Control your anger. Do not hurt other people. Control yourself. Accept and deal with what you have. Work things out instead of killing or acting violently. Do not hurt someone else when something unfair happens. Violence is not the answer. Don’t kill your brother! These are direct quotes from our children in Tikvah Learning who were recently pondering the biblical story of Cain and Abel. We asked them: What is the Torah trying to teach us in this story? My colleague David Blocker and I are regularly blown away by the thoughtfulness of our young friends in these weekly conversations. Now here’s a question for you: Why does God favor Abel’s offering over Cain’s? The only hint in the text is that Abel brings the “choicest” from the flock. But is there more going on? One commentary zooms in on a subtlety in the original Hebrew. The Torah says that Cain brings an offering “from the fruit of the earth,” and Abel brings an offering “from his flock.” Aha! – Abel brings a sheep from his own