(ט) וַיִּקְרָ֛א יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ אַיֶּֽכָּה׃
(9) The LORD God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
ואמר רב יהודה אמר רב אדם הראשון מין היה שנאמר (בראשית ג, ט) ויקרא ה' אלהים אל האדם ויאמר לו איכה אן נטה לבך רבי יצחק אמר מושך בערלתו היה כתיב הכא (הושע ו, ז) והמה כאדם עברו ברית וכתיב התם (בראשית ט, ט) את בריתי הפר
And Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Adam the first man was a heretic, as it is stated: “And the Lord called to the man and said to him: Where are you”? (Genesis 3:9), meaning, to where has your heart turned, indicating that Adam turned from the path of truth. Rabbi Yitzḥak says: He was one who drew his foreskin forward, so as to remove any indication that he was circumcised. It is written here: “And they like men [adam] have transgressed the covenant” (Hosea 6:7), and it is written there: “And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant” (Genesis 17:14).
When Adam and Eve sinned, God called out “Where are you?” As Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, pointed out, this call was not directed only to the first humans. It echoes in every generation. God gave us freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility. God teaches us what we ought to do but he does not do it for us. With rare exceptions, God does not intervene in history. He acts through us, not to us. His is the voice that tells us, as He told Cain before he committed his crime, that we can resist the evil within us as well as the evil that surrounds us.- R' Sacks
(ט) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־קַ֔יִן אֵ֖י הֶ֣בֶל אָחִ֑יךָ וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א יָדַ֔עְתִּי הֲשֹׁמֵ֥ר אָחִ֖י אָנֹֽכִי׃
(9) The LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Do you think the question "where are you" is meant literally? why or why not?
(א) אי הבל אחיך באיזה מקום קברת אותו וזה אמר למען ישוב כי לא יחפוץ במות המת:
(1) אי הבל אחיך, “in which place did you bury him?” G’d phrased this as a question only in order to give Kayin a chance to begin the process of repentance, not because He was not perfectly aware where Kayin had buried Hevel. G’d did not want to be forced to kill someone already guilty of the death penalty.