Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. First of all, I'm so deeply appreciative that you were willing to adjust the time together with me for a good reason and a good conflict. But I'm grateful. Every time we change a time, I wonder whether I'll be sitting here alone. And every time people show up, I'm shocked but amazingly gratified, and I'm so happy to be able to learn together as we launch our new year and a new cycle through learning חומש Chumash. The amazing thing is, you can learn חומש Chumash every year of your life, the same text, the same words, the same story, the same narrative, but the world is different and you are different. We mature, we gain wisdom, life experience, the world around us is changing, and we see in these sacred words, we see in our timeless Torah messages that impact us for today. And tragically, sadly, there are way too many Jews whose knowledge of the פרשה parsha and חומש Chumash is fixed from when they were in third grade. Whatever they heard from their teacher, the מלמד melamed, the פרשה parsha, דבר תורה dvar Torah that came home with, that's where they're stuck. But to come every week to explore, to ask questions, to be curious, inquisitive, to think critically about what we're learning, it's what makes our יידישקייט Yiddishkeit so special. So I'm so grateful that you join on this journey of learning Parsha perspectives together. I want to thank, as always, our very generous series sponsors, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family, in loving memory of Becky's father. Our learning is לעילוי נשמת l'ilui nishmas David Grossman, דוד בן מנחם מנדל Dovid ben Menachem Mendel. This morning's שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Amanda Lyons as a thank you for the weekly learning, for the רפואה שלמה refuah shleima of חיה לאה בת מרי Chaya Leah bas Mary, and all those affected by the terrible attack that took place in Manchester over יום כיפור Yom Kippur. Certainly wish them a רפואה שלמה refuah shleima and a speedy recovery. We're on page 30 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, and we have the privilege this week of learning together פרשת נח Parshas Noach. So let's go. אלה תולדת נח נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו את האלהים התהלך נח Eileh toldos Noach, Noach ish tzadik tamim hayah b'dorosav, es ha'Elokim hishalech Noach. We could spend at least an hour on the opening פסוק pasuk, but don't worry, we won't. We won't. Tempted to, but we won't. אלה תולדת Eileh toldos. These are the offspring of Noah, and the Torah doesn't list the offspring of Noah. Already by the second פסוק pasuk in the Torah, the Torah's got a healthy case of ADD. It started a thought and then got distracted by its own thought and doesn't come back to the thought until the second פסוק pasuk actually gives us the offspring. וילד נח שלשה בנים את שם את חם ואת יפת Vayoled Noach shlosha banim es Shem es Cham v'es Yafes. So why do we introduce, these are the offspring of Noah, only to forget what we were talking about and to in fact not list the offspring until the next פסוק pasuk? And we interrupt it with what? אלה תולדת נח Eileh toldos Noach, נח Noach. These are the offspring of Noah. And who are the offspring of Noah? Noah. Why do we say his name twice? I've shared before, but I find it so powerful. I mentioned it last night at a שלושים shloshim for a dear friend Phil Zimmerman. That there are people who live for their children and grandchildren, and that's a wonderful attribute, to take נחת nachas and to have pride if one is blessed to have future generations. But never to do so at the neglect of our own legacy, of our own reputation, of our own name, of cementing our own place in this world. אלה תולדת נח Eileh toldos Noach, the biggest offspring, the biggest legacy to Noah left was נח איש צדיק Noach ish tzadik. His name, his reputation, who he was, what we leave is our name, is our reputation. That's what we give birth to. So we think, oh my children, my grandchildren, they're the ones who will give me נחת nachas. What about giving yourself נחת nachas? Living such a life and earning such a reputation that you give yourself נחת nachas. And what made him a צדיק tzadik? He was תמים tamim. He was pure and innocent. Again, we could get into each of these words much deeper. We're not going to, but תמים tamim, like תמים תהיה עם השם אלקיך tamim tihyeh im Hashem Elokecha. We learn this in דברים Dvarim. תמים Tamim means to not subscribe to horoscopes and superstition and silliness and נאַרישקייט narishkeit, but rather עם השם אלקיך im Hashem Elokecha. When are you תמים tamim? Only when עם השם אלקיך im Hashem Elokecha. That you live a life with אמונה emunah. You embrace your place, you are where you're meant to be, Hashem puts us in those places and those circumstances. We'll talk and see that more in this פרשה parsha. When are we תמים tamim? When are we whole and when are we complete and when are we pure? When we're not speculating, we're not guessing, we're not predicting, we're not anticipating, we're not controlling, we're not micromanaging. When are we תמים tamim? When are we leaving a whole and a pure life? עם השם אלקיך im Hashem Elokecha. So Noah was this person who was תמים tamim. Like the תם tam at the סדר seder that we say somewhat, somewhat negatively about, that תם tam is simple, but there's a beauty to simplicity. We've overcomplicated, and sometimes we need to simplify. And the person who simply lives a life with Hashem, they're simply a מענטש mentsh, simply a good person, the will of Hashem, living a mission. That was Noah. את האלהים התהלך נח Es ha'Elokim hishalech Noach. את האלהים Es ha'Elokim, God, התהלך נח hishalech Noach. Translate these words. That clause, that phrase is את האלהים התהלך נח es ha'Elokim hishalech Noach. What do the words mean? Noah walked with God. That's how Artscroll translates it, but it's not what it says. They did so because it's hard to translate it differently. את האלהים התהלך נח Es ha'Elokim hishalech Noach. To God walked Noach. I don't even know, I don't know how to translate it any better. But this morning ברוך השם Baruch Hashem the reason we delayed my son, ביום bo bayom today is his Hebrew birthday, he turned 13, בר מצוה Bar Mitzvah, so he had his ישיבה Yeshiva at school, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem we had a beautiful day. He led the דאווענען davening, it was a beautiful moment and a beautiful morning for which I have a boundless gratitude. So, Rabbi Zolden, the head of the middle school, spoke, very sweet, and he quoted Rav Avigdor Miller. What does את האלהים Es ha'Elokim, I said I was preparing for the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. Among other reasons I went. את האלהים התהלך נח Es ha'Elokim hishalech Noach, התהלך hishalech, what form of the verb is that? התפעל Hispa'el, it's reflexive. Noach wasn't born this צדיק tzaddik from his קאפל kappel to his פיסלאך fisslach. התהלך hishalech, he transformed himself into a person who walked with God. It wasn't a coincidence and it wasn't an accident. He wasn't born that way. He learned, he cultivated, he conditioned himself. התהלך hishalech, reflexive. He transformed himself and cultivated himself. It's not easy, it's hard. You know, it's easy to talk about השם Hashem when you're in the שול shul. When the סידור siddur is open, the תהלים tehillim is open, it's easy when you're דאווענען davening our heart out to release hostages and thanking him with our heart out that they were released, the 20 living are home and back with their families should continue to recover and feel well and those who are who are unfortunately no longer with us should be returned as well. But what about when you're living life, when you're in traffic or the business deal goes wrong or your spouse or child does something you didn't want them to do? Are you still התהלך hishalech? Do we transform ourselves in those moments to realize השם Hashem you're in charge, you're in control, I surrender, I submit. So Noach was surrendering to השם Hashem. Rabbi Sacks in his חומש Chumash, I think it's now available. Yes? Okay, good. I get no commission. Maybe a little donation to BRS from Koren, but we quote it every week because it's a beautiful חומש Chumash. And Rabbi Sacks in the introduction to the פרשה parsha describes: פרשת נח Parshas Noach brings us to a close, brings to a close the 11 chapters that precede the call to אברהם Avram and the beginning of the special relationship between him and his descendants and God. So פרשת נח Parshas Noach is the end of, if you had to break up תורה Torah, בראשית Bereishis and נח Noach are written for the whole world. And with לך לך Lech Lecha and the introduction to אברהם Avram, we now get particular about the Jewish people. אברהם Avram by the way may not have been Jewish, that's a separate topic for another time. I think we've spoken about that. Believe it or not, the פרשת דרכים Parshas Drachim and the משנה למלך Mishneh LaMelech holds that אברהם Avram did not have קדושת ישראל kedushas Yisrael. אברהם Avram is the first עברי Ivri, he's the first Hebrew, but he couldn't have counted for a מנין minyan. That's a pretty harsh thing to say about our forefather that we begin the עמידה Amidah with. Why? What defines a Jew? You had to have stood at סיני Sinai, at הר סיני Har Sinai. To have קדושת ישראל kedushas Yisrael, the sanctity of a Jew is to be obligated and bound in מצוות mitzvos. אברהם Avram did so voluntarily, but according to this interpretation, the פרשת דרכים Parshas Drachim, the משנה למלך Mishneh LaMelech, because he wasn't commanded, he didn't have קדושת ישראל kedushas Yisrael, technically he wasn't a Jew, but he is our forefather in that he introduces or promotes, promulgates ethical monotheism. He's the first Hebrew, he's אב המון גוים Av Hamon Goyim. All that story, that journey begins next week. With נח Noach we get the 11 close of בראשית Bereishis and נח Noach, the 11 chapters that precede, that tell us what happened in the world. And during these chapters the תורה Torah gives prominence to four stories: אדם וחווה Adam v'Chava, קין והבל Kayin v'Hevel, נח Noach and the generation of the flood, and the tower of בבל Bavel. Each represents another step in the maturation of humanity. The first thing we learned as children is that our acts are under our control. Personal responsibility. Not that someone made me do it, I couldn't help it. I take after you, it's my genes, my DNA, my brother, my classmate, my… This is what אדם וחווה Adam v'Chava tried to deny when faced with primal failure. Man blamed the woman, the woman blamed the snake. The next lesson is that not everything we can do, we may do, moral responsibility. We cannot say like קין Kayin, am I my brother's keeper? and justify the harm we cause. The world lost last week on שמיני עצרת Shemini Atzeres a dear friend and mentor of mine, Rav Moshe Hauer, זכרונו לברכה zichrono livracha. A horrific, horrific tragedy and an enormous gaping loss and hole for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. I wrote an article this week, what I would have said if I knew I could have one more conversation with him. He was a very special friend and a mentor to me and to so many others. After October 7th, he said, קין Kayin asked a question. When God said, what did you do to your brother? He says, השומר אחי אנכי Hashomer achi anochi? Am I my brother's keeper? Rabbi Hauer said, the challenge of our generation, post-October 7th, is not to ask a question, am I my brother's keeper? but to make a statement: השומר אחי אנכי Hashomer achi anochi. I am my brother's keeper. my brother's keeper. That's what it means to change, to transform, to take responsibility is not to, is not to skirt responsibility, is not to say, am I my brother's keeper? but to transform that from a question to a statement. I am my brother's keeper. Whatever it takes, whatever's needed, I will step up, I will step forward.The next stage which we arrive here in our פרשה parsha is the realization that we have a duty not just to ourselves, to those on whom we have an influence, collective responsibility. This is the test that נח Noach fails. The story of בבל Bavel demonstrates the failure of ontological responsibility. The idea that something beyond us makes a call on us. There's an author of being. Therefore there's an authority beyond mankind to whom when acting morally, we respond. This will close the first cycle of the story of mankind, preparing us for the השם's Hashem's call to אברהם Avraham, go, לך לך Lech Lecha. So these four stories are four stages of maturation. What are the four stages again? Personal responsibility, אדם וחווה Adam v'Chava, they blame, they point the finger. Me? No, no, no, no. No, she gave me to eat. She says, me? No, no, no, the snake gave me to eat. And the answer, the answer and the antidote is, אחריות achrayus, personal responsibility, that's lesson of the first story. The second is moral responsibility. קין Kayin can't say, השומר אחי אנוכי Hashomer achi anochi? a statement, השומר אחי אנוכי Hashomer achi anochi, moral responsibility. Then, collective responsibility, our פרשה parsha, נח Noach. נח Noach can't say I built the תיבה teiva, I saved myself. What about the rest of humanity? What about caring about those around you? And lastly is ontological responsibility, which is that not only responsibility to the people around us, collective, but ontological, which is a very fancy word to impress you, which means something bigger than ourselves, that השם Hashem has a plan for us. There's a a call that we have to answer. And that is the introduction of our פרשה parsha. The תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, Shmuel Berenbaum. We're towards the end of our cycle of using his incredible ספר sefer. I hope they print and publish more of his תורה Torah, because it's all been outstanding. רש\"י Rashi quotes the גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין Sanhedrin. And it's familiar. Everyone who's learned פרשת נח Parshas Noach knows this debate. רש\"י Rashi quotes. יש מרבותינו דורשים אותו לשבח Yesh meirabbeiseinu dorshim oso l'shvach. Some, some interpret and analyze the opening פסוק pasuk favorably, that it's flattering נח Noach, that it's praising him. כל שכן אילו היה בדור צדיקים היה צדיק יותר Kol shekein ilu hayah b'dor tzaddikim hayah tzaddik yoser. נח Noach was a צדיק tzaddik when he lived in this miserable, corrupt, morally depraved, horrific generation. Imagine if he lived among the righteous, how great he would really be. ויש דורשים אותו לגנאי V'yesh dorshim oso l'gnai. And some, some interpret this critically. לפי דורו היה צדיק L'fi doro hayah tzaddik. Yeah, he was pretty good for his generation, but if he were in any other generation, there'd be nothing special or impressive. אילו היה בדורו של אברהם לא היה נחשב לכלום Ilu hayah b'doro shel Avraham, lo hayah nechshav l'klum.And before you jump on the bandwagon, I have a dear friend in our community, פרשת נח Parshas Noach every year he gets very defensive for נח Noach. He says, נח Noach gets a bad rap. Could you imagine? The man saved humankind. And still every year on the anniversary of our reading his story and thanking him, we say, eh, he wasn't special for that generation. Really? We can't just say thank you? 120 years he built an ark, he saved his family, he saved the world. So we have these two opinions, לשבח או לגנאי l'shvach o l'gnai? Are we praising or are we criticizing? And Rav Berenbaum asks, what's a question that may be bothering you? איך אפשר לדרוש לגנאי Eich efshar l'drosh l'gnai? How could you possibly interpret that נח Noach critically? After all, השם Hashem himself endorses נח Noach. ונח מצא חן בעיני השם V'Noach matza chein b'einei Hashem. That נח Noach found favor in the eyes of God. נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדורותיו Noach ish tzaddik tamim hayah b'dorosav. It's the opening פסוק pasuk. נח Noach is a righteous man, he walks with God and we're still debating is he a good guy or a bad guy? We're still debating just how good he is? Just open the תורה Torah, it testifies. The ultimate endorsement of the Almighty. It's a good question, no?Says Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, יש לומר Yesh lomar, דהנה כתב הרמב\"ם d'hinei kasav haRambam. The רמב\"ם Rambam writes in הלכות דעות Hilchos Deos, שאם אדם נמצא במקום של רשעים וחייב לברוח משם ללכת למקום אחר she'im adam nimtza b'makom she'reshayim u'chayav livroach misham laleches l'makom acher. The רמב\"ם Rambam writes that if a person is living among wicked, evil, corrupt people, you gotta book out, you gotta leave. It's time to go. It's time to go. ואם אינו יכול למצוא מקום אחר שאין שם רשעים, יברח למדבר כדי שלא יושפע ממעשי רשעים V'im eino yachol limtzo makom acher she'ein sham reshaim, yivroach l'midbar k'dei she'lo yishpa m'maasei reshaim. And if you can't migrate to another area, then live in a desert because you have to protect yourself from bad policies and bad people. I saw a house being advertised in our community for sale, and it said pre-Mamdani pricing. That was the advertisement. It listed a price and said pre-Mamdani pricing. Which may only go up. Because the הלכה halacha is if there are policies, people, bad then you've got to move. You've got to book out, you've got to exit, you've got to go. מה יש לו לאדם לעשות אם במציאות אינו יכול לברוח למדבר Ma yesh lo la'adam la'asot im ba'metziut eino yachol livroach la'midbar, but what can or should a person do if they can't go live in the desert? כמו שהיה אצל נח K'mo shehaya etzel Noach, כל הארץ היה מלאה חמס ורשע kol ha'aretz haya male'ah chamas v'rasha. For Noach the whole world was filled with such moral corruption there was nowhere to go. So what should he do? Or Rivka Imeinu, who was raised by her father Besuel and her brother Lavan. She was a קטנה ketana, she was a young child. There was nowhere for her to go. בזה בודאי הקדוש ברוך הוא שולח לו שם איזה תפקיד B'zeh b'vadai haKadosh Baruch Hu shole'ach lo sham eizeh tafkid. So then if a person finds themself inescable from a bad place, they have to look inward and ask, why am I here? What's my mission? What's my purpose? What's my moment? What we've been learning about in the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur. We finished that chapter from רבי דוד אבוחצירא Reb Dovid Abuchatzeira to be an עבד השם בכל מצב שהוא eved Hashem b'chol matzav shehu. Whatever מצב matzav, whatever moment we find ourselves in. Don't say, I'd serve Hashem if I had a different job and a different spouse and a different neighbor, in a different neighborhood, in a different bank account, different children, a different. Wherever, whatever, what you're going through is your moment. In that מצב matzav, what's your mission? What's your mission? Really it's to move. If you can't move, then don't feel stuck. Don't feel stuck because you move can't move. Say, why? I really should have a new job, I need to look for a new job, I need to get a new job, but I can't for whatever hundred reasons right now. Fine. So in this job, how do I make the best? In this moment, in this מצב matzav, in wherever I find myself. ואז בודאי יגיע לשלימות כאילו היה גר במקום שכולו צדיקים V'az b'vadai yagia l'shleimus k'ilu haya gar b'makom shekulo tzaddikim. And if a person embraces their place and lives their moment with mission, then you could reach the level of as if you're living in a holy place filled with צדיקים tzaddikim. והיינו שיקבל על עצמו להיות גדול בתורה וביראה V'haynu sheyikabel al atzmo l'hiyot gadol baTorah u'v'yirah. ואז תהיה לו סייעתא דשמיא V'az tihiyeh lo siyatta d'Shmaya. If you accept upon yourself even where you are, which may not have the best influences or environment, still, I strive to be my best self, then Hashem will help out. סייעתא דשמיא Siyatta d'Shmaya. ובזה הוא שמצינו אצל רבקה U'v'zeh hu shematzinu etzel Rivka. And we saw this with Rivka, שהיתה יכולה להיות צדקת אף על פי שגדלה בבית רשעים shehayta yechola l'hiyot tzadekes af al pi shegadla b'veit reshaim. Even though Rivka was raised in a home and a house of evil wicked influence, Besuel, Lavan, a place of idolatry, nevertheless she emerges a young, wholesome, pure, righteous woman, who's compared to none other than Sarah Imeinu. Similarly we find it by Yaakov. Yaakov has to flee from his brother Eisav. He doesn't have the luxury of just going wherever he wants. And he finds himself in what home? The same one that Rivka had to avoid, the influence of, namely Lavan. And what does he do there? עם לבן גרתי Im Lavan garti, תרי\"ג מצוות שמרתי taryag mitzvos shamarti. He lived with Lavan and yet he observed all 613 mitzvos. We find it also with Yosef. Yosef is cast, thrust against his will down to Egypt, in a foreign environment, foreign influence, corrupt, unfamiliar. And what does he do? הצליח השם בידו Hitzliach Hashem b'yado. ויוסף היה במצרים v'Yosef haya b'Mitzrayim, להודיע צדקתו של יוסף l'hodi'a tzidkaso shel Yosef. Yosef remains as righteous and wholesome and pure even in the morally decadent, distorted, perverted place of Egypt as he was when he was learning at his father's feet. So we see that the Rambam says if policies, people around you change, if there's negative influence, you got to get out. You got to go somewhere else, even to go to the desert. If you can't, make the most of where you are, find your mission in that מצב matzav, and then it's like you're living among צדיקים tzaddikim even where you are. אוממילא U'mimela, now back to our question. בשביל מה ר' מאיר אמר Bishvil mah Reb Meir amar asked, יש דורשים לגנאי yesh dorshim l'gnai, are you kidding me? Why would you learn the parsha to be critical of Noach? The Torah itself endorses Noach wholeheartedly. The Almighty's endorsement. And yet we're going to find a reason and a way to criticize? Why? Listen to this. How many times have you heard that Rashi? You're about to hear something you never heard before in your life. I think. Unless you learned in the Mir Brooklyn under Reb Shmuel Berenbaum. אוממילא U'mimela, יש לומר yeish lomar, היש מרבותינו שדורשים אותו לגנאי hayeish meirabboseinu she'dorshim oso l'gnai. Those who דורשים לגנאי dorshim l'gnai meaning, Noach, he was a צדיק tzaddik for his generation, but if he lived with Avram, nothing special. היה דורשים שהדורשים לשבח הוא באמת גנאי יותר Haya dorshim she'ha'dorshim l'shvach hu b'emet gnai yoser. If you learn the שבח shvach, it's a bigger גנאי gnai. If you learn the part that praises him, in fact you're criticizing. Why? שאומרים שכל שכן אילו היה בדור צדיקים היה צדיק יותר She'omrim she'kol sheken ilu haya b'dor tzaddikim haya tzaddik yoser. If you say if he lived among צדיקים tzaddikim he'd be a bigger צדיק tzaddik. זאת אומרת שנח לא מיצה את כל כוחותיו לגדול רק לפי דורו Zos omeres she'Noach lo mitza es kol kochosav ligdol rak l'fi doro, ולפי מה שנמצא היה יכול לגדול אילו היה בדור של צדיקים ul'fi mah shenimtza haya yachol ligdol ilu haya b'dor shel tzaddikim. ובאמת נח מילא את כל כוחותיו U'v'emes Noach milei es kol kochosav, הגם שחי בדור של רשעים hagam she'chai b'dor shel reshaim. To suggest that Noach only would have been better, unimpressive among צדיקים tzaddikim, could have been better among צדיקים tzaddikim is to suggest that Noach couldn't become his best self even among רשעים reshaim. But we see you can. Rifka did, Yaakov did, Yosef did. And before them Noach did. So the reason they דורשין לגנאי dorshen l'gnai is not to be גנאי g'nai. The reason that they learn it to be critical is not to be critical, but is actually to compliment. That Noach even among that generation, not he was great for the generation, he was the greatest he could possibly be even in that bad generation. Don't say he was only good compared to, he was as good as he could get even only in. ומזה הטעם הם דורשין אותו לגנאי u'mizeh ha'taam hem dorshin oso l'gnai, הוא באמת שבח hu b'emes shevach. שאילו היה חי בדור של צדיקים she'ilu hayah chai b'dor shel tzaddikim, לא היה נחשב לכלום lo hayah nechshav l'klum. דהיינו למר שהגם לא מילא את תפקידו d'haynu lomar she'gam lo mila es tafkido, מה שלמלא את תפקידו ושימצאנו בדורות אחרים mah she'l'maleh es tafkido v'she'yimtza'enu b'doros acherim, אין החסרון ein ha'chisaron, נחשב נח כחסר כל קווי תפקידו nechshav Noach k'chasar kol kavei tafkido. If you live your best self when you're living in the best environment, there's nothing impressive about it. It's what you're supposed to do. But if you could live and be your best self even when you're in a bad environment, now we're talking. Now we're cooking with heat. That's impressive. So the reason to learn לגנאי l'gnai, he was good compared to his generation, is that in fact, that's not גנאי g'nai, that's שבח shevach. That's praise, not criticism. Because what we're saying about Noach is, embrace your place. We shouldn't become our best selves relative to who we're with. We should be our best selves comparing and competing with ourselves. With ourselves. Don't be satisfied. מניין Minyan's called for nine. 99% of the people come after nine. So when you get there at 9:05, you're pretty good. You're pathetic if you could be there at 8:59. Don't be relative and compared to other people. Who are we compared to ourselves, our potential, and our best? That's the challenge. That's who we are. And don't say Noach, Noach could have said, look where I'm living, look at this environment. This whole world is so corrupt, Hashem's doing a hard reboot and reset, and that's who I live among. Forget about it. I might as well also indulge my impulses. He says no. I must be here for a reason. I have to build a תיבה teivah, I have to build an ark, I have to save a world. There's something I have to get done. So תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel really turns this whole סוגיא sugya on its head. This רש\"י Rashi, לגנאי l'gnai, לשבח l'shvach, he changes it. The reason to דורשין לגנאי dorshen l'gnai, the reason to learn seemingly critically is not to be critical, but is that the critical view is actually the more complimentary. And the one that's שבח shvach, that's praising the generation, is in fact criticizing him. That's the question. שבח וגנאי Shvach v'gnai of whom? Noach or the generation? You follow? A beautiful interpretation. ויולד נח Vayoled Noach, פסוק י' pasuk yud. We're moving, we're flying now. ויולד נח שלשה בנים Vayoled Noach shlosha vanim. Noach had three sons, את שם, את חם ואת יפת es Shem, es Cham, v'es Yafes. Three sons, Shem, Cham, and Yafes. The הייליגע אך פרי תבואה Heilige Ach Pri Tevuah. Do you remember we started learning the אך פרי תבואה Ach Pri Tevuah? Who wrote the אך פרי תבואה Ach Pri Tevuah? The ליסקא רב Liska Rov. Who was the ליסקא רב Liska Rov? רב צבי הירש Rav Tzvi Hirsh Friedman. He was the רבי Rebbe of ר' ישעיה'לה קערעסטירער Reb Shayaleh Kerestirer. ר' ישעיה'לה's Reb Shayaleh's father died at a very young age and he went to go live with the ליסקא רב Liska Rov. And I'm excited and fond to quote, to learn this ספר sefer, because we went, we went to Liska and we visited the ליסקא רב Liska Rov this summer and to Kerestir and ר' ישעיה'לה Reb Shayaleh and so on. So he says the following. His beautiful אך פרי תבואה Ach Pri Tevuah. יש לומר על דרך רמז, דיש שלשה עניינים באדם שנולד ממנו Yesh lomar al derech remez, d'yesh shlosha inyanim b'adam shenolad mimenu. He says you see from here, it's a very חסידיש'ע Chasidisha thought, חסידיש'ע ווארט Chasidisha vort. Noach had three sons, every human being has three elements. Shem, Cham and Yafes. What are they? אחד שם Echad shem, תורה ומצוות ומעשים טובים Torah u'mitzvos u'maasim tovim. Shem, our name, our good name, is the Torah we learn, the מצוות mitzvos we do, the good deeds, the character, the integrity, the kind of person that we are. אחד חם Echad Cham. What's the חם Cham? שמחמם עצמו לעבירה she'mechamem atzmo l'aveirah. חם Cham is the heat of passion, the drive of impulse, temptation for עבירה aveirah. ואחד V'echad is יפת Yefes. דהיינו הדברים הגשמיים d'haynu ha'dvarim ha'gashmiyim, רק מה שמוכרח לכך rak mah she'muchrach l'chach. What's יפת Yefes? יופי Yofi. What's יופי yofi? Beauty, the physical, the material. כגון אכילה, שתיה, שינה, מה שהוא מוכרח k'gon achila, shtiya, sheina, mah she'hu muchrach. Eating, drinking and sleep. על חם נאמר ארור כנען שהוא מבניו של חם Al Cham ne'emar arur Knaan she'hu m'banav shel Cham. When it comes to עבירה aveirah, חם Cham, ארור חם arur Cham. Cursed is the negative animalistic impulse. יפת Yefes, when it came to that son, that offspring, that child, that element or component that we all have called יפת Yefes, that draw to material. יפת אלקים ליפת Yaft Elokim l'Yefes. גם זה הוא חשוב בעיני השם, שכל דבר הכרחי הוא גם כן מצווה. ולכן נאמר בו אלקים, שהוא בגימטריא הטבע. ומכל מקום, ישכון באהלי שם. Gam ze hu chashuv b'einei Hashem, shekol davar hechrachi hu gam ken mitzvah. V'lachen ne'emar bo Elokim, shehu b'gematria ha'teva. U'mikol makom, yishkon b'ohalei Shem. When is it יפת אלקים ליפת yaft Elokim l'Yefes? Is beauty good or bad? Is beauty and the aesthetic a value, something we admire or something that we have no use for? The answer is yes.If it's an ends to itself, if you worship and admire the form, the body, aesthetic, then it's a problem. This was our שיעור shiur on שמחת תורה Simchas Torah, where I began, I don't want to get in trouble, but quoting the statistics of cosmetic surgery, Botox, adjustments, procedures that are proliferating and exploding more than ever. And if you think that is gender bias, the biggest growth in that area is among men. And then the second article was how many people are traveling to Turkey to get hair transplants, how many men. Some of us clearly have not. Are getting hair transplants. And the שיעור shiur was about this issue of where does שמחה simcha, שמחת תורה Simchas Torah, where does real שמחה simcha come from?And when you pursue and chase, if you're trying to stay young and you're fighting Mother Time, Father Time, whoever is the parent of time, you're trying to fight time, you can't slow it down, you're not going to win. Embrace your age, be lucky and happy and grateful to be alive, and the accomplishment and the wisdom of what you can show for it. You're not going to win. So then you'll find מנוחת הנפש menuchas ha'nefesh. יפת Yefes, the offspring of יפת אלקים ליפת Yaft Elokim l'Yefes. Who's יפת Yefes? Greece, יון Yavan. יון Yavan robbed us. לא נחתי lo nachti, the פסוק pasuk. לא נחתי Lo nachti was גלות יון galus Yavan. There's no מנוחת הנפש menuchas ha'nefesh. You'll never be able to be happy. You'll constantly be looking in the mirror, competing, comparing, chasing, treating, procedures, cosmetics, makeup. There's nothing wrong with it. I'm not judging. Enjoy, it's wonderful, let it make you happy. If you can afford it, undergo it, pay, it's beautiful, enjoy. Just don't let it define your life or your happiness. Don't let it be who you are, your identity.Where is there room for יפת אלקים ליפת Yaft Elokim l'Yefes? When it's ישכון באהלי שם yishkon b'ohalei Shem. יופי Yofi is beauty, אהלי שם ohalei Shem is the בית מדרש beis medrash of Torah. When the purpose of the beauty is to enhance Torah. So when you want to have a positive appearance, fashion and style you want to keep up because you want to make a קידוש השם Kiddush Hashem, beautiful. If you want a beautiful home, because you want to host parlor meetings and guests and רבנים rabbonim and Torah learning, beautiful. The room יפת אלקים ליפת Yaft Elokim l'Yefes is when and where? Why? When it's ישכון באהלי שם yishkon b'ohalei Shem. אין השכינה שורה אלא באהלי שם, תורה מצות ומעשים טובים. Ein ha'Shechina shora ella b'ohalei Shem, Torah, mitzvos, u'maasim tovim. אזוי זאגט דער א\"ך פרי תואר Azai zogt der Ach Pri To'ar. That is the ליסקער רב Lisker Rav. A lot more to say about that שיעור shiur, we didn't do it service just now. But if you want מנוחת הנפש menuchas ha'nefesh, then be happy with what you have. שמחה Simcha comes from a satisfaction with our lot in life. ושמחת בכל הטוב V'samachta b'chol ha'tov. The farmer who brought his ביכורים bikkurim, don't look in the basket of the person next to you. Their fig is so much bigger, their fig is so much juicier and plumper and shines beautifully. My little dried out pathetic, tiny little microscopic fig. Just look in your basket. ושמחת V'samachta. How can you find שמחה simcha? בכל הטוב B'chol ha'tov. That one's got a flowing head of hair, not one gray. I can where, why me? No, look in the, be happy with your ושמחת v'samachta. You want שמחה simcha and מנוחת הנפש menuchas ha'nefesh, stop competing, comparing, keeping up, be able to be satisfied and happy with your own lot. יפת אלקים ליפת Yaft Elokim l'Yefes. Look in the mirror, beautify, in appearance, stylish, look good. Nice tie, nice knot, Ben, you got a nice little pinch, you got to have it all right. יפת אלקים ליפת Yaft Elokim l'Yefes, why? ישכון באהלי שם Yishkon b'ohalei Shem, because you're giving the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur, you need a nice pinch, you got to look good. As long as it's, it's ישכון באהלי שם yishkon b'ohalei Shem.Skipping ahead. We have the decree of the flood, the final call, we've learned all this before. When did נח Noach get in the תיבה teivah? Only when it started to rain. Why? מקטני אמנה M'katnei emunah. He was a believer, maybe not a full believer. He was waiting until the last minute. We're critical of נח Noach. He could have used the platform in order to inspire, to transform, to educate the rest of his generation. He failed. They're called the מי נח mei Noach. The flood inundates the world for 40 days and 40 nights. We know that that number 40 represents 40 days in the embryo, 40 days משה Moshe was on הר סיני Har Sinai, 40 days we have that letter מ mem. What is unique and specific about the letter מ mem? I'll give you a hint. Every other letter in Hebrew, if you spell out the whole letter, אלף Aleph is א ל ף Aleph Lamed Pey. Meaning, the word אלף Aleph, which is the name of the letter, if you spell the word, it's א ל ף Aleph Lamed Pey. אלף Aleph. בית Beis, בית יוד תיו Beis Yud Taf, and so on. גימל Gimmel. מם Mem, how do you spell מם mem? מם מם Mem Mem, only its letter. What you see is what you get. The inside is the outside. The מם mem. To become pure, transformed, what you see is what you get is the letter מם mem. A מקווה mikvah has to be made of, what's the measure? How much water in a מקווה mikvah, how many סאה sa'ah? מם סאה Mem sa'ah, forty. מם Mem. Forty days משה Moshe goes up. Forty nights and days of rain. Forty days the baby in the womb before they're not just considered to be embryonic fluid, the ארבעים יום של יצירת הולד arba'im yom of yetziras havlad. That number forty has a lot of significance in our rich tradition. The waters recede. We're on פרק ו Perek Vav, sorry, פרק ז Perek Zayin. The waters recede. And, and, before we're up to the waters recede. פרק ז פסוק י, ג Perek Zayin, Pasuk Yud, Gimel.The final call.Yeah, ויגברו המים על הארץ ארבעים יום וארבעים לילה vayigberu hamayim al ha'aretz arba'im yom v'arba'im laila. The rain falls for forty days and forty nights. It sounds like August in Florida. בעצם היום הזה בא נח ושם וחם ויפת בני נח B'etzem hayom hazeh ba Noach, v'Shem v'Cham v'Yefes, b'nei Noach. On that day, נח Noach and his three sons, ואשת נח v'eishes Noach, and his wife, what was her name? נעמה Naamah. ושלושת נשי בניו איתם אל התיבה Ushloshes neshei vonov itam el hateiva. And the three daughter-in-laws, they all enter the תיבה teiva. Why are they listed separately? Why not just say נח Noach and his רביצין rebbetzin and the קינדרלך kinderlach, they all came into the תיבה teiva? We say נח Noach and his three sons, then נח Noach's wife and the three daughter-in-laws. Why are they listed separately? רש\"י Rashi tells us that while the world was being destroyed around them, no תשמיש המיטה tashmish hamita, intimacy was off limits. Because if there is crisis in the world, you don't indulge in the pleasures of this world. For two years there were people, I don't know about that particular practice, but I do know people in our community who didn't have chocolate for two years. Soldiers were fighting on front line, hostages were held underground. I know a חשוב chashuv one who didn't sleep with a pillow for these two years. And there is a tradition that we have, that while the Jewish people, while the world is in crisis, we restrict ourselves. We show that we're holding back a little, we're not living life as normal and as usual, and therefore they're listed separately. Why is it בעצם היום הזה b'etzem hayom hazeh? בעצם היום הזה B'etzem hayom hazeh. Keep reading. They enter, פרק י ג Perek Yud Gimel, then the Torah continues. המה וכל החיה למינה וכל הבהמה למינה וכל הרמש הרומש על הארץ למינהו וכל העוף למינהו כל צפור כל כנף Heima v'chol hachaya l'mina v'chol hab'heima l'mina v'chol haremes haromes al ha'aretz l'minehu v'chol ha'of l'minehu kol tzipor kol kanaf. All the different animals and the birds and the creepy crawlies, they all entered. ויבאו אל נח אל התיבה שנים שנים מכל הבשר אשר בו רוח חיים Vayavo'u el Noach el hateiva shnayim shnayim mikol habasar asher bo ruach chaim. Two of every species that had life. והבאים זכר ונקבה מכל בשר באו כאשר צוה אותו אלקים ויסגור השם בעדו V'habaim zachar u'nekeiva mikol basar ba'u ka'asher tziva oso Elokim vayisgor Hashem ba'ado. Male and female, כאשר צוה אותו אלקים ויסגור השם בעדו ka'asher tziva oso Elokim vayisgor Hashem ba'ado, and Hashem closed the door behind them. Hashem shut it on his behalf. Says רש\"י Rashi, בעצם היום הזה למדך הכתוב שהיו בני דורו אומרים b'etzem hayom hazeh lamadcha hakasuv shehayu bnei doro omrim, the people of his generation said, אילו אנו רואים אותו נכנס לתיבה ilu anu roim oso nichnas lateiva, if we see this guy trying to enter his ark and save himself, אנו שוברים אותו והורגין אותו anu shovrim oso v'harginuhu, we would destroy the ark and kill him. אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא Amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu, אני מכניסו לעיני כולם ונראה דבר מי יקום ani machniso l'einei kulam v'nireh davar mi yakum. Really, that's your threat? Guess what? He's not gonna sneak into the ark in the middle of the night, he's gonna climb into it in broad daylight, you're all gonna watch, and no one's going to do anything. ויסגור השם בעדו Vayisgor Hashem ba'ado. And indeed, that's how the section ends. Hashem closes the door behind him. הגן עליו שלא ישברוה, הקיף התיבה דובים ואריות והם הרגן בהם Hegan alav shelo yishvruah, hekif hateiva dovim v'arayos v'heim hargem bahem. There were wild animals around the entrance, anyone who tried to attack נח Noach, they protected, these wild animals protected נח Noach even from them. וקשה V'kashe. למה רצו להורגו? הלא נח יזהירם לעשות תשובה Lama ratzu l'hargo? Halo Noach yizhiram la'asos teshuva. נח Noach after all, where did he build the תיבה teiva? Not in the back of the house, he built it on the front lawn so that the whole world would see. Got cited by the HOA over and over and over again. He built it on the front lawn. Why? רש\"י Rashi quotes so that they would see and say, \"Hey, what are you doing?\" Say, \"What am I doing? I'm glad you asked. We are not fulfilling the purpose of creation, and God told me he's going to reboot the world, and there's still a last chance. If we all change and transform, we got another chance.\" And they ignored him. So since נח Noach tried to inspire them all to do תשובה teshuva, והם לא רצו לעשות v'heim lo ratzu la'asos, מה להם תלונה עליו ma lahem tluna alav? What's their complaint? Why would they try to kill him? He said, hey everybody, we can still, we're still redeemable. We can still keep this thing on track. We can still save ourselves. And they blew him off. So now when he's climbing into his תיוה teiva, why are they trying to kill him? Why are they trying to kill him? Says Rav Shalom Berenbaum, שילולי שלא היה סתם קנאה shilulei shelo haya stam kinah, אלא היה שנאת הדעת ela haya sinat hadaat. You know why? In every generation when there's a beacon of moral clarity, when there's a person or there are people who are living with a moral compass, with moral values, with principles, with faith, then those who don't want that moral conscience try to eliminate. Like the Rambam writes, כי עיקר שנאת אומות העולם לכלל ישראל אינו מפני שרוצים שיהיה לידיהם כסף וזהב שנהנים מהצלחות ki ikar sinat umot ha'olam l'klal Yisrael eino mipnei she'rotzim she'yihiyeh l'yedeihem kesef v'zahav she'nehenim me'hatzlachot. At the core and at the root of anti-semitism, and this is not the time, we have spoken about it in the past, why? Anti-semitism is the world's oldest hatred and it defies explanation because they hate us when we're rich, they hate us when we're poor. They hate us when we assimilate and integrate. They hate us when we isolate. They hate us when we're on top, they hate us when we're down. They hate us when we are loud and boisterous, and they hate us when we're quiet. It defies explanation.So what's the core and source of anti-semitism in the world? The Rambam writes, because המכירים באמיתות אמונתנו heim makirim ba'amitut emunateinu. We are, or at least we are meant to be, the moral conscience of the world, living righteous and virtuous lives. And when you want to indulge in your most base, animal, lowest selves, you don't want that goody two-shoes around, that example, that honor society, that model student. You don't want that person around. Why does the model student, the honor society get bullied in school? Why do they get a noogie and thrown in the locker and a big wedgie? Why does that happen to that student? Leave him alone, let him succeed. What are you being picked on? 'Cause you're making the rest of us look bad. And you're making the rest of us feel bad. And we don't like to have you around.And in fact, that's what the גמרא Gemara says. Why נקרא שמו של ההר שניתן עליו תורה סיני nikra shmo shel hahar shenintan alav Torah Sinai? Why was the mountain from which the Torah was given called Sinai? שמשם יצא שנאה לעולם She'misham yatza sinah la'olam. Because from that mountain, hatred came to the world. They hated us still since we stood at the mountain. הר סיני Har Sinai, שנאה sinah. שנאה sinah is hatred. Sinai, הר סיני Har Sinai. משם ירד שנאה לעולם Misham yarad sinah la'olam. Since we stood at Sinai, hatred has been against us in this world. That's not to make us feel better about it. That's not to make you feel less worried about it. But it is to help us understand a little bit where maybe some of it comes from and to not be grateful for it, but to be proud. If you hate me because hopefully I'm living a morally straight, honorable life, we're a moral conscience, a faithful people, living righteous, principled lives, וזה שורש קנאתם ושנאתם, והם יודעים שכלל ישראל עובדים לזכות חיי נצח v'zeh shoresh kinatam v'sinatam, v'hem yodim she'Klal Yisrael ovdim l'zchut chayei netzach. We're living for eternity, not for the here and now. We are a people with a rich history and a rich destiny. We've defied all the laws of history and all of the odds. And we're still here. We're still here. We've been beaten, and we've been persecuted, and we've been expelled. And we didn't come anywhere and say, \"Now we're entitled, now you owe us.\" You know what we said? We're ready to rebuild. We're ready to go. And you know, other people don't like that. Other people don't like that. 'Cause what does it say about them?So this is the source. ממילא גם אנשי דור המבול ידעו האמת שבדרכו של נח שעובד את השם, אבל הרשעים אפילו הפסח שגם הם אינם חוזרים Mimeila gam anshei dor ha'mabul yadu ha'emet she'b'darko shel Noach she'oved et Hashem, aval ha'resha'im afilu ha'pesach she'gam hem einam chozrim. That's why they wanted to kill him. Goody two-shoes, God's favorite, moral conscience, man of faith and principle. We're all violating boundaries. That's why by the way the מבול mabul came. The מבול mabul is מידה כנגד מידה midah k'neged midah, measure for measure. Why? Where does a flood come from? A flood is when the water doesn't respect the boundary of land. The earth, the globe, we have seas and oceans and rivers, and we have dry land. And the there's supposed to be a barrier between them. The חוף chof, the shore, is the barrier between the ocean and the land. רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says the word חופה chuppah comes from the word חוף chof. When you stand under the חופה chuppah, the חתן וכלה chatan v'kallah, the bride and the groom, this is one of those bonus שבע ברכות Sheva Brachot Torah for you. So if you need to speak at a שבע ברכות Sheva Brachot, pay attention. The חופה chuppah is a boundary around the חתן וכלה chatan v'kallah. On the one hand, open on four sides, welcoming and warm and inviting, but on the other hand, there's now a boundary around the two of them, setting the two of them off from the world. They a home, they have a relationship, they have an intimate connection. They are a unit, they are לבשר אחד l'basar echad. חופה Chuppah מלשון me'lashon חוף chof, like the beach, the shore, that stops the ocean from the land, the חופה chuppah from the world around. Back to our regular scheduled program. So we have water and we have dry land. What happened with the flood? The water ran all over the land and it covered the whole land. There was no boundary, there was a breach of the boundary. It was breached. When there's a hurricane, usually the biggest danger of a hurricane, לא עלינו lo aleinu, the biggest danger of a hurricane are not necessarily the high speed winds, it's the flooding because the flooding breached the, what's it called? The sandbags and the, I'm trying to, אל תפתח פה Al tiftach peh, the levee. Thank you. The, breached the levee. So the מבול mabul flooded the world. Why was that מידה כנגד מידה midah k'neged midah? Because the world is set up with boundaries. There's a husband and a wife, and you respect that boundary. But they didn't. What were they called, by the way? ותמלא הארץ Vatimalei ha'aretz, חמס chamas. חמס Chamas. This is not a new story. חמס Chamas filled the world, anarchy and chaos. How did it function? Without boundaries. That's your wife, but I'm attracted to her. That's your money, but I want to take it. That's your food, but I am hungry. They had zero respect for boundaries. They violated, kidnapped, held captive, that which wasn't theirs in terms of women, money, things. And therefore, if you can't violate boundaries, השם Hashem says, \"You want to know what a world with no boundaries looks like? No problem. I'll take away the boundaries and the world is covered in a flood that destroys it.\" A world without boundaries. חמס Chamas is the chaos, corruption, and anarchy that comes from having no boundaries. Breaking through a fence, taking and kidnapping people, horrifilly doing things to them with no respect for borders and for boundaries. That always has been, that is, and please God, we can eliminate that ever being, that is what חמס chamas is. No boundaries. So they wanted to kill נח Noach, says רב בירנבוים Rav Birenbaum, you know why? Because נח Noach has boundaries, building a תיבה teivah. This is my boundary, this is my wife, these are my children, these are my things. You live yours, I have mine, there are boundaries. There are boundaries. We want no boundaries, chaos and anarchy, moral corruption and decay, and you're promoting and living boundaries? They wanted to kill him. משם ירדה שנאה לעולם Misham yardah sinah la'olam. הר סיני Har Sinai. We who model for the world boundaries when they want to blur those boundaries. There's no male, there's no female, there's no monogamy, there's no, all the boundaries that have held man together. With all the progress we're making technologically, AI and otherwise, morally we are regressing. Make no mistake. 2025, תשפ\"ו Tashpav, technologically and medically we are progressing. Morally, we are regressing even faster. The boundaries that civilization has held for a long time. We can define them, we know what genders are, we know what relationships are, we know the definition of marriage, we know, we've had definitions and we're losing those values and those definitions. And that's no coincidence, no coincidence. This is a פרשה parsha perspective for today. That when boundaries are blurred, anti-Semitism goes up. Why? This is as old as נח Noach and his ark. Because those who are blurring the boundaries have no use or patience for those who are maintaining and holding on to them. And when there's a segment of society, when there's a people who embrace and hold on to those boundaries, when the world wants to blur them and eliminate them, there's a spike and a rise of anti-Semitism. They wanted to kill נח Noach for what he stood for, and they want to kill us for the same reason, for the same reason. So שמואל בירנבוים Shmuel Birenbaum is tracing this challenge, this problem. He didn't live to see in our time, but all the way back, it goes all the way back to נח Noach. פרק ח פסוק ח Perek ches, pasuk ches. Chapter 8, verse 8, bottom of page 36. נח Noach sends the יונה yonah. He sends the dove to see whether the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. Why did he send them? רש\"י Rashi tells us, מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma, היה צריך נח לצאת מן התיבה Hayah tzarich Noach latzeis min hateivah. Since the water had receded it was time to leave the ark. But he said, ברשות הקדוש ברוך הוא נכנסתי birshus haKadosh Baruch Hu nichnasti, בוא אתה וכל ביתך אל התיבה bo atah v'chol beischa el hateivah, ועכשיו איני יוצא אלא ברשותו v'achshav eini yotzei elah birshuso. I only entered when he invited me, I'll only leave when God says it's time to go. So if נח Noach is only going to leave when God says it's time to go, why send the dove? He sent the dove. go explore, come back, report, has the water receded? Is it safe to go out? But why bother? If you're not going to leave until God says to go, why send the dove? It's a good question, no?Says Rabbi Barenbaum, שעכשיו אחר המבול הבין נח, אלא מוטל עליו לבנות עולם מחדש she'achshav achar hamabul hevin Noach, ela mutal alav livnos olam m'chadash. Now, it's time to rebuild the world anew. וממילא u'memayla, there's a big עבודה avodah. A big עבודה avodah. And that takes preparation. That takes preparation. If you need to rebuild the world and you need to start again, you don't wait for God to invite you out, you start looking around and preparing, what do you need to do?Yesterday I was texting with a friend who had some theories about the survivors in the Holocaust and פרשת נח Parshas Noach. Holocaust survivors and פרשת נח Parshas Noach. נח Noach comes off the תיבה teiva, the first thing he does is plant a vineyard and have a drink. And השם Hashem is critical of נח Noach, that he has a stiff drink. What's the criticism? He says חולין chulin. Because נח Noach was living a holy life and he made it חולין chulin, he made it mundane. Wasn't he entitled? That's a long time in an ark cleaning up after the elephants and giraffes and feeding the lions and the tigers. He saved the whole world. He wasn't deserved a nice stiff drink? On the rocks, no rocks. Everyone thinks on the rocks is a fancier way, but if you're a fine שמכער shmecker, you know that on the rocks is not, it's an amateur way to drink. You add a little bit of water to open up the flavor, you make a לחיים l'chaim and you drink. So מסתמא mistama נח Noach knew how to drink properly. A לחיים l'chaim was not on the rocks. He added a little bit of water, there was plenty to go around at the time, and he had a לחיים l'chaim. Why are we critical of נח Noach? So my my dear friend רב צדוק Rav Tzadok, he he conjectured, his theory was, when נח Noach took that drink and he was processing and he was healing from his having survived the destruction of the world, he lost the edge and the drive he needed to rebuild. And that's what השם Hashem was critical of.Our survivors, our heroes, they didn't process. And we know that, 'cause just ask their children. There's a researcher whose parents used to live in our neighborhood, Rachel, רחל יהודה Rachel Yehuda, did a lot of research, actually scientifically showed it in the genes, in the very DNA of second and third generation became absorbed attributes and traits of Holocaust survivors who didn't necessarily process, go to therapy, work through, because when they got off their ark of survival, when their world was flooded and destroyed, their focus was on one thing, one thing only which was to rebuild. To rebuild. It's actually beyond remarkable to think what they did and what they accomplished. The communities, the ישיבות yeshivos, the schools, the כשרות kashrus, the עירוב eiruv, the state of Israel, what they did. Had they paused and hesitated to plant a vineyard and have a drink and go for therapy and process, who knows if our world would ever exist. They didn't. They just, that was his theory, and it's a fascinating theory of really learning from our פרשה parsha about surviving the destruction of a world or the world and what it means and what it takes to then focus on building the next world.I told him, I'll tell you, it's interesting, a lot of Holocaust survivors didn't talk about their own experience. Their children, dates, places, experiences were left and cloaked in mystery. But fascinating, when they had grandchildren, all of a sudden they would tell a grandchild. They would open up at a פסח סדר Pesach seder. They might come speak in that grandchild's school. Why? Why didn't they tell their own children, but they only told their grandchildren? So a theory is because they weren't ready to tell their children when they didn't know that there'd be a continuity and a future and a world. They didn't want to burden their own children with the pain of what they went through. But once they had grandchildren and great-grandchildren, once they saw that there was a future, there was a tomorrow, now they were prepared to tell their story. Now they could process by by first sharing a little bit. There are parallels. There are parallels between נח Noach, the destruction of a whole world. You think about these hostages who came home. I read אלישע ראבי's Elisha Rabi's book over יום טוב Yom Tov. The whole book is heartbreaking, the last page is devastating. But he says the only thing that kept him alive those 400 plus days in captivity was believing that ליאן Lian, that his wife and two daughters were alive. The moment he was released, he found out that they had been killed. He emerged to a world that was destroyed. His world was destroyed like נח Noach. How do you build tomorrow? This פרשה parsha, this פרשה parsha is the architecture of what unfortunately, tragically has been the story of our people over and over again. So רב Rav suggests, why did he send the dove? He wasn't going to exit until השם Hashem said it's time to leave. But if you have to build, if you have to rebuild a world, you can't wait. You have to be ready, you have to plan, you have to look, you have to know. פסוק יוד Pasuk Yud. You might recognize this, those who just said it. ויזכור אלקים Vayizkor Elokim, פרק ח פסוק יוד Perek Ches Pasuk Yud. We're going to turn now to Rav Soloveitchik. פרק ח פסוק Perek Ches Pasuk, sorry, not פסוק יוד Pasuk Yud. ויזכור אלקים את Vayizkor Elokim es נח Noach. פרק ח Perek Ches. Where is ויזכור אלקים את נח Vayizkor Elokim es Noach? I lost the place. פסוק א Pasuk Aleph. Sorry, פרק ח פסוק א Perek Ches Pasuk Aleph. ויזכור אלקים את נח ואת כל החיה ואת כל הבהמה אשר אתו בתבה Vayizkor Elokim es Noach v'es kol hachaya v'es kol habeheima asher ito ba'teiva. God remembered Noach and all the animals that were with him in the ark. ויעבר אלקים רוח על הארץ וישכו המים Vayaveir Elokim ruach al ha'aretz vayashoku hamayim. And he brought a wind and the water withdrew. On those words, ויזכור אלקים Vayizkor Elokim, Soloveitchik in his חומש Chumash writes, this פסוק pasuk is the first cited in the זכרונות Zichronos section of ראש השנה Rosh Hashana. So we all just said זכרונות Zichronos on ראש השנה Rosh Hashana, and the first פסוק pasuk in the section of the special מוסף Musaf, the section of remembering, is this פסוק pasuk: God remembered. One theme of זכרונות Zichronos is divine providence. God sees and remembers everything. He is concerned simultaneously with the universe as a whole, as well as with each person individually. The moral correlate of this idea is the notion that one should never discount the value of the individual. Just as God exhibits both universal and individual concern, so too should man. One should thus not dedicate all of his efforts on behalf of community needs while ignoring individual needs. השם Hashem is concerned with infinity itself, both in the historical sense, regarding all generations of mankind, and in the physical sense, regarding the boundless cosmos. At the same time, he remains concerned with each and every individual. נח Noach was rescued from the flood for two reasons. First, through נח Noach, humanity is saved. Second, נח Noach was saved as an individual, he was deserving. Even had humanity been saved by another means, נח Noach himself would have been spared on his own merits. So the Torah tells us, ויזכור אלקים את נח Vayizkor Elokim es Noach. We have to simultaneously see the whole, the collective, the community, but also not lose the forest for the trees. You have to see and know and love every individual. Rabbi Howard, זכרונו לברכה zichrono livracha, that was one of his greatness. Every conversation with him since I met him many years ago, he used the words, he framed conversations about כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. What are we doing for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael? What is the agenda? What are the challenges for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael? He was a כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael thinker, but who also cared for each and every Jew. You can't care about the כלל klal so much so that you don't see the פרט prat, the individual person. פרק ט, פסוק יג Perek Tes, Pasuk Yud Gimmel. Moving along, chapter nine. Rebuilding the world. The covenant השם Hashem made with נח Noach. פסוק יג Pasuk Yud Gimmel, verse 13, top of page 42. את קשתי נתתי בענן והיתה לאות ברית ביני ובין הארץ Es kashti nasati be'anan v'hayta l'os bris beini u'vein ha'aretz. השם Hashem made a bow as the sign and the symbol, the rainbow, with the world. Says Rabbi Sacks, we're back in the new Rabbi Sacks חומש Chumash. When we read בראשית Breishis and שמות Shmos superficially, it seems as if the covenants of נח, אברהם Noach, Avraham, and סיני Sinai are the same, but they're not. The covenant of אברהם Avraham and סיני Sinai are covenants of faith. The covenant, the ברית bris of נח Noach, says nothing about faith. The world has been almost destroyed by a flood. All mankind, all life with the exception of Noah's ark has shared the same fate. There's a famous prophecy in ישעיהו Yeshayahu that one day the wolf will lie down beside the lamb. So far it has only happened once. Where? In Noah's ark. Why there? Not because they were friends, but because otherwise they would drown. That is a covenant of fate. In the Noahide covenant, השם Hashem is saying, never again will I destroy the world, but I cannot promise you that you will never destroy it, because I've given you free will. All I can do is teach you how to not destroy the world. Isn't that so an interesting that formulation? השם Hashem says, I make you a promise, I will not destroy the world, but I don't promise you you won't destroy it. This code, the covenant of נח Noach, has three dimensions. The first is the sanctity of human life. Second is the integrity of the created world. If we read the chapter carefully, we see that five times השם Hashem insists, the covenant of נח Noach is not merely with humanity, but with all life on earth. The third is the symbol, the rainbow. Refers suggests this sign represents the white light of השם Hashem refracted into the infinite shadings of the spectrum. This is what I have called the dignity of difference. Unity in heaven creates diversity here on earth. These three dimensions define the covenant of faith. Note, the covenant of fate precedes the covenant of faith, because faith is particular, but fate is universal. Without these foundations of human solidarity, we cannot and we will not. survive. A beautiful insight by Rabbi Sachs. פרק י\"א Perek Yud Aleph, פסוק א Pasuk Aleph. Skipping right along. We have the descendants of נח Noach, a long list, the genealogy to פרק י\"א Perek Yud Aleph. Now we move to the story of מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel, the Tower of Babylonia, of בבל Bavel. And here we have an insight back by the לסקרוב רב Lisker Rebbe, the אך פרי תבואה Ach Pri Tevuah. ויהי כל הארץ שפה אחת ודברים אחדים Vayehi kol ha'aretz safah achat u'dvarim achadim, the whole earth was one language and of common purpose. One language and of common purpose. In fact, before we see the אך פרי תבואה Ach Pri Tevuah, I'll tell you. What was the problem? מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel.So one understanding of the problem was that they wanted to, הבה נבנה לנו עיר havah nivneh lanu ir, we're going to build a tower, a city, וראשו בשמים v'rosho bashamayim, we'll build a city and a tower that will pierce and penetrate the heavens. ונעשה לנו שם v'naaseh lanu shem, and we'll make a name for ourselves. And one problem is arrogance and ego, honor. They wanted a name. You know, there's God. Why are you always talking about God? You know who I am, what I've done? Why are you saying God's in charge? I'm in charge. נעשה לנו שם Naaseh lanu shem, they wanted a name, they wanted to be influencers, they wanted followers. We are meant to have influence, but I don't know that it was ever a Jewish value to be an influencer. We're supposed to be משפיע mashpia, have influence. I've spoken about this and written about this several times, because I think it's a challenge in our time. We should be משפיע mashpia, we should influence the world with goodness and with example. But to be an influencer as a career choice is a different question. Not necessarily bad. There are people doing extraordinary, wonderful, remarkable, beautiful, positive things, but it's something we have to think about and be careful with.So, says the אך פרי תבואה Ach Pri Tevuah, let's start with the לסקרוב רב Lisker Rebbe. יש לומר דהחילוק שהיה מדור המבול לא רצו לקבל עליהם עול מלכות שמים Yesh lomar d'hachiluk shehayah midor hamabul lo ratzu l'kabel aleihem ol malchut shamayim. The generation of the flood who had no boundaries, they didn't want to accept the yoke of heaven. And therefore everyone stole from their friend, violated their friend's marriage. דור הפלגה, לא הרעו אחד לחברו Dor haflagah, lo her'u echad l'chavero. Now we get to the tower of בבל Bavel. So, the last story, the flood story, are people who are violating boundaries, could care less about the people around them. Now we get to a story where everyone is getting along. Everyone's cooperating, everyone's collaborating, just not for a good purpose. האדם צריך לעשות מה שמשיגה ידו, דהיינו כל מה שיש בידו אנושי, ואחר כך יבוא להשם כי יש בורא נותן לו כח לעשות חיל, והשכל אלוקים שורש על שכל אנושי. Ha'adam tzarich la'asot ma shemasiga yado, d'hainu kol ma sheyesh b'yado enoshi, v'achar kach yavo la'Hashem ki yesh Borei notein lo koach la'asot chayil, v'haseichel Elokim shoresh al seichel enoshi. הם עלו בדעתם שהם יעשו הכל Hem alu b'da'atam shehem ya'asu hakol. Now they think, so we were divided, morally corrupt, a flood came and wiped that out. We got another chance. We said, oh, that was bad. We're not supposed to steal and rob and violate marriages. No, we're supposed to have boundaries and mutual respect, we're supposed to get along. So now they got along, but what united them was a common enemy. And what was their common enemy? God. He's not God, he's not in charge, he's not in control, it's us. It's our power, our intellect, our ego. באמת חז\"ל B'emet Chazal say, אם יש שלום ביניהם כביכול יכריעו לקדושה שלמעלה. ולכן אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא, הן עם אחד ושפה אחת לכולם. im yesh shalom beineihem k'vayachol yachri'u l'kedusha shel'ma'alah. V'lachen amar haKadosh Baruch Hu, hein am echad v'safah achat l'kulam. They're one people, they are united in this common enemy, me. I need to divide them. And what's the punishment in our פרשה parsha? He creates the United Nations. The big punishment. I wish I were joking. The big punishment in our פרשה parsha, it is a severe punishment that we continue to suffer from today. He created the United Nations. He created separate nations. Separate nations. That was the answer and the antidote. If you're using unity for uniformity, it's a problem. Uniformity is the problem. That's what רב הירש Rav Hirsch was saying. The rainbow is the answer to uniformity. Because there's one ray of light of השם Hashem refracted into all of these beautiful colors. We're still allowed to, by the way, talk about the rainbow. We're still allowed to. Nobody could take the rainbow from us. The rainbow belongs to all of us. We can still talk about the rainbow. And the rainbow should remind us, immediately we should think about the rainbow, the rainbow is the image of Godliness and diversity. That השם Hashem is one ray of light refracted into eight מניינים minyanim on this campus. נוסח ארי, נוסח ספרד, אשכנז, עדות מזרח, Nusach Ari, Nusach Sefard, Ashkenaz, Edot Mizrach, השכמה, בית מדרש, נץ Hashkama, Beit Midrash, Netz, all the colors of the rainbow from the one ray of light because the answer to uniformity is unity, but a unity with diversity. You know I care a lot about this because it's the tagline of our, of our שול shul. Diversity, not divisiveness, unity, not uniformity. So השם Hashem got rid of the uniformity by dividing the tower and by spreading people out. סולובייצ'יק Soloveitchik also has a comment on this, הבה נבנה לנו עיר havah nivneh lanu ir. What was their drive and motivation? They wanted to make a city. דור המבול Dor hamabul, represented orgiastic man, the man of pleasure. This generation was dominated by the quest for hypnotic pleasure, for compulsive hedone, for uninterrupted engagement in the aesthetic experience. Western man personifies the דור המבול Dor Hamabul. The דור הפלגה Dor Haflaga with its apex touching the heavens, does not represent orgiastic man. דור הפלגה Dor Haflaga represents authoritarian man, man who wanted to rule not only the earth, but the heavens as well. The דור הפלגה Dor Haflaga was not pleasure addicted. The דור הפלגה Dor Haflaga was a power hungry band of fanatics who wanted to rule the heavens as well as earth, scoffing at faith in God, human weakness, the very idea of individual human dignity. The cliche had utter contempt for ordinary man. Even though the Torah portrays the דור המבול Dor Hamabul, דור הפלגה Dor Haflaga ideologies existing in two different seemingly unrelated generations, it is clear that hedonistic society inexorably involves evolves into a tyrannical society. A pleasure-conscious individual is ready prey to the scheming of a power-hungry evil mind. The דור הפלגה Dor Haflaga thus necessarily followed the דור המבול Dor Hamabul. In modern times, this is what occurred in Germany in the 1930s. Germany was an orgiastic society, seeking pleasure and enjoyment where the flesh ruled and determined human aspiration. It was an over-indulgent, permissive, hedon drunk, flesh-intoxicated society that ultimately promoted over-indulgent, permissive hedon drunk, the dominion of evil, tyranny, and madness. In the עלינו Aleinu תפילה tefillah, the hedonistic society is called בני בשר bnei basar, children of the flesh, while the authoritarian society is called רשעי ארץ rishei aretz, the evil of the earth. One leads into the other. If you begin with over-indulgence in hedonism, pleasure, then you end with authoritarianism, and you end with despot leaders, and you end with this oppression and tyranny that we see even still now in our time. We got almost to the end. Thank you again for adjusting to the new time this week. Back on our regular schedule אם ירצה השם im yirtzeh Hashem next week. Have a wonderful day. We should have בשורות טובות ישועות ונחמות besorot tovot, yeshuot v'nechamot.
