What was the difference between the Korbonos Kayin and Hevel?
Hevel brought it from the best, the choicest — מבכרות צאנו ומחחלבהן, Hevel brought of the firstlings of his flock and from their choicest. Rearranging the letters of הבל we notice it spells הלב, the heart, since he brought it with a good heart, from the love of the Mitzva and Hashem. He therefore did it in a nice way. This is why Hashem turned to his Korbon, as the pasuk there tells us.
If it is done in the opposite way, we can apply the pasuk חקים לא טובים, decrees that were not good. This is just as Kayin brought his Korbon from inferior quality since he just wanted to fulfill the Mitzva, to get by.
For this reason, Hashem didn’t turn to his Korbon. So Hashem says to him למה חרה לך: why are you annoyed that I didn’t accept your Korbon. אם תיטיב: if you do Mitzvos with happiness and a good heart, then שאת : I will lift up that Mitzva very high as it is pleasing to me. If not (ואם לא תיטיב), then לפתח חטאת רבץ, sin crouches.
How is this rectified? To do Mitzvos in a nice way. For this reason, the first letters of נ אוה קדש י -ה-ו-ה, sacred dwelling, spell קין. This idea is stated by the Rambam who writes that although they are all kosher for Menachos, one should bring the best.
This applies to everything we do for Hashem. Examples: Feed the poor from the best of our food, buy a nice Esrog and build a nice shul. With this we can fulfill זה א-לי ואנוהו, to beautify oneself before Hashem in Mitzvos.
Rabbi Alt merited to learn under the tutelage of R’ Mordechai Friedlander ztz”l for close to five years. He received semicha from R’ Zalman Nechemia Goldberg ztz”l. Rabbi Alt has written on numerous topics for various websites and publications and is the author of six books including the recently released Dazzling Money Insights. His writings, some of which have been translated into Yiddish, Hebrew, German and French, inspire people across the spectrum of Jewish observance to live with the vibrancy and beauty of Torah. He lives with his wife and family in Kiryat Yearim (where the Aron was for 20 years [Shmuel 1, 7:1,2]) where he studies, writes and teaches. The author is passionate about teaching Jews of all levels of observance.
Yechezkel 20:25. Siduro Shel Shabbos 5,1,7.
Breishis 4:3, Rashi.
The Chassam Sofer (Al Hatorah, Ki Seitzei, s.v. ki yikach) writes that one doing teshuva must be happy and enthusiastic because teshuva with sadness and laziness is sinful.
Breishis 4:6-7.
Tehillim 93:5.
Issurei Mizbeach, 7:11. The Kesef Mishna on the Rambam (Hilchos Tefillin 3:5) writes in the name of the Shu”t Harambam (289) that in the city of the Rambam, Kortova, there was a chochom who had the same name as the Rambam, R' Moshe Ben Maimon and this person wrote a sefer on Hilchos Tefillin. The people erred in following the order of the parshiyos of tefillin like R' Tam, and with the laws of the parchment. The Rif also holds like this opinion, and even the Rambam himself erred originally and followed this opinion of the sefer of R' Moshe Ben Maimon. The Rambam writes that even when R' Moshe Deri came to Eretz Yisrael, his tefillin was done in accordance with the opinion of that sefer of R' Moshe Ben Maimon. When they showed R' Moshe Deri the words of the previous geonim that argue on the opinion of that sefer, he switched these tefillin and made for himself new tefillin in accordance with Rashi’s opinion. The Rambam also relates that there were sages that opened the tefillin of Rav Hai Gaon and the parshiyos were placed in the order of Rashi’s opinion.
Shemos 15:2. Shabbos 133b.
