Listen: For some, getting the coronavirus vaccine is not an easy decision
FacebookTwitterEmail
A worker administers a vaccine at the second dose COVID-19 vaccine clinic held at the Times Union Center. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union
Also on this episode, what if Cain were on trial in a modern-day courtroom for the murder of his brother, Abel?
Rabbi Dan Ornstein explores this biblical scenario and its implications in a new novel Cain v. Abel: A Jewish Courtroom Drama. We talk to the Albany-based Jewish leader about his book, and his thoughts on a rising tide of anti-Semitism worldwide largely stoked by pandemic lockdowns.
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.