Notes from Rav Moshe Soloveichik's shiur on parsha Noach, 5773.
My apologies for the
inadequacies and incompleteness of this transcript. I tried to capture as much as possible,
however some points may have been lost in interpretation. I took the liberty of adding some quotes from Tanach to frame the narrative.
Bereishis 6:9 Noach
ish tzadik tamim haya b’dorotav
Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his
generations…
Why is the plural
tense used in the word generations?
Noach lived in three
different time periods:
1) before the flood
2) during the flood
3) after the flood
Each period offered
different tests:
1) going against the whole world, while the entire
world was wicked
2) taking care of all animals in the ark
3) test of rebuilding the world after the complete
destruction
Adaptation means
assimilation, but Noach was tzadik under different circumstances.
Psalms 92:13 Tzadik katamar ifrah A righteous man will flourish like a date palm
Rav Moshe’s father
took a train to go from New York to California
You can find all kinds
of tzadikim – some become tzadikim when it is comfortable to be a tzadik, when
environment is conducive to be righteous.
Noach was tzadik under different circumstances, that were not conducive
to it.
Chicago Jewish
community has changed from 1966 when Rav Moshe came here as a young boy. When community changed, people’s ideology
changed with the community. Zionists
turned anti-zionist, from religious perspective. People were to the right of his family, now
they are to the left, and vise versa…, the ideology became situational.
Bereishis 6:5 Hashem saw that
the wickedness of Man was great upon the earth, and that every product
of the thoughts of heart was but evil always.
6:6 And Hashem reconsidered having made Man on earth, and He felt
heartfelt sadness. 6:7 And Hashem said: “I will blot out Man whom I created
from the face of the ground – from man to animal, to creeping things, and to
birds of the sky; for I have reconsidered My having made them.” 6:8 But Noach found grace in the eyes of Hashem.
In the last pasuk of parsha Bereishis God expressed regret at
creating man, but Noach found favor in His eyes, only after G-d said He’ll
destroy the Man.
Last week we learnt
that G-d made many worlds, but destroyed all of them before creating this world
that we live in. It seems the same way
in the story of the mabul, flood, but
it is on the contrary – G-d wanted to save this world, and bringing flood was a
desperate attempt to save the world – if not for the flood, Noach would not
have had a chance to rebuild the world on the foundation of righteousness.
Therefore, the purpose of the flood was not to destroy, but to save the
world.
Why was Noach the one able to rebuild the world, what was his
trait? The commentators agree that his
personality was not like of Avraham.
Today many books are published about Jewish life in English, but back in
the 1960’s only Chabbad did that, selling them from bungalow to bungalow. In one of such early books Avraham is
depicted dressed like a chassid, and Noach is dressed like a mitnaged.
The world changes, different circumstances appear, but Noach represented
the ideal of being righteous regardless of circumstances.
The spies in parsha Shellah
were leaders of the Jewish people, they were righteous, but when they came back
from reviewing the land they led a rebellion against Moshe and God. In parsha Ki Sisa (Exodus 32) how much time
has passed for Jews to turn to idols?
The circumstances changed. When
they were on Sinai hearing G-d’s voice, seeing thunder and lightning, they were
righteous. When Moshe was gone, they
made an idol.
The first set tablets, luhot, were
given by Hashem with thunder and flames (Exodus 20, parsha Yisro), 20:15 hakolot v’et halapidim, these were
miraculous circumstances, when all felt the presence of G-d, but these were
temporary circumstances, this was not the real world. Things that are constant don’t impact us as
much, we get used to them, take them for granted.
Second set of tablets were given in quiet, under normal circumstances,
and they were the ones to last.
Example of religious retreat – great time, great for initiation, but it
is not the real world. What happens when
the retreat is over?
Rav Moshe observed boys going to yeshivos, girls going to seminaries,
and there is a real commitment for these young people, but what happens when
they come back, when they encounter day to day life?
There is a tendency in Jewish education to prepare students for a given
set of circumstances. For some children
the circumstances will not change, but some will take a different route, how
will they what they learned? We have to
prepare our children for changing circumstances. Spies were leaders, righteous men, when they
were close to Moshe, but in forty days they changed who they were – what
happens when a person leaves yeshiva, moves to a different neighborhood?
Bereishis 28:20 Then Jacob took a
vow saying, “If God will be with me, will guard me on this way that I am going;
will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear; 28:21 and I return in peace to
my father’s house, and Hashem will be a G-d to me 28:22 then this stone which I
have set up as a pillar shall become a house of G-d, and whatever You will give
me, I shall repeatedly tithe to You.”
On the surface, it looks like Yakov is making a deal with G-d – You be
good to me and I’ll be good to You.
There is a test of poverty and a test of affluence – each situation has
its challenges (very true!). When Jews were in ghettoes, they were
committed to Jewish .
Jeremiah 2:5
Thus says Hashem: What wrong did your forefathers find in Me, that they
distanced themselves from Me and pursued futility, and became futile?
Yakov is saying above – even if you give me everything, I won’t be influenced by what you gave me, I’ll be committed as
before.
Often in life we
don’t think ideologically, we think practically, we choose whatever is good for
us. Often our commitment is based on what
we consider beneficial for us, rather than based on ideological
perspective.
Yosef went
through different situations in his life – he was the favourite child of his
father, then he was sold as a slave, then he became a prisoner, then the
Pharaoh’s right hand, the top man in Egypt after the king – and through all
these he remained tzadik – he was a symbol of changing circumstances, but the
changes in life did not change him.
Bereishis 37:5 Joseph dreamt a dream which he told to
his brothers, and they hated him even more. 37:6 He said to them, “Hear, if you
please, this dream which I dreamt: 37:7 Behold! We were binding sheaves in the
middle of the field, when, behold! My sheaf arose and also remained standing;
then behold! Your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
What was the
disagreement between Yosef and his brothers?
His dream about binding sheaves in the field indicated a change in the
circumstances, meaning they are no longer going to be shepherds. Canaan was predominantly shepherd country,
while Egypt
This how many
European Jews were prior to WWII – things were getting bad, but people were
scared of new situations. Given opportunity
to leave Jews felt more secure being where they are than going somewhere else,
into unknown. We feel secure when
situation remains the same.
Bereishis 37:1 Vayeishev Yakov b’eretz megurey aviv
b’eretz Canaan .
Jacob settled in
the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan
Vayeishev means Yakov
lived with roots, in the land where his fathers lived. Yagur means sojourning, living as a ger, traveller, stranger.
When people are
ready to leave, when spiritual circumstances change, we did not change
ourselves but remained true to our roots.
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