While God requested Cain the place his brother used to be, Cain spoke the most famous strains within the Torah, “Am I my brother’s keeper? ” Cain and Abel are the 1st humans to be born of human mom and dad, and they’re the 1st pair of siblings, the 1st brothers. They’re additionally interested in the 1st homicide. (That’s loads of firsts! ) yet there’s nice non secular value within the first actual absolutely human episode within the Torah. The Torah teaches that the best human excitement is nearness to God, and the correct viewpoint on existence has God on the middle. considered during this mild, there’s an enormous distinction among the symbolic supplying of Cain together with his quite lowly “fruit from the floor” and Abel’s delivering of “firstborn of his flocks. ” Torah commentators additionally clarify that the profession of shepherd symbolically represents a occupation that permits for contemplation of God, while a tiller of land frequently turns into a worshipper of the earth and never God. sixty seven 09_173459 ch04. qxp sixty eight 11/26/07 11:18 PM web page sixty eight half II: one after the other: The Books of the Torah while It Rains, It Pours: Noah and the Flood There’s an previous comic story a few rabbi who was once in a health center mattress subsequent to an atheist. The atheist acknowledged to the rabbi, “Oh rabbi together with your foolish ideals. Don’t you recognize that there are dozens of cultures that experience an old flood myth!? ” The rabbi spoke back, “That makes me think lots greater. I’ve usually puzzled how no one heard of the Flood other than we Jews. Now that i do know others have additionally heard approximately it, I’m certain it occurred. ” no matter if the Flood truly occurred or no longer, it’s a narrative that has captivated the imaginations of numerous youngsters and adults for plenty of centuries. I provide you with an outline of the tale within the following sections. A 40-day journey at the excessive seas primarily, the tale of Noah and the Flood says that the realm used to be packed with depraved humans and God observed that Noah used to be the main righteous. because the Torah says, “God observed that the wickedness was once nice . . . yet Noah chanced on grace within the eyes of God” (Genesis 6:5–8). God determined to ship a Flood that basically wiped away the 1st test and allowed the human relatives to start back. God commanded Noah to construct a massive boat, an ark, in coaching for the Flood. Noah, his spouse, his sons, and their better halves joined a sampling of each animal for forty days whereas the rains became to floods and burnt up the remainder of the people and animals on the planet. you will be thinking about: Did Noah quite take of every form of animal with him at the ark? whilst i used to be a librarian operating on the reference table of a public library, I sometimes bought cell calls that librarians name “bar bets. ” the belief is that individuals are sitting at a bar (or in different places) and get right into a debate over a few truth, which activates them to name the library to get the reply. good, here’s an exceptional bar wager: guess an individual that Noah didn’t take of every type of animal into the ark yet as an alternative took of every “unclean” animal and 7 of every “clean” animal. (A fresh animal can be utilized within the Holy Temple as a sacrifice.