The Results of Cain's Sin

... and it shall come to pass that everyone who finds me shall kill me.                                    Genesis 4:14

            Rashi, based upon Midrash Tanḥuma, comments that Cain’s fear was that he would be killed by an animal. Until Cain killed his brother, he felt that the animals were in awe of him. Now Cain feared that he had lost his dominion over the animals.

            This comment follows the approach of the Torah and our Sages, that essentially God created a tranquil and harmonious world, but man’s sins disturb this tranquility and harmony. Were man to live in peace and harmony with his fellow man, the animal world would be peaceful and harmonious as well.

            We find expression of this approach in next week’s parasha as well:

... for all flesh had corrupted its way upon earth [Genesis 6:12]

            It seems strange to attribute corruption to creatures who do not possess free will. The explanation is that man had so debased himself that he adversely affected the animal kingdom as well.

            Perhaps the ultimate expression of this approach is Isaiah’s vision of the end of days:

And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together.                                  [11:6]

            In the world of tranquility, there will be no beasts of prey. In the end of days, when Mankind achieves its tranquility, there will be a return to the primeval world of tranquility, and animals will cease being beasts of prey.

            Seemingly, logic should dictate the opposite of Cain’s fear. If animals held him in awe before Cain killed Abel, they should be even more fearful now. If Cain is willing to take his own brother’ life, he certainly would not hesitate to kill animals. Apparently, the animals should fear Cain rather than the other way around. The lesson of Rashi’s comment is that man’s dominion over animals results from maintaining a high moral level. When Cain brought himself down from his moral heights, he lost dominion over the animals.

            Cain’s sin was not the first sin in history. His parents had sinned by eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Yet Adam and Eve did not fear losing their dominance over the animals following their sin. Perhaps the reason is that Adam and Eve’s sin was bein adam laMakom, between man and his Creator, while Cain sinned bein adam l'ḥavero, against his fellow man. This suggestion is consistent with our Sages’ approach that in many ways, sins between man and fellow man are worse than those between man and his Creator.