Noach - A Tzaddik

Monday, October 8, 2018 · Posted in ,



Noach was an extraordinary man, a tzaddik whose righteousness upheld the entire world.  

"Three tzaddikim comprised the foundation of the world: Adam, Noach and Avraham."

This is to be taken in the literal sense of the word. Each of these ensured the survival of the world. If not for Noach, the world would have been annihilated.

In spite of the general laxity in moral and ethical conduct, his own record was impeccable. he did not allow himself to be influenced by his peers. He submitted to the humiliation of being ridiculed by the three generations in whose time he lived:
  1. Generation of Enosh
  2. Generation of the Deluge
  3. Generation of the Dispersal
And remained steadfast in his service of Hashem. He faithfully observed the six mitzvot which Hashem commanded to Adam. (Bereishit Rabbah 26:1)

His wife Na'amah was equally righteous. Her name Na'amah signifies that her deeds were pleasing. (Bereishit Rabbah 23:3) She gave birth to three sons, Yefet, Cham, and Shem, who all followed Hashem's ways as taught to them by their father, Noach, and grandfather, Metushelach. Of the three, Shem is listed in the Torah first because he was the greatest of them.

Noach is described by the Torah as a tzaddik, "...perfect in his generations." (Bereishit 5:9) What is the implication of this last addition? It teaches that  Noach was righteous only in relation to his own generation. Had he lived in Moshe's or Shumel's time, He would not have been considered great.  Thus Noach is termed tzaddik as compated to his wicked generation.

According to another view, however, the above verse is said in Noach's praise, implying that if he maintained his righteousness even in an immoral climate, he would have become incomparably greater had he lived in Moshe's or Shmuel's time (by learning from their examples).

How can we reconcile these contrasting views and understand Noach's personality?

It is true that by obeying all of Hashem's commandments and refraining from sin, Noach did what was expected of him. For this, the Torah calls him a tzaddik. Yet he is criticized by Chazal (our Sages) in a subtle manner for not exerting himself beyond that which was required of him. Noach should not have quietly acquiesced to the flood. He should have stormed the very gates of heaven with fasting and prayer, seeking mercy from G-d. Noach offered a sacrifice after the flood, but he really should have brought it before the catastrophe; it might have caused the decree to be revoked. 

Some say that the reason Noach did not pray for his contemporaries was not that he was neglectful, but that he could not find ten righteous people to participate with him. In Noach's family, counting both men and women, there were only eight people. Without ten righteous people, an evil decree cannot be revoked, as in the case of Sedom (Bereishit 18:32). (Bachya; Yad Yosef)

Although the generation was granted a hundred and twenty years' time to reflect upon Noach's words and repent, no one was impressed by his constant warnings. People did not fear danger because they felt secure in the knowledge of their colossal physical strength.  Besides their extraordinary bodily strength, these generations were well versed in the art of magic and therefore felt secure and unafraid.

Rabbi Yehudah said that even though Noach was righteous, it was still not worthwhile for G‑d to protect the world because of him. Come and see! Moshe did not ask for anything on the basis of his own merit. Rather, he depended on the merit of the Patriarchs. But Noach, unlike Moses, had no other person on whose merit he could depend.

The building of the tevah served not only as a reminder to the wicked but was also necessary to purify Noach himself. Through fulfilling Hashem's mitzvah of constructing the tevah despite everyone's jeering, Noach himself became spiritually elevated.


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Source: Midrash Says; Me'am Lo'ez; Chabad

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Noach - The Mabul

Sunday, October 7, 2018 · Posted in , , ,



Although mankind no longer lived in Gan Eden, their life-style before the mabul (flood) still resembled Gan Eden. (Midrash Hagadol)

Life was good. In fact, it was too good. It was a life of uninterrupted serenity and enjoyment. For example, children were conceived and born on the same day. A newborn child was immediately able to stand and walk, and also had the ability to speak. Furthermore, no child would ever die during his parents' lifetime. In fact, all parents would live to see not only their children but also their grandchildren. (Bereishit Rabbah)

  • The generation before the mabul possessed enormous physical strength, as the verse says, "There were giants on earth in those days" (Bereishit 6:14) They were able to uproot whole cedar trees and considered lions and panthers as harmless as fleas. Their strength did not diminish in old age, but, on the contrary, it grew with age. This strength only disappeared after the mabul.
  • They lived a very long life, hundreds of years. Only when they sinned did Hashem say, "and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."
  • They knew no suffering of any kind.
  • They sowed only one every forty years and the earth produced a sufficient amount for the following forty years.
  • They did not have to endure excessive heat or cold since there were no changing seasons, but the weather was a continuous, enjoyable and mild spring climate. It was only after the mabul that Hashem said, "Seed time and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease."
As a result of these benefits, however, they cast off Hashem's authority, saying, "For what purpose do we still need Him? We do not even require His help to obtain water, since we need no rain. We get an abundant supply of water from difference sources; we have the streams and wells of the earth" Answered Hashem, "Is it with the very goodness that I bestowed upon you that you rebel against Me? I shall punish you with the same substance, rain water, and therefore, 'And behold I will bring the flood of water.'" (Sanhedrin 108)

What were the crimes of those generations?  They were guilty of idol worship, bloodshed, and immorality. (Bereishit Rabbah)


Idol Worship

"They said to G-d, 'Depart from us, we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. Who is the Almighty that we should serve Him? Why should we pray to Him?'" (Iyov 21:14-15).  They strengthened their independence from Hashem by acquiring expertise in witchcraft.  They forsook their Maker and served idols.


Bloodshed

They were murderers. Their depravity was similar to that later found in the wicked city of Sedom. (Yerushalmi)


Immorality

These generations ignored the commandment give to Adam (1:28), "Be fruitful and multiply." (Bereishit Rabbah) Since their goal in life was to gratify their instincts, they attempted to minimize the number of children that they had. (Midrash Hagadol) This explains the atrocities prevalent at that time.

  • A man would take two wives, one for the purpose of childbearing, and the other for his pleasure.
  • They exchanged wives.
  • They arranged "marriage contracts" between men and beast, thus legalizing forbidden relationships.
  • The judges themselves were corrupt.*
Even the animals imitated their corrupt ways; the dog associated with the wolf and the rooster with the duck.

However, Hashem would have spared even these wicked generations, had they sinned unknowingly. But they had been taught the six mitzvot commanded to Adam which included the prohibition against idolatry, murder, and adultery. They were punished because they chose to ignore Hashem's commandments. Nevertheless Hashem would have continued to exercise patience and restraint if not for the additional crime of robbery.

*The source of corruption in all generations to this day is the court of law itself. Legislation that is lenient and judges who are "liberal-minded" are responsible for the destruction of the country.


Robbery

Hashem said, "The end of all flesh has come before Me" (6:13). "The accusation of their thievery has come before Me, and therefore I can no longer delay their punishment!" (Sanhedrin 108)

What were the habits of the Generation of the Flood? If a man brought out a basket full of peas, he would soon be surrounded by a mob snatching them away. Each one cleverly took a small amount worth less than a pruta (small coin). The man's basket was soon empty. Yet the victim was unable to present the matter to a judge because each culprit could claim that he had stolen an amount so minute that he was not liable to punishment by law.  (Bereishit Rabbah)

It was among the practices of that generation to move their neighbors' landmarks in order to extend their property. They also commonly stole sheep from each other. If someone saw an ox or donkey in the hands of a helpless orphan or widow, he took it away. People, afraid that the clothes they wore would be stolen from their bodies decided that was safer to walk around naked. 

Why was their guilty verdict finalized for the sin of theft more than for the crimes of idol worship, bloodshed or immorality? The answer is that robbery undermines the basis of all civilization. it is common sense that another person's property may not be stolen. (Ramban) Whenever Hashem sits in judgment over a person guilty of several crimes, there is one crime that accuses him above all others - the sin of robbery. (Vayikra Rabbah)


Chronology of the Mabul

Day of Flood /  Hebrew Date / Civil Date

0 / 17 Cheshvan / October 27 - Flood begins
40 / 29 Kislev / December 8 - Forty-day rains ends; torrents begin
190 / 29 Iyar / May 6 - 150 day period of torrents ends
191 / 1 Sivan  May 7 - Water begins to recede
207 / 17 Sivan / May 23 - Tevah (Ark) rests on Mt. Ararat
250 / 1 Av / July 5 - Mountaintops are visible
290 / 10 Elul / August 13 Raven sent out
296 / 16 Elul / August 19 - Dove sent out
303 / 23 Elul / August 26 - Dove brings olive leaf
310 / 1 Tishrei / September 2 - Dove does not return. Water is gone and earth begins to dry.
365 / 27 Cheshvan / October 27 - Earth completely dry


The Flood was a reversion to the initial state of creation, in which the earth was physically submerged under water and spiritually submerged in Divine awareness.

At the very beginning of creation, all was water because dry land did not yet exist. On the spiritual level, this means that the world was filled with Divine awareness because dry land, which represents the facade of a self-sustained world independent of G‑d, did not yet exist.

G‑d's ultimate desire, however, is that Divine awareness permeate even a world with "dry land," i.e., self-awareness. Indeed, this will be the state of the world in the messianic age, when "the world will be filled with the knowledge of G‑d like water covers the seabed" (Yeshayahu 11:9). At that time, even though the world will not be covered by water and we will still be in a state of self-awareness, we will nevertheless enjoy the Divine awareness normally associated with submersion under water, i.e., self-nullification.

However, for the earth to reach this stage, it first had to have been immersed in the waters of the Flood, which "destroyed the earth," i.e., which nullified the earth's sense of self. This one-time experience conditioned the earth to be able to later attain Divine awareness — even after the waters receded and the earth reverted to dry land. The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 7:4) therefore compares the messianic age to the days of Noach, since the Flood initiated the process of conditioning the world for its ultimate state — Divine awareness despite the presence of self — which it will attain in the messianic age.

Once this conditioning occurred, G‑d promised never to Flood the earth again, in keeping with His original intention for the world to exist in its "natural" state and still be a vessel for Divine awareness.

In fulfilling our own Divine mission on earth, we also experience a period of immersion in the waters of Divine awareness: the High Holy Days of the month of Tishrei. Our challenge is to successfully experience Divine awareness even after Tishrei, when the "waters have receded" and our "dry" self has emerged.

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Source: Midrash Says; Me'am Lo'ez; Chabad

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Bereishit - Shabbat

Friday, October 5, 2018 · Posted in , , , ,

[Art by Anna Zarnitsky]

 וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה
Vayechal Elokim bayom hashvi'i melachto asher asah vayishbot bayom hashvi'i mikol-melachto asher asah.
2:2 And on the seventh day, G-d finished all His work which He made. He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He made.

The world was established in its beauty and perfection, but an essential ingredient was lacking - Shabbat, rest! Only when Shabbat came to the world, did rest come to the world. It was the Rest which Hashem created on the seventh day! (Bereishit Rabbah)

Each day, when G-d commanded that something be created, the creative process would continue. Thus, for example, when G-d said, "Let there be a firmament," it came into being; until Friday evening, it continued to increase and spread out. (Bereishit Rabbah) It is for this reason that one of G-d's Names is Shakkai, coming from the word Dai, meaning "enough." If G-d had not said, "Enough," to the universe, commanding that the firmament stop, it would still be expanding. The same is true of the earth, since it did not know its destined size.

It therefore appears that the world continued to work all through the week. Although translated as "He rested on the seventh day," it can also be translated, "It rested on the seventh day," where "it" refers to the universe. This indicates that the universe itself had rest and repose on the Shabbat.

In Hebrew this verse is וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי where the subject is implied, but not actually designated.  The verse does not say, "G-d rested on the seventh day," in the same manner as it says, "and G-d finished," or "G-d blessed." The subject of this phrase is creation as a whole, which rested on the Shabbat. (Ibid.)


"And G-d blessed the seventh day..." (2:3)

Shabbat was blessed above all the other days of the week in various ways:

  1. In the Wilderness, the Benei Yisrael received a double portion of mann on every Erev Shabbat, providing food for Shabbat. The blessing of extra mann is but one example of the Divine guarantee that whatever a person spends in honor of the Shabbat is refunded to him by Hashem. (Shabbat 1:1 [2a])
  2. Not only is a person recompensed for any financial loss he might seem to incur for the sake of Shabbat observance, but, in fact, one who honors this day is rewarded also with a good life and with wealth. (Bereishit Rabbah)
  3. Hashem also blessed the Shabbat with tasty food.
  4. Another blessing of Shabbat is that the wicked in Gehinnom are granted respite from their punishment and torture every seventh day. 
  5. The primeval Light created by G-d was so intense that it shone from one end of the universe to the other, but because of the wicked, G-d stored it away for the righteous in the Olam Haba. This Light, however, was not put away immediately. Chazal taught that this light functioned for thirty-six hours, consisting of twelve hours on the sixth day, and twenty-four hours on the first Shabbat. As soon as Adam sinned, G-d wished to remove this remarkable Light, but He put aside doing so because of the merit of the Shabbat. This is the Extra Soul (Neshamah Yeterah) that every Jew has on this holy day, one more spiritual and holy than that of the weekdays. Because of this extra soul, we say each Shabbat in the morning service, the prayer Nishmat: "The soul of all life shall bless Your Name." (Levush 281)
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Source: Me'am Lo'ez; Midrash Says






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