The Oldest Lesson in History

Parshas Bereishis

Posted on October 4, 2002 (5763) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah| Level: Beginner

The man said, “The woman that You gave to be with me – she gave me of the tree and I ate.” (Breishis 3:12)

 

…that You gave to be with me…Evident here is a lack of gratitude. (Rashi)

So Hashem G-d banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the soil from which he was taken. (Breishis 3:23)

 

You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. You take paradise and put up a parking lot. (Joni Mitchell)

 

There are few important rules about what we call “punishments”. 1) They are never strictly punitive but are also somehow rehabilitative. There’s always a cure for something mixed in with the soup of misery. 2) The punishment fits the crime in a manner of measure for measure.

 

There’s a poetic justice implied in every Divine sentence. 3) What seems like a retributive reaction is really a mechanical effect caused by the misdeed. If a person puts his hand in fire he is automatically burnt.

 

Where do we see some of these ingredients active in the story of man’s mishap in the Garden of Eden? Why was expulsion his just desert?

 

A wealthy family raised an orphan in their home from infancy until early adulthood. His treatment and style of living was absolutely equal to the other siblings in the family. He wore the same elegant clothing and ate the same gourmet food as they. One day a poor man came to the door of this wealthy man. A deep chord of sympathy was struck within the wealthy man. So he gave to him one hundred gold coins.

 

The poor fellow was so shocked. He had never been given such a huge sum. One gold coin would have sufficed but such a demonstration of generosity uncorked a fountain of appreciation. The man started to praise his benefactor with every benevolent phrase.

 

He continually showered blessings and good wishes even as he exited. Still afterwards his voice could be heard ringing in the streets as it faded into the night.

 

The wife turned to her husband and remarked on what a stunning display of gratitude they had just witnessed. She then addressed the phenomena that this fellow with a single donation could not stop saying thanks and is probably still singing praises as he sits in his home. In contrast, the orphan, who has been the beneficiary of kindliness worth much more, has never once offered even a hint of thankfulness.

 

The moment the husband grasped her meaning, he called over the orphan boy who had been a member of their household for so many years, and pointed him to the door. He held his head low and left. The days to follow were a bitter example of how brutal life can be “out there”.

 

Without food and shelter he was forced to take the lowest job. He slept on the floor where he worked from day to late night. The first few days of work were just to pay his rent and only then could he afford a drop of food. For weeks he struggled and suffered just barely subsisting, and all the while looking longingly back at the blessed and dainty life he left behind.

 

At a calculated time the wealthy man sent for the boy to be returned to his former status within the family. However, now, having gone through what he had, he thanked his host constantly for every bit of goodness and percolated continuously with the joy of genuine appreciation.

 

As a nation and as individuals we have all witnessed this pattern and experienced it too many times. The key to holding a blessing is appreciation. Without that attitude of gratitude, the weight of the goodness that surrounds a man pushes him into exile till he is ready to gratefully surrender. This is only the most fundamental, oft repeated, and the oldest lesson in history.

 

Spreading the Fate

Parshas Bereishis

Posted on October 23, 2024 (5785) By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky | Series: Drasha| Level: Beginner

What began as a good-will gesture turned terribly sour. Worse, it spurred the first murder in history. It could have been avoided if only…

 

The Torah tells us of Cain’s innovation. He had all the fruit of the world before him and decided to offer his thanks to the Creator, albeit from his cheapest produce — flax. Cain’s brother Hevel (Abel) imitated his brother, by offering a sacrifice, too, but he did it in much grander form. He offered the finest, fattest of his herd. Hevel’s offer was accepted, and Cain’s was not. And Cain was reasonably upset.

 

Hashem appears to Cain and asks him, “Why is your face downtrodden and why are you upset?” Hashem then explains that the choice of good and bad is up to every individual, and that person can make good for himself or find himself on the threshold of sin. Simple as all that. (Genesis 4:6-7)

 

Many commentaries are bothered by what seems to be another in a litany of questions that G-d knows the answers to. Obviously, Cain was upset for the apparent rejection of his offering. Why does Hashem seem to rub it in?

 

The story is told of a construction worker who opened his lunch pail, unwrapped his sandwich and made a sour face. “Peanut Butter!” he would mutter, “I hate peanut butter!” This went on for about two weeks: every day he would take out his sandwich and with the same intensity mutter under his breath. “I hate peanut butter sandwiches!”

 

Finally, one of his co-workers got sick and tired of his constant complaining.

 

“Listen here,” said the man. “If you hate peanut butter that much, why don’t you just tell your wife not to make you any more peanut butter sandwiches? It’s as simple as that.”

 

The hapless worker sighed. “It’s not that simple. You see, my wife does not pack the sandwiches for me. I make them myself.”

 

When Hashem asks Cain, “why are you dejected?” it is not a question directed only at Cain. Hashem knew what caused the dejection. He was not waiting to hear a review of the events that transpired. Instead, Hashem was asking a question for the ages. He asked a question to all of us who experience the ramifications of our own moral misdoing. Hashem asked a haunting question to all whose own hands bring about their own misfortunes.

 

Then they mutter and mope as if the world has caused their misfortunes. “Why are you upset, towards whom are you upset?” asks G-d.

 

“Is it not the case that if you would better yourself you could withstand the moral failings and their ramifications? Is it not true that if we don’t act properly, eventually, we will be thrust at the door of sin?”

 

Success and failure of all things spiritual is dependent on our own efforts and actions. Of course, Hashem knew what prompted Cain’s dejection. But there was no reason for Cain to be upset. There was no one but himself at whom to be upset. All Cain had to do was correct his misdoing. Dejection does not accomplish that. Correction does.

 

A person in this world has the ability to teach and inspire both himself as well as others. He can spread the faith that he holds dear. But his action can also spread more than faith. A person is the master of his own moral fate as well. And that type of fate, like a peanut butter sandwich, he can spread as well!

 

 Good Shabbos!