This gilded bronze detail from the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, Tuscany, shows Cain killing Abel. DeAgostini/Getty Images
The biblical story of Cain and Abel runs only 17 short verses in the book of Genesis, but it contains a significant number of firsts : Earth s first pair of siblings, God s first mention of sin, and most famously the first act of murder in human history.
Whether or not you believe that these two brothers ever existed, the morality tale of Cain and Abel is a foundational myth of Western culture. Rabbi Dan Ornstein of Congregation Ohav Shalom in Albany, New York, says that Cain and Abel remain so fascinating and relevant today because it s more than a cautionary tale about the dangers of sibling rivalry. The story functions as a mirror that all readers religious or not can use to reflect on our own thoughts and actions.