4 verse 15, it says, "And the Lord said to him." To who? To Cain. He Why would he say to Cain, "Whoever kills you"? "Whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be wrought upon him sevenfold." And the way we're going to understand this, "And the Lord placed a mark on Cain that no one who finds him slay him." We're going to go deep into what this means. Let's go to the Hebrew first of all. Vayomer lo Hashem. Hashem said to him, Lachein, kol hoyray Kayin, "Anyone who kills Kayin, shiv'atayim yukam." Will have something brought upon him seven times. And this is the part we're going to focus in on. Vayasem Hashem lekayin ot. Hashem placed upon Kayin a sign, an ot. Lebilti hakot oto kol mitz'o. In order for what? So nobody will hit him, will kill him, anyone who finds him. In other words, that no one will find him to slay him. The Kli Yakar has some really fantastic questions here. But he's going to focus on one of three opinions in the Midrash that tells us what this sign is. Before we get to that, I want to mention that I did hear of a book, a movie, a statement even in the dictionary, what does it mean the mark of Cain? Not according to Judaism, but according to Webster's or according to Christianity or the different Should I say different denominations of Christianity? And I was shocked but not that shocked. Um and this is taken off of Wikipedia. The the the mark of Cain, it depends on very different views and regarding the status of Cain himself, but it's as either being given additional time to repent. That sounds a little bit closer to Judaism. Or as being further shamed. Okay. By the way, the Protestant denominations began teaching the belief that the mark of Cain was a dark skin tone in an attempt to justify their horrible horrible actions towards African-Americans, slavery. Um Protestant preachers wrote exegetical analysis of the curse. They're actually calling it a curse and they get confused between what they call the curse of Ham or even the um Should I say what's the word I'm looking for? A mark of shame. They really you know, have their boots. Right? They're trenched into this idea that it's some kind of mark of shame and therefore they justified their their horrible horrible uh racism and slavery. But let's not escape this idea that even during the Holocaust. And it's not just the Holocaust, even in England 800, 900, 1,000 years ago. This idea of wearing a Jewish star, a yellow star that the Jews had to wear a certain mark that they also, yeah. The mark of Cain or the mark of shame. And this is what they uh this is what they do. This is what they had had happened. Okay, with that in mind, we are going to learn the the Jewish concept based on the Midrash, based on the Kli Yakar. The Kli Yakar's understanding of the Midrash and how he brings it in so beautifully. So, first of all, Cain, we're going to call him Cain, that's his Hebrew name. What did he do? He killed his brother. There's no question. There's no excuses. The question is, if somebody murders somebody, we all know that the Torah punishment is death. So, he's not put to death. This should alarm all of us, right? Neon signs, right? Right, Aaron? What do we have here? Someone Well, let's go back to the verse again. Because really, since he deserves death, he's going to be allowed to live because this is actually a warning that nobody should kill him during those seven generations. Allow him to live. Which already is weird. It's It's unusual. If you have someone who murdered intentionally, right? Uh let's say call it the first-degree intentional murder, which it seems from the storyline that's what happened. Well, we're going to find that that's not what happened. Okay, that's not what happened. Okay, so this sign is a warning or a sign for others. But God is telling Cain. And if he's telling Cain, what about all the other people who are supposed to know this? The sign has to be something that is going to be obvious for others so they don't kill him. Otherwise, they're guilty of of murder. Okay, in other words, within the seven generations, if they kill him, it doesn't say what vengeance would be taken upon the person. Okay, it doesn't say. You might assume that person would be killed. But I want to read the first Rashi for you on this verse. Rashi begins by saying this is one of the verses that speak briefly but and they hit it hints but it doesn't fully explain. Okay? So let's go to the Rashi in Hebrew. This is on verse 15. This is one of the verses which cut short their words. The Ramzu but nevertheless made an allusion below Pierxu but it didn't really explain whatever the allusion is. The same call Horikain therefore it says whoever kills Cain Lashon Ara it's momish a threat it's actually a threat. Koyaselo so shall be done to him. Kaklakak onshu that is going to be the punishment. The low parash onsho but the but the verse doesn't does not specify the punishment. You just make the assumption that the person who killed should be then be killed but that's not how we're going to learn it. It Rashi claims there is no explanation it's only hinted at and we're going to look at the hints through the measure and through the words of the text itself. And hopefully this will lay in all of us. And by the way Rashi continues I do not wish to wreck vengeance upon Cain now. So this is already a tremendous acid. Okay? Tremendous kindness and mercy. At the end of seven generations I will wreck vengeance upon him. Who kills Cain? Lemech one of his grandchildren will rise up and slay him. Now I just want to point out it's not an official gazelle show that I know of but nevertheless look at the words in 4:15 where it says the bottom line shivatayim yukam, which means at the um that vengeance will be brought upon him, yukam, shivatayim, sevenfold. Now, if we go into chapter 4 verse 24, I just want to go to 23 and 24. This is where Lamech says to his wives, we don't know for sure from the text that Lamech is the one that kills Cain, but through the the hints. Now, Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hearken to my voice. So, he's speaking to his own wives, who by the way, after you hear what he did, they refrained from intimate relations. Wives of Lamech, incline your ears to my words, for I have slain a man by wounding him, and a child by bruising him. Who did he kill? Who did he Which man did it was it and which child was it? And then it says, if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, because everyone knew that Well, we will speak about it that Cain was allowed to live for seven generations. His life was extended. He should have been killed if he killed inadvertently, intentionally, but he wasn't. Well, he did teshuvah number one, but for what sin? We still haven't discovered what he did. Then Lamech, he's talking like third person about himself, it should be 77-fold, which means I should basically live forever. Whoa. We We're going to unpack all this, but in the Hebrew when it says if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech should be for 77. The Hebrew says shivatayim yukam. Again, those same words that we found in Genesis 4:15 about the uh the the the the vengeance of sevenfold. He's referring to that. The clue The clue There's clues. Lamech is the one who was instrumental in killing his great-grandfather, Cain. But so, let's just go on a little bit further in the Rashi. Basically, the expression the Torah is teaching us is an expression of a threat, like Rashi says, "Ga'arah." That nobody should harm him. So, we're going to discuss what this sign is and how others would be um cognizant of the fact that there is this obvious sign not to uh not to kill Cain. Uh later on, Rashi says, "And the Lord placed a mark on Cain." It says, "He engraved the letter of his name on his forehead." How can putting a letter of God's own name be a punishment? It's got to be just a sign for people to know not to kill him. It's almost like a bracha. Okay. So, with all that, let's go into the Kli Yakar itself. It starts like this on page mem dalet. The yes The yasem Hashem le-Cain ot. Again, Hashem placed onto Cain a ot, a sign or a letter, le-vilti hakot oto, so nobody should kill him, kol motz'o. Interesting, the Kli Yakar is going to ask a very good question. Why does the verse say, "Anyone that finds him"? Shouldn't it just say without those words, Anybody who kills him because you can't kill him unless you find him. This is going to play a very important role in our understanding. Cole Matzo, anyone who finds him. It's very strange that those words appear because you don't need them. So, starting off with the Midrash that explains three opinions perhaps even more, but at the minimum three opinions, what exactly was this sign? We are going to focus only on one. Nicho Raba Shimon Zai bin Malchut Oze Mahaya. So, in the Midrash, I believe it's in 22 number 12, Yud Bet, it says like this. His Riach Al Lav Gagil Chama V'chulei. Actually, I will turn, you don't have it. Uh I'm going to turn to where it actually says this. Okay. You know, this is the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda versus Rabbi Nechemia. Where it says that Hashem placed upon him a sign that so that none that meet him might kill him. So, Rabbi Yehuda is the one that says his Riach Lo Gagil Chama. That God caused the orb of the sun to shine upon him. The orb of the sun, in other words, the sun itself shone upon, and we say sun, shemesh is obviously s u n. That's what it means, Gagil Chama. So, um Rabbi Nechemia asked the question back to Rabbi Yehuda, how can that be? I don't really understand. That the sun shines for everybody, right? No matter where you are. Okay, maybe you're in England or Sweden or something, maybe you don't get as much sunshine. But the sun basically shines for everybody. What do you mean it shone for him? It's a great question. But Rabbi Nehemiah said upon that wicked individual, the Holy One blessed be he, would cause the sun of the orb to shine? The orb of the sun to shine? Surely not. And then he goes on to his explanation. We're not going to deal with his explanation. We're going to deal with this whole idea of the shining of the sun is somehow related to the sign that one should know not to kill that Cain. How can that be? The comments in the Midrash actually say that this idea of the sun shining is serving as a public demonstration that Hashem forgave Cain for his transgression. We still don't know what the transgression is. We're assuming that it's murder. And after such a demonstration, no creature would kill him. Alternatively, the Midrash means that God caused Cain to shine with a spiritual light that caused the animals, remember there weren't any people really or at the time, but the animals at least to fear him. Even the word "oat" is referred to, right? Is means the sun. You'll find that in chapter in 2 Kings chapter 20 8 and 9. So, there is substantial evidence here to back up Rabbi Yehuda that we are surely talking about the sun. Okay, but what is actually going on here? So, let's see what bothers the Kli Yakar when he asked, "Vekasha, there is an obvious question." And this obvious question, I think, is absolutely brilliant. How is it that causing the sun to shine brings this liability this obligation not to kill Cain anyone who finds him. That's as best as I can translate. What in the world is the sun doing? And he's willing to bring what we already said that the shores of Eden the shores of Eden according to the letter of the law this person is a murderer. He's a Russia. He's evil. And we have a a very interesting verse in 2 Samuel chapter 2 verse 9. It's actually quite beautiful in Hebrew Russia but I check you down there. The wicked are still in darkness. This person we're assuming is an absolute Russia. Totally wicked. Okay? And Hashem is shining his light on him. And yet the verse in in 2 Samuel 1 Samuel I said chapter 2 verse 9 the wicked are still in darkness. We know that. It's like the righteous people or the rule of Saudi right that the light shines upon the righteous and those who are evil walk in darkness. Why would Hashem do such a thing? And how is that a sign for everyone else? The Israel come a lot. So the bottom line is why or how does Hashem do this unique miracle just for him that everyone will see there's something unique about him and you shall not kill him because the sun is shining on Cain. That's the first paragraph and I I this really laid the groundwork for the most important questions. So, the clear car says the mirror Peru shadow volume. Seems like this. Open your eyes, listen well. You know in partial mish party. Okay, you'll find this on number five in the source sheet. Uh five in the source sheet goes like this. This is um Exodus chapter 22 verse one and two. A little bit of background. If a thief comes breaking in stealthily, right? Stealthily. Uh in a hidden way. He breaks in through the basement window. Okay? If the thief is discovered and if the balabayit, the owner of the house, kills him and the thief dies, is this balabayit, is this owner of the house guilty of murder? The Torah says no. Right? We have this idea of the rule of the palace or stand your ground. There's a lot of modern day laws, but basically if someone is breaking into your house and you kill them. And again, you have to follow the laws of your country. But the Torah anyway saying that if they break into your house because they're basically forfeiting their own life. They know that this person is probably willing to um to defend and defend their property with a weapon and therefore they're they're they're putting their life on the line and therefore the owner of the house is not going to be guilty of murder. Obviously, this is only when it's obvious the person wants to murder the person. If it was obvious the person has no intent, then most likely, as the Torah would say, the person the baal ba'it is guilty of murder. But listen to the next verse in chap- in verse Again, this is Exodus chapter 22. Now we're in verse two. If the sun shone upon him, so the first case was the guy was stealthily breaking in, and he was willing to give up his own life, I mean, realizing that his life was already worthless if he got caught. But if the sun is shining upon him, listen to the Hebrew. Im zarha hashemesh alav. If the sun is shining on him, so then the baal ba'it is going to be guilty. Now, let's read the rest of the verse, and I'm going to have to break the verse up into two pieces, because if the sun shone upon him, it's as if he has blood, meaning the baal ba'it is guilty. There's a semicolon in the English, but the truth is, in the Hebrew it's broken up broken up as well, because there's a um the the Trump sign under damim lo. He has to pay. I'm sorry. Uh his blood is on his hands. But then shalem yeshalem. He shall surely pay. He shall surely pay. This is an idea we always go after the highest uh punishment. So if the person is guilty, and his blood like in other words, the thief basically sacrificed his own life, it's as if he gave his life for it, so then in certain cases he wouldn't pay. In this case, where the sun shone and he wasn't guilty to be put to death, so then he has to pay. And that's how to break up the verse. Then he has to pay. As the verse continues, if he has no money, then he shall be sold into in uh um he shall be sold for his theft into slavery. This it is not for now. So, we're not going to go into the depth of what it's talking about it now when it talks about being sold into slavery, that we talked about in parshat mishpatim. So, even though we read the English in Exodus 22:1-2, I really think that the Hebrew is very um it's worthwhile. Terret means underground, but it means stealthily. So, if you're not found, right? The person is attempting to uh, do this thievery stealthily, so he won't be found, but yet he was found. Therefore, the ba'al habayit, if he kills him, so then he's not guilty. The ba'al habayit is not Sorry, he's not guilty. And then we said in in English, if the sun shone upon him, im zarha shemesh alav, it's almost word for word in the measures of what God did for the sign on Cain. If the sun he it says that he did make the sun shine for him. So, then the person who kills him would be guilty. So, isn't that more like the threat when God says anybody kills him before the seven generations, that person will wreak vengeance. But after those seven generations are finished, I'm not going to say it's it's fair play, but there's no threat. The threat is all within the first seven generations. By the way, Rashi explains what the Torah is trying to teach you about this idea that when someone's trying to to to thieve from you in a stealthily stealthily way, they are coming willing to kill you if you come against them because you would expect the baal ba'it to have a weapon. So, very important concept in Judaism that if someone comes to kill you, you kill them first. And this one, the thief, he has come to kill you because he knows that no one can hold himself back and remain silent when he sees people taking his money. Okay. Now, interestingly enough, the next part of Rashi says, the sun shone upon him. We're talking about in in in Exodus, Mishpatim, if the sun shone upon the thief. Rashi says this is nothing but a metaphor, and perhaps we'll take it as a metaphor as well. Literally and as well as a metaphor in the in the Medrash. Meaning, what does it mean if the sun shone upon him? If the matter is clear to you that the thief is peacefully peaceably disposed towards you. Meaning, he's similar to you, like the sun, which represents peace in the world. So, it's obvious to you that he has not come to kill you. Okay? And just to reiterate this other idea that he shall surely pay is a new part of the verse. It's a separate part. That means the the thief shall pay the money that he stole, and he's not liable to death. Okay, let's just um move on. So, let's go back to the clear car. We're only on the beginning of the second paragraph, where he says this verse in Exodus, "Im ba machteret yimatzei ha ganav u hu ka damim, if stealthily the thief comes into your house and you find this thief, and then you slay him, you hit him and he dies, ein lo damim, there's no guilt, you don't have to pay, you don't have you you you don't have to pay with your own blood, meaning he's in it the the Baal bite's innocent. But if the sun is shining, then the person the Baal bite is guilty. Cain was a ganef. Okay, now that doesn't mean that's the crime. The crime that he actually committed he did kill his brother. There's no question he killed him. And the seven Noahide laws were already given. So he must know that murder was forbidden. And therefore he should have been killed as a result. However, there is a very interesting comment that I have here. And that is that he did not kill him um intentionally. Yeah. He took a rock thinking the rock was going to somehow damage, but not kill. So it's brought down the reason Cain was not liable to the death penalty is that he did not intend to kill Abel. He used a stone to hit him and he did not know that stones could kill. So now you know, and I want every Palestinian terrorist who are throwing rocks at Jews, stop. Right? You are and I'm you're cursed already, right? If you pick up a rock, it says in the Talmud that if you raise your hand to a Jew just an empty hand and you don't even strike the Jew but you raise your hand to strike a Jew you're already a complete Russia and are cursed and I'm telling you that if you go further and take a rock or a metal pole or a brick and you throw it or ambush a Jew you are in big trouble with the almighty. You don't want to do that. Uh by the way, other commentators explain that this was called unintentional murder. So, what do we know about the Torah? It says that an unintentional murder is shogeg. Shogeg, you go to a a city of exile, a ir miklat. So, just think about what was the curse. If that If it was a curse, is that was he was supposed to be nav nad, a wanderer, a vagrant. That was more of a curse. Okay? But, the sign was the opposite. Was sort of a blessing. Okay? So, as an unintentional murder, Cain was labeled liable only to exile, as you can read in Numbers chapter 35. Which is why Cain was punished to wander the earth and not to death. Um there's one who says the Okay, let's go on with the clear car. Oh, so I want to get into um a Rashi on verse nine. So, go back to the English sheets. It's number six. So, when God said, this is chapter four verse nine. God said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" The Hashem el Cain, A hevel achicha? Where's Where is Abel your brother? What did Cain How did he answer? He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" The yomer, "Lo yedati. Hashomer achi anochi?" What do you think? Hashem doesn't know? What are you trying to do? Deceive God? Gaslight? Let's hear. Um I want to see that Rashi. Between the eyes. Um it says here in Hebrew "Nose say gone ev das elyonah." Which means he acted like a thief in terms of deceiving Hashem. We call deception g'nevas hadas. Meaning stealing someone's mind. That's the term in Hebrew for g'nevas hadas, for for deceiving somebody. Okay? So, that's all we see in Rashi. Uh right? I do not know he acted as if he could deceive Hashem. Very interesting. So, listen to the clear cut. He says, "Vahaya holech k'machteret k'vimachteret." Remember, he was going stealthily. He was figuring he can continue to walk stealthily, somehow uh avoid Hashem. He histir Hashem panav mimenu. Remember, Hashem said, "You are going to be in exile." So, exile from what? It's not like you had the land of Israel and Jewish people were there and you were in exile. So, they were already outside the Garden of Eden. This is where the Holy Land, Eretz Hakodesha. We I believe we are sitting in the extension of Gan Eden. Wherever Adam came after the Gan Eden, it was right here, where I am sitting, in Israel. So, Hashem hid himself from Cain because he was goresh min ha'aretz Hakodesha. He exiled him. He threw him out of the holy land. And what is it about the holy land? It says in Deuteronomy chapter 11 verse 12, this is about Eretz Yisrael. Eretz Canaan. A land the Lord your God looks after. The eyes of Lord your God are always upon it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. In Hebrew, Eretz Asher Shamayim Adonai Elohim to me. He's He's always interested in the land of Israel. And Ainay Hashem Elohecha bah. And of course he doesn't have eyes. So his whole attention is towards it. May Reshit Hashanah viad acharit Hashanah. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Look at Rashi. He does not look after all lands. Now what does it really mean? There's a thing called Hashgacha Pratit and Hashgacha Klalit. Providence on a general level and individual customized providence, meaning uh involvement from Hashem. And that will happen only in the land of Israel. Outside the land of Israel, it's Klalit. Hashem wants the species to continue. Very important. And therefore, there are general things that are happening to each individual, but it's general. General involvement, not personal involvement. And but in Eretz Yisrael, it's absolutely to the to the atom. A T O M M Rather, it is if God cares only for it. And with that caring which he cares for it, he cares for all the other lands along with it. So, in other words, everything, even the word Yerushalayim means there's two Jerusalems. The heavenly flow comes down from the heavenly Jerusalem and then goes out to the rest of the world. But, this is where it all begins. And what does it mean the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it from the beginning of the to see what it requires and to make for it new decrees, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. And from the beginning of the year to the end of the year um as we know, this is Rosh Hashanah. This is judgment day. Judgment day. Okay, so let's continue back into the clear car because but he's telling us that Cain is being exiled from the land of Israel and the Gershu Luchuts Lartz we learn in Gemara Ketubot uh Ketubot's page one 10B it says Shahada Bar meaning if you live it outside the land of Israel, Dome Ke'ilu Ein Lo Elochai, it's as if you have no God. You are so far away, you have no intimate relationship with Hashem. Mitzad Hastarat Panav Yisbarach from the aspect of God's hidden from you. And now just look cuz we actually have those words in the verse uh just look number nine on the source sheet, it's in Genesis chapter 4 verse 14. It says, "Behold, you have driven me today off the face of the earth." Not the face of the earth, but to the land of Israel. "And I shall be hidden from before you." Okay, meaning Cain feels so distanced. But, the question is like this, that he stealthily and thinking that he has an advantage by being away from Hashem through that punishment, that exile. "And I will be a wanderer and an exile in the land. And then he says, "And it will be that whoever finds me will kill me." So, he's worried, and that's why Hashem says, "I'm going to give you a sign. Nobody's going to kill you." So, the last thing we read was this idea of Panacha Esoter. That's what Cain says, right? And from before you, I will be hidden. It's as if he is stealthily living his life. Like we saw in the in in Mishpatim by the Garneth. He hired Boreak me Makam le Makam. He's actually physically moving from place to place, just like those Arab terrorists that cannot sleep at night. They can't even sleep in the same place one night after another, right? They have to move around. The Koboreak Mach bi et Atzmo be Saser. And anybody that's running, fleeing, the word fleeing, Boreak, is obviously hiding himself in a stealthy fashion. Im Cain Pishita she called mostly your Agayu. Therefore, we already know that if anybody finds somebody who's doing the stealthy acts, and they kill the person, they're not going to be guilty. Therefore, there's no incentive not to kill him. You're not going to be guilty of anything. Go ahead. Why not? Key Ailodami, because there's no guilt involved in killing somebody who's acting this way. May Achash be Mak Teret Matzo, after the fact that the person is hiding and found uh living stealthily. Al Cain His Ri Halav Chachama. Now we understand that original opinion of Rebbe Yehuda in the Midrash that Hashem shown the light on him. The kol hamakom asher halach every place that he would go, there would be light for him. As a sign that you don't kill the guy. Lo hora'ah she'ein lo din animsal mataras. He's not stealthily. He does nothing stealthily about it what he's doing. Even if his intent was to stay far away from God, God would ensure that he could live by shining the light on him. Ki im din me she'azar Hashemish alav for the right the the strict the letter of the law, right? The law would allow someone who the sun is shining on him she'adam im lo. Therefore, anybody that killed him would be guilty. Okay? The kol hahorego nareg lav. And anybody who killed him, they would somehow be guilty. Dizeh motzei chotzek. This is clear-cut proof le'vilti hakot oto komotzei'o that nobody should kill him, anyone that found him because he would always be found. We asked that question before, why is those words there? Now, the Kli Yakar ends off by saying v'teida v'taskil, right? You should know and you should understand this well. That the language, the actual language komotzei, that we see that language, if I'm not mistaken, when Cain himself said in verse 14, chapter 4, "Behold, you have driven me off today, driven me today off the face of the earth and I shall be hidden from before you and I will be a wanderer and exile on the land and it will be that whoever finds me will kill me." Okay? Komotzei yorgeni. Anybody who finds me is going to kill me." This was before God told me he's going to give him a sign. So, the clear car says, "No, lama tal da ben motzo. Why is the whole matter depending being killed or not on being found?" Shita shalo yo hargu mishalo yimatsu yimtsu. Obviously, if you don't find him, you're not going to kill him. You don't even have to put those words in. Vahavle lemeim are shouldn't the verse just say, "Anyone who kills him." What do you have to add the words anyone that finds him? Elu shahu lo omar rather it's coming to teach us that it was saying shaho ya yoreh pen yi ya bedin animtsu bemach teret that Cain himself realized that you know what? He was afraid that he would be under that law of someone who found somebody in a stealthy fashion. He And originally, originally, he had this idea. He went through a process of repentance. Okay? Yes, he inadvertently killed. Even for that, you can do full truva. Yeah, full truva. A non-Jew can do full truva as much as a non-Jew can do. Okay? It's true. I will say it's not PC. There are different levels of truva. There's different levels. And a Jew and a non-Jew are not exactly the same in everything. That's a fact. Okay? But, at least understand that a punishment could be removed. Okay? And this punishment was removed. He He was told to what? He was going to be a wanderer. And in the end, you see that he ended up in one place. All right? He ended up in Nod, as we say. We'll see shortly. And therefore, kibosh lashon when you're hiding, only if you're hiding, then you would be afraid someone would find you. As we already saw in Mishpatim, im ba mahteret yimatzei ganav, right? If you find a thief. And by the way of Hashem shining the light on him, that no one would come to damage him, even if he was in a in a stealthy fashion, as long as he was still wandering. As we see later on, even in the wandering itself ended, um and I want to read some different uh parts of this midrash. I mean, pretty much right away in verse 16 says, "Cain left the presence of Hashem and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden." Okay? That he was the yatzei Kayin milifnei Hashem vayeishev be'eretz Nod kidmat Eden. So, he did settle. And therefore, we see that there were different levels of teshuvah that slowly, slowly even the punishments that were given to him were released. And the clear card ends off saying, "Zeh perush achar." This is a very direct explanation. But, I want to spend a little bit of time a little further time going through some important words that I found in the midrash. And we just have to open to the right page. This is very fundamental, okay? So, this idea that God said to Cain, I'm sorry. Cain actually said to God, "My sin is too great." Right? He says, "Gadol avoni min so." "My sin is so great to handle. It's just It's It's It's a burden. It's too great to carry. Uh for those who have tuned in to the Tomer Devorah Shear, this is a nice summary of one of the 13 attributes of mercy. Because we're we're really bring this down to the idea that God is merciful and we should be merciful. And I'm going to sum sum up a paragraph here that Ramasha Cordevero in the Tomer Devorah, the first chapter, understands our medrish is referring to a different concept altogether. If one commits a particular sin, you create an angel, a mashkee, so destructive entity. And we know in in Perky Avos chapter 4 verse 13, 4 verse 4 more 13, one who commits a sin acquires for himself a prosecutor. Believe it or not, we call that the Satan, the Satan. But he is a heavenly prosecutor who's going to open his mouth in the day of judgment against us. The destructive entity or prosecutor stands before God and seeks sustenance from the person like basically sucking your life force out of you as does every creature without which it cannot exist. We create these destructive forces and we feed them through our sin. Now, by rights, God should reply that he sustains only that which he creates. So, we created these destructive forces and Hashem allows these destructive forces to continue to exist. This destructive entity, however, was created by the sinner, not by God. I mean, with God's, you know, obvious observance here. Let the sinner sustain it. That's what God could say. But you know what? God sustains it. And if that were to be, the destructive entity would descend and draw its sustenance from the sinner's soul, killing the soul and harming it grievously until the sinner's punishment would expiate his sin and cause the destructive entity entity to to cease. That's how it should work. But God in his mercy does not do this. Just as he sustains all of his creation, he actually accepts upon himself the sustenance of the destructive entities created by the sinners as well, allowing the sinner the the opportunity to repent and to nullify the destructive entity through his repentance and penitence. Okay, this is fundamental. And this is what Cain meant when he said to God by that he's bearing his iniquity as he Hashem bears all the rest of creation. Cain referred to the great mercy of God sustaining the evil creature of the sin sinner's own making so that the sinner can free himself from under the crushing burden and repent. Bottom line, the conclusion is according to Ramash Kordovero, the Ramak, this contains a great lesson for all of us that we too should bear the iniquities of our fellow men who have done us injustice, thereby extending to them the opportunity to repent their ways and make amends. We are supposed to imitate Hashem. There is a link down below to the series, which I didn't finish yet, um on the the Tome Devar. Some other very interesting ideas. As we know, he said "Hang garasht." Behold, you banished me. So, this idea is God's presence is most felt in the land of Israel. I have here a comment on this idea cuz it says "Didn't Cain say to God, behold you banished me this day?" Right from from your presence, basically. So, the comment says taken literally the phrase means I will hide from your presence. Meaning if it was literal, that's what it would mean. And that implies that Cain thought he could hide from God after he's banished. But, this of course would be impossible for God is omniscient and omnipresent and is inconceivable that Cain would harbor such heretical notions. Now, there is an interesting comment. The Midrash explains that the phrase which means and from your presence I will hide it must be interpreted not as a statement but a rhetorical question. Can I be hidden from your presence? Of course not. Cain was saying that with no matter where he goes after he's banished, he will never be able to escape God's wrath. The verse of this as a whole may be understood as follows. You, God, have banished me and have decreed that I must know no rest. Meaning I can't settle down in one place, but I have to wander the earth. Living even in uninhabited areas among all these wild animals. But, since you're angry at me and I cannot escape your wrath, you will not protect me from these animals and I will be killed. But, remember God, you decreed upon me exile and not death. And that was the conversation Cain was having and God says I'm going to give you a sign. Nobody's going to kill you. The animals will know it. Other human beings will know it. This is mercy." Now, even though there was a phrase, the um the amar lo Hashem, which literally means God said to him, and what does indicate that God spoke these words to Cain. This cannot be correct. For if so, the verse would have should have said next, "Therefore, whoever slays you." Remember, we said God is talking to Cain and telling him about the sign that other that what? He's telling him that anybody who sees this sign will know not to kill you. The sign had to be so obvious to others, because he's not telling it to the world. He's only telling it to Cain. Instead, "Therefore, whoever slays Cain." Therefore, what would it avail Cain for him to be told that whoever slays him would be punished? It's not helpful to him. The would-be murderers are the ones that need to be told. The Midrash therefore interprets the phrase, when he said it says to him, means that God spoke to others on his behalf. God let the world know on behalf, and they basically basically warned them not to slay Cain. It has to be a sign coming directly from Hashem for others to know not to kill Cain. Now, there is an additional statement in the Midrash where God says to him, "Therefore, whoever slays Cain." We said this was more like a um a threat, but there are some animals that came um to avenge the blood of Abel. And the one, according to Rabbi Levi, only one of the only one animal came to demand justice. And who is that? The serpent himself. And this is where I want you to understand the Satan and the serpent and what all that means, but let me just read what R' Levi said Levi said only the primordial serpent came to demand justice for the killing of Abel. The holy one blessed be he said to the serpent therefore I say whoever slays Cain will himself be killed. So the comment over here says According to R' Levi it was only the servant serpent not the other animals who sought to avenge Abel's death. This is because the serpent represents the evil inclination, right? This is not that hard to imagine. Which first leads a person to sin, right? It led Cain to kill Abel and afterwards seeks to have him punished for what he did. So he is the enticer and then he's the prosecutor. Okay? He seeks the punishment. And the Gemara in Bava Basra 16a says that the evil inclination, the Satan, and the angel of death are all one and the same. They all wear the same hat. Malach Hamaves, Satan, and Yetzer Hara. So how does it work? So it starts off as the in the role of the evil inclination. It leads the person to sin. Then in its role as the Satan, which is the prosecutor, it serves as the sinner's prosecutor in the heavenly court and finally if it wins as prosecutor, it takes the final role as the angel of death and kills him. By the way, furthermore, it is the serpent that bears enmity towards man which therefore seeks any excuse to kill human being. Um There's so much more here, but here's the one point. I think this is very important. Hashem placed a sign upon him so that none that would meet him might kill him. And this we have an argument to Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Nehemiah, and we pretty much read all this. And that is that God made an example of Cain. He was made to wander the earth as a warning to others not to commit murder. And if they do, that they should repent fully. Uh Rav therefore interprets the verse to mean that God made Cain himself into a sign. And the sign is the the Cain who's walking around with a shining light. Now, interestingly enough, he runs into Adam, the first man. So, the Midrash explains that when Cain landed up in this place called Nod, east of Eden, guess who he runs into? None other than Adam Harishon. So, listen to this. Rabbi Hama said in the name of Rabbi Hanina bar Rav Yitzchak that Cain left God's presence, the yetzei. The yetzei means joyously. Just like we left Egypt, the yetzei. Okay? Leaving is the word in Hebrew. The yetzei is a joyous leaving. So, behold, it says in Exodus chapter 4 verse 14. This is by the Jewish people leaving Egypt. Right? Behold, he's going out to meet you. Oh, this is by by Aaron meeting up with Aaron. That he went out joyously, that he was not jealous of his brother. Right? Aaron is the older brother. Mar- Moshe is the younger brother. And God says you're going to meet your brother, and he's going to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt. And for the last 40 years, Aaron was the leader and the prophet, and yet his younger brother was coming to redeem them, and he was happy. There was not even a molecule of jealousy. And that's what we learned over there, "Vayotzei, behold he's going out to meet you, and when he sees you, he rejoices in his heart." That's what God told Moses. So, after leaving God's presence, Adam, the first man, met Cain. And he said to him, "What happened with your judgment?" He obviously knows that he killed his his other son, and there was judgment. So, Cain said to Adam, "Asiti teshuvah." Remember, this is before Matan Torah, but nevertheless, they're all Noahides. "I have repented, and I actually nit parashti. I I did teshuvah, and I I made a compromise with God." And that's basically to do away with the punishment. And that applies to all men. So, Adam, the first man, began to slap himself all over his face, like, you know, those old commercials where you used shaving cream. Um he says, "Such is the power of repentance. I didn't know." Thereupon, Adam, the first man, rose and said in the chapter, he wrote that song that we say on Friday night. Right? "L'hodot l'Hashem." Right? That's Right? "Mizmor shir l'yom haShabbat." This is the song you sing on the Sabbath day. It's Psalms 92. So, that's when Adam realized, "Wow." He met So, Cain had a message. The message was obvious. The The sun The sun was shining upon him. So, it's very interesting about this word, "Vayetzei." So, we mentioned that this idea of going out is joyous. The midrash links the word the yetzei with our verse also yotzei. Um in Exodus verse that derives that just as the latter going out with joy, so was the former. Although Cain had indeed tried initially to deny that he killed Abel, when God demonstrated to him that he knew what he had done, as we said in verse 9, he accepted God's rebuke and repented his actions and left God's presence in a joyous mood because God accepted his repentance. They made a compromise. As our verse said that after leaving God's presence, Cain settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden, and this teaches us that's where Adam lived after he was exiled out of the Garden of Eden as well. Um this last comment I want to read, Adam had not been aware that the repentance is effective. However, after witnessing that repentance enabled Cain to lessen his punishment for killing Abel, Adam decided he too would confess and repent for his own transgression, which reminds me of says tov lahodot Hashem. What is hoda? Hoda is thanks, acknowledgement, but it's the root is also confession. Tov lahodot Hashem, it's good to confess to Hashem, and I'm sure people do translate it that way. Which is to be understood it is good to confess one's sins before God. The word lahodot is being cognate to the word vidui, same root, and thus gain for gain forgiveness. There really is a tremendous more we could do, and we'll have to pick up next week with Hashem. This should give us tremendous insight into our own behavior, the way we look at the world, and that um I don't know if I mentioned this, but the the Jewish star, right? They call it the um when we we start in the beginning how the Christians use the mark of Cain as the mark of shame. They claim that we killed their God, therefore we should be like Cain walking around in darkness, but no. Hashem is full of mercy. First of all, we didn't kill their God. Man is not okay. God is not a man. Um but they have their own thought process how they came to these conclusions, which they're they're horribly mistaken, but nevertheless, we ourselves know that we are exiled because of our sins. We are cognizant of that. We know that. And we are under the full mercy of Hashem. He made an eternal covenant with us, and he loves us, and it's obvious more today than ever before. Um but I think the Jews who have stayed true to their faith always knew that in their heart and the emunah even when tragedy and things look bleak, but the emunah and therefore tov l'hodot l'Hashem. The the the the psalm is absolutely so beautiful that even in the darkness of night, right? That we will keep our faith, and it will be in the morning that we'll see the light. And b'ezrat Hashem, that light should hearken and be available, and we should all see it real soon. Soon our days we should see the rebuilding of the temple, the ingathering the exiles, the reinstitution of the Sanhedrin, and Melech Hamashiach, and we'll all see you in Eretz Yisrael soon. Have a great life. Shabbat shalom. Yitbarekhu ba'day Adonai Elohei Yisrael Adonai Elohei Yisrael baby.