Of all the middos we stress loyalty – ne’emanus in Hebrew – rarely merits a mention. Perhaps that is because loyalty is so vital and the need for it so self-understood that a discussion of this middah would seem unnecessary. Yet we live at a time when the concept of loyalty is ebbing. Loyalty to a spouse to parents to children to siblings to an employer – even to one’s country – is becoming increasingly rare.
The Torah places the middah of neemanus on the highest pedestal in describing Hashem as “HaKel hane’eman.” The highest accolade Hashem confers on Moshe Rabbeinu is “Bechol beisi ne’eman hu.” Regarding Avraham Avinu we say in davening “umatzasa es levavo ne’eman lefanecha.”
Loyalty is apparently so vital a middah that a midrash points out how the Torah includes a vital lesson on this trait in the very first parshah in the Torah.
Kayin and Hevel each brought offerings to Hashem. Hevel’s was accepted and Kayin’s was rejected and in a fit of jealous rage Kayin murdered Hevel. This is the simple narrative of the episode that we are all familiar with.
