Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov and שבוע טוב Shavua tov and a גוט ווינטער Gut Vinter and a גוט יאר Gut Yohr, and it is amazing to be back together in person, live. Woo! Alright everyone, it's great to see you. Those who are here, have a cup of coffee. Everyone gets a bottle of water, granola bar, refreshments. And if you live in the area and you're not back yet, close your computer, get in your car, you could still make the end of the שיעור shiur today, but certainly next week and beyond. תורה Torah should be learned in person. We're not going to spend time on this right now, maybe I'll write something up at one point, but, you know, חז\"ל Chazal, our rabbis emphasize that ever since the תורה Torah was given at הר סיני Har Sinai, we are trying to recreate and emulate and model that exact experience. The תורה Torah is given ברתת בזיע b'retet b'zei'a, the תורה Torah was given with a sense of trembling and awe and fear. And מהו בכינה, מפתא בכינה mahu bechina, mefata bechina, the whole nature, all the laws of the way that we transmit תורה Torah were learned from the original transmission, the original gift of תורה Torah at הר סיני Har Sinai. Nobody tuned into הר סיני Har Sinai online. It wasn't streamed, מתן תורה Matan Torah. It wasn't on YouTube, it wasn't on Zoom. We were around a mountain and there was lightning and thunder and there was electricity, literally, and there was an exchange of energy, and there was a palpable feeling of being in the presence of the Almighty that he was speaking to us, that we were in a room together. And that is the ideal, that is the way that תורה Torah is meant to be transmitted. It's the way that תורה Torah is meant to be studied and learned. So you, if you're still listening online, next week, get in your car and come. We've got your coffee, we've got your refreshments, we've got a safe and secure section, masks and distancing for those who want, but we are meant to be back in person. For those who are still online, and it's understandable, there are those who are vulnerable, there are those who are at risk, there are those for whom it's not yet safe to come back in person. We feel your pain and we long to be together again. But make sure to remember, this is not the ideal. Sitting in your גאַטקעס gatkes on the couch, you know, conveniently doing multitasking, seven things at once, vacuuming your carpet or mopping your floor while you're listening to the שיעור shiur, nobody at הר סיני Har Sinai, when the תורה Torah was given, no one was texting or emailing, but certainly nobody was doing the dishes, the laundry, or mopping. We're meant to be together in person, and I hope everybody will continue to come back. For those who are here, it is great to see you, and please God, we will fill the Rennert Sanctuary once again. I want to thank our generous sponsors for the year, Becky and Avi Katz and family, in memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנוש l'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manush. We're very grateful for their friendship, their sponsorship of their generosity for the year. Thank you very, very much. This morning's שיעור shiur, פרשת נח Parshas Noach is also sponsored by Michael and Peggy Hershkowitz in honor of Michael's father, יצחק בן חיים צבי Yitzchak ben Chaim Tzvi, whose יארצייט yahrzeit is on the eighth of חשוון Cheshvan. May his נשמה neshama have an עלייה aliyah. Thank you so much for your generosity as well. And please note our other שיעורים shiurim are also live. So tomorrow morning, the women's אמונה Emunah, men can listen online, but the women are invited back in person. Again, coffee, refreshments, tomorrow morning, 8:45, really excited. Behind the במה Bima resumes next week, and we're going to come out in the next couple of days, you will be blown away by our list of guests. And with that, we begin פרשת נח Parshas Noach. Page 30 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. And we begin פרשת נח Parshas Noach. אלה תולדות נח, נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדורותיו, את האלקים התהלך נח Eleh toldos Noach, Noach ish tzadik tamim haya b'dorosav, es ha'Elokim hishalech Noach. You're back in person, by the way, those who don't remember, some of us struggle with our memory, and now we're bordering on two years since before this pandemic. You happen to be in a שול shul, it happens to have חומשים chumashim. Feel free to have a חומש chumash and follow inside. They're available outside in the lobby or for today you can listen comfortably as well. So אלה תולדות נח, נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדורותיו, את האלקים התהלך נח Eleh toldos Noach, Noach ish tzadik tamim haya b'dorosav, es ha'Elokim hishalech Noach. These are the offspring, the תולדות toldos, these are the progeny, these are the children of נח Noach. And then the תורה Torah doesn't list the children of נח Noach. We discussed this last year, we discussed this every year. נח Noach had biological children, נח Noach had progeny, he had children, and yet, the תורה Torah gives this introduction, אלה תולדות נח Eleh toldos Noach, these are נח's Noach's children. And then it doesn't list his children until the next פסוק pasuk, שם חם ויפת Shem, Cham, v'Yafes. אלה תולדות נח, נח Eleh toldos Noach, Noach. These are the offspring of נח Noach, and they are נח Noach. So before we enter that question, פרשת נח Parshas Noach begins every year the discussion, which we're not going to get back into, we discussed countless times in the past, but the ageless debate, the Jewish people can be divided, arguably the whole world, students of the Bible can be divided into two groups. Those who love נח Noach, those who see him as a hero and those who see him as a zero. Those who vilify, בדורותיו b'dorosav. Nothing special, nothing great, relatively speaking, they were so wicked, they were so evil. Yeah, compared to them, he was pretty good. But had he lived in the generation of אברהם Avraham, he would have been a nothing. You wouldn't have even heard his name. And others who say, are you kidding? We are only here, there is only a humanity, a continuity of the world because of נח Noach. And the world is divided into those two groups. I have a dear friend in our community, whoever year is bitter that we vilify נח Noach. נח Noach was a good guy, why does he get a bad rep? It's not right. We should have קידוש kiddush every year פרשת נח Parshas Noach in honor of נח Noach. But I want to share with you what I saw, an interesting, a fascinating insight, a fascinating insight on this question. Rashi says בדורותיו b'dorosav. יש מרבותינו דורשים אותו לשבח, כל שכן שאילו היה בדור צדיקים היה צדיק יותר yesh meiraboseinu dorshim oso l'shvach, kol sheken she'ilu haya b'dor tzadikim haya tzadik yoser. Some of our rabbis study this לשבח l'shvach, it's a praise. He was good in that generation, imagine if he were surrounded by those who lifted him. Imagine if he were surrounded by a positive peer pressure, who נח Noach could have been. ויש דורשים אותו לגנאי, לפי דורו היה צדיק ואילו היה בדורו של אברהם לא היה נחשב לכלום v'yesh dorshim oso l'gnai, l'fi doro haya tzadik v'ilu haya b'doro shel Avraham lo haya nechshav l'klum. Yeah, only for his generation. Good. So says רבי יחזקאל'ה מקוזמיר Reb Yechezkel'e mi'Kuzhmir. Says רבי יחזקאל'ה מקוזמיר Reb Yechezkel'e mi'Kuzhmir, the great צדיק tzadik, כחו וגדולתו של צדיק תמים, נמדדים בכך, שיש דורשים אותו לשבח, ויש דורשים אותו לגנאי kocho u'gedulaso shel tzadik tamim, nimdadim b'kach, she'yesh dorshim oso l'shvach, v'yesh dorshim oso l'gnai. Listen to this insight. He says, you know what, צדיק tzadik, somebody who's righteous, a righteous true leader is somebody who some praise and some criticize. כי אם יש מנהיג ציבור שאין לו מתנגדים, אלא הכל דורשים אותו לשבח Ki im yesh manhig tzibur she'ein lo misnagdim, ela hakol dorshim oso l'shvach. If you have a leader who is beloved unanimously by all, who has no detractors and no critics, סימן מובהק כי אדם זה מלא שקר וחניפה siman muvhak ki adam zeh malei sheker v'chanufa. An individual who is loved by absolutely everybody, unanimously, universally, is a fraud, is somebody who is has no integrity, is someone who doesn't stand for something. Because if you stand for something, if you're building something, if you have values and ideas and ideals, you'll never have everybody on board with you. I find this reassuring. הוא נושא חן וחסד בעיני הכל V'yakein hu nosei chein v'chesed b'einei hakol. So yeah, if you want to stand for nothing and you want to make everybody happy, you could promise everybody what they want, you could tell everyone you are exactly in their image. You could tell each person you voted for their candidate, you root for their team, you wear their יארמולקע yarmulke, you're part of their השקפה hashkafa, you'll send your children to their school, you stand for nothing if you're beloved by all. למה זה מנהיג שיש לו מתנגדים Luma zos manhig she'yesh lo misnagdim. Says רבי יחזקאל מקוזמיר Reb Yechezkel mi'Kuzhmir, a מנהיג manhig, a leader, somebody who also has detractors, who has people who say, I hope I respect him, but I disagree with him. I'm critical of him. When it comes time for the vote, I am not renewing his contract. סימן ברור הוא, שאיננו נושא פנים לאיש, אלא הצדק והאמת נר לרגליו Siman barur hu, she'einenu nosei panim l'ish, ela ha'tzedek v'ha'emes ner l'raglav. You see that this is a person who has integrity. This is a person who stands for something. This is a person who doesn't blow with the wind and is not trying to make everybody happy. So another says רבי יחזקאל מקוזמיר Reb Yechezkel mi'Kuzhmir, נח הוא איש צדיק Noach hu ish tzadik. How do you know he's an איש צדיק ish tzadik? Because תמים היה בדורותיו tamim haya b'dorosav. The fact that יש דורשים אותו לשבח ויש דורשים אותו לגנאי yesh dorshim oso l'shvach v'yesh dorshim oso l'gnai, the very fact that he has a mixed voting record, the very fact that not everybody loves him is evidence that he's a צדיק tzadik. Because if you're less than a צדיק tzadik, you could get everybody to love you. If you're a real צדיק tzadik and you stand for something, then in the end of the day, not everybody's going to love you. I also am reassured every year on פורים Purim when we get to the end of the מגילה Megillah. מרדכי איש יהודי Mordechai ish Yehudi. מרדכי Mordechai saves the Jewish people of שושן Shushan, arguably saves the Jewish people, the continuity of Rabbinic Judaism, the way we know it. And it's time to vote for Mordechai's contract. And what does the מגילה Megillah tell us at the very end? He's רצוי לרוב אחיו ratzui l'rov echav. Gets a majority. Gets a majority. He saved them. He risked his life, his marriage to Esther, puts it all on the line. And they have a congregational vote. מרדכי Mordechai saved our lives. The gallows were prepared, the gas chambers were ready. We were all on our way there and he saved us. Let's vote on his contract. Got a majority. Got a majority. You know, they're always there are detractors. When I was streaming, ברוך השם baruch Hashem we're back live, in case you haven't heard, those of you who are online. So the שבת שובה דרשה Shabbos Shuvah drasha, you know, when we stream online, so the class gets scheduled on YouTube even before it happens. So I scheduled the שבת שובה דרשה Shabbos Shuvah drasha that מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos and I went to give the דרשה drasha and I saw someone had given it a thumbs down. I hadn't given the דרשה drasha yet. They gave it a thumbs down before it began. That's רוב אחיו rov echav. That's the detractor who says, I don't care what he has to say, before he even begins, I could tell you, I don't like it. I don't like it before he even opens his mouth. רוב אחיו, רוב אחיו rov echav, rov echav. So יש דורשים לשבח, יש דורשים לגנאי yesh dorshim l'shvach, yesh dorshim l'gnai, that's evidence that he is a, that he is a צדיק tzadik. A beautiful insight of the לב שמחה Lev Simcha. The לב שמחה, שמחה בונם אלתר Lev Simcha, Simcha Bunim Alter of גור Ger, one of the גערער רבי'ס Gerer Rebbes, 1898 to 1992. And the לב שמחה Lev Simcha says the following. When the תורה Torah is testifying about נח's Noach's greatness, just in this opening פסוק pasuk. Again, we've spent so much time on it in past years. I'm sharing new insights this year. We could spend the entire hour just on this opening פסוק pasuk. We could say about any פרשה parsha in the תורה Torah and we actually have tried that. But we're going to get further this year. אלה תולדות נח Eleh toldos Noach. So what is נח's Noach's greatness? Which is the שבח shvach? יש דורשים לשבח Yesh dorshim l'shvach. Some praise נח Noach. לשבח L'shvach. What is the praise of נח Noach? Which word? Look at the opening פסוק pasuk. We're going to reward the people again until we fill this sanctuary again, and מירטשם Mir'tz Hashem, we're going to reward the people who showed up in person. Not only with your delicious granola bar, but we're going to reward you, and your cup of coffee and your water. If that doesn't bring you here, I don't know what will. So we're going to reward you. Which word in this opening פסוק pasuk is the שבח shvach? יש דורשים לשבח Yesh dorshim l'shvach. We can read this and darshan this opening pasuk, the praise of נח Noach. We're singing his praise. Which word? צדיק Tzadik. Excellent. Gordon says צדיק tzadik. צדיק Tzadik, righteous. Who does not want to be labeled a צדיק tzadik? That appellation, that title, צדיק tzadik? I don't mean, you know, I have some friends who see everybody, they're like, \"צדיק Tzadik, how are you, צדיק Tzadik? What's going on, צדיק Tzadik?\" They call a רשע מרושע rasha merusha eating on נובה על יום כיפור neveilah on Yom Kippur on his way out of McDonald's, \"צדיק Tzadik, I haven't seen you in a year.\" It dilutes the whole word צדיק tzadik if you use it to describe anybody. But here the תורה Torah is not just anybody. The ריבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, the Almighty is testifying about נח, צדיק Noach, tzadik. So good, Gordon says, שבח shvach, you know what the praise of נח Noach is? The first word we're praising with is צדיק tzadik. Any other suggestion? Good. Second שבח shvach is, Yonina says, תמים tamim. נח Noach is a תמים tamim. You know what it means to be a תמים tamim? Pure and holy, to be a תמים tamim. תמים Tamim is a very, very high level. You know what the בעלי מוסר Baalei Mussar say? Come Friday night, you come to the שבת Shabbos table, and it's time for לחם משנה lechem mishneh. You have to make המוציא hamotzi, לחם משנה lechem mishneh. סמיכת חבר smichas chaver we're going to learn about לחם משנה lechem mishneh, very excited. So לחם משנה lechem mishneh, two loaves, just the way it was, to commemorate the מן man, the מדבר midbar, the loaves that fell before שבת Shabbos, two loaves. So let's say you have on the table, you have an enormous חלה challah, like a שמחה חלה simcha challah. I don't know who dreamt this up. But I mean, you're hosting the שבע ברכות sheva brachos, the בר מצוה bar mitzvah, you got a חלה challah the length of this entire table. Huge חלה challah. And next to it is a tiny little חלה challah roll. Now the huge חלה challah turns out that the two-year-old got into it on ערב שבת erev Shabbos. Grabbed a piece, took it out. You could hardly notice. It's an enormous חלה challah. It's a six-foot חלה challah, and the little piece that somebody pulled out of it, the little grandson, you know, you turned it underneath, you pack it, you push it together a little bit, nobody will notice. Next to it you have a tiny little חלה challah roll, a little חלה challah roll. And the חלה challah roll is not missing any piece. Which do you make המוציא hamotzi on? What's the הלכה halacha? So the פוסקים poskim say the הלכה halacha is, a תמים tamim, a שלם shalem supersedes something גדול gadol. Which is more important, to be whole or to be great? So the הלכה halacha is you make המוציא hamotzi on the one that's whole, not the one that's great. And the בעלי מוסר Baalei Mussar say you see from this הלכה halacha that you make המוציא hamotzi on the one that's whole, even if it's small, rather than the one that's large, that's great, if it's missing something, that being whole is more important than being large, than being great, than being great. So תמים tamim, נח Noach is a תמים tamim, good. Says the לב שמחה Lev Simcha, says the הייליגע גערער רבי heilige Gerer Rebbe. You know the שבח shvach of נח Noach is long before you get to the word צדיק tzadik or תמים tamim. Which word? איש Ish. זאגט די לב שמחה Zogt di Lev Simcha, נח איש צדיק תמים Noach ish tzadik tamim, גם איש הוא לשון שבח gam ish hu lashon shevach. To be an איש ish is also praise. Doesn't mean a male over a female, a man over a woman, we're not talking gender-specific. איש Ish means a מענטש mentsh. To be a מענטש mentsh. נח Noach is an איש ish. He's a מענטש mentsh. Man up. Man up. I gave a series several years ago called 'Man Up'. I took men, put them in a room and said, \"Man up.\" Help clear the table, give your kids a bath, say nice things to your spouse. Man up. You want to improve your romance, your intimacy, you got to man up. Provide for your family, protect your family, never get angry and lose your cool with your family. What does it mean? My wife can give the 'woman up'. I'm in no position to give that. It should also be given, not suggesting all the blame or direction, focus should be on one gender. But איש ish, איש ish. To be an איש ish is נישט פשוט nisht pashet. It's not so simple to be a man. We're living in a generation that people don't know what it means to be a man, to provide, to protect, to support, to love, to be verbally affectionate, to take care of, to be a מענטש mentsh. To be a מענטש mentsh. What does it mean to be an איש ish? What does it mean to man up? Says the לב שמחה Lev Simcha, says the גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe, יש דורשים לשבח yesh dorshim l'shvach. Before you get to the praise of נח Noach that he's a צדיק tzadik, before you get to the praise of נח Noach that he's a תמים tamim, איש ish. איש Ish alone is a praise. He's a man. He's a man. He manned up. God said, \"Build an ark.\" He said, \"Where are the tools? Where's Home Depot? I'll get started.\" He manned up and he saved the entire world. He saved the entire world. That's what it means. And the לב שמחה's Lev Simcha's grandson said about his זאבא Saba that the order of the פסוק pasuk is important. This is the order that we grow. We begin with the foundation, איש ish. It begins, be a מענטש mentsh. Then strive to be a צדיק tzadik. Some people try to skip being a מענטש mentsh. They try to go to be a צדיק tzadik before they're a מענטש mentsh. The שאַקל shuckle and they the way they hold themselves and carry themselves and the way they speak and the way they present, איך בין אַ צדיק ich bin a tzadik. They try to present, \"I'm a צדיק tzadik,\" but they skipped the step, be an איש ish. Be a מענטש mentsh before you become a צדיק tzadik. איש Ish, be a מענטש mentsh, be a צדיק tzadik, be righteous, and תמים tamim, be whole, be pure. תמים תהיה עם השם אלקיך tamim tihyeh im Hashem Elokecha. So the לב שמחה'ס Lev Simcha's grandson said that it's not coincidental his זיידע zeide said this דבר תורה dvort, איש ish is the first שבח shvach, is the first praise, and it is specifically in this order. And it reminds me, if you go back to 'סודות הנפש Siddur Tefillas Nefesh' many moons ago, in 'סודות הנפש Siddur Tefillas Nefesh' we shared, we say in the morning as part of our דאווענען davening, what do we say? לעולם יהא אדם ירא שמים בסתר ובגלוי le'olam yehei adam yerei shamayim b'seiser u'v'galui. In our דאווענען davening, in ברכות השחר Birchos Hashachar, one of the most beautiful תפילות tefillos. We begin the day with a מוסר שמועס mussar shmues. That תפילה tefilla is a מוסר שמועס mussar shmues. לעולם Le'olam, forever, יהא אדם ירא שמים yehei adam yerei shamayim, always be God-fearing, have awe of God, בסתר ובגלוי b'seiser u'v'galui. Some people again, publicly, they have a lot of awe of God. When the cameras are on, when the lights are on, when the people are watching, they have a lot of God-fearing. When the cameras are off and nobody's watching, it's time to fill out the income tax return, it's time to דאווענען daven at home, the שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei is one tenth of the length of the שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei when the whole world's watching. So that's the usual תייטש teitch, the usual understanding is, לעולם יהא אדם ירא שמים בסתר ובגלוי le'olam yehei adam yerei shamayim b'seiser u'v'galui, be consistent, be consistent publicly and privately. But the בעלי מוסר Baalei Mussar again, בעלי מוסר Baalei Mussar means I don't know who said it, but the בעלי מוסר Baalei Mussar say it. The בעלי מוסר Baalei Mussar say, don't read it that way. Read it instead, punctuated differently. לעולם, יהא אדם Le'olam, yehei adam. Always be a מענטש mentsh. Just like here. איש, צדיק, תמים Ish, tzadik, tamim. It begins with being an איש ish before you're a צדיק tzadik or a תמים tamim. It begins with being a מענטש mentsh. Okay, that is the לב שמחה Lev Simcha, that is רבי יחזקאל מקוזמיר Reb Yechezkel mi'Kuzhmir and the לב שמחה Lev Simcha. Third, the בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai. זאגט די בן איש חי Zogt di Ben Ish Chai. What does it mean אלה תולדות נח Eleh toldos Noach? What does it mean אלה תולדות נח Eleh toldos Noach? Before קורונה Corona, I didn't need these. Now I do. בלי עין הרע Bli ayin hara, I never had קורונה Corona. It has nothing to do with קורונה Corona. It has to do with the passage of time. אלה תולדות נח, נח Eleh toldos Noach, Noach. Let's go back to the question that we had asked. We said, if I say אלה תולדות גולדברג Eleh toldos Goldberg, okay, so now list the children. Good. I know the rest of their names, but you don't need that right now. אלה תולדות Eleh toldos, these are their children, list the children. Here we say אלה תולדות נח Eleh toldos Noach, these are the children of נח Noach, נח Noach. That's a little strange. It's not till the next פסוק pasuk, אלה תולדות נח Eleh toldos Noach, his children are listed שם חם ויפת Shem, Cham, v'Yafes. What's going on? Says the בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai, כשהאדם נוהג במידותיו ודיבורו עם הבריות, הנה בזה ימצא חן בעיניהם והכל אוהבים אותו k'she'ha'adam noheg b'midosav u'v'diburo im ha'briyos, hinei b'zeh yimtza chein b'eineihem v'hakol ohavim oso. נח Noach is כשמו כן הוא k'shmo kein hu. נח Noach, his defining character trait is like his name, he's נח Noach, he's בנוח b'noach. What does it mean to live בנוח b'noach? נח Noach means calm and cool and collect. There are people there's such drama that surrounds them. Everything is drama with them. They fly off the handle, they raise their voice, they create drama. They are the center of the universe, they're jealous and envious. There's just drama. Everything's the flare and an anger and a loud voice and drama. נח Noach is נח Noach. It's the exact opposite. Calm and cool and collect and peaceful. And you know what people love, says the בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai? הכל אוהבים אותו Hakol ohavim oso. Everybody loves the person who is בנוח b'noach. נח Noach. That's the way we're supposed to speak to people, is to be נח Noach. ונמצא שהתולדות והפרי הנמשך מן הנוח, הוא חן. ובזה אלה תולדות נח, שמי שטיבו נוח עם הבריות, ימצא חן וחסד בעיניהם V'nimtza she'ha'toldos v'ha'pri ha'nimshach min ha'noach, hu chein. U'v'zeh Eleh toldos Noach, she'mi she'tivo noach im ha'briyos, yimtza chein v'chesed b'eineihem. So אלה תולדות נח Eleh toldos Noach, you know what the result, the progeny, the offspring of living a life בנוח b'noach? נח Noach. You want a life of peace and tranquility, you want a life of happiness, then live peacefully and tranquilly. Don't raise your voice and you'll have calm in your life. Live with drama and flare and high decibel levels, and you'll have a lot of drama in your life. So says the בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai, that's the answer. What do you mean אלה תולדות נח, נח Eleh toldos Noach, Noach? It should be אלה תולדות נח, שם חם ויפת Eleh toldos Noach, Shem, Cham, v'Yafes. No, no, no. אלה תולדות Eleh toldos, living a life of נח Noach. This is the result of living a life of being נח Noach. Live a life of being נח Noach. This is the רמב\"ן's Ramban's instruction to his son. In איגרת הרמב\"ן Iggeres HaRamban, when the רמב\"ן Ramban writes a letter to his son, the רמב\"ן Ramban tells his son that a person should habituate themselves לדבר כל אדם בנחת l'daber l'chol adam b'nachas. Always speak to everybody בנחת b'nachas, calmly. ובזה תינצל מן הכעס u'v'zeh tinatzel min ha'ka'as. And that's how you'll save yourself from ever getting angry. Never get angry. If you are committed to never raise your voice, even when you're angry and you're about to raise your voice, say, \"Whoa, I made a promise. I made a pledge. I'm trying to create a habit of not raising my voice.\" And then you'll force yourself to be calm, you'll settle and relieve the anger that's building. So always speak to everybody בנחת b'nachas, ובזה תינצל מן הכעס u'v'zeh tinatzel min ha'ka'as and you save yourself from angry. So says the בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai, אלה תולדות נח Eleh toldos Noach, the result, the offspring of living a life of נח Noach, is נח Noach. A beautiful insight of the בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai, of the בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai. Okay. There's, a couple more, and then I told you we're going to get past the first פסוק pasuk. I promised you. We're going to get past the first פסוק pasuk. קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, רבי לוי יצחק Reb Levi Yitzchak. Oh, what a beautiful רבי לוי יצחק Reb Levi Yitzchak. רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב Reb Levi Yitzchak mi'Berditchov, the הייליגע ברדיטשובער heilige Berditchover, has also an amazing, magnificent insight on נח Noach. And he says the following. I'm not going to read it to you inside. Okay, I'll read it to you inside. You convince me. נח איש צדיק תמים בדורותיו Noach ish tzadik tamim b'dorosav. Rashi writes, נח Noach, if we'll skip ahead a couple פסוקים psukim. נח Noach climbs into the תבה teiva. It takes him a long time to build it. Rashi tells us God was buying time, let all the neighbors see, and that they too awaken and complain and that everyone wonder what's going on here. And why did השם Hashem design it that it would take so much time? Hopefully נח Noach would succeed in transforming everybody. He would inspire everybody. Big fail. Didn't happen. Didn't happen. But he did get the תבה teiva done. Now it says that it began to rain and נח Noach went in the תבה teiva. And Rashi tells us, why does it tell us specifically in that order and in that way? Because נח Noach only climbed into the תבה teiva when? When it began to rain. In other words, God said, \"Get in the תבה teiva. Big flood coming, big earthquake, big hurricane, big tsunami, get in the, get in the תבה teiva.\" He said, \"Yeah, maybe, maybe it will, maybe it won't. Maybe you'll change your mind. Hopefully it won't happen.\" He only when he climbed into the תיבה *teivah* was when it began to rain. Rashi tells us why. So Rashi says something, sounds disparaging, it sounds critical. What does Rashi say? Why does Noach wait to climb into the תיבה *teivah* till it rains? מקטני אמונה היה *Miketanei emunah haya*. Because Noach was diminished in his אמונה *emunah*. What? Noach, איש צדיק תמים *ish tzadik tamim*. He didn't go to the אמונה שיעור *emunah shiur*. He wasn't on the אמונה *emunah* WhatsApp. He had less אמונה *emunah* than our kindergarteners. Are you kidding me? מקטני אמונה *Miketanei emunah* had less אמונה *emunah*. That's the classic understanding and it's a very שווער *shver* understanding. How do you understand that?So the הייליגע ברדיטשובער *Heilige Berdichever*, קדושת לוי *Kedushas Levi*, who always is giving the benefit of the doubt and the credit and always seeing the good, says רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב *Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev*, you know what מקטני אמונה *miketanei emunah* means? Not that Noach didn't have faith in God. In whom did Noach lack faith? In himself. In himself. עוד קשה, למה לא התפלל נח לבטל הגזירה *Oid kasheh, lamah lo hispalel Noach l'vatel ha'gzeirah*? Why didn't Noach דאווען *daven*? Why didn't he דאווען *daven*? It says he's איש צדיק תמים בדורותיו *ish tzadik tamim b'dorosav*. How could you say מקטני אמונה *miketanei emunah*, that's why the קדושת לוי *Kedushas Levi* is on this פסוק *pasuk*. How could you say that Noach was מקטני אמונה *miketanei emunah*, that he was diminished in his faith? He's the same person that we're saying is an איש צדיק ותמים *ish tzadik v'tamim*. So the one who's described as צדיק ותמים *tzadik v'tamim* is the same one who you're saying lacked faith? Can't be. אי אפשר *Ee efshar*, it can't be. Says the קדושת לוי, יש לומר, יש צדיק שכל רצונו לעבודת השם ומאמין שיש לו כח בעליונים, ולהנהיג עולמות כרצונו *Kedushas Levi, yesh lomar, yesh tzadik shekol retzono l'avodas Hashem u'maamin sheyesh lo koach b'elyonim, u'lehanhig olamos kirtzono*. There's the צדיק *tzadik* who has faith in God and just wants to impact God for himself. יש שעובד את השם והוא שפל בעיני עצמו, וחושב בליבו שאין הוא ראוי כלל להתפלל על הגזירה *Yesh she'oved es Hashem v'hu shafal b'einei atzmo, v'choshev b'libo she'ein hu ra'ui klal l'hispalel al ha'gzeirah*. So there's the צדיק *tzadik* who takes the generation on his shoulders. There's the צדיק *tzadik* who says, you know God, you created me and you gave me a mouth and you gave me the capacity to communicate, and the reason you gave it to me is to advocate, is to fight, is to lobby.And there's the one who says, who am I? And what am I? איך בין א גארנישט *Ikh bin a gornisht*. I'm a nothing, I'm a nobody. Who am I? I'm inconsequential, what difference will I make? That was Noach. Noach said, he thought humility meant walking around saying, who am I and what am I and I'm a nobody. מקטני אמונה *Miketanei emunah*. He didn't lack faith in God, he lacked faith in himself.How many great discoveries, innovation, how much advocacy, how much of a difference has not happened in this world because people didn't believe in themselves. They failed to believe in themselves. There was actually one of the winners of the Olympics, they just had the Olympics recently. One of the gymnasts afterwards when she received her medal, said something like, take that my first-grade teacher. And afterwards they interviewed her, wasn't so appropriate, but she said, you know, one of her teachers told her she was going to be a nothing and why is she wasting her time on this gymnastics and all this other stuff. And she basically said, I had to overcome someone in my life who said I was a nothing.We have voices in our own head who tell us we're nothing. You'll never make a difference. You don't matter. Why bother? Who are you to be on that committee? Who are you to be the chair? Who are you to run with that great idea? Who are you to be the גבאי *gabbai* and found a new מנין *minyan*? Who are you to try to make a difference? מקטני אמונה *Miketanei emunah*? No. Hashem says every one of us have to go and run and make a difference. So that's the, that's the הייליגע קדושת לוי *heilige Kedushas Levi*. I've shared it before. So those of you who listen to past years, don't email me later, I know you, oh, very nice, you used the קדושת לוי *Kedushas Levi* again. I know I've shared it before. But I want to expand on it. Why? Because I'll tell you a הייליגע ארי הקדוש *heilige Ari haKadosh*. The Ari, the great mystic, had a tradition. בלקוטי תורה פרשת כי תשא *B'Likutei Torah Parshas Ki Sisa*. He says, you know who the גלגול *gilgul* of Noach is? The גלגול *gilgul* of Noach. Do we believe in גלגולים *gilgulim*? גלגולים *Gilgulim* are reincarnations. This is a big debate. Rav Saadya Gaon and others, not clear cut at all. It's a big debate among the ראשונים *Rishonim*, do we believe in reincarnation? Not for now, we could talk about it another time. I just had a granddaughter born on יום כיפור *Yom Kippur*. ברוך השם, בלי עין הרע *Baruch Hashem, bli ayin hara*, very grateful to Hashem. And I was told that it says somewhere that a baby born on יום כיפור *Yom Kippur* is the first time the נשמה *neshamah* came to this world. Because on יום כיפור *Yom Kippur* God is judging all the נשמות *neshamos* that were here previously. So any baby born on יום כיפור *Yom Kippur* is a new נשמה *neshamah* that's not been here yet. I don't know what the נפקא מינה *nafka mina* is, but I'm sure there is one, it's a beautiful idea. So the Ari says גלגולים *gilgulim*. The Ari, the mystic, did believe in reincarnation. And he said, do you know who Moshe Rabbeinu was a reincarnation of? משה היה גלגול של נח *Moshe haya gilgul shel Noach*. Moshe was a reincarnation of Noach.Now why are there reincarnations in this world? Because there's something we have to repair, there's something we have to fix. We didn't get it done on our first time or our second time or our tenth time and we have to keep coming back. You got to come back as the lizard. Sometimes I see a lizard in shul, and I said that's somebody who didn't come to מנין *minyan*. That lizard is camping out here and is still here because that's somebody who didn't come to מנין *minyan*. Now the lizard's got to be trapped in שול *shul*. נבך *Nebach*. Stuck here. Every מנין *minyan*, every דרשה *drasha*, every שיעור *shiur*, that lizard, reincarnation. So why are we reincarnated, for those who believe in it, not everybody does, but why are we reincarnated? There's something to repair. So Moshe Rabbeinu was fixing something, was מתקן *mesaken* something that Noach didn't do. What did he not do? So listen to what the Ari says. Amazing, I just saw this for the first time this morning. I never knew this before.Later, later the Jewish people make a terrible mistake, several times. Moshe Rabbeinu stands up for them, he advocates, he lobbies. He doesn't only care about saving himself, he stands up to save them. And what does he threaten God after the, after the חטא העגל *chet ha'eigel*? He says, look, you got to forgive them. Because if you're not going to forgive them, מחני נא מספרך *m'cheini na misifrecha*. Erase me from your book. I don't want any part of it. I don't want to be associated with it. Erase my name, delete, purge me from the book. I don't want to be connected from it. מחני נא מספרך *M'cheini na misifrecha*, erase me from the book if you're not going to forgive them. He stands up. Says the ארי הקדוש *Ari haKadosh*, the word מחני *m'cheini* are the same letters as מנח *mei Noach*. Moshe was being מתקן *mesaken*, Moshe was repairing and fixing what Noach had failed to do. Noach only davened for himself. Noach only cared about his well-being, his survival. Noach only worried about himself. Moshe, the reincarnation of Noach, says מחני *m'cheini*, מנח *mei Noach*. I'm standing up for the Jewish people. I'm standing up for כלל ישראל *Klal Yisrael*. Don't do it again. מחני *M'cheini*, מנח *mei Noach*. Moshe is the reincarnation of Noach.Last comment and then we go on from the first פסוק *pasuk*. משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah*. We're going to share two משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmahs* today. This is the first, the הייליגע רב מאיר שמחה מדבינסק *heilige Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk*. זאגט דער משך חכמה *Zogt der Meshech Chochmah*. Says the משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah*, I'll read it to you. נקרא *Nikra*. He says the following. Quotes the מדרש *Midrash*. אמר רבי ברכיה, חביב משה מנח *Omer Rebbi Berachya, chaviv Moshe mi'Noach*. Who is more beloved, who is greater, Moshe or Noach? משה, חביב משה מנח *Moshe, chaviv Moshe mi'Noach*. נח, משנקרא איש צדיק, נקרא איש אדמה. משה, משנקרא איש מצרי, נקרא איש אלוקים *Noach, mishenikra ish tzadik, nikra ish adamah. Moshe, mishenikra ish Mitzri, nikra ish Elokim*. They went in opposite directions. They went in opposite directions. We're introduced to Noach and he's called איש צדיק *ish tzadik*. He's a righteous person. And then how does it end up his story? He is responsible for saving the world, he climbs out from the תיבה *teivah*, he plants a vineyard, cracks open a bottle of wine, Merlot, Cab, I don't know, probably red wine, he didn't go for the white wine, and next thing you know he's an איש אדמה *ish adamah*. He's a just a lonely person of the ground. He's a lowly person. He went the wrong direction. He started out איש צדיק *ish tzadik*, he ends up איש אדמה *ish adamah*. Moshe Rabbeinu is introduced to us as איש מצרי *ish Mitzri*. He's an Egyptian. And how does he end up? איש אלוקים *Ish Elokim*. So you see Moshe is greater.So what does it mean? Listen to the משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah*, רב מאיר שמחה מדבינסק *Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk*. He says, יש שתי דרכים בעבודת השם יתברך *yesh shtei d'rachim b'avodas Hashem yisborach*. There are two paths in the way that we serve God. דרך אחד מי שמייחד עצמו לעבודתו יתברך ומתבודד *Derech echad mi she'meyached atzmo l'avodaso yisborach u'misboded*. You have the person who lives in retreat. You have the person who isolates themselves. You have the person who says, I just care about me. I make my מנין *minyan*, I do my learning, I'm only worried about my ד' אמות *daled amos*, I'm worried about me. ויש מי שעוסק בצרכי ציבור ומבטל עצמו בשביל הכלל *V'yesh mi she'osek b'tzorchei tzibbur u'mevatel atzmo bishvil ha'klal*. And you have the person who says it's not about me. It's not about my growth, not about my survival, it's about my serving the greater good, the community, the כלל ישראל *Klal Yisrael*, the Jewish family, the Jewish people. ומוסר נפשו עבורם *U'moser nafsho avuram*. And the person who's willing to sacrifice. A person who's willing to compromise, a person who's willing to give because they care about the community. אם כן צריך לומר על פי המושג שזה המתבודד יעלה מעלה מעלה וזה ירד ממדרגתו *Im kein tzarich lomar al pi ha'musag she'zeh ha'misboded ya'aleh ma'alah ma'alah, v'zeh yered mi'madreigaso*. So you might have thought the person who isolates who lives in retreat who locks themselves in the בית מדרש *beis medrash*, the person who says it's just about me, my davening, my learning, my growth, I'm not concerned. If I volunteer, if I give, if I do for others, then I'm going to be giving up for myself. Who's going to be greater? Who's going to be higher? Who's going to be loftier? Whose davening will be better? Whose learning will go further? I would have said it's the person in retreat, the person in isolation, the person who's focused on themselves, but no, it's the opposite. מצאנו שנח התבודד ולא הוכיח את בני דורו לכן נענש אף הוא היה ראוי לכלייה ורק התבודד לעצמו היה *Matzanu she'Noach hisboded v'lo hochiach es bnei doro, lachein ne'enash af hu hayah ra'ui l'chlayah v'rak hisboded l'atzmo hayah*. He only saved himself. He was worthy of being destroyed. He went from being an איש צדיק *ish tzadik* to an איש אדמה *ish adamah*. All he cared about was himself. Moshe selflessly serves כלל ישראל *Klal Yisrael*. He gives up on so much of who he could have been. He wasn't home for his family. He was working, he was sacrificing, he was giving, was building community. He ends up איש אלוקים *ish Elokim*. Says the משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah*. Unbelievable משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah*. Unbelievable. Two paths in serving Hashem, Moshe and Noach, and they end up going in opposite directions, opposite directions. Okay. So a lot more to say on that first פסוק *pasuk*, believe it or not. But we're going to go forward, we're going to go forward.Let's skip to פרק ט פסוק *perek tes pasuk*, פרק ט פסוק ז *perek tes pasuk zayin*. We're going to skip ahead. We all know the story about the decree of the flood, the dimensions of the flood, the צהר *tzohar*, the window in the, in the תיבה *teivah*, the final call, that he takes his מקטני אמונה *miketanei emunah*, how long the rain fell, the animals that he puts into the ark, the fact that the Torah is careful about לשון *lashon*. Torah doesn't say the pure and the impure animal. What does the Torah say? The טהור *tahor* and the אשר איננו טהור *asher einenu tahor*, the one that is not pure. Torah used an extra word. Gave up valuable real estate, even more expensive than Montoya Circle. Why? Why did it waste that space? Because the Torah is careful about language. We have to be careful about not using obscenity, profanity, inappropriate, impure language. We have to be very careful. And there's a lot more to say about that. The waters recede, everybody knows the story, sends out the raven, the dove, comes back. Noach climbs down, he descends, and he, and he plants the vineyard. But the Torah first repeats, first of all ויחל *vayachel*, חולין *chullin*, he turns himself into חולין *chullin*. A lot of strange things here. I'm on page 38. וידבר אלוקים אל נח לאמר *Vayidaber Elokim el Noach leimor*, פרק ח פסוק ט\"ו *perek ches pasuk tes vov*. God speaks to Noach and he says, צא מן התיבה אתה ואשתך ובניך ונשי בניך איתך *tzei min ha'teivah, atah, v'ishtecha, u'vanecha, u'neshei vanecha itach*. You, your wife, your kids, everybody disembark. Get off. It's time to get off. צא *Tzei*. Why does Noach need an instruction? A command. צא *Tzei*. Descend. Disembark. I don't know if I'm on a cruise that goes on that long, and it finally pulls up to port, nobody needs to tell me get off. Have you ever sat in your seat in the plane, everybody got off, you're still comfortably sitting there and the flight attendant has to tell you, please, sir, we need to turn over the plane. Ma'am, you're going to have to get off. Never, in history. Second you can get off, everybody's elbowing, fighting. I mentioned the miracle in the sky, all the people who needed the wheelchair to get on the plane, they can run marathons to be able to get off the plane. It's a miracle. If you have a problem with your legs, simply fly and it'll solve, you'll be healed in the sky. So nobody ever had, צא מן התיבה *tzei min ha'teivah*. Why does Noach need to be instructed? Why does Noach need to be told? Why does he need this? We're not going to get into.All these animals get off. ויצא נח *Vayetzei Noach*, he descends, וכל החיה *v'chol ha'chayah*. ויבן נח מזבח להשם *Vayiven Noach mizbeach l'Hashem*. He builds an altar, and he takes the holy, that's why the pure animals, how many of them were on the ark? There were two male and female of the impure animals and seven of the pure animals, cause they needed enough to bring קרבנות *korbanos*, to bring a sacrifice. וירח השם את ריח הניחוח *Vayarach Hashem es reiach ha'nichoach*. God smells a good barbecue. ריח ניחוח *Reiach nichoach*. Notice, it doesn't say God smelled an Impossible Burger. They're pretty good, but they're not near the real thing. וירח ריח ניחוח *Vayarach reiach nichoach*. It's a קרבן *korban*. We're talking a barbecue. It wasn't a veggie tofu burger, it wasn't an Impossible Burger, it was the real deal. ויאמר השם אל ליבו לא אוסיף לקלל עוד את האדמה בעבור האדם *Vayomer Hashem el libo, lo osif l'kalel od es ha'adamah ba'avur ha'adam*. I'm not going to curse the ground, I'm not, I'm not destroying the world again. I'm not rebooting, I'm not doing a hard reset again, we're good. Now I'm just throwing some questions at you I'm not answering. But what about the aroma of the barbecue made God say? Why didn't God say I'm not doing this again? Because I realized that the cards are stacked against man. It's unfair. It's an unfair fight. יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו *Yetzer lev ha'adam ra mi'neurav*. There's an impulse, there's an intuitiveness, there's a struggle. I'm not going, what, why is it he smells the ריח ניחוח *reiach nichoach*? וירח השם את ריח הניחוח *Vayarach Hashem es reiach ha'nichoach*. Hashem says, ooh, there's some steaks in the barbie. There's some good barbecue going on. You know what? Noach knows how to grill? I'm not doing that again. Because he knows how to grill, he's a grill master, he knows how to barbecue, there's a good smell. You know what? ויאמר אל ליבו, לא אוסיף לקלל עוד *Vayomer el libo, lo osif l'kalel od*. I'm not going to do it again. What's the connection between the two? I leave that for you as a, as a question.But moving right along. ויברך אלוקים את נח ואת בניו ויאמר להם פרו ורבו ומלאו את הארץ *Vayevarech Elokim es Noach v'es banav vayomer lahem pru u'rvu u'mil'u es ha'aretz*. At the beginning of פרק ט *perek tes*, page 40, chapter nine, verse one. God now gives a commandment. ויאמר להם *Vayomer lahem* and he tells them, Noach, you're off the תיבה *teivah*. Good job. You built it. You fed all these animals, the lion you got in a little altercation with. You lived with all that garbage, you lived in a dump. You did good. You saved the world. Now that you've descended, I got a job for you. What's the job? פרו ורבו ומלאו את הארץ *Pru u'rvu u'mil'u es ha'aretz*. I want you to propagate and promulgate and multiply. I want you to fill the world. Inhabit the world. I wiped the world out with the flood. We need to restock. It's time to restock, and it's up to you to restock. This is a מצוה *mitzvah*. Rashi says, I, didn't we have this already? Didn't we read this in last week's פרשה *parsha*? פרו ורבו ומלאו את הארץ וכבשוה *Pru u'rvu u'mil'u es ha'aretz v'chivshuha*. God already told Adam and Chava, go multiply, have lots of children, and conquer the world. Manipulate and conquer the world. Go study and understand the world. Go conquer it. Go conquer it. פרו ורבו *Pru u'rvu*. So why is it being repeated here? It's not only repeated here, by the way. Skip to פסוק ז *pasuk zayin*. ואתם פרו ורבו שרצו בארץ ורבו בה *V'atem pru u'rvu shirtzu ba'aretz u'rvu vah*. A third time. Three times. We had it in last week's פרשה *parsha*. Now Noach descends from the תיבה *teivah*, long flight, you just landed, God says get to work, fill the world. And then again, ואתם פרו ורבו שרצו בארץ ורבו בה *v'atem pru u'rvu shirtzu ba'aretz u'rvu vah*. What's going on? זאגט דער רש\"י *Zogt der Rashi*, פסוק א *pasuk alef*. Says Rashi, פסוק ז *pasuk zayin*. Rashi on פסוק ז *pasuk zayin*. על פי פשוטו, הראשונה לברכה וכאן לציווי *Al pi p'shuto, ha'rishonah l'vracha v'chan l'tzivui*. When he first got off the תיבה *teivah*, it was a ברכה *bracha*. שבע ברכות *Sheva brachos*. And please God they're going to give me many אייניקלעך *enaklach*, you're going to have a lot of children, you're going to fill the, that was a ברכה *bracha*. Now, it's a מצוה *mitzvah*. So the first time God mentions it, he's giving Noach a ברכה *bracha*. Noach, should be געזונט *gezunt*, you should be blessed, you should have many children. But now he tells Noach, ואתם פרו ורבו *v'atem pru u'rvu*. Get to work. Get to work. כאן לציווי *Kan l'tzivui*. Now, there's an obligation to get to work. What is the connection? So Rashi says this is connected to the פסוק *pasuk* that comes just before. How is it connected to the פסוק *pasuk* that comes just before? Look at what comes just before. Right before that, פסוק ו *pasuk vov*. God says I destroyed the whole world, we started again. But you know the value of a human life. This is the prohibition of abortion, back in the news, Roe versus Wade, Roe did her first interview. Her name is not, you know, she she revealed herself, and it's back in the news. So the בני נח *Bnei Noach*, Noahides, i.e. gentiles, as Jackie Mason would say, non-Jews, are warned, are more מאוסר *mu'sar*, have a greater prohibition on abortion even than Jews. The nature of the prohibition of abortion for non-Jews is even greater than Jews. And it comes from our פרשה *parsha*, from פרשת נח *Parshas Noach*. And it comes from here. שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך *Shofech dam ha'adam ba'adam damo yishofech*. You could not have a clumsier פסוק *pasuk*. You could not write that more poorly than the way the פסוק *pasuk* appears. Chapter nine, פסוק ו *pasuk vov*, six. שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך *Shofech dam ha'adam ba'adam damo yishofech*. Don't cheat. Don't look at the Artscroll side. If I challenged you to translate that פסוק *pasuk*, it's a tough פסוק *pasuk* to translate. Tough פסוק *pasuk*. Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed. בצלם אלוקים עשה את האדם *B'tzelem Elokim asah es ha'adam*. And then, ואתם פרו ורבו *v'atem pru u'rvu*. So Rashi was saying, following the prohibition of murder is multiply. I.e. abortion. Don't abort, multiply, bring those babies into fruition, into life. 75 million Americans who were aborted could have been born since abortion was legalized. 75 million in America were aborted. Who knows which one had the cure to cancer. That's not to say Judaism doesn't sometimes allow and even endorse abortion. There are circumstances. It's a complicated topic not for now, but a mother's life is threatened, obviously we say the mother's life supersedes. There are פוסקים *poskim* who allow in other cases of incest or rape or severe mental illness and anguish. There are circumstances where abortion is permissible and therefore we would be against any legislation that categorically outlaws abortion. That is not the Torah way. That is not the Torah way. But says Rashi it's not coincidental that these two פסוקים *psukim* are in succession. We have the prohibition of murder followed by go be multiplied. Rav Hirsch expands on this. And Rav Hirsch says the following. Rav Hirsch expands on it, he says the following. The theme of our פרשה *parsha* is diversity and unity. Also happens to be the theme of our שול *shul*. But it's the theme of our פרשה *parsha*. It's the nature of the rainbow. This is what he says. As for you, be fruitful and multiply. I'm reading Rav Hirsch. Swarm the earth and multiply. Hashem gave a special covenant, a special dispensation to the different climates and countries. It would accordingly be a description of a diversity and an infinite variety of human races. And moreover, on the earth and by the earth under the influences of various lands. Noahidean mankind is given the mission to spread over the whole world and under the most diverse conditions and influence of climate, physical nature of the countries to become men and develop the one common real characteristic. A diversity and a multiplicity which appeared to us in the above connection as Hashem's new plan for the world. The diversity is to balance the deficiency, to pave way progress the goal. By it, by it, the rainbow, our attention would repeatedly be directed to the fact that in spite of all the differences in the degree of human development, Hashem would never again decree the downfall of the whole human race. For in the rainbow, anything else but the one pure ray of light broken up into seven degrees of seven colors, and from one to the other, are they not all rays of light, combined all together, do they not form one complete pure white ray? Could not this perhaps be meant to say the whole mankind, the manifold variety of all living creatures, the whole variety of shades in which thenceforth the purely human would show itself, God unites them all together in one common bond of peace. All fragments of one life, all refracted ray of the one spirit of Hashem, even the lowest, darkest, most distant one, still a son of the light. It's a beautiful image of what the significance of the rainbow, before the rainbow was taken from us, but the rainbow, what it stands for is the diversity of the world and mankind. One ray of light comes in as God, and it is refracted in seven colors. Boca Raton Synagogue, eight, nine מנינים *minyanim* Shabbos morning. There's one ray of light that comes into Montoya Circle, to Boca Raton Synagogue, the ריבונו של עולם *Ribono shel Olam*. And now Jews can look different and daven differently and have different needs. All one community, one ray of light, all refracted and deflected into different colors, are full diversity. That's Hashem's promise, his pledge. That is the sign and symbol I'm not going to destroy the world again. Don't murder, don't kill, don't eliminate the people who are unlike you. פרו ורבו *Pru u'rvu*, multiply and diversify. Just like your investment advisors are telling you. Diversify. Multiply and diversify, says God.Now the משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah* wonders on this פסוק *pasuk*. Here's our second משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah* of the day. The משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah* wonders on this פסוק *pasuk*. And some of you may be wondering, the מצוה *mitzvah* of פרו ורבו *pru u'rvu*, upon whom is it incumbent? Who's obligated in פרו ורבו *pru u'rvu*? The obligation to multiply. The גמרא ביבמות *Gemara in Yevamos* is a big discussion, how do you fulfill this מצוה *mitzvah*? We follow the opinion you need to have a son and a daughter in order to fulfill פרו ורבו *pru u'rvu*. You have to have a son and a daughter. I give חבורה *chaburah* last Shabbos, what is the nature of this מצוה *mitzvah*? How do you define the שיעור *shiur*, the measure of fulfilling the מצוה *mitzvah*? Is it the act, the effort to have children, or is it the result? Is it actually having the children? It's bizarre to say it's having the children because we're not in control. We can only try, but we can't necessarily succeed. This is a big discussion, a חקירה *chakira*, a למדנות *lamdanus*, הלכה למעשה *halachah l'maaseh*, I don't want to get into that right now. But the משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah*, our second of the day, Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk wonders, why are women exempt from פרו ורבו *pru u'rvu*? Women are not obligated. The מצוה *mitzvah* is on men. Now yes, women are looking at me and they are correctly right in saying it's kind of hard to fulfill without them. Kind of a necessary part of the process. Maybe one day we will have an artificial incubator and in the laboratory we'll be able to mix the ingredients and have a period of gestation, but for now, we still need the women. So yet, even with that, they are exempt. Maybe they're obligated in a separate, corollary mitzvah called שבת *sheves*. לא תהו בראה לשבת יצרה *Lo tohu vra'ah l'sheves y'tzarah*, but פרו ורבו *pru u'rvu* proper, the מצוה *mitzvah* itself, women are exempt. Why are they exempt? Why are they exempt? So listen to the משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah*. He says, לא רחוק לומר, השפטר התורה נשים מפריה ורביה וחייבה רק אנשים, כי משפטי השם ודרכיו דרכי נועם וכל נתיבותיה שלום *Lo rachok lomar, hashpatrah haTorah nashim m'priyah u'rviyah, v'chiyvah rak anashim, ki mishpetei Hashem v'darkav darchei noam, v'chol nesivoseha shalom*. Hashem's Torah is all about improving our life, enriching our life, making our life more pleasurable, more elevated, more uplifted. So there's no מצוה *mitzvah* in the Torah, לא עמסה על הישראלי מה שאין ביכולת הגוף לקבל *lo amsa al haYisraeli ma she'ein b'yecholes ha'guf l'kabel*. The Torah will never command us to do something painful. Torah is there for pleasure, for beauty, to be uplifted. God will not make a ציווי *tzivui*, a commandment, ומי כל דברה עשו לא מנע התורה בסוכת החג כמו שאמרו פרק כל הבשר ומשום זה לא נצטוונו להתענות רק יום אחד בשנה *u'mi kol davar ha'asur lo mana haTorah b'sukas ha'chag, k'mo she'amru perek kol ha'basar, u'mishum zeh lo nitzvanu l'his'anos rak yom echad b'shanah*. So we, you'll say what do you mean, Yom Kippur? Torah doesn't ever want me to suffer? Torah doesn't ever want me to have pain, discomfort? What about Yom Kippur? Says the משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah*, yeah there's Yom Kippur, but you know what the day before Yom Kippur is? There's a מצוה *mitzvah* to eat the whole day. First of all it doesn't kill us to not eat for one day. One can argue that's also for our greater good, namely our health. But most of us have some good backup that will sustain us for that day, we're okay. But the Torah precedes the day that we're told we have to fast by giving us a מצוה *mitzvah* to eat. Why? Because the Torah will never obligate us in something painful. וכן לא מנע מלשבת בבית האסורים על ידי משה רבינו *V'chein lo mana l'misgav b'kol beirei l'avdav mi Moshe Rabbeinu*, so on and so forth. So he says that's why women are exempt from פרו ורבו *pru u'rvu*. Because the Torah would never obligate a woman to do something painful. So it obligates her husband, and it needs her to be involved, it's true, but there's not a direct ציווי *tzivui*. She shouldn't relate to God that God you're commanding me, you're commanding me. It's incredibly painful. The Ramban writes when a woman gives birth, in פרשת תזריע *Parshas Tazria*, the Ramban writes that a woman brings a קרבן *korban*. Why does she have to bring a sacrifice after giving birth? The Ramban writes you know why? Because when she was in labor lying there on the table, she was cursing her husband, she was cursing God, she was cursing everybody on the world, everybody. My daughter who just gave birth on Yom Kippur came home and said to my wife, I don't know how you did that seven times. I'm not sure I could do that ever again. And the Ramban writes that the woman on the birthing table promises and pledges she's not doing it again. That's before epidurals. That's before epidurals. Now epidurals... she gets angry at me for saying this but in the מנהג *minhag* in our family is to get the epidural when the second line comes back on the pregnancy test. That's when you get the epidural. Oh, second line, I'm pregnant, schedule the epidural. I'm not minimizing, blame חווה *Chava*, it's not my fault. She's the one who gave the, gave us the apple. So the Ramban says that the woman would say, I'm never doing that again. It's unbearably painful. So imagine she's lying there, this is unbearably painful, I'm cursing my husband, and God commanded me to endure this pain? God wanted me to go through this pain? Says the משך חכמה *Meshech Chochmah*, that's why women are not obligated. Interesting, I submit it to you for your careful consideration. Okay, there's a cloud. What is the significant, sorry, of the rainbow in the cloud? So says Rav Hirsch. One interpretation of the rainbow we saw was from Rav Hirsch. Rav Soloveitchik has another. In the Rav Soloveitchik חומש *Chumash* he suggests the following. Although the Torah describes Noach as righteous, Hashem did not establish a ברית *bris* with him and his descendants as he did with Avraham. Noach's shortcoming was that he did not pray for his contemporaries destined to die in the flood because he could not perceive the potential good from within them. It's not only that Noach didn't believe in himself, who else did Noach not believe in? Everybody else. He didn't believe they were redeemable. How many of us write off people and say they're not redeemable? Members of our family, friends, acquaintances, community members, we think they're irredeemable. We write them off. Noach wrote off his whole generation, and that's why God wrote him off. God invested in Avraham because Avraham fought for Sdom. Avraham went so far as to not even write off Sdom, but not Noach. Noach wrote off his generation, God wrote him off. Noach did not see the potential within man. Noach's behavior contrasted with Avraham who interceded on behalf of Sdom. After the flood, Noach was shown the rainbow within the cloud. What does the פסוק *pasuk* say? I'm on פסוק, on פרק ט פסוק טז *perek tes pasuk tes zayin*. והיתה הקשת בענן *V'hay'sah ha'keshes b'anan*. It's not that God just showed a rainbow, he showed a rainbow where? In the cloud. And why not just show a rainbow? Why was the rainbow in the cloud? Listen to the Rav. To demonstrate that even though it may appear that certain corrupt souls have no potential for good, it's untrue. Hashem revealed the rainbow to Noach as an object lesson. Within every dark cloud there's a possibility of seeing a rainbow full of color. Isn't that beautiful? והיתה הקשת בענן *V'hay'sah ha'keshes b'anan*. Within the dark cloud, there's the beauty of a rainbow. The גמרא בכתובות עז *Gemara in Kesubos ayin zayin* records a conversation where Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi if a rainbow was ever seen in Rabbi Yehoshua's lifetime. When he answered affirmatively, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai declared if so, you are not worthy of the proclamation of Eliyahu haNavi, make way for Ben Levi. Rabbi Shimon argued that had Rabbi Yehoshua been worthy, Hashem would not need to cause a rainbow to appear. Rabbi Yehoshua would have perceived mankind's hidden potential on its own. So when you see a rainbow, what you should think is not that God wanted to destroy the world, but right now he chose not to. I wouldn't blame God if he wanted to right now, maybe he to a certain degree is. We hope and pray that he stops. But when you see the rainbow don't say, oh it means God wants to destroy the world right now but he's holding himself back. Say, God is reminding me that even though there's a dark cloud, there's a possibility of a rainbow in it. People are redeemable. People change and grow. We can be, we can be better. We can be better.ויחל נח *Vayachel Noach*. Noach climbs down, what does he do? Plants a vineyard. Hold on one second. I just want to get through a couple more things, we're almost out of time. I'm happy to take questions afterwards for those who are in here. If you're not here, I can't take your question. So, ויחל נח איש האדמה ויתע כרם *Vayachel Noach ish ha'adamah vayita kerem*. Noach ויחל *vayachel*, Rashi says לשון חולין *lashon chullin*. He profaned himself, he made himself secular. He went from being קודש *kodesh*, being holy, to being חולין *chullin*, חול *chol*, to being secular and profane. How? Because he plants a vineyard. He grows some wine. And let me ask you a very simple question. Is there anyone in the history of the world who deserved a לחיים *l'chaim* more than Noach? Could we have done what Noach just did? We can't make it through a three-day יום טוב *yom tov*. We struggle to get through, kid off from school from Sukkos to, oh finally yesterday they're back in school. שהחיינו וקיימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה *Shehecheyanu v'kiyemanu v'higianu la'zman ha'zeh*. It's unbelievable. Now lock yourself in a, we just, we've experienced quarantine. We know what Noach went through. Remember at the beginning of it when we thought quarantine had to be 14 days? And it was like the greatest prison sentence, torture of all time. 14 days and I can't go out and I can't experience and I can't interact. There were parts of it that were great. Noach, a lot longer than that. With a floor filled with animals, a floor filled with refuse and garbage, children, feeding everybody. Has anyone ever deserved a לחיים *l'chaim* more than Noach? And the Torah here is ripping Noach, ויחל נח איש האדמה *vayachel Noach ish ha'adamah*. He's an איש אדמה *ish adamah*. He finished work. Feeding these animals, surviving these animals, saving the world. And when he finished saving the world, he can't have a לחיים *l'chaim*? Can't have a glass of wine? Why? What did he do so wrong? Why are we being so critical of him? So the ספר כובד פרשיות *Sefer Koved Parshiyos*. ספר כובד *Sefer Koved* says the issue was, the issue was the following. איזה פגם היה בכך שנח נטע כרם *Eizeh p'gam hayah b'kach she'Noach nata kerem*? What's wrong with planting a vineyard? Is wine not part of every Jewish experience? A ברית *bris*, a פדיון הבן *pidyon ha'ben*, under the חופה *chuppah*, קידוש *kiddush* Friday night, יום טוב *yom tov*, benching, שבע ברכות *sheva brachos*, is wine not central to Jewish ritual ceremony and experience? Who are we to be so critical of Noach when we embrace the role of wine and here we're telling Noach he's so wrong? נח היה אבל על כל העולם *Noach haya avel al kol ha'olam*. אם כן כדי לנחם את עצמו הוא נטע כרם *Im kein k'dei l'nachem es atzmo hu nata kerem*. He tried to comfort himself. He was mourning and grieving the loss of the whole world the way he knew it. So what did he do? He tried to escape. He tried to use alcohol to numb himself to the pain of the world. The פסוק *pasuk* says in משלי *Mishlei*, תנו שכר לאובד ויין למרי נפש *tnu shechar l'oved v'yayin l'marei nafesh*. We give wine to somebody who's bitter, who's miserable, who's negative, who's depressed. וכי אסור היה לנח לנחם את עצמו מאבלו *V'chi asur hayah l'Noach l'nachem es atzmo mei'avlo*? So, okay, so he was depressed, he was down and out. He had reason to grieve and be sad. So what's so bad about having a לחיים l'chaim? So says the כבץ פרשיות Kovetz Parshios, נח ראה עולם שהיה וחרב. כשהוא ראה שהעולם חרב, אין הזמן המתאים להתנחם, אלא יש לשום את מלוא צומת הלב לבנות. Noach ra'ah olam shehayah v'charav. K'shehu ra'ah sheha'olam chareiv, ein hazman hamat'im l'hitnachem, elah yesh lasum es melo tzumes halev livnos. Because Noach was right to feel sad and bad. But you know what? This wasn't the time to grieve. You know what it was the time for? To build.Did we not just see that a century ago? When the Holocaust survivors, heroes, who had every reason and right in the world to sit and have a לחיים l'chaim and say, you know what? I'm turning inwards. I'm depressed, I'm sad, I'm mourning, I'm grieving. Good luck to the world. I'm done with it. What did they do instead? It's time to build. It's time to rebuild institutions, families. They rebuilt. They rebuilt. They went through a חורבן churban. And Noach went through a חורבן churban. They witnessed a world that was destroyed. You could see a world that's destroyed and go into a room and just drink yourself into oblivion, or you could see a world which was destroyed and be committed to rebuild. That's Noach was not committed to rebuild, and that's why we're critical of Noach. Rav Volbe says the same thing. Rav Volbe says, ויחל נח Vayachel Noach. ויחל נח Vayachel Noach. He should have planted wheat, רש\"י Rashi writes. He should have planted some other more essential food. What did he plant instead? Grapes. The criticism, says Rav Volbe, is not that he planted grapes and made wine. He was entitled to a לחיים l'chaim. The problem was the order that he did it. This is like, ah, there's so much more I wanted to say. Anyone willing to stay a couple more hours? I had such more I wanted to say. We'll give you another granola bar. If we feed you another granola bar, will you stay? So רש\"י Rashi says the challenge, the issue was that Noach planted in the wrong order. Planted in the wrong order. Should have planted wheat, and only then wine. In other words, he skipped over the essential and he went to the luxury. So Rav Volbe says that that we can't skip the essential to go for the luxury. We got to get on schedule. We have to live with סדר seder, we have to know what's important. I I know people sadly who are on tuition assistance and can't pay their full shul dues, and need help from family, but their alcohol collection, and their smoking briskets, the cost of which you can't compete with. We have to learn from Noach. ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם Vayachel Noach ish ha'adamah vayita karem. Nothing wrong with a glass of wine within your budget and in the right order. First you plant the wheat, רש\"י Rashi says, and then you plant the vineyard. Make sure you have a roof over your head, you take care of your family. איש Ish, be a מענטש mentch. Man up. Man up. Take care of your expenses, live within your means, be responsible, and only and only then. We're going to have to end here, but I'll give you some some little tasters of where we were going.הבה נבנה לנו עיר Hava nivneh lanu ir, מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel. We didn't talk about מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel, the those who wanted to build the tower to compete with God, to ascend into the heavens. בנו בני אדם banu bnei Adam. And when God comes down, first of all, why does it say God came down in order to punish them? He can't punish them from up there? He has to come down, he has to descend to see them? What lesson do we learn from the fact that God descended and came down in order to see them and only punish them down here? And when God punishes, פרק י\"א פסוק ה' Perek yud aleph pasuk hey. פרק י\"א פסוק ה' Perek yud aleph pasuk hey. It says, God comes down and He punishes them. What did they do wrong? וירד השם לראות את העיר ואת המגדל Vayered Hashem liros es ha'ir v'es hamigdal. God says, let me check it out. They think they can compete with me? They built a tower? וירד Vayered. Let me come down and check it out. Let me see the tower אשר בנו בני האדם asher banu bnei ha'adam. The children of אדם Adam made. אדם Adam here means human beings, or literally אדם Adam as in Adam as in the first person. Who is אדם Adam? And why is God referencing אדם Adam? What's his role here? And why does he need to come down in order to be able to, in order to be able to see? And why does God say, in י\"א ו' yud aleph vov, ויאמר השם הן עם אחד ושפה אחת Vayomer Hashem hein am echad v'safah achas, they were one language and he spread them everywhere. פסוק ז' Pasuk zayin, הבה נרדה ונבלה שם שפתם Hava neirda v'navla sham sfusam. Let's go down and disperse them everywhere. נרדה *Neirda*, not ארדה *erda*, not I will go down, with the נון *nun*. What does the נון *nun* mean? Let us in the plural go down. Who's God talking to? To whom is he addressing that? נרדה *Neirda*, let us go. Why is God saying it in the plural rather than in the singular? A lot more to talk about, but, שהחיינו וקיימנו והגיענו *shehecheyanu v'kiyemanu v'higianu*. How amazing it is to be back in person. Thank you for coming. It's great to be together. Women are invited tomorrow for living with אמונה *emunah*. Next week's פרשה שיעור *parsha shiur*, let's continue to fill up in person for all those who feel safe and well. Wishing you a great day. Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
