324. "And the man knew Eve his wife" (Beresheet 4:1). Rabbi Aba opened his discourse with, "Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upwards and the spirit of the beast goes downwards to the earth?" (Kohelet 3:21). This verse has many interpretations, and so it is with the words of Torah. Each and every word has many interpretations, and all are true.
325. The entire Torah can be interpreted in seventy different ways, corresponding to the seventy sides and seventy aspects OF ZEIR ANPIN. So, each topic in the Torah, and whatever is derived from each topic, has many interpretations, explained in all directions.
326. Come and behold: When a man follows the path of truth, he keeps to the right and only attracts to himself a holy spirit from above. This spirit serves him as a holy desire to unite with the upper and to cleave to the supernal sanctity, so that it will never leave him.
327. However, when man walks on a path of evil and veers off the RIGHT path, he draws upon himself from the left side a spirit of uncleanliness. This spirit defiles him, and he becomes unclean because of it. Hence, it is written: "And you shall not make yourselves unclean with them nor be defiled by them" (Vayikra 11:43), because he who defiles himself is led further into defilement.
328. Furthermore, come and behold: When a man walks along the path of truth and attracts a spirit of holiness from above to himself and cleaves to it, he also draws a spirit of Holiness from above to the son that is born to him. He will be sanctified with his Master's holiness, as it is written: "you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy" (Ibid. 44).
329. And when a man follows the left side and draws upon himself a spirit of corruption and cleaves to it, he draws that spirit of uncleanliness to his son, and his son is defiled by that side.
330. This is what is meant by the verse: "who knows the spirit of THE SONS OF man." For when MAN cleaves to the right, THE LIGHT HE DRAWS FROM BELOW ascends UPWARD. And when a man is bound to the left - THE LEFT SIDE - which is the spirit of defilement, he descends AND DRAWS LIGHT downward from above. It resides with that man and never leaves him. The child born to him, while he is so defiled, is considered the child of the unclean spirit.
331. Adam clove to the unclean spirit, THE SERPENT, and his wife, EVE, clung to it first and took and received defilement from it. He begot a son; that son was the son of the impure spirit. Thus, there were two sons: one from the unclean spirit, WHO IS CAIN, and another who was born after Adam had repented, WHO IS ABEL. Hence, one was born of the side of impurity, NAMELY CAIN, and one of the side of purity, NAMELY ABEL.
332. Rabbi Elazar said: When the serpent injected its impurity into Eve, she absorbed it, MEANING THAT SHE WAS MADE PREGNANT BY IT. And when Adam had intercourse with her, she gave birth to two sons, one from the impure side, AND THAT WAS CAIN, and the other from the side of Adam, AND THAT WAS ABEL. Abel resembled the upper image and Cain the lower. Consequently, their paths parted.
333. It was evident that Cain was the son of the impure spirit, which is the evil serpent. Because he originated from the side of the Angel of Death, he killed his brother. THEREFORE, THE MURDER OF ABEL IS IDENTICAL TO THE SIN OF EATING FROM THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, AND BOTH WERE INCITED BY THE SERPENT. AND, AS IN THE AFFAIR OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, IN WHICH THE ANGEL OF DEATH GAINED CONTROL OVER THE WHOLE WORLD, HERE TOO HE GAINED CONTROL - TAKING OUT THE SOUL OF ABEL. CAIN comes from the side of the Angel of Death, and all the evil habitations, demons, and harmful spirits come to the world from him.