Parshas Noach
Generation to Generation
By Rabbi Pinchas Winston
FRIDAY NIGHT:
These are the generations (toldos) of Noach: Noach was a righteous man,
peerfect in his generation; Noach walked with G-d. (Bereishis 6:9)
After telling us that Noach found "chayn" in the eyes of G-d at the end of
last week's parshah, this week's parshah comes back and praises Noach even
more. However, it is amazing how what seems to be so simple at first is, in
the end, quite complicated. As Rashi points out, the wording of the verse
can be taken to mean one of two things: either Noach was righteous in spite
of his generation, or, because of his generation. According to the former
opinion, the Torah is praising Noach; according to the latter opinion, the
Torah is criticizing Noach, albeit in an oblique way.
However, the most obvious deviation in the posuk is the way it skips over
the names of Noach's children and instead mentions Noach's righteousness.
Says Rashi:
"Because the main 'descendants' of a righteous person are his good deeds."
(Rashi)
The Ibn Ezra and the Radak interpret the word "toldos" to mean his
"experiences" (which it often can), and therefore the posuk would be
referring to all that is about to happen to Noach. However, the Ramban
disagrees with this, because the events of one's life are not in his
control, and therefore cannot be called "his toldos." For this reason, the
Ramban leaves the verse in its literal form, referring to Noach's real
sons, Shem, Cham, and Yafes (whom are named shortly thereafter).
However, for the same reason, one can ask how one's children can be called
his "toldos" as well, based upon the following:
... What did The Holy One, Blessed is He, do? He brought suffering to
Chizkiah, and then told Yeshiyahu, "Go and visit the sick," as it says,
"In those days Chizkiah became ill to the point of death; and Yeshiyahu son
of Amotz, the prophet came and said to him, 'So says Hashem, L-rd of Hosts,
"Command your house for you shall die and not live." (Yeshiyahu 38:1).'
What is meant by "you shall die and not live"? You will die in this world,
and you will not live in the World-to-Come.
"Why do I deserve such a severe punishment?" asked Chizkiah. "Because,"
answered Yeshiyahu, "you have not had children."
"But I saw through ruach hakodesh (Holy Spirit) that I would have evil
children."
"What business have you with kavshei Rachmanah (G-d's hidden plans)?"
(Brochos 10a)
Because Chizkiah, with the help of prophecy, was able to see the evilness
of his potential progency, he took the safe route and avoided marriage and
having children. However, as the Talmud points out elsewhere, "The world is
made for procreation" (Arachin 2b), and Chizkiah was taken to task for his
decision. G-d's response to Chizkah: Your job is to have the children, and
to raise them the best you can. What they will end up being like, however,
will be My decision in the end, based upon the needs of creation.
This does not absolve parents from pouring their hearts and souls into
raising physically, intellectually, and spiritually healthy children.
However, it does mean that once parent has done exactly this, to the best
of his or her ability and opportunity, and still the child doesn't fulfill
all expectations, it is not a sign of failure. There is a greater Force at
work, even in child-rearing, and one must live with that reality if one is
to be a successful and healthy parent as well!
Perhaps this is why Rashi chose to interpret the word "toldos" as "good
deeds." In the end, our personal good deeds are the only real "descendants"
that we give birth to and have control over, in terms of outcome. This is
the underlying premise of:
All is in the hands of Heaven except for fear of Heaven. (Brochos 33b)
The results are in G-d's hands--but our attitude at any given moment in
time is completely our own, based upon what we have become in the course of
time.
SHABBOS DAY:
G-d said to Noah, "You and all your household will go into the ark, since I
have seen that you are righteous before Me in this genera tion. From each
of the pure livestock you must take seven pairs, male and female. From the
livestock that is not pure, [take] two- male and female ..." (Bereishis
7:1-2)
"Pure ... In the future they would be considered pure for Israel. From here
we see that Noach learned Torah." (Rashi)
How else would Noach have known how to distinguish between the pure and
impure animals? Therefore, concludes the Talmud (as quoted by Rashi), Noach
must have known about the concept because he learned Torah.
Not so fast, says Da'as Zekeinim:
"It asks in Zevachim, 'How did Noach know [how to distinguish between pure
and impure animals]? The Ark itself gathered together the pure animals--all
that the Ark didn't gather was therefore impure.'"
According to this, says the Da'as Zekeinim, Noach didn't have to
distinguish between one type of animal and another type; the Ark did it for
him, or, rather, G-d did it for him miraculously. However, Rashi wasn't
stating his own opinion, but was quoting the Talmud itself, which is why
the Da'as Zekeinim continues with the following answer:
"'The ark itself gathered together the pure animals' is referring to the
birds, because, as Rashi explains on the verse, 'From the birds according
to their species ... '(Bereishis 6:20) means, only those which mated with
their own kind was Noach to save. If so, then the Talmud is really asking,
'How could Noach know such a thing?' and answers, 'Because only those which
came to the Ark on their own were of such a nature.'"
However, with respect to livestock and the like, Noach himself had to
figure out which were pure and which were spiritually impure. For that,
concludes Da'as Zekeinim like Rashi, Noach had to know Torah. The only
question remaining is, how? Torah was not given until the year 2448/1313
BCE--what and how did Noach learn?
The answer is:
When G-d sought to make creation, He looked into the Torah as if it was a
blueprint, and began creating (Bereishis Rabbah 2:4).
If you want to build a house, the first thing you have to do is decide what
kind of house you want. Then, normally, you try to explain this to the
designer, who then tries to interpret your plans onto his plans, so that
the builder can realize, what in your mind, is your potential dream home.
The final product is an 3-D realization of a two-dimensional expression of
an idea.
A trained individual can walk onto the job site and by merely looking at
the walls and floors, reverse the procedure in his mind and see the plans
that gave rise to the structure he is walking through. If he's really
good--sensitive and astute--he can even sense the philosophy of the owner,
designer, and builder, by the design, method of building, and the materials
that were chosen.
This is what the Midrash means. Every detail of creation is another
expression of G-d's plan for creation, and what He intended by it. It is
our life's aim to understand that plan, and to fit into it. We do that by
learning Torah. However, for Noach, whose life pre-dated the giving of
Torah, he simply studied the "house" he found himself in until he was able
to understand the plans that gave rise to creation--the Torah itself.
SEUDAH SHLISHI:
All flesh that roamed the earth died (vayigva)--the birds, the livestock,
and the animals--and all the creeping crawlers on the earth, and men.
(Bereishis 7:21)
The word "vayigva" is often used, in the Torah, to indicate the death of
someone. However, as the Ibn Ezra explains, there is a more subtle meaning
as well:
"The word 'vayigva' denotes the instantaneous leaving of the soul from the
body without suffering and delay ... The legs are gathered up on the bed,
and immediately the person dies. All "geviah" means death, but not all
dying is geviah (i.e., instantaneous). Therefore, it is written "vayigva"
by the Flood." (Ibn Ezra, Bereishis 25:8)
According to the Ibn Ezra, death came quickly for the generation of the
Flood. Perhaps they were completely overwhelmed by the waters of the Flood;
perhaps it was the boiling hot waters that killed them instantly. In any
case, since the Ibn Ezra is pointing out a distinction in ways to leave
This World, it is worth mentioning that the Talmud says:
There are 903 kinds of death in the world, as it says, "The escape from
death (totzaos)..." (Tehillim 68:21); the numerical value of "totzaos" is
903; the hardest of deaths is askara (croup), and the easiest of all is
neshikah (Divine kiss). Askara is like a thorn in a ball of wool which
lacerates backward; others say it is like the gushing water at the entrance
of a canal; neshikah is like the extraction of hair from milk. (Brochos 8a)
The Talmud does not elucidate on the other 901 forms of death, but what
they all have in common, it would seem--except for neshikah--is that they
represent all natural forms of death which happen at the hand of the Angel
of Death. Only neshikah is a supernatural death, the result of a high level
of spiritual revelation that results in the instantaneous and painless
extraction of the soul from the body.
Historically, few people have merited to die in such a pleasant way. To
date, the list includes the Forefathers (and probably the Foremothers),
Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam. However, it says that anyone who merits to live
into the period of Moshiach will also die by neshikah as well, because the
Angel of Death will no longer have any power over man.
The reason is Kabbalistic. As we learned from last week's parshah, death
was the result of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. As we
learn elsewhere, death occurs specifically to purify the physical body
which became spiritually defiled as a result of the sin of eating. The more
pure the body is at the time of death, the less there is a need for
purification through death itself. During Moshiach's time, the physical
world will undergo a tremendous spiritual rectification, no longer
necessitating the involvement of the Angel of Death.
This is one of the main reasons there are four kinds of capital punishment
in Torah. What difference does it make how a person who committed a capital
offence is executed? The answer is, because each form of death effects the
soul's ability to leave the body, which is an important part of the
purification process to prepare a person for life in the World-to-Come. So,
in a very real sense, the way we live our lives in This World is very much
a preparation for the way we will leave This World, and to enter the worlds
beyond it, as the Generation of the Flood found out. For, though their
deaths may have been quick, they had been far from pleasant.
MELAVE MALKAH:
He [Nimrod] was a mighty trapper before G-d. Therefore, there is a saying,
"Like Nimrod, a mighty trapper before G-d!" (Bereishis 10:8)
If anyone embodied the attitude of the Post-Flood generation, it was
Nimrod, of whom the Talmud states:
Why was he called Nimrod? Because he caused others to rebel (himrid)
against His kingship. (Eiruvin 53a)
Accordingly, he is credited as being the first king of Bavel, and the
builder of the Tower itself. What exactly did Nimrod trap? It seems as if
Nimrod was extremely well-versed in using [Divine] Names to bind angels to
do his bidding, and this is what it means when it says, "was a mighty
trapper before G-d."
Apparently, the people of the Generation of the Dispersion were experts at
oaths and the use of Holy Names which they knew from the generation of
Enosh, as it says, "They began to call out in the Name of Hashem ..."
(Bereishis 4:26). They knew how to use the Names of the Holy One, Blessed
is He, and could perform Kabbalah Ma'asios (Kabbalistic acts), and did so
for the sake of hedonistic pleasure and idol worship. It was a very
rebellious generation, for, when they built the Tower, they placed a sword
on top of it (Bereishis Rabbah 38:6), as if to say, "You, G-d, rule the
heavens-we'll rule the earth!"
This just goes to show how far G-d is willing to go to preserve free-will.
As the Nefesh HaChaim points out, even Black Magic (the real stuff) is
really G-d, though He works behind the scenes so that the person doing it
appears to be authentic. Why? So that man can choose to either believe in
G-d, or to disbelieve in Him, as the Talmud says:
All is in the hands of Heaven except fear of Heaven. (Brochos 33b)
Since the word for "fear" is the same as for "see," it can be read, "All is
in the hands of Heaven except one's vision of G-d."
Even "Faith-Healers," says the Talmud, are successful only in order to test
a person's belief. According to Rebi Akiva, sicknesses often have time
limits, due to end at a specific moment. So what does G-d do? He
"coincidentally" brings healer and healee together at just the right
moment, to give the impression that it was man, not G-d, that brought about
the infirmed person's miraculous recovery--another test of faith in G-d.
Today we don't have too many people walking around with the spiritual
skills of Nimrod. However, do we have quite a few people living who have
great physical skills, capable of manipulating the world we live in to
accomplish all kinds of "miraculous" results. But who's really behind it
all, in the end?
It's a million-dollar question, and the answer is worth even more--as first
Noach, and then Avraham have proven.
Have a great Shabbos, and don't forget your boots.
Pinchas Winston
|
