VBM Kayin's Act By Harav Yaakov Medan

I. The Sacrifice and the Sin The first two acts of humanity recounted in the Torah are humankind's first two failures. Adam lived 930 years, and we know nothing about what he did all those years apart from his failure when he ate from the Tree of Knowledge and attempted to hide from his Creator in the aftermath of that sin. Kayin, too, must have done many things over the course of his life, but the Torah focuses exclusively on the shedding of his brother's blood and his failed attempt to hide this from God. With these failures, the Torah intends to teach us the great challenge of living righteously before God, both in man's relationship with his Creator and in his relationship with his fellow man.