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This week’s Parashah, Parashat BeReishit, famously discusses the first murder in the Torah. Kayin kills Hevel out of jealousy because Hashem accepted Hevel’s offering and not Kayin’s. Part of Kayin’s punishment is “Na VaNad Tihyeh Ba’Aretz,” “You will be a restless wanderer on earth” (BeReishit 4:12). Typically, God exercises punishment Middah Keneged Middah. Here, however, the punishment of exile seems completely unrelated to the sin of murder!

Ramban offers a Peshat reasoning for Kayin’s punishment. Ramban suggests that the punishment of exile is remarkably similar to that of the Ir Miklat, the city of refuge where one who negligently kills someone goes for protection from the family of the one who was killed. Because that killer is a fundamental threat to the community in which he lives, he must leave. Here, Kayin is also forced to leave as he poses a threat to his community, but since he sinned deliberately, he is not awarded the sanctuary of an Ir Miklat. 

Rav Yisrael Meir HaKohen Kagan, in his Sefer Chafetz Chaim Al HaTorah, views this punishment as a direct consequence of Kayin’s actions. The Chafetz Chaim offers a Mashal of a traveling salesman who often spends much time away from home for business. Being away from home is very hard for him, especially when he suffers from setbacks and failures along the way. Although this is very hard for him, he always has a home that he looks forward returning to and seeking comfort in. Then all of a sudden, tragedy strikes, and his wife is Niftar. Now, even though he still has the same house, he has no home. Now, even though he returns just as often as before to the same home, his business trips and time spent at home are filled with much more loneliness than before. The Chofetz Chaim explains that the Nimshal is that since we all try to do Mitzvot and do Teshuvah if we sin, we always have a home to look to for comfort in Olam HaBa. Even if we stumble and get hit with setbacks in Olam HaZeh, we still feel reassurance that Hashem is with us and that we will eventually go home to Olam HaBa. However, when one sins so egregiously like Kayin, they act as if there is no God and there are no divine rewards or punishments. If they keep acting like this, they can Chas VeShalom lose their home in Olam HaBa. Then, they wander the earth, experiencing the same setbacks and failures that we all do, but they don’t have the comfort of looking forward to returning to their home in Olam HaBa. That is Kayin’s curse of “Na VaNad Tihyeh Ba’Aretz.” His act of murder warranted his losing the eternal home that we all hope to seek comfort in.

Im Yirzat Hashem, let us all be able to be comforted in being reminded of our future home and use that inspiration to build Mashiach Tzidkeinu. While there are always changes, we continue to follow the same path.