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The Abelites
North Miami Beach, Florida 10-27-2000 Aaron H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.
THE ABELITES
We never hear about the "Abelites". Abel came second after Cain and we
know what happened when Cain discovered that the Creator disdained his
offering, accepting only his brother's gift. Cain killed Abel and informed
God that he didn't think he was his brother's keeper. He denied he knew
where his brother and his brother's destroyed hopes lay in the dust. Thus
there were no Abelites to hear of. There were a lot of Cain's relatives
sent to live in Canaan after the fratricide. And thereby hangs a tale.
The history of the land of Canaan contains the story of relatives
squabbling about birthrights and heritage. The players on the stage of what
has become known as the "Holy" land, have become contenders for primacy.
These have names such as Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. And yet the founders of
three monotheistic religions have different backgrounds, destinations and
distinct peoples following each of them.
There are no Abelites. Abel left no posterity. He was wiped out when his
jealous brother killed him. There were only four people in the world at
that time. There were Mother Eve, Father Adam and the two sons Cain and
Abel. We never say it as Abel and Cain. We will never know this people
that never had a chance to act on the stage of life. In fact, there never
was a people called the children of Abel or, the Abelites.
We can imagine many things about the potential greatness that was snuffed
out before being born. We can develop fantasies about utopian worlds that
could have been created by the children of the murdered Abel. He was killed
and, strangely in the history of such things, he was not martyred. He
founded no nation and did not contribute to rules of behavior which could
counter the madness of his brother. He left no monuments and was not
memorialized except for the brief, stark story in the recounting of life
after Eden.
We might wish otherwise, but there were no Abelites. They never had a
chance to exist like the ancient Hebrews who also are no more. There are
only their modern relatives who stubbornly provoke each other over the same
"Holy" earth. Carol's Evaluation: 9.5 out of 10.
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