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The story of the two brothers Cain and Abel is written in Genesis.
This is what it says:
“And Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruits of the land, whereas Able brought from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat. And God paid attention to Abel and to his offering, but to Cain and his offering he paid no attention. “
Genesis chapter 4
And we all know the tragic ending.
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag, the great master Kabbalist, relates to the stories in the Torah as depicting elements that are within ourselves. This comes from the fact that every single human being is an entire world in himself or in herself. Therefore everything that is happening outside in the world is also happening within ourselves.
The Cain within us is the human intelligence which a person can use in order to try to acquire revelations of the light of God. as Eve said’ With this man I have acquired God, and she called his name Cain, which means acquisition. Cain knows that he can only receive the light of God if he occupies himself by giving, so he humbles himself and offers to God the fruits of the ground , “the ground” representing his outward humility. But he is really deceiving himself, because his desire is really to receive. God pays no heed to this offering . The desire to receive in spirituality is the largest of the desires to receive for ourselves alone.
But we also have the element of Abel within us. The word Abel signifies the heart. Abel wants with all his heart to give unconditionally to God even if the offering is small. As we try to give unconditionally we discover our true egoistic nature. So the Abel within us goes in and out of the framework of holiness. Abel is represented by a shepherd, he gathers up his little lambs of faith. As we stumble all we can do is offer our first steps in faith that God will forgive us and help us come toward Him.. This is the offering that God heeds and thus the Abel within us helps us to feel blessed.
The Cain within us can never really be happy because it is always looking to see what God owes him for his work, whereas the Able within us is happy and feels privileged , no matter how small the offering is.
This podcast is taken from the book HaShem Mamati Shimecha, Vol 3 Pnai Moshe.
This podcast is dedicated in loving memory and for the ilui nishmat of Feigi Bat Rivka z”l and Aharon Kotler z”l and Sara Kotler z”l, May their memories be a blessing for us.
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