Transcript
Okay, good morning. בוקר טוב Boker tov. חודש טוב Chodesh tov. A good חודש chodesh. It's great to be back for the parsha class for the brand new year, which really should start with בראשית Bereishis, but time did not allow last week. So better late than never, we start with פרשת נח Parshas Noach. Want to thank our generous sponsors for the entire parsha series for the year, Becky and Avi Katz, in memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנוש l'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manush, whose נשמה neshama should have an עלייה aliyah through this generous sponsorship and all of the amazing work that they do. פרשת נח Parshas Noach is an action packed parsha, there is so much to talk about. We'll see how far we get. Of course, the two major storylines of פרשת נח Parshas Noach are the story of the מבול mabul, the flood, the people's unworthiness for God to continue what was the experiment of the creation of the world in which הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu pressed a hard reset. You know, on your phone, להבדיל lehavdil, you could do a soft reset. If you get a virus or a bug, or you could do a hard reset because it's become so corrupted, your laptop, your iPhone, whatever software has become so corrupted that the only way to make it function again and function properly is to do a hard reset, to restore to the factory settings. The ריבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam looked at the world that had become so corrupt that he felt no choice but to do a hard reset, to restore it to the factory settings. What had become wrong with the whole world? The second storyline of course is מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel, we'll get to that. תרח Terach at the end of the parsha. We think לך לך Lech Lecha begins the journey towards חרן Charan. תרח Terach began it. Hopefully you'll remind me we'll get to that at the end of the parsha.So what did the people do so wrong? What was the virus that had corrupted the whole world so much so that the ריבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, the Almighty, was motivated, time to do a hard reset, have to restore the world to the factory settings. So it's not a mystery, the פסוק pasuk itself tells us. The פסוק pasuk says ותשחת הארץ לפני האלקים vatishacheis ha'aretz lifnei ha'Elokim, if you're following in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, it's on page 30. ותשחת הארץ לפני האלקים ותמלא הארץ Vatishacheis ha'aretz lifnei ha'Elokim vatimalei ha'aretz חמס chamas. The earth had become so corrupt before השם Hashem. And what is the very definition of corruption? What had it become filled with? What is the word we use to describe corrupt, immoral, unethical, morally depraved? חמס Chamas. חמס Chamas. It's not a coincidence. חמאס Chamas. They didn't name their organization because they feel they stand for corruption. They have another motivation or reason for their name, but from our perspective, חמאס Chamas is the an arch enemy, stands for corruption. What was the חמס chamas? What does it mean to be so corrupt? What was the virus that was so insidious that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu had to do a hard reset? So רש\"י Rashi tells us. ותמלא הארץ חמס Vatimalei ha'aretz chamas, גזל gezel. They stole from one another. They were thieves, robbery. Rashi says השם Hashem punished the generation, their השם's Hashem's decision to punish the generation was sealed because of their involvement in thievery. So the other sins of the generation, their moral corruption in other arenas of life, were not enough to push השם Hashem over the edge to do a hard reset on the world. It was particularly גזל gezel. It was the fact that they didn't have respect for one another's money that caused them to put over the idea. The רמב\"ן Ramban writes, he expands on this idea, and he says that the law against robbery is, if I have to categorize הלכות halachos, if I have to categorize מצוות mitzvos, Torah laws, into those which are religious in nature and those which are logical or rational. A מצוה שכלית mitzvah sichlis, what Rav Saadia Gaon would call, a rational, logical מצוה mitzvah. Where would you place not stealing? It's not a religious ritual law, it's a logical, it's a rational law. There's a social contract we have with one another to respect each other's property. And the moment that we violate that boundary and we steal from one another, society is corrupt. It's a rational logical law, it's a rational logical observance to all respect one another's property, to have property rights and to have property boundaries. When we steal from one another, we undermine. So the רמב\"ן Ramban says that the people, though they had not had a Torah, they didn't have הר סיני Har Sinai, they didn't have revelation, but they should have known it on their own. It's a rational law, it's a social basic contract, and the fact that they couldn't even keep, they couldn't even respect what are the basic tenets of a society showed just how corrupt they were, and says the רמב\"ן Ramban, because they couldn't even observe something logical, rational that any child could come to on their own, that was the מכה בפטיש makkeh b'patish, that's what pushed השם Hashem over the edge to have to do a hard reset to restore the world to the factory settings.But why does the פסוק pasuk say לפני האלקים lifnei ha'Elokim? ותשחת הארץ Vatishacheis ha'aretz לפני האלקים lifnei ha'Elokim. Just ותשחת הארץ vatishacheis ha'aretz. The world had become corrupt. The world had become morally depraved and bankrupt. Why does it specifically have to be described to us as being how? לפני האלקים Lifnei ha'Elokim, happening before השם Hashem. So Rav Soloveitchik has I think a very beautiful, beautiful insight. And he says we make the mistake of thinking that robbery and stealing is only a violation between man and man. If I take your things, I've violated your trust. I've hurt and damaged and injured you. So where is the prohibition of thievery, of robbery, of stealing? It's בין אדם לחבירו bein adam l'chaveiro. Says the Rav, no. When you steal from someone else, you know who ultimately you have violated? לפני האלקים Lifnei ha'Elokim. And why is that? So on the simple level, it's because השם Hashem said don't steal. So when you do anything השם Hashem said don't do, even if the ultimate victim is another human being, but ultimately if you're violating what השם Hashem has asked you, of course, you are violating השם Hashem and his trust. But says the Rav it goes much deeper. Because when a person steals, why are they stealing? What drives or motivates a person to take something that belongs to someone else? Because they want it, because they crave it, because they think they deserve it, they think they're entitled to it. And they don't trust that whatever they have is what they need. That whatever they have comes from השם Hashem. And when a person is willing to violate a boundary and take something that doesn't belong to them, not only have they hurt or injured the other party from whom they stole, but ultimately, it reflects an act of כפירה kefira. It is an expression of a heresy. Someone who believes that they have whatever they need, whatever they deserve, that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu provides for them, would never steal. So stealing is not only בין אדם לחבירו bein adam l'chaveiro, stealing ultimately is לפני האלקים lifnei ha'Elokim. It is between man and God. And that's why the Torah elsewhere describes a person who is entrusted to safeguard somebody's valuable item, the הלכה of שומרים halacha of shomrim, and the person then expropriates it, they take it, they steal it. Someone asks you to safeguard to be a שומר shomer over something and you take it. How did you take it? By denying that you were ever asked to watch it. So the Torah tells us, that person, it's a trespass against השם Hashem. The פסוק in ויקרא פרק ה' פסוק כ\"א pasuk in Vayikra Perek Hey pasuk kaf alef also describes there. Someone asked you to watch something and then you denied it and you stole it, you took it, you violated השם Hashem. How did you violate השם Hashem? You violated another person. It's the person whose property you stole. But again, the answer is if we really believe that we have what we need, we have what's designed and designated for us, then we would never be moved to steal, to touch, to take something that's not ours. When we do, when we do, not only have we hurt other people, but ותשחת הארץ vatishacheis ha'aretz where and before whom? לפני האלקים Lifnei ha'Elokim. God says, look, if I created you and I've told you I'll take care of you, but you don't trust me enough that you're stealing from one another, I'm out of here. This world is not going to work, because the purpose of your creation is not only to operate with a societal social contract, but it's to develop a relationship with me. And if you're going to knock me out of the equation by thinking I don't provide, then this isn't going to work, then I'm out of here, then I'm out of here.We see this again a little bit later, because the פסוק pasuk describes when Noach enters the תיבה teiva, the פסוק pasuk describes in פרק ח' פסוק א' Perek Ches pasuk alef. Again if you're following inside the חומש Chumash, it's page 36. ויזכור אלקים את נח ואת כל החיה ואת כל הבהמה אשר אתו בתיבה ויעבר אלקים רוח על הארץ וישכו המים Vayizkor Elokim es Noach v'es kol hachaya v'es kol habeheima asher ito bateiva vaya'aveir Elokim ruach al ha'aretz vayashoku hamayim. Says the Torah, God remembered, ויזכור אלקים Vayizkor Elokim. This is the פסוק pasuk of יזכור Yizkor. יזכור Yizkor begins ויזכור אלקים Vayizkor Elokim. We like to think that יזכור Yizkor is our remembering our loved ones, but in fact יזכור Yizkor is the exercise or the process of invoking השם's Hashem's memory, which itself needs to be studied another time, because if there's one being in existence whose memory has no failure or faults and does not need to be invoked because infinite, omnipotent, all powerful, all knowing, doesn't even have memory, his knowledge is all simultaneously, it doesn't simultaneously, it doesn't reflect the past. It's the ריבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, it's השם Hashem. So what do you mean ויזכור אלקים vayizkor Elokim, God had to remember. We, not you, me sometimes have senior moments. None of you do. You don't know what I'm talking about. So we who have senior moments, we can forget. I don't remember what I had for breakfast, we don't remember anything. But ויזכור אלקים Vayizkor Elokim, השם Hashem had to remember, it's an insight into what memory is. The fact that we associate memory with השם Hashem, ויזכור אלקים Vayizkor Elokim, is in itself an insight into what memory really is versus what it isn't, but not for now. So אלקים Elokim, God has to remember Noach and all the animals that are with him in the תיבה teiva, and because of that, the פסוק pasuk says he causes a spirit to pass over the earth, the water subsides, and society is going to begin the process of being rebuilt.We all said this פסוק pasuk very recently. Not just שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום shnayim mikra v'echad targum, which hopefully we are reinvigorated to try to start again with the beginning of the new cycle. We had someone give a שיעור shiur over יום טוב Yom Tov on שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום shnayim mikra v'echad targum. We have a הלכה halacha, it's דרבנן d'rabbanan, it's a rabbinic enactment, to review the parsha twice every week with the either the תרגום targum or you can fulfill it through רש\"י Rashi. So I was listening and I conjectured, I think it's possible, it's possible that more people will finish the cycle of being מסיים ש\"ס mesayem Shas than who finish שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום shnayim mikra v'echad targum. Now, there's also a מצוה mitzvah to learn Torah, and ש\"ס Shas, it's an enormous accomplishment. The שולחן ערוך הרב Shulchan Aruch Harav, the Alter Rebbe says a Jew has an obligation to learn all of ש\"ס Shas. But שנים מקרא shnayim mikra is a הלכה halacha, it's a binding הלכה halacha, it's quoted in שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, and it's interesting that I would guess that there'll be more people participating in the enormous accomplishment of finishing ש\"ס Shas, 2,711 days in a row, seven and a half years, than who will finish שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום shnayim mikra v'echad targum, which is even a more incumbent obligation. So anyway, we all read the פסוק in שנים מקרא pasuk in shnayim mikra, but we read it earlier. When did we just read this פסוק pasuk? ויזכור אלקים את נח ואת כל החיה ואת כל הבהמה Vayizkor Elokim es Noach v'es kol hachaya v'es kol habeheima. When did we just read it? In שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei. Which שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei did we just read it in? ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. Which section of the שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei of ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah did we read it in? Of course, this is the first פסוק pasuk of זכרונות Zichronos. מוסף Musaf on ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah is made up of three sections, מלכיות, זכרונות, שופרות Malchuyos, Zichronos, Shofros, and the first set, the first פסוק pasuk that זכרונות Zichronos mentions is this פסוק pasuk. Why? What does it mean ויזכור אלקים Vayizkor Elokim, that God remembered Noach and even all of the animals, and why is that invoked as the opening introductory פסוק pasuk of the זכרונות Zichronos, of the זכרונות Zichronos section?So again Rav Soloveitchik, this is brought down in his beautiful חומש Chumash, says what the parsha is trying to communicate to us and the way we begin זכרונות Zichronos, one of the major themes of ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, a little anticlimactic to talk about ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah today, getting you ready for next year. So one of the major themes to introduce ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah and זכרונות Zichronos is the idea that השם Hashem doesn't just have some generic umbrella memory. השם's Hashem's concern is not only with the whole universe and all of humanity, but the Almighty, the ריבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam is concerned, remembers, is involved in every single human being and every single creation. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is so great that he's able to have his eye on the whole universe and everyone in it simultaneously. And so a person should never ever discount the value of the individual. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu has both a universal and an individual concern. He's able to care about both simultaneously. That is first of all a model for us. That's why one of the פרקים of איכה prakim of Eicha, if you think it's anticlimactic to talk about ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, it's more anticlimactic to talk about תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. But one of the פרקים of איכה prakim of Eicha is devoted, ירמיהו הנביא Yirmiyahu Hanavi gives a eulogy for whom? For King יאשיהו Yoshiyahu. We have a whole קינה kina on תשעה באב Tisha B'Av morning. ויקונן ירמיהו על יאשיהו Vayikonein Yirmiyahu al Yoshiyahu. Why? The individual. Because just like הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu cares not only about the totality and the universal man, but every individual, he's involved in our lives. We may make the mistake of waking up and thinking, השם Hashem cares about the whole universe, generically, the umbrella, the big picture. Little me, does he care about me, my aches, my pains, my hopes, my aspirations, my disappointments, little old me, he cares about me? And the answer is yes, ויזכור אלקים את נח Vayizkor Elokim es Noach. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu cares about every one of us. He's intimately involved in every one of our lives, and we too therefore should also not only care about the whole, but care about the individual. I've led several trips to Poland and מירצה השם im yirtzeh Hashem we'll do another one, but often in Majdanek when you see that barrack that's filled with countless shoes, I'll tell our group to stop and instead of getting lost in the hundreds or thousands of shoes and the magnitude of six million, find one shoe. Look at one shoe and try to picture who wore it, where did they go in it, how did they fit, what was the last time they were wearing it, what were they thinking and how were they feeling when they bought it or when it was purchased for them. And when you can focus in on the individual, who wore that shoe, those pair of shoes, the significance of the individual. ויזכור אלקים את נח Vayizkor Elokim es Noach. It's not just the whole globe or humanity or the impact of the מבול mabul, it's Noach. ויזכור אלקים את נח Vayizkor Elokim es Noach. That's why that פסוק pasuk begins זכרונות Zichronos. Because זכרונות Zichronos is not about הקדוש ברוך הוא's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's concern for השגחה כללית hashgacha klalis, what we call his providence on mass, but it's השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis. It's ויזכור אלקים Vayizkor Elokim, he's involved in every one of our lives. He loves us and he knows us, and he's intimately invested in everything that happens to us. He's deeply, deeply connected to everything that happens with us.So Noach is saved for two reasons. Noach is saved because he is going to be the instrument through which there'll be a continuation, a continuity of man, and Noach is saved because of his own personal worthiness, because every individual הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu has a unique relationship. We just said this in סדור siddur snippet the other night. We're up to אשרי Ashrei, for those who don't, you can subscribe on WhatsApp and every day get a six-minute סדור siddur snippet with an insight on the סדור siddur, or you can listen to all the old ones on on our website. And we began with ברכות brachos, we began with מודה אני Modeh Ani, we began with מודה אני Modeh Ani, we're up to אשרי Ashrei. עיני כל אליך ישברו einei chol eilecha yesabeiru, הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu all our eyes turn to you with hope. What's the end of the פסוק pasuk? ואתה נותן להם את אכלם Ve'atah nosein lahem es ochlam בעתו be'ito. The גמרא in כתובות Gemara in Kesubos notes it should say נותן להם את אכלם nosein lahem es ochlam בעתם be'itam. You're talking in the plural, so why does it conclude in the singular בעתו be'ito? And the גמרא Gemara there says because הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives everyone what they need, and not only the measure that we need, but in the time frame that we need it. So maybe in this תקופה tekufa, in this period of our life we struggled and then we did well. Maybe earlier we did well and then we struggled. Maybe we here have a surplus and here we had a, here we had a deficiency, here we were lacking. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives בעתו be'ito what we need, not only what we need, but when we need it. It's not בעתם be'itam, it's בעתו be'ito. ויזכור אלקים את נח Vayizkor Elokim es Noach. And that's the חמס chamas, ותשחת הארץ vatishacheis ha'aretz where? לפני האלקים Lifnei ha'Elokim. Because at the foundation, at the core of being an observant Torah Jew is knowing that I have a relationship with הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He's not so great and so big. There's a form of כפירה kefira, it's almost a כפירה לשמה kefira lishma the בעלי מוסר baalei mussar talk about, where a person mistakenly thinks that השם Hashem is so great, that how could he be involved in my little old life? He's so great. And I think of him in such grandiose terms that it would diminish him in some way to think that he's involved in my little life. But that's כנגד keneged, that's opposite, that's contrary our Torah השקפה hashkafa. We believe the exact opposite. In fact, you're diminishing השם Hashem if you think that he's not great enough to be involved in every one of our lives. He's so great that he can be involved globally in the world, the universe, the cosmos, and at the same time intimately aware of, invested in, and controlling every one of our personal lives. And when you steal from someone else because you think you won't have enough, when you steal from someone else because you want more, when you steal from someone because you don't believe that what you have is what you need or it's not in its right time, then not only have you injured and hurt your fellow man, but ותשחת הארץ לפני האלקים vatishacheis ha'aretz lifnei ha'Elokim. You've also denied השם's Hashem's role, his involvement, his love in your life. You ever have someone that you said like, I got it, I'll take care of it for you, but then you found out they did it anyway, or they doubted you, they went around you, or they asked someone else also. And you're personally hurt because you say, I said I got it. I said I'll take care of it. I said you're good to go. You don't trust me? You don't believe me? You don't have faith in me? You're not willing to rely on me? הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu says when you've stolen, not only have you violated a moral boundary of hurting someone else, but you've violated our relationship. ותשחת הארץ לפני האלקים Vatishacheis ha'aretz lifnei ha'Elokim. You see this later too with the theme ויזכור אלקים את נח Vayizkor Elokim es Noach, caring about every individual, not only השגחה כללית hashgacha klalis, but a sense of השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis, and we are to emulate that, to care not only globally about everybody, but to care about the individuals as well. So back to the beginning of the parsha. Who is this Noach? And why is he deemed worthy? אלה תולדות נח, נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדורותיו, את האלקים התהלך נח Eileh toldos Noach, Noach ish tzadik tamim hayah b'dorosav, es ha'Elokim hishalech Noach. These are the תולדות of נח toldos of Noach. And then we repeat נח's Noach's name again because maybe you forgot it. אלה תולדות נח, נח איש צדיק Eileh toldos Noach, Noach ish tzadik. Why is the word תולדות toldos used? Isn't that an interesting word? תולדות Toldos. Why is the word תולדות toldos used? אלה תולדות נח Eileh toldos Noach. We just began the סמיכת חבר smichas chaver program. Today's going to be a series of shameless plugs for other שיעורים shiurim that I give. We covered סדור siddur snippet, now סמיכת חבר smichas chaver. Sunday mornings for men, we had ברוך השם Baruch Hashem over 80 men. We started הילכות שבת Hilchos Shabbos, the new זמן zman, and הילכות שבת Hilchos Shabbos begins with the discussion of the ל\"ט מלאכות lamed tes melachos. We have 39 categories of creative labor that are forbidden on שבת Shabbos. And how do we categorize them? We have the super-category which is called the אב av, and we have a subcategory called the תולדה toldah. אבות avos, 39 אבות avos, and each of those אבות avos, those big categories have תולדות toldos. We have several areas of הלכה halacha that have אבות ותולדות avos and toldos. We have ארבע אבות נזיקין arba avos nezikin, four categories of damages, and they have תולדות toldos. We have categories of טומאה tumah and they have subcategories. And the גמרא Gemara there in בבא קמא Bava Kama, תולדה כיוצא בו הן, אינם כיוצא בו הן toldah k'yotzei bo hen, einam k'yotzei bo hen, how similar are the תולדות toldos to the אבות avos, what's the relationship between the two, what's the value of categorizing them in this way. So we think an אב av is the archetype, the prototype, the umbrella category, and the תולדה toldah is the subcategory. Why is Noach introduced to us here with the word אלה תולדות eileh toldos? Why with the word תולדות toldos? So Rav Wolbe, there's a beautiful ספר sefer, a collection of Rav Wolbe's insights on חומש Chumash, שיעורי חומש Shiurei Chumash, appropriately named שיעורי חומש Shiurei Chumash of Rav Shlomo Wolbe, the great משגיח of ירושלים mashgiach of Yerushalayim. Shameless plug number three. On Wednesdays in our women's אמונה emunah class, we've been learning Rav Wolbe's צדיק באמונתו יחיה tzadik b'emunoso yichyeh, beautiful insights into אמונה emunah. So here in his parsha he says, אלה תולדות נח, למה איקר תולדותיהם של צדיקים מעשים טובים Eileh toldos Noach, lamah ikar toldoseihem shel tzadikim maasim tovim. Rashi says why are they called תולדות toldos? Because Noach is called a צדיק tzadik. He's תמים tamim in his דור dor. He's called righteous, he's pure in his generation. תולדות Toldos. You know what a person's true תולדות toldos, you know what our greatest offspring are? What is our ultimate legacy? Is מעשים טובים maasim tovim. Our good deeds, the impact that we make. And this gives חזק chizuk. Sometimes our children are our great legacy, we're proud of the direction that they're in, and וילכו שניהם יחדיו vayelchu shneihem yachdav of the great ברכה bracha. Avraham is described as walking with Yitzchak to the עקידה akeida, but וילכו שניהם יחדיו vayelchu shneihem yachdav, the two walked together. That's the great ברכה bracha that we hope for ourselves, that our children walk in our way, not only meet our level, surpass our level. But there are times that נבך nebach, a person's children are not entirely exactly, at least not for now, their chapters of their book are yet unwritten, but at least for now don't seem on the trajectory of walking in their way. Rashi says we should know that we also have other תולדות toldos. We leave biological offspring, but we also leave spiritual offspring. And the spiritual offspring that we leave are the difference that we've made in our lives, is the impact that we've had in this world. So Rav Wolbe writes, אדם עושה הרבה מעשים טובים אבל כל מעשה באופן חיצוני adam oseh harbeh maasim tovim aval kol maaseh b'ofen chitzoni. A person can go through the motions and do a lot, but it's all superficial, it's all external. מעשה אינם נובעים ממהותו הפנימית, מעצמיותו Maaseh einam novim m'mahuso hapnimis, m'atzmiyuso. They don't, the actions, they don't emanate, they don't come from a person's קישקעס kishkes. They're not coming from who you are inside. אבל אצל הצדיק, למעשים הטובים הם תולדותיו, שכן מעשים הטובים של הצדיק אינם נפרדים ממנו אלא נובעים מתוך תוכו Aval eitzel hatzadik, hamaasim hatovim heim toldosav, shekein maasim hatovim shel hatzadik einam nifradim mimenu ela novim mitoch tocho. Sometimes a person writes a big check to צדקה tzedaka, sometimes a person volunteers on a committee, sometimes the person has the longest שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei, sometimes a person's in the בית מדרש beis medrash the most amount of time, sometimes a person volunteers the most. And why are they doing all of that? For their honor, their reputation, their name, for business networking, for שידוכים shidduchim for their children, who knows what kind of superficial external motivation. But that's not the צדיק tzadik. The צדיק tzadik is אלה תולדות eileh toldos. It is a piece of who you are, it's coming from inside, it's our essence. It's a תולדה toldah. So every מעשים טובים maasim tovim that you do, you've created a תולדה toldah. You just gave birth to another child. It's such a beautiful way to look at life. The joy, the pleasure, the satisfaction, the hope, and the dream of when you have a child, when you have an אייניקל einikel, when you have a grandchild, one should realize that that's not only true biologically, the difference you leave in this world, the legacy you leave through children and grandchildren, but through good deeds, through the difference that we make, through the kind gestures, through the charitable giving, through the volunteering, through the תורה, the עבודה, the גמילות חסדים Torah, the avodah, the gemilus chasadim. For the צדיק tzadik, those are תולדות toldos, says Rav Wolbe. That's part of our legacy. Those are equally our offspring. And I want to give you that as חזק chizuk because sometimes again, someone's biological תולדות toldos are not giving them the נחת nachas they hoped and dreamt of, at least not for now. But one can create תולדות toldos in other ways. Says Rav Wolbe, one can create parallel תולדות toldos through the difference and the legacy that we make. Rashi famously quotes that when the פסוק pasuk says צדיק בדורותיו tzadik b'dorosav, he was righteous in his generation, is that a compliment or an insult? Rashi says both. It's a מחלוקת machlokes. It's a מחלוקת machlokes בדורותיו b'dorosav. יש מרבותינו דורשים אותו לשבח Yesh meiraboseinu dorshim oso l'shvach. Says Rashi, some of our rabbis learn from here as a compliment. כל שכן שהיה בדור של צדיקים היה צדיק יותר Kol shekein shehayah b'dor shel tzadikim hayah tzadik yoser. If Noach would have lived in another generation he would have been even more righteous. ויש דורשים אותו לגנאי V'yesh dorshim oso l'gnai, and some learn it in a disparaging way. לפי דורו היה צדיק L'fi doro hayah tzadik, yeah, for his corrupt, miserable, negative, reject generation he was righteous. אבל אילו היה בדורו של אברהם לא היה נחשב לכלום Aval ilu hayah b'doro shel Avraham lo hayah nechshav l'klum. If he lived in Avraham's generation, he would have been an absolute גורנישט gornisht. He would have been a reject. So some learn it לשבח l'shvach, a compliment, and some learn it לגנאי l'gnai. Do you see a difference between the two ways that it's learned? Very interesting. Look at Rashi again. I'll read the Rashi again. יש מרבותינו דורשים אותו לשבח Yesh meiraboseinu dorshim oso l'shvach, some of our rabbis learn from here a compliment, look how righteous he was and would be in any generation. ויש דורשים אותו לגנאי V'yesh dorshim oso l'gnai, and some learn it disparagingly that only in his generation, if it were Avraham's, he would not have been. What's the difference? What word is missing in the second half of the comment? Anybody? Anyone have coffee this morning? No. What word is missing? The difference, the word that's missing, anyone notice it? No. So, Rav Yisroel of Cherkoff says the word רבותינו raboseinu is missing. יש מרבותינו דורשים אותו לשבח Yesh meiraboseinu dorshim oso l'shvach, ויש דורשים אותו לגנאי v'yesh dorshim oso l'gnai. And says Rav Yisroel of Cherkoff, some look at the pasuk and choose to see a compliment in Noach. Wow, Noach was so righteous, amazing, Hashem chose him. ויש דורשים לגנאי V'yesh dorshim l'gnai, but some look to be disparaging and say, yeah, he was pretty good for his low-life generation, but if he were relative to Avraham, he would have been a גורנישט gornisht. Says Rav Yisroel of Cherkoff, anyone who looks to see לגנאי l'gnai is not מרבותינו meiraboseinu. Anyone who looks at another person or looks at a circumstance and tries to cynically see the negative instead of the positive is not among our teachers. מרבותינו Meiraboseinu, דורשים לשבח dorshim l'shvach. Our teachers, they look for the compliment, they look to see the good. And יש דורשים לגנאי yesh dorshim l'gnai, נבך nebach, in every generation, there are cynics and scoffers who will look to be able to see it לגנאי l'gnai, they look to be able to say the negative. I love that insight. There's two ways to see it. He says, Rav Yisroel of Cherkoff, he says, how can you say such לשון הרע lashon hara? The פסוק pasuk itself says נח איש צדיק תמים בדורותיו Noach ish tzadik tamim b'dorosav. So the only way that you could read לגנאי l'gnai is if you're not מרבותינו meiraboseinu. If you're מרבותינו meiraboseinu, you'll always read it לשבח l'shvach. If you're reading it לגנאי l'gnai, you're not מרבותינו meiraboseinu. Look for the good, look for the compliment, look for the impressive. Don't look to knock someone down. Don't look to say, yeah, they're pretty good, but you know if they lived in another, in this community they're such a big, but if they lived in another community, they'd be among the smallest skippers, they'd have to shortest שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei, they'd be the biggest עם הארץ am ha'aretz, it's only because of this community that they're so great. If a person has that attitude and comes, then that person is not מרבותינו meiraboseinu. Again Rav Wolbe has an insight, he says what's the difference? What do you mean יש מרבותינו לשבח, לגנאי yesh meiraboseinu l'shvach, l'gnai? A person can be motivated to be great for one of two reasons he says. It's such an important insight of Rav Wolbe. He says some people only look at their generation and they say, you know what? Look at the corruption, look at the moral depravity, look at the laziness and procrastination, look at the consumerism and materialism, I want to rise above that. Things are so negative, so pathetic, so low, the bar is so low, I'm moved and driven to rise above it. So that is לגנאי l'gnai. The only reason that you're inspired is because you see such failure around you that that motivates you. That's לגנאי l'gnai. But יש מרבותינו לשבח yesh meiraboseinu l'shvach. There's another type of person who's a בן עליה ben aliyah, a בת עליה bas aliyah. Is a person who says I'm motivated and driven to be the best. It's never relative to anyone else. I don't care, it's not stimulated or driven by observing the generation. I'm motivated and driven because I'm a בן עליה ben aliyah, I'm a בת עליה bas aliyah. I always want to be the best I can be. I always want to accomplish the most, I want to reach the highest highs I can reach, that's לשבח l'shvach. So says Rav Wolbe, what חז\"ל Chazal were observing about Noach is in telling us, there are two drivers to our inspiration. You could be driven to inspiration by the lower level, which is to look at others and to only want to be better, or you could be driven to inspiration not relative to anyone else, but to yourself, to be the best you can be. To be driven to be the best you can be, that's לשבח l'shvach. To only be motivated relative to others, that is, that is לגנאי l'gnai. So Noach is chosen to build this תיבה teiva and he's given a lot of time with a lot of hope that others will repent and come back and improve and do what they need to do. And ultimately do they? No, they don't. They fail to. What's the design of this תיבה teiva? Look at פרק ו' פסוק ט\"ז Perek Vav pasuk tes zayin. Just to share a quick, a cute insight. The pasuk says, it's on page 30. When Hashem is giving the design, the architecture of this magnificent תיבה teva. צוהר תעשה לתבה ואל אמה תכלנה מלמעלה Tzohar ta'aseh la'teva v'el amah t'chalena m'mala, and so on and so forth. You got to put a window into the תיבה teva. Why are you putting a window in the side of the תיבה teva? צוהר תעשה לתבה A tzohar ta'aseh la'teva? So רש\"י Rashi quotes here, צוהר תעשה לתבה tzohar ta'aseh la'teva, פסוק טז pasuk tes zayin, זאגט רש\"י zogt Rashi, יש אומרים חלון yesh omrim chalon, some say it was a window. ויש אומרים אבן טובה מאירה להם V'yesh omrim even tova me'ira lahem. It was some sort of a gem, a stone that refracted light, that brought in light to the תיבה teva.I once saw, what are these two opinions? Some say it's a window, some say it's a stone. They are consistent or commensurate with the two opinions about לשבח l'shvach or לגנאי l'gnai. Was he only righteous for his generation or for any generation? Why? If he was righteous for any generation, if he was a צדיק tzaddik in an objective sense, then he could have a window. He'd be entitled to look out and see the destruction of the world who didn't have the merits that he had. But if it's לגנאי l'gnai, he was a צדיק tzaddik relative to his generation, but he really wasn't such a צדיק tzaddik, would he be allowed to look back and see the failure, the death, the destruction of others? Who do we know, who was cautioned because her merits were not great enough not to turn around and look back? אשת לוט Eishes Lot, Lot's wife. So similarly, if someone was only a relative צדיק tzaddik, not really an objective צדיק tzaddik, just a subjective one, then it wouldn't be a חלון chalon, a window, it would just be a stone to bring in the light, but they wouldn't be entitled to look out to be able to see the destruction of others.Okay, a קשיא kshiya. But I saw something else this year. The שפת אמת Sfas Emes, the הייליגע גערער רבי heilige Gerer Rebbe. So he says, צוהר תעשה לתבה Tzohar ta'aseh la'teva. The word תיבה teva means an ark, what else does it mean? A word. תיבות Tevos are words, a תיבה teva is a word. So it means the words of the סידור siddur when we're דאווענען davening, צוהר תעשה לתבה Tzohar ta'aseh la'teva. You have to say it with brightness, with clarity. You can't fly through דאווענען davening, you can't mumble the words. צוהר תעשה לתבה Tzohar ta'aseh la'teva. You're דאווענען davening, your enunciation of the word should be done with clarity, should be done with brightness and illumination, should be done with energy and enthusiasm. צוהר תעשה לתבה Tzohar ta'aseh la'teva, says the שפת אמת Sfas Emes.Okay. Why is נח Noach chosen? נח Noach is the man. נח Noach is on a low level, because he did not inspire or incite his generation. Why didn't he? Why didn't he turn around his generation? נח Noach is a, every year a very controversial figure. There are נח Noach lovers and there are נח Noach haters. Every year פרשת נח parshas Noach, two sides emerge. There are the people who think נח Noach doesn't get the credit he's due, and there are people who think נח Noach really ultimately is a failure. All he saved was himself and his family. And he worked hard, he saved all those animals too. He did save the world, but he didn't save his generation. So there's always two sides to that debate. נח Noach begins as an איש צדיק ish tzaddik, and he ends as an איש אדמה ish adama when he comes out of the תיבה teva. As opposed to משה Moshe in the מדרש Midrash compares, who begins as an איש מצרי ish Mitzri, an Egyptian, and ends as an איש אלקים ish Elokim, ends as a man of of God. What is the trajectory of our life? Do we end up higher than where we started? No matter where we started, no matter what rung on the ladder we started, did we end up higher? Or did we start and we end up lower? In that sense, נח Noach, נח Noach is blamed. The נביא ישעיהו Navi Yeshayahu calls them מי נח mei Noach, the waters of נח Noach. On the other hand, נח Noach is lauded for what he did. נח Noach is born מהול mahul, he's born with a ברית מילה bris mila, which is a reflection of somebody who's on a very high level.So there's two sides to this debate about נח Noach. נח Noach ultimately does not succeed in inspiring his generation, even though Hashem bought him the time. He gave him a timeline that was exceedingly long to build the תיבה teva because he wanted the neighbors to keep asking, what you doing? What are you up to? Or keep telling him that it violates the HOA rules, you're not allowed to do that in your front yard, your backyard. You got to build your תיבה teva elsewhere. And he wanted נח Noach to say, hey guys, don't worry about the HOA. There's an even bigger destruction of the world than an HOA, and that is a מבול mabul is coming. But נח Noach failed to do it. Why? Where did he go wrong? Why did נח Noach not in fact inspire or transform his generation?So there's a magnificent insight of רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשב Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi. The פסוק pasuk says that when the תיבה teva was complete, קודשא בריך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu brought the rain, and only when נח Noach saw the rain begin to fall, does he enter the תיבה teva. And רש\"י Rashi quotes חז\"ל Chazal who observe, isn't it peculiar? God told him to build a תיבה teva. He's been working on it forever. God told him what's going to happen, but he didn't go into the תיבה teva because God said, hey נח Noach, it's time to board. He only got into the תיבה teva when? When he saw the raindrops begin to fall. So חז\"ל Chazal were bothered and they said, you know what? מקטני אמונה M'katnei amuna. He was from the small of אמונה amuna. מאמין ואינו מאמין Ma'amin v'eino ma'amin, he believed but he didn't believe. What does it mean מקטני אמונה m'katnei amuna? He was a צדיק בדורותיו tzaddik b'dorosav, he's קטני אמונה katnei amuna? So this is a big question. How could you describe נח Noach as lacking in אמונה amuna when the Torah testifies about him that he was a צדיק tzaddik? So says רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשב Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, says the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, מקטני אמונה M'katnei amuna, you know where the deficiency of a אמונה amuna was? Not in Hashem. In Hashem, he believed wholeheartedly. מקטני אמונה M'katnei amuna, he failed to believe adequately in himself. He said, who am I? Who's going to listen to me? What difference can I make? How much does what I do matter? מקטני אמונה M'katnei amuna. He saw himself as so little, so insignificant, so inconsequential, so unable to make a difference that he didn't even try. And therefore they're called מי נח Mei Noach, he could have stopped this flood. If he'd stand up on that soapbox, if he stood on the edge of that תיבה teva and he lectured and he and he preached, and he led by example and he inspired the people, he could have saved the generation. But he didn't. And therefore the flood is attributed to him, they're the מי נח Mei Noach. And why didn't he do it? Not because he didn't believe in Hashem, and not because he didn't believe in the people's power to change. The whole failure was, he didn't believe in himself.Says רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשב Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, a person has to begin by believing in themselves. We have to know the difference that we can make, the power that we have to change the world. That is the premise to being alive, is to believing that we can make a difference. רב צדוק הכהן Rav Tzadok HaKohen also writes, in צדקת הצדיק Tzidkas HaTzadik, רב צדוק הכהן מלובלין Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin. He says there's two types of אמונה amuna. There's the אמונה amuna in Hashem, but a person also has to have אמונה amuna in ourselves. Why should we have a אמונה amuna in ourselves? From where should that אמונה amuna come? Not an arrogant אמונה amuna, I have so much faith in myself, I trust myself, but why should we believe that we're capable and competent and that we make a difference and that we matter? Why should we believe that? This is an epidemic in our day, especially with teenagers and young people, who are struggling with depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, life of drugs. Many of whom describe because they feel invisible and inconsequential and they don't think they matter or their life matters, and the world won't even notice if they disappear.I've heard it several times from teenagers and from all who struggle with anxiety, depression, and the like. So why is that wrong? Why should we know that we matter? And that we make a difference? That we can't and shouldn't be מקטני אמונה m'katnei amuna, that we shouldn't be those who are small or diminished of faith, not in Hashem, but in ourselves? The answer is also in our פרשה parsha. Because the פסוק pasuk says, פרק ט פסוק ו Perek Tes, Pasuk Vav. Page 40 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. Page 40. פרק ט פסוק ו Perek Tes, Pasuk Vav, when they come out of the תיבה teva, and קודשא בריך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu has given a second chance to the world, he gives some instructions. And he says, here's the deal. אך בשר בנפשו דמו לא תאכלו, ואך את דמכם לנפשותיכם אדרוש Ach basar b'nafsho damo lo socheilu, v'ach es demchem l'nafshoseichem edrosh. שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך Shofech dam ha'adam ba'adam damo yishofech. One of the most clumsy פסוקים psukim in the whole Torah. The מפרשים meforshim all struggle to exactly translate, interpret this פסוק pasuk. Let's read those words again. שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך Shofech dam ha'adam ba'adam damo yishofech. Basically, for our purposes right now, don't murder. If you murder, you're accountable. If you murder, there are consequences. Do not murder. And why should you not murder? What's wrong with murder? כי בצלם אלקים עשה את האדם Ki b'tzelem Elokim asah es ha'adam. Because God created man in his image, בצלם אלקים b'tzelem Elokim. קודשא בריך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu created man in his image. Don't murder. Why? Because Hashem created man in his image. So it's interesting, רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, in the third chapter of פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, משנה יח mishna yud ches, רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva quotes this. And what does רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva teach us? חביב אדם שנברא בצלם Chaviv adam sh'nivra b'tzelem. Beloved is man who's created בצלם b'tzelem. And what פסוק pasuk does רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva quote? How do we know man is created בצלם b'tzelem? חביב אדם שנברא בצלם Chaviv adam sh'nivra b'tzelem. What פסוק pasuk does רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva quote there in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos? Our פסוק pasuk right here.And the question is, I saw רב וואלבע Rav Wolbe asked this, רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Saloveitchik asked this. In פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva is going to quote חביב אדם chaviv adam, beloved is man. By the way, it doesn't say חביב ישראל chaviv Yisrael. What does it say? חביב אדם Chaviv Adam. Certain parts of the Torah community think that the ייד Yid, the Jew is חביב chaviv to Hashem, but the גוי goy is worthless. That's not what the משנה Mishna says in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos. The תפארת ישראל Tiferes Yisrael on the משנה Mishna points this out. Look at the תפארת ישראל Tiferes Yisrael, he writes very beautifully, and then the תפארת ישראל Tiferes Yisrael actually references all these non-Jews who have made incredible contributions to the world. חביב אדם שנברא בצלם Chaviv adam sh'nivra b'tzelem. Yes, it's true, בנים ישראל למקום banim Yisrael l'makom, we are Hashem's children, we are more beloved. But חביב אדם chaviv adam, the generic, all of humanity, every human being, Jew and non-Jew alike, a ישראל Yisrael and a גוי goy are all created with a צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim. They have a basic dignity, and they deserve to be treated with respect and with dignity and spoken about with dignity and respected with dignity. חביב אדם Chaviv adam, says the תפארת ישראל Tiferes Yisrael, not חביב ישראל chaviv Yisrael, חביב אדם chaviv adam. Everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike is חביב chaviv, is beloved to Hashem. So when you mistreat that גוי goy, I'm not using that word, but others use it very disparagingly. They talk about their גוי'טער goyter or their גוי goy, or they treat the גוי goy, know the person that you're mistreating is חביב chaviv to Hashem. חביב אדם שנברא בצלם Chaviv adam sh'nivra b'tzelem. That person is a צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim that you are putting down or disrespecting or not courteous to or are not treating with dignity or are talking about or using a word that is disparaging. חביב אדם שנברא בצלם Chaviv adam sh'nivra b'tzelem.But anyway, רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva quotes which פסוק pasuk? This פסוק pasuk. So I asked רב וואלבע Rav Wolbe, asked the רב Rav, why does he quote our פסוק pasuk here, כי בצלם אלקים ki b'tzelem Elokim? Where did we see that פסוק pasuk earlier? He should have quoted the פסוק pasuk earlier, in פרק א פסוק כז Perek Aleph, Pasuk Chaf Zayin. פרק א פסוק כז Perek Aleph, Pasuk Chaf Zayin of בראשית Bereishis tells us that Hashem created the world, and on the sixth day he creates man, ויברא אלקים את האדם בצלמו, בצלם אלקים ברא אותו Vayivra Elokim es ha'adam b'tzalmo, b'tzelem Elokim bara oso. With the very creation of man, it tells us he created man בצלם אלקים b'tzelem Elokim. So why when רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva says חביב אדם chaviv adam that all of humanity is beloved and respected by Hashem, and should be by us, he quotes the פסוק pasuk here later. So רב וואלבע Rav Wolbe, the רב Rav, they both give the same answer. And they said, you know why? Because when רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva was concerned with finding a פסוק pasuk for the basic principle of כבוד האדם kavod ha'adam, the dignity of man, he finds it in the fact that you're not allowed to murder. Why can't you murder another person? You don't like them, they're different than you, they live differently than you, they're unworthy, they don't have the merits, they're not living up to expectations. So what? So why can't you murder them? Because in the end of the day, they're a צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim. They have dignity. And if you kill them, if you murder them, you've killed a piece of God in this world. You've murdered an expression of Hashem in this world. Every human being is unique, is distinct. Every human being has their own personality, their own DNA. Every human being has their own contribution to make to this world. And if you were to murder someone else, you've taken a צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim, a unique expression of Hashem in this world, and you have purged Hashem from this world. Hashem becomes diminished, כביכול k'viyachol, through an act of murder. And that's why חביב אדם שנברא בצלם chaviv adam sh'nivra b'tzelem, רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva is teaching Hashem loves everybody because everybody is an expression of them. I love everybody, but I love my children more than I love others. And if we're all Hashem's children, the Jewish people are Hashem's בכור bechor, we're his firstborn. I don't, but Hashem loves his firstborn more than his other children. We are Hashem's firstborn, his בכור bechor, but everyone is his, everyone are Hashem's children, and Hashem loves us. We are a צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim, we are an expression of him in this world. And therefore, if you murder, you diminish Hashem's expression, Hashem being in this world.So therefore we can't afford to be מקטני אמונה m'katnei amuna. We shouldn't be lacking in faith in ourselves. Why? The faith is not in ourselves. To believe in yourself is to believe in Hashem. And that's what רב צדוק הכהן Rav Tzadok HaKohen writes. אמונה Amuna in Hashem means אמונה amuna in yourself. Because know that you're, you are designed בצלם אלקים b'tzelem Elokim. You have God inside you. You are made up of godliness. You have capability and competency. You have capacity. You can make a difference. How can you be so sure and how can you know? You said it this morning. When you said מודה אני Modeh Ani, you ended with the two words, רבה אמונתך Raba amunasecha. You ever think about it? I've said this countless times. But you ever think about it? מודה אני Modeh Ani, God, I'm so grateful, thank you. You gave me back my נשמה neshama. רבה אמונתך Raba amunasecha, great is... Doesn't say רבה אמונתי raba amunasi, my faith is great. Doesn't say I've woken up this morning, life is good, the sun's back in the sky, the weather's finally cooling off a little bit, can breathe. So therefore Hashem, רבה אמונתי raba amunasi, my faith in you is great. That is not how we begin our day. What are the first words that leave our lips every morning? Not רבה אמונתי raba amunasi, my faith in you is great. What are the first words we say? רבה אמונתך Raba amunasecha, your faith is great. One second. I thought we're the ones who have faith. What do you mean Hashem has faith? In whom does Hashem have faith? The answer is, if you just woke up this morning, Hashem has faith in you. If you woke up today, the curtain has not come down yet. You yet have another act to live, to write, to perform. רבה אמונתך Raba amunasecha. Hashem's faith in you is great. Evidenced how? By the very fact that you woke up this morning. So says רב צדוק Rav Tzadok, that not only are we mandated to have faith in Hashem, but as an extension of faith in Hashem is faith in His צלם tzelem. And צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim, he put a piece of himself in every one of us. So faith in him means faith in us. And if we are to have faith in ourselves, you can't kill someone else because you're killing a צלם אלקים tzelem Elokim. And this was נח's Noach's failure says רב לוי יצחק Rav Levi Yitzchak, מקטני אמונה m'katnei amuna. He didn't believe in his own ability to change the world. He didn't have faith in himself. We have to believe in ourselves and believe in our ability to change to change the world.Okay. I have so much to talk about. Let's run through a few more ideas quickly. We may not get up to the דור הפלגה dor haflaga or תרח Terach, but there's good news. We're reading פרשת נח parshas Noach again next year. אם ירצה השם Im yirtzeh Hashem, we should all just be here and healthy to learn it together. So, נח Noach, something very interesting about this character נח Noach, about his name. נח Noach is the protagonist of our flood story, and we know he's chosen to save humanity, but why is he chosen? So the Torah itself testifies why נח Noach is chosen, when it says ונח מצא חן בעיני השם v'Noach matza chein b'einei Hashem. What is the character trait that makes נח Noach the chosen one and worthy? נח Noach had חן chein. And that makes sense because we all like to be around people who have חן chein. We want our children to marry someone with חן chein, we want them to have חן chein. We like to be around people with חן chein. A magnetic personality, a charisma, a warmth, a positive disposition, a positive spirit, it makes us feel better. In fact, the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim HaKadosh writes, we know from his name that נח'ס Noach's חן chein was his defining characteristic. How do we know that? Because his name was נח Noach, which is חן chein backwards. נח Noach and חן chein, having חן chein was who נח Noach was. It was his defining characteristic. It's precious to Hashem. We ask for it every day to be like נח Noach. When do we do it? You just did it this morning. You did it twice this morning so far, because it's ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh, you said מוסף Musaf. שים שלום Sim Shalom. What do we say in שים שלום Sim Shalom? חן וחסד ורחמים Chein v'chesed v'rachamim. Hashem, give us your חסד chesed and your רחמים rachamim, but you know what else we ask for? We ask for חן chein. The question is, what is חן chein, and how do we acquire it? So the פסוק pasuk says in משלי Mishlei in the third פרק perek, ולענוים יתן חן v'la'anavim yiten chein. To the humble, Hashem gives חן chein. The גמרא Gemara in עבודה זרה דף ו Avodah Zarah Daf Vav tells us that נח Noach was exceedingly humble. You know what חן chein is? Modesty and humility. He was humble before he was tapped to save the world and he remained humble even afterwards. We just quoted the רבי לוי יצחק Rav Levi Yitzchak, maybe he was humble to a fault that he didn't believe in himself and his capacity. But even after he saved the world, he didn't walk around and say, hello, talk about a hero, I saved the whole world.So what is the source of חן chein? Where does it come from? It comes from humility. Someone has חן chein no matter what their accomplishments, achievements, their socioeconomic status, when they carry themselves and practice humility. ספר חרדים Sefer Chareidim in the ninth פרק perek, in entry מב Mem Beis, ספר חרדים Sefer Chareidim gives another explanation, also based on נח'ס Noach's name. He says נח Noach found חן chein in Hashem's eyes, מצא חן בעיני השם matza chein b'einei Hashem. Why? Not the letters reversed, but the letters the way they are. What does his name mean? נח Noach. What is the word נח Noach? נח Noach like מנוחה menucha, peaceful, serene. Which means נח Noach didn't lose his cool. נח Noach didn't get bent out of shape. He wasn't anxious or nervous or overexcited. He never raised his decibel level, his blood pressure didn't go up. He was נח Noach. נח Noach was נח Noach. I'll read to you the ספר חרדים Sefer Chareidim. He writes, he started quotes the זוהר Zohar, הכועס נשמתו הקדושה מסתלקת ממנו Ha'ko'eis nishmaso ha'kedosha mistalekes mimenu. When you get angry, you forfeit, you concede your holy soul. It's like your soul leaves you, abandons you. You're filled with a רוח שטות ruach shtus. You're like a mad person. You're cloud, your judgment is clouded when you get angry. You're worshiping an idol, and you forfeit your soul. In that context, he says, רמז ש ישמור נשמתו הקדושה שלא תפרד ממנו על ידי כעס, אלא יהיה לבו נח ומיושב תמיד Remez she'yishmor nishmaso ha'kedosha she'lo ti'pared mimenu al yedei kaas, eila yihyeh libo Noach u'meyushav tamid. You have to always be serene and calm, cool, collected. ועל זה אמרו במדרש נעלם ונח מצא חן בעיני השם. כלומר על ידי שהיה לבו תמיד נח ומיושב מצא חן בעיני השם. דכל ניחא מסטרא דקדושה וכל רוגזא מסטרא דמסאבא. וכתיב בתריה אלה תולדות נח, שלוש פעמים נח. מתוך שלבו נח ומיושב מאד, יהיה נח בדיבורו, נח בהילוכו, נח במעשיו V'al zeh omru b'Midrash Ne'elam... v'Noach matza chein b'einei Hashem. K'lומר, al yedei she'haya libo tamid Noach u'meyushav, matza chein b'einei Hashem. De'chol nicha m'sitra d'kedusha, v'chol rugza m'sitra d'mis'ava. U'k'siv basrei eileh toldos Noach, shalosh pa'amim Noach, mi'toch she'libo Noach u'meyushav me'od, yihyeh Noach b'diburo, Noach b'hilucho, Noach b'ma'asav. He uses נח'ס Noach's name three times to tell us that we have to express being נח Noach. We have to be calm, cool, collect, serene, put together in three ways: in our speech, in our walking, and in our in our actions. In all three of these ways, we have to be this way. So נח Noach was chosen why? Because he didn't get angry. He didn't make a scene, he didn't raise his voice, he didn't insist on everything happening his way. He was נח Noach. He was at peace with himself, with his surroundings, and that's what gave him חן chein. The people with חן chein are the people who can keep it together, calm, cool, collect.And really those two definitions overlap and go together. Because humble people are calm and cool and collected. Why and when do people get angry? When do they lose it? Because they're arrogant. Because they think that everyone and everything has to happen their way. And that's why they get angry. So they lack the modesty. Those two character traits really go together. Rav Pam has a beautiful insight. I want to tell you two of Rav Pam's quickly, and maybe that's going to be the end, unfortunately, we're running out of time. Maybe two of Rav Pam's and a Rav Wolbe, and we'll call it a day.There was so much more. But okay. So Rav Pam says the following. The גמרא Gemara in עירובין דף סה Eruvin Daf Samech Hei tells us, אדם ניכר adam nikar, a person is recognized, how can you understand the person? בכיסו, בכוסו, ובכעסו B'kiso, b'koso, u'v'kaaso. With their wallet, what do they prioritize their spending on, how generous and magnanimous are they? בכוסו B'koso, what happens when they imbibe a cocktail? ובכעסו U'v'kaaso, do they lose their cool, do they get angry? That's the גמרא Gemara. But רב פאם Rav Pam quotes that the מדרש Midrash, the דרך ארץ זוטא Derech Eretz Zuta, it says בארבעה דברים, ניכרים תלמידי חכמים b'arba devarim, nikarim talmidei chachamim. Maybe the regular person is identified in three ways, but a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, a righteous person is identified in a fourth way. כיסו, כוסו, כעסו, ובעטיפתם, ויש אומרים בדיבור Kiso, koso, kaaso, u'v'atifasam, v'yesh omrim b'dibur. The way that we speak. How a person speaks says everything about them. What does it mean how the person speaks? So it means what you speak about, what you speak about.I think it was Eleanor Roosevelt who once said, \"Small people talk about people, mediocre people talk about things, great people talk about ideas.\" So are you small, are you mediocre, or are you great? Do you talk about people? Do you talk about things? Or do you talk about ideas? So first of all, they're recognizable what they speak about, but we're also recognizable how we speak. And this also is learned from our פרשה parsha. Because the גמרא Gemara in ברכות דף ג Brachos Daf Gimel tells us, לעולם אל יוציא אדם דבר מגונה מפיו שהרי עיקם הכתוב שמונה אותיות ולא הוציא דבר מגונה מפיו l'olam al yotzi adam divrei megunah mi'piv, she'harei ikeim ha'kasuv shemonah osios v'lo hotzi davar megunah mi'piv. A person has to always be careful in how we speak, not to use profanity, not to speak inappropriately. And where do we learn that from our פרשה parsha? Because when the Torah delineates the different animals that come into the תיבה teva, it calls them מן הבהמה הטהורה min ha'behema ha'tehora, ומן הבהמה אשר איננה טהורה u'min ha'behema asher einena tehora. We wasted letters, we wasted words. The Torah could have said more efficiently that the animals that were pure and the animals that were impure. But the Torah didn't want to use the word impure. That was considered a profanity by the Torah. I wrote recently an article about this, how there's no, once upon a time, there were words that an dignified person would never use. And today, we have the people vying for the highest office of the land, who at every debate and every pep rally are dropping bombs bursting in air of curses, and you can't, you can't expose your children to even hearing a political rally or a political debate, read an article, let alone what's considered to be culture, but it's just pop culture, not high culture today. So the Torah is so careful, it wouldn't even use the word טמאה tamea, didn't even want to say impure, it only said טהורה tehora. That's how careful and vigilant we have to be with our language, with our words. And says רב פאם Rav Pam, that's why a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham is recognizable in that way. The רמב\"ם Rambam writes in his מורה נבוכים Moreh Nevuchim that the reason that Hebrew is called לשון הקודש lashon ha'kodesh is because there are certain things that we don't even have words for in that language. There are things that Hebrew doesn't even have a language, a description of, and that's why it's called לשון הקודש lashon ha'kodesh. The חזון איש Chazon Ish once overheard someone say, \"That's a lie.\" And the חזון איש Chazon Ish corrected him and he said, \"Don't say it's a lie. Say it isn't true.\" Don't use the word lie. Say it's not true. Being careful with language is the sign of a dignified person, of an elevated person, of an aspirational person. It's true in not using profanity or vulgarity, but it's also true even just in the language. The ליובאוויטשער רבי Lubavitcher Rebbe, זצ\"ל zatzal, there's a whole chapter I think in Telushkin's biography of the רבי Rebbe, how the רבי Rebbe was so careful about using positive language. The רבי Rebbe would not use negative language. So they once asked for the רבי Rebbe to give an endorsement on a hospital, and the רבי Rebbe said on one condition, if it's called a, it was in Israel, it has to be called a בית רפואה beit refuah, not a בית חולים beit cholim. If it's called a בית חולים beit cholim, so everyone who is in the hospital feels they're sick. But if it's called a בית רפואה beit refuah, everyone who is in the hospital feels I'm in the place where I'm going to get better. And there were countless examples where the רבי Rebbe was very careful. The רבי Rebbe never called it, despite there being the biggest operation of outreach, the רבי Rebbe never called it קירוב kiruv. We call it קירוב kiruv. What does קירוב kiruv mean? To bring someone closer. The רבי Rebbe said it's not called קירוב kiruv, because קירוב kiruv suggests that I am in the right place and I have to bring the other person closer to me. And that's wrong. None of us are in the right place can say I need to bring them closer to me. So, this notion of how we use our דיבור dibur, this was נח Noach. נח מצא חן Noach matza chein. חן Chein and נח Noach, he was peace, he was at calm, he didn't raise his voice, he didn't lose his cool.The שפת אמת Sfas Emes says that the word מבול mabul, מבול mabul means the whole world was מבולבל mevulbal, it was all mixed up, it was all confused, it was all corrupt. And where did we go to protect ourselves from that world of מבול mabul, a world of profanity and vulgarity and corruption? Where did we enter to protect ourselves from the מבול mabul? We had to go into the תיבה teva. And what does the word תיבה teva mean? The תיבה של תורה teva shel Torah, the words of Torah. The 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the תיבה teva, the words of Torah. It means not just the ark as in the boat, but the ark that is behind me that holds the Torah. When a person wants to protect themselves from a מבול mabul, and my friends make no mistake, we are living in a world that is a cesspool of מבול mabul. It is a swamp and it's not being drained. It is a מבול mabul, it is מבולבל mevulbal, the vulgarity, the profanity, the moral corruption and decadence and depravity. And the only way to protect ourselves is to enter the תיבה teva. The only way to, excuse me, the only way to protect ourselves is to enter the שפת אמת'ס תיבה של תורה Sfas Emes's teva shel Torah, to immerse ourselves in Torah values and Torah ideals and Torah study and in Torah living. Because עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה eitz chayim hi la'machazikim ba. If there's a flood going on all around you, you got to grab onto something. And what do we grab onto? The עץ חיים היא eitz chayim hi, what we grab onto that will save us from the flood that's happening, the תיבה teva that we need to enter, is that תיבה teva of, is that תיבה teva of Torah. All right, I'll save the other רב פאם Rav Pam and the other רב וואלבע Rav Wolbe, אם ירצה השם im yirtzeh Hashem, for next year. But there is such great stuff, just take my word for it. Wishing everyone a good חודש chodesh, a good ווינטער vinter, a good יאר yahr.
