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October 24, 2022

John Steinbeck’s Confused Hebrew

Timshel.

In his novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck tells a tale of several generations of an American family, using the stories of Adam and Eve and of Cain and Able as his templates. At a key juncture near the end of the book, two characters debate the meaning of God’s words to Cain after He has rejected his offering, which was read in synagogues last Shabbat: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” One of them, a Chinese immigrant named Lee, then consults with the elders of his own community over the verse’s meaning, and they in turn consult with a group of rabbis. Lee concludes:

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