Meeting President Miliei

 

A meeting with President Milei:

As I sat anxiously in the waiting room, waiting for the call to step in to meet with President Milei for an unknown amount of time, I reflected on how this improbable moment arrived. Over a month ago, I had mentioned to a fellow guest at a Shabbat table that I was going to Argentina and that it would be special for the students to meet President Milei- the consequential President of Argentina, and more importantly, a philosemitic President loudly supporting Israel and openly sharing Jewish philosophies and values in places that had never seen any.  How this would happen was anyone’s guess. I had a sliver of a connection in that his personal Rabbi used to work for the same umbrella organization I did, Olami. That was all I had, and I had heard that he doesn’t like to do favors as it would likely open a floodgate of requests, and that was the case here when I reached out- nothing.  What to do.

As often happens at a Shabbat table, unlikely connections are made and ideas shared. There was a guest at the table from a Brooklyn Chabad background living in the Ukraine.  He was there for business, but he had also been thrust into political activism due to the war in Ukraine.  This guest told me that I was in luck. His father-in-law, the chief Rabbi of Ukraine, was close to the President of Argentina and he would be able to directly request such a meeting over text. He was confident that this would work and get an affirmative response and so I was confident.

              To cover our bases, he also recommended I reach out to the Argentinean embassy in Washington in a formalized letter requesting a meeting with the president. No connections, just hubris.  With his experience in politics, he gave me a special insight- politicians are more available than we think when not requesting money or lobbying for political issues. If going for an altruistic cause, often politicians are open to chatting.  I thought to myself this sounded naïve, but I had nothing to lose so I sent a letter to the embassy requesting that the President share a few inspiring words about Judaism to my Harvard students. Obviously, the hope was that Harvard students would pique interest and grab the President’s attention.

              Sure enough, it went through! The embassy responded within the hour and said they would send the request to the President’s office. It sounded like polite banter, but my advisor assured me we were on the right track since it was not an automatic reply. And in any case, it was my back up plan.  However, it didn’t stay that way for long. A week after that Shabbat I got the bad news that the father-in-law was not interested in using his political capital on us, so this was now our only hope.

              The trip approached and I can’t say that I even checked my email with any anticipation of seeing a response. I’ve bought lottery tickets before and been more eager to check the numbers with a fool’s hope at some luck. This seemed further away than that. Nonetheless, three days before the trip I decided to nudge the embassy one more time against my usually accepting nature to see if there was any information. It was also Purim- an auspicious time to send up a prayer request.  The embassy again politely replied that they had not heard back yet from the President’s office. Obviously- why would they?

              That Sunday the trip began with no news. As we gathered for our flight, I told the students that while we had made a valiant effort, a presidential visit was not happening.  I turned my attention to the trip and creating an inspiring experience for the group. While a visit to the President would have made a nice story, it was not critical to create a meaningful experience.

We boarded the flight and the trip began without a hitch and without thoughts of Presidential visits. We then landed in Brazil and were riding in our van to our first stop. We were stuck in bumper-to-bumper Sao Paolo traffic when the email came in.  The President would meet with the group in two days’ time! I was stunned.  I turned to the group and announced the big news. They were equally shocked. There was one caveat, only four of us could go. Two gallant students offered to stay behind, but I assured them that I would request again for all of us.

              The next day I began to text directly with the office over WhatsApp to arrange details of the meeting when things changed. The president or his office decided no students, just me. This was strange! The whole point of the request was students. I asked again for at least a few minutes with the students, but they ignored my reply. I sent in my passport and a meeting was set for 11 AM Wednesday.   

              At this point there was no agenda. The agenda had been to ask the President to share some ideas with the students that inspired him in the hopes it would inspire them. Now what. Well first things first, what are the halachic demands of such a visit.  I emailed my Rabbi to ask if one recites a blessing of seeing a King over seeing a President of a country. He curtly replied ‘yes’. The blessing says, ‘Blessed are you, G-d, King of the Universe, who apportioned some of His Honor to Flesh and Blood’. What is the meaning of this blessing?

Human beings are equal, both born of flesh and blood, and yet, there are roles that create a sense of honor and dignity usually reserved for the Divine. What is honor exactly? In Hebrew the word is ‘cavod’ which is related to the word ‘caved’- heavy. Heavy things don’t move- things revolve around them. So too, life is meant to be one where our decisions and choice points revolve around the Divine ethic, and hence, we give Honor to G-d by making decisions that are ethical first. Our decisions revolve around the Divine and then we can consider what we want. In a small way, King and Presidents, command a similar aspect.  They are ‘heavy’ and we revolve around them.  If the President or his advisors didn’t think he should see the students, so be it.

I memorized the blessing and decided my only agenda would be gratitude for the President’s support of Israel and curiosity into how the President had become interested in Judaism. I kept close to the idea that the goal for this visit is to spread light and try to be a conduit to help the world in some way. I donned a suit for the occasion and prepared for the visit with a learning session with the students. Nothing sharpens and energizes the mind like a dose of Torah wisdom. After caffeinating we headed out to the pink house.

Instructions were vague as I wasn’t clear what the protocol would be. I was told to show up to the Pink House a few minutes before 11AM but it wasn’t clear where to go.  Luckily, I had an Argentine guide with me, and he thought he knew where to go. We showed up in the large plaza and went straight to the front gate.  A cordial guard was there, and we told him I had an appointment with the President. He called the front office and confirmed it.  He opened the gate, and I walked in. There is a side entrance where people come in.  Two guards, dressed in traditional garb stood at the entrance.

Things were getting real, and yet, things were relaxed.  The secretary at the entrance was warm and friendly.  I told her I was here with the students. She told me that it was just me alone. I said no problem, but I brought them just in case there was time for a photo. She said this would not be possible, but she felt bad students were stuck outside so she told me to go inside and that the students would be brought in as well in a side room. South American hospitality at its best!

Given that I am a Rabbi and I assume some type of background check was done, I went upstairs without any further security check. I went up a large staircase accompanied by a middle-aged aide. He reminded me again not to ask about the students to the president. I walked down a hallway that was empty save for a couple of guards dressed traditionally and we entered a large waiting room.

              The waiting room looked little different than a large dentist’s office.  As I entered, the aide asked me to put my phone in a small black box. I sat down in a small chair next to the box, but he motioned me to sit down in a large, comfortable sofa chair on the other side of the room next to a coffee table. On the table were several large coffee table books about Argentina. If I didn’t know any better this could have been the office of a travel agent. I didn’t open them as I wanted to stay focused, and besides, as a proud descendant of Argentineans, I didn’t need to see Argentina through a book to know how great it was. To my right there was a large office of several secretaries calmy chatting and in front of me was the door into the President’s office.

              Things were serene and I was too for the most part.  My most pressing concern was to make sure I had the blessing clear that one recites upon seeing a King. After that, I knew I wanted to express gratitude for his support of the Jewish people via staunch Israel support and an openly positive stance towards Judaism. Support at that level is not to be taken for granted.  Beyond that, I would rely on the intuition of the moment to guide the meeting.

              The secretary then called me in. The President came out of his office with typical Argentine warmth, a hug and a kiss. His wild hair came as advertised. An official photographer captured the moment, and then I made the blessing. The President closed his eyes tightly with focus and offered an meaningful ‘amen’ at the end of it.  I then thanked him profoundly for his support of the Jewish people, which he received kindly. We then walked into his office; a large silver chain saw sculpture sitting proudly on the front of a large table. We walked towards the end of the  long office and sat down. I offered him two MEOR kippot and gave him a copy of our learning packet in Argentina. He immediately threw on the kippah and we took another picture- this one would make the news.

              Then the meeting began with a simple question.  I asked him how his interest in Judaism began and that would carry us through the next 45 minutes.  He began with an interesting observation. He grew up catholic and he felt that the catholic church never gave Moses his fair due.  Despite splitting seas and being the original leader who communed with G-d he was given short thrift.  For President Milei, Moses was a model leader, a ‘super hero’ and someone that he looked towards for guidance. This ‘intentional’ hiding had served to pique his interest.  

              At this point, I decided to chime back in and so share some fundamental ideas about Moses. The name Moses means drawn from the water or so it says in the Torah. However, upon closer inspection one realizes that the grammar of the name doesn’t mean that. The name Moses would have been written grammatically ‘Musha’ if were to mean that. Instead, the grammar indicates that it means he who will draw others out of the water. An indication that if Moses understood his name as it relates to his life experience, he would have understood his life mission to be a redeemer based on his own salvation.  The implication is that if one can look at his own past experiences it can often be the basis of where his future purpose lies. The President listened intently looking to absorb whatever Jewish wisdom I had to offer.

              Another pivotal moment in his life that brought him towards Judaism was an experience he had as a professor of Economics at University. He described that when he was teaching, he was struck by a student, not by what he knew, but how he asked questions. He found the student’s thought process to be radically different than all the other students. The president pulled the student aside one day and asked him where he developed his thought process.  The student answered that he learned Talmud every day. The President lit up as if he had discovered the answer to a complicated riddle and answered that it was the Talmud that was the reason Jews had  won so many noble prizes.

              With this background the president continued that his life changed due to serendipity. He had been accused of antisemitism initially as a right-wing politician. To counter the farcical claim, he reached out to the Jewish community. There he met his current Rabbi, Axel Wahnish, with whom he had an immediate click. Intrigued by the Rabbi he began to study with him and certain ideas resonated with the president. Here are a few key ones.

              The Jewish perspective that all that happens in life is for the good even if it isn’t easy.  He highlighted that this perspective is the key to Jewish resilience. It is a recapitulation of the classic line in the Talmud from Rabbi Akiva, ‘All that G-d does will be for the good’ which is then codified in Jewish law Orach Chaim 230:5,” One should be accustomed to say: All that God does is for the best!”  The President gave a specific example. Imagine someone driving and he turns to the right only to get into an accident. Most people will sit in regret- if only I hadn’t turned right! But the causality is inverted. The reality is that a person only turned right so that he would get into that accident because that is something that the person needed to experience in his life right then for his own growth.  He connected this personally to his difficult upbringing with his parents, which he says no doubt gave him the thick skin to be an effective politician in the face of a hysterical media.       

              He continued saying that as a leader he is trying to channel King Solmon’s requests from the Divine and this what he prayed for when he went to the Western Wall shortly after his election: That he should have a discerning mind in leading his people to be able to determine the good from evil with the strength to carry it out. He reported with a deep sincerity that his sole goal as leader is to be a ‘channel’ for Hashem in this world.  He proudly took out a picture of the Chabad Rebbe from his wallet to cement the point. It echoed the sentiment of the guest I met at the Shabbat table- if we try to bring more light into this world, things are achieved that one wouldn’t think is possible.

              Given his proficiency with Jewish philosophy, I asked him what he studies today, and he reported that studying has become difficult as every time he learned Torah at his house, something in the house seemed to go wrong: a fuse would blow or something along those lines. I am not sure if I understood this correctly, but that is what I took away. However, he did say that he received an essay on the weekly parsha which he found illuminating. He exclaimed, every parsha seems to have in it an idea that I need for precisely this moment in time! It is as if G-d speaks directly to me through the parsha!  He often shares these ideas when he starts government meetings. I asked him what people thought about that, and he replied in a strong voice, “I don’t care what people think – this is the right thing to do”.

              At this point, I sat incredulous that he was so clear about his beliefs and well versed with deep fundamentals of Judaism.  Before ending the meeting, which had now reached the 45-minute mark, I channeled the original energy that I believe allowed this meeting to happen. I told him that everything he had shared was remarkable and that from my vantage point, one of the biggest issues today was Jewish apathy- most Jews are not familiar with some the ideas the President shared. I told him that his voice may be able to open the minds and hearts of Jewish college students. I suggested this to him, and he replied enthusiastically that this is something he would love to do, perhaps in a Q & A format.  He gave me the contact of his ambassador, and this is where things stand for his next visit to the USA- stay tuned!  

 

 

             

 

             

             

The magic of the world cup

    

 It is hard not to be swept up in the surreal emotions of the moment with Argentina winning the world cup this past week.  As a child of Argentine immigrants, who held the sign for Argentina in the parade of nations in 1994 when the world cup was played in North America, the history runs deep.  So in a way it was no surprise that I was enthralled, emotional, and overjoyed as the announcer of the game burst into tears as he declared Argentina champion. Yet, it was also shocking. Hadn’t I moved beyond deeply caring about such trivial things as sport? 

And my celebration was relatively muted compared to what has taken place around the world. 46 million Argentines flooded the world with parades and songs with tears flowing freely from many. The level of devotion and meaning that the people of Argentina have attributed to the world cup is simply astounding. A video circulated asking, ‘where is Messi’? ‘In all of us’.  In a country so divided politically, and economically in shambles, at least for a few days and weeks, joy and unity will reign.  What can we make of this? Why is it that in the world of athletics, a diminutive man with nimble feet and eyes behind his head can capture the world so completely? And more importantly, what can we learn from this moving forward? 

This question is not really a new question as sports has played an outsized importance in our society for generations already despite the fact that  each sport when viewed technically is silly. They nearly all involve moving a ball around to a certain location, with different rules given to how this can be done.  Depending on those rules, it will give advantages to different body types and athletic talents. It is all arbitrary and decided upon by a group of people and their decisions will deeply affect who will have an advantage. For example, in my beloved sport of tennis, advantage used to be given to tall servers.  The owners of the game agreed that it led to a boring match full of aces.  It was decided that the courts should be slowed down and now the advantage would be given to smaller and more nimble players.  In any case, it is arbitrary and inherently pointless in the grand scheme of life, but the people that do this effectively are deified in ways that few are. 

For something like this to take off as it has done, it must be that it touches a deep chord within all of us that is real and meaningful even if applied to something less so. Sports at the end of the day are contrived circumstances that allow for moments of human greatness to shine.  All who watch know that months and years of blood sweat and tears went into the success of these small moments. Tremendous levels of courage and mental fortitude go into these moments in the face of incredible pressures. Ultimately, this truism is what Channukah is all about. 

A question arises in what we say in our thanksgiving blessing during the silent prayer throughout chanukah.  We thank G-d for the miracles, redemptions, mighty deeds, salvations, and for the wars that he did for our ancestors. Is there an order to how we thank G-d? If there is one, one would think that we would enumerate the small things that G-d did and then get to the big stuff. If so, miracles should come last and wars would come first. After all, I’d prefer a miracle to a war any day.  Even if ultimately victorious, wars involve significant loss of life and hardship. If so, why do we thank G-d for the wars last as if that is the greatest type of help. Perhaps, an answer to this question is that the greatest gift G-d gave us is the opportunity to become heroes and to have the joy of conquering and overcoming obstacles. Miracles are fancy, but they leave us out of the equation. But when human beings fight for something deeply, and with G-d’s help accomplish the goal, that is the greatest gratitude we can have since we partially own that victory, and so it creates the most joy (not to be confused that we look to have war for such an opportunity, but in retrospect, we have to appreciate the great joy that does come from overcoming against all odds)

 Sports today are our substitute for war. It creates courageous heroes and we appreciate those that conquer both their inner demons and external foes. However, we know that the Greeks also appreciated that aspect of life with their olympics.  So what is the difference between Jewish appreciation and the Greek one? There are two differences. Jews understood that human greatness is special and that it originates from a special root that is divine and allows us to overcome challenges with Divine assistance. We don’t really ‘own’ the greatness completely.  Secondly, the motivation is not for glory or fame. There is a special joy in the process itself of overcoming obstacles because we taste our soulful greatness when we overcome the limitations of our body. 

When human beings achieve greatness, even in the meaningless, it brings us to tears because it resonates within us so deeply. It is inspiring to watch a broken country unite around this concept and try to claim that greatness for themselves as if that player is a real product of everyone.  It is heartening to know that it doesn’t take that much to bring us together. There is plenty that can unite us.  Unfortunately, we all know that this moment will come and go and likely things will go back to ‘normal’ and this will just be a nostalgic memory. But imagine if we can come together around meaningful things, and go to war against the real inner obstacles of life that we are meant to conquer- our anger, our superficiality, our self-centeredness- then we will all become heroes and the joy will be forever.

staying busy

 

An article in the Harvard business review tracked an interesting change in our culture over the last 100 years. In the old days, being able to afford leisure time was a status symbol. It meant that a person was wealthy enough not to work and it was viewed favorably. A new trend, however, has changed all that. What is now perceived as high status is when a person says they are busy. It is a sign of success and value that a person is constantly busy. It must be they are always wanted for their talents and ambition. While some times true, it means people look to become busy for the sake of status. There is a danger, however, that comes with always being busy. It seriously infringes on the ability to think big and have the peace of mind to capture important opportunities in life.

This idea is borne out when we analyze how the Torah communicates the initial stages of the exodus. Moses arrives on the scene and the Jews are receptive. He has given them the special password that redemption is around the corner and they are ready. Pharaoh, in contrast, is not ready to let go of his slaves. He devises a brilliant plan of how to keep them in Egypt. One might think Pharaoh should make it slightly easier, convince the Hebrew slaves that it isn’t so bad in Egypt. Instead, he does the opposite. He makes things much worse. He adds layer of work to an already difficult situation. He prohibits the normal Shabbat break and the reading of hope filled scrolls detailing a future redemption. He knows that if he can just make them busy and cut them off from their break that it would be sufficient.

Sure enough, that is exactly what happens. Rather than let the slaves go and ease their work, Pharaoh makes their life much worse. The slaves engage in super intense work that is unending. When Moses comes and claims that the plan for redemption has only hit a hiccup but will continue nonetheless as promised, the Hebrews don’t listen this time. What is interesting is why they don’t listen. The Torah says they didn’t listen because they were ‘short of breath’ and because of the ‘hard work’. As Pharaoh understood, when stressed in the moment and fatigued, it becomes hard to think, and even harder to think big about major changes. Even though it was detrimental to stay in this situation, they couldn’t think about the thought of change. This is the danger of a busy life. It leaves us short on thinking in general, and in particular with the ability to think about change. Luckily, we are not enslaved, but we can be busy and constantly bothered by our technology. It is crucial we don’t let busy short circuit our ability to process life. Via Shabbats and quiet moments throughout the day we can make sure we have moments of big thinking.

What does Moses mean?

The origins of our greatest hero is shrouded in mystery. An anonymous Jewish man meets an anonymous Jewish women from the house of Levi and they have a child who is described by the general adjective as ‘good’. The Talmud wonders what this multi- purpose adjective alludes to and settles on five different possibilities. Interestingly, the first two possibilities are that this was Moshe’s actual name- Tov or the other opinion, Tuvia. But why were these names hidden in the Torah and never spelled out? Why is it that it is Batya, the daughter of Pharoh who saves Moshe, the one who gets to name arguably the most important Jewish person of all time? Further, what does the name mean and is it Egyptian?

The first question is addressed by the midrash. It answers beautifully that Batya won the naming rights for Moshe because of her heroic act to save a Jewish baby that likely endangered her own life. The Torah’s foundation is act of loving kindness and because she acted in such a way, it is the name that she gave Moshe that became the name he is known as even over his own parents. But why was that name a perfect fit to be the name of the redeemer of the Jewish people?

The Torah says that the name means that he was drawn from the water. The strange part, though, is that the conjugation of the name means that he will draw others up from the water. In other words, because he was saved from the death, he would then be a person that would save others from death. Often, it is the dramas in a person’s life that become their life mission, and this was the case for Moshe. More than that, there is an emphasis that Moses was drawn up specifically from the waters (as opposed to the river) in the sense that he was separated from the water. A commentary points out that it implies that his

essence was different than the water. Water is a substance that takes the shape of its surroundings because it is formless on its own. In contrast, Moses, the ultimate leader is one who leads with purpose and vision- he has a shape of where he wants to go that is not determined by its surroundings. This is the prophetic name that Pharoh’s daughter gives to the baby and it is a Divine sign that he is in fact the perfect person to lead Israel out of Egypt.

importance of complex communication

 

How did Jesus get off the ground according to the Talmudic tradition (there is some debate as to whether this was the Jesus, but the simple reading is that it is)? The Talmud states that the issue was that the Rabbi didn’t communicate properly to Jesus.  When Jesus erred (he accused his Rabbi of having improper thoughts), he was too harsh in his rebuke and didn’t bake into the rebuke a hint of love that if Jesus were to repent, he’d be welcomed back with open arms.  The Talmud is quite critical of the Rabbi who created the rift with Jesus as it led to Jesus beginning an idolatrous cult of some type that was antithetical to Jewish thought.  Interestingly, this week’s parsha gives an illustration of the correct type of communication needed that would have averted this whole crisis.

              Correct communication needs to be multifaceted. It has to speak at several levels at once. It needs to have an element that shows strength and an appeal to justice; yet, it also needs to contain love and understanding.  It also needs to appeal to the intellect and to be polished. We know this from this week’s confrontation between Yehuda and Yosef. It doesn’t say in the Torah that Yehuda came to speak to the viceroy (he didn’t know at the time that it was Yosef), but that Yehuda approached the viceroy. What does an approach entail?

              The midrash says that the word approach is used in the context of war, appeasement, and prayer.  A just war occurs when one side feels an injustice has been done. An appeasement speaks to the heart of a person and looks to find the loving side of that person.  Finally, prayer is about realizing that every complicated situation requires divine assistance to get the balance right between these two dimensions. In other words, part of what made Yehuda’s speech successful was that it was multifaceted. He didn’t only threaten and he didn’t only beg, he did both. More than that, the structure of the speech was considered to be beautiful and well-spoken, hinting that leaders also need to express themselves with rhetorical skill.

              In short, two of the most important encounters in human history depended on how well the communication occurred.  When done correctly, it led to the ultimate reconciliation between the brothers. When done poorly, it led to a young student feeling spurned by his teacher and choosing to go his own way with catastrophic consequences for the Jewish people over the course of history.

             

             

Importance of seasons

 What went so wrong that the world needed to start over? The stated reason is because of robbery. As some explain, if even something as logical as property rights were lost, then the world could not be sustained.  Slightly more hidden in the verses is that humans had ‘destroyed’ the world. That hints at more severe problems such as murder, idolatry, and sexual immorality- the three cardinal sins.  However, what was behind that? Why did human beings descend to such chaos? 

              There is a hint to what went wrong in the aftermath of the flood.  G-d decides to change the way things operate in the world. There is strange verse that says, “So long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” According to one commentary, it is an introduction to seasons. Prior to the flood the world was not seasonal; it was always temperate. Life spans were extremely long and the midrash says people would seed once and harvest for forty years straight. Why would the introduction of seasons help to alleviate these problem that caused the flood in the first place? Also, why does the verse emphasize the putting together of opposites?  And lastly, why does the verse have the word/letter (vav) 'and' inserted 6 times when it only needed three? 

              Anything that is only one dimensional inherently lacks balance and wholeness. For example, a person who is always giving to others is amenable to become a doormat if he doesn’t learn how to put a boundary. A person who is constantly concerned about boundaries will not create relationships.  The antediluvian world was a world of extremes. There was extremely long life, extremely good weather, extremely fertile soil.  A life of extremes creates chaos and confusion and the world was destroyed with a water that had no boundaries.  Post the flood, the world changed.  Boundaries were introduced via the bonding of opposites. Opposites can only exist together when things are defined and strong unto themselves.  Then they can come together and create a greater whole and balance than was before. That is the world we need to create now.  We need to bring opposites together and view them as not threatening our perspective but as balancing out our perspective.  That is what creates permanence in the world. 

An unfair G-d

As we start the Torah over again, it is important to look at old stories with fresh eyes as new discoveries are always lurking. This year, I took an in-depth look at the first quarrel of mankind between two brothers.  Although we find relationships between groups to be complex, those overt differences are not necessary. There is plenty to fight about within the family, which is sadly all too common as well.  The first criminal act between two people occurs between two brothers- Kayin and Hevel.  It is a short story but telling to what is the source for much conflict.

 

              A short summary of the story is that Kayin decides to bring a sacrifice to G-d, and he brings produce from the field. Seems fairs given he is a farmer. His brother, perhaps, stimulated by Kayin’s actions brings a robust offering of a choice animal. Seems fair given he is a herder. Yet, G-d only turns to Hevel’s offering and ignores Kayin’s. But isn’t this unfair? Kayin is giving of his own work and it was his idea in the first place? How could he be spurned so badly?

              As usual, certain textual details point us in the direction of what really went wrong.  When it says Kayin decided to bring a sacrifice it says, “At the end of days, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil”. It doesn’t explain at the end of what days?  One commentary explains that what happened is that Kayin was devoted to the land and growing crops.  Yuval Harari in Sapiens makes it clear that agriculture is a ‘fraud’. It promises riches, but it enslaves us to the process. In contrast to his contemplative brother who was the shepard who has time for contemplation like many of our future leaders. However, even Kayin who has lived a life devoted to materialism either gets old or realizes he will one day pass on, and thinks that he should play a token tribute to spirituality. But a token contribution is not what G-d is looking for since that is checking a box, not creating a relationship.

              Kayin then makes a further mistake in his perspective. Not only did he treat spirituality lightly, but he also thought that life is a zero sum game. If Hevel has ‘won’, then he has lost. If Hevel is greater than him, then he no longer exists. Furthermore, Hevel only ‘won’ because he cheated. He stole Kayin’s idea. For that reason Kayin takes the drastic action that he does because he didn’t have an identity without it.  From this episode we need a new perspective on life. First, we need to put our best into spirituality and second we need to realize the answer to Kayin existential question, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper’?  Are we competing or cooperating together in this world. And the answer is a resounding cooperation.