Torah Tidbits Issue 1345 - 02/11/19

ISSUE 1345 NOV 2ND '19

‫ד' מרחשון תש"פ‬

‫פרשת נח‬

PARSHAT NOACH

ZMANIM 5780 PULLOUT CANDLE LIGHTING, HAVDALA, AND MORE

see page 39

DVAR TORAH ON THE PARSHA

By Rabbi Berel Wein see page 66

‫"וְ ֹלא־‬ ‫ָֽמ ְצ ָאה‬ ‫נֹוח‬ ַ ‫ַהּיֹונָ ה ָמ‬ "‫ף־ר ְג ָלּה‬ ַ ‫ְל ַכ‬

YERUSHALAYIMIN/OUT IN/OUTTIMES TIMESFOR FORSHABBAT SHABBATPARSHAT PARSHATSHOFTIM NOACH YERUSHALAYIM Candles 4:15PM Havdala 5:27PM Rabbeinu Tam 6:06PM Candles 6:22PM Plag 5:39PM Havdala 7:33PM Rabeinu Tam 8:13PM

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PARSHAPIX

PPexplanations on p.68 and at www.ttidbits.com Click on the PPW link

WORD OF THE MONTH

FULL - IN ORDER - DEFICIENT In our fixed calendar (when there is no Sanhedrin), months alternate having 30 and 29 days. Tishrei 30, Marcheshvan 29*, Kislev 30*, Tevet 29, Sh'vat 30 Adar 29 (Adar Alef 30, Adar Bet 29), Nissan 30, Iyar 29, Sivan 30, Tammuz 29, Av 30, Elul 29. Marcheshvan and Kislev are the two variable months. Years come in three (actually, six) lengths - 353, 354, 355 days (or 383, 384, 385 in a 2-Adar year). Years of 353 or 383 days are called CHASEIR (deficient) [25.51%] with 30 Kislev dropping out. Years of 354 or 384 days are called K'SEIDER (or K'SIDRAN) [29.56%] with Marcheshvan having 29 days and Kislev having 30 days, as above. Years of 355 (like this year, 5780) or 385 are called SHALEIM [44.93%], with 30 Marcheshvan being added.

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TORAH TIDBITS / NOACH 5780

OTHER Z'MANIM

CANDLE LIGHTING A N D H AV DA L A T I M ES

JERUSALEM CANDLES

4:15 4:33 4:31 4:30 4:30 4:30 4:30 4:30 4:31 4:15 4:29 4:19 4:29 4:29 4:30 4:30 4:32 4:31 4:17 4:26

NOACH

Yerushalayim / Maale Adumim Aza area (Netivot, S’deirot, Bet al)

Beit Shemesh / RBS Gush Etzion Raanana/ Tel Mond/ Herzliya/ K. Saba

Modi’in / Chashmona’im Netanya Be’er Sheva Rehovot Petach Tikva Ginot Shomron Haifa / Zichron Gush Shiloh Tel Aviv / Giv’at Shmuel Giv’at Ze’ev Chevron / Kiryat Arba Ashkelon Yad Binyamin Tzfat / Bik’at HaYarden Golan

HAVDALA LECH LECHA

5:27 5:30 5:28 5:27 5:28 5:28 5:28 5:29 5:28 5:28 5:27 5:27 5:26 5:28 5:27 5:28 5:30 5:28 5:24 5:24

4:09 4:27 4:25 4:24 4:25 4:25 4:24 4:25

5:22 5:25 5:23 5:22 5:23 5:23 5:23 5:24

4:25 5:23 4:09 5:23 4:24 5:22 4:13 5:22 4:23 5:21 4:23 5:23 4:24 5:22 4:25 5:23 4:27 5:25 4:25 5:23 4:11 5:19 4:20 5:18

Rabbeinu Tam (J'lem) - 6:06pm • next week - 6:01pm OU Kashrut  NCSY  Jewish Action  JLIC NJCD / Yachad / Our Way  OU West Coast  OU Press  Synagogue/ Community Services  OU Advocacy  OU Israel

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RANGES ARE 11 DAYS, WED-SHABBAT 1-11 MARCHESHVAN (OCT 30 - NOV 9) Earliest Talit & T’filin Sunrise Sof Z’man K’ Sh’ma

(Magen Avraham: 8:01-8:05am)

Sof Z’man T’fila

(Magen Avraham: 9:01-9:05am)

Chatzot(Halachic noon) Mincha Gedola (Earliest Mincha) Plag Mincha Sunset (counting elevation)

(based on sea level: 4:52-4:43¾pm)

5:02-5:10am 5:53½-6:02am 8:38-8:42am 9:32-9:35am 11:23-11:23am 11:53-11:53am 3:43-3:37pm 4:57-4:48¾pm

Seymour J. AbramsOrthodox Union Jerusalem World CenterAvrom Silver Jerusalem College for AdultsWolinetz Family ShulMakom BaLevBirthrightYachadNCSY in IsraelJLIC in IsraelPearl & Harold M. Jacobs ZULA Outreach CenterThe Jack Gindi Oraita ProgramOU Israel Kashrut

ZVI SAND, PRESIDENT, OU ISRAEL Yitzchak Fund, Former President, OU Israel | Rabbi Emanuel Quint z”l, Senior Vice President | Prof. Meni Koslowsky, Vice President | Dr. Simcha Heller, Vaad member | Stuart Hershkowitz, Vaad member | Moshe Kempinski, Vaad member | Sandy Kestenbaum, Vaad member | Ben Wiener, Vaad member | Harvey Wolinetz, Vaad member RABBI AVI BERMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OU ISRAEL David Katz, CFO, OU Israel | Chaim Pelzner, Director of Programs, OU Israel | Rabbi Sam Shor, Director of Programs, OU Israel Center | Rabbi Sholom Gold, Dean, Avrom Silver Jerusalem College for Adults

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

06 16 20 26 28 32 34 39 44 52

Aliya by Aliya Phil Chernofsky

54 58 60 62 64 66 70 72 74 76

Noach's Water Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

“Easy Spirituality” Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb The Light in the Ark Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Probing the Prophets Rabbi Nachman Winkler Using Time Productively Rabbi Shalom Rosner

Wonderful Words Rebbetzin Shira Smiles Noach: Believing in a Sleepy Maariv Rabbi Judah Mischel

ZMANIM 5780 PULLOUT

Divrei Menachem Menachem Persoff Personal Requests on Shabbat Rav Daniel Mann, Eretz Chemda

Being Infertile Is Not An Illness Rabbi Gideon Weitzman, Machon Puah Sprouting seeds...

Rabbi Moshe Bloom

Noach Rabbi Berel Wein

Noach’s Drinking Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher The Power of Words Sivan Rahav-Meir

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Simchat Shmuel Rabbi Sam Shor

Midot And Mida Kneged Mida Rakel Berenbaum The Righteous Child Rabbi Benji Levy

WEEKLY INSPIRATION ‫ זהו סימן לקליטה יותר פנימית‬,‫"כל מה שקשה יותר לסבל את אויר חוץ לארץ‬ )‫יב‬:‫ ארץ חפץ ד‬,‫של קדשת ארץ ישראל" (רב אברהם יצחק הכהן קוק‬ "The more difficult it is to endure the 'air' outside the Land, this is a sign of an inner absorption of the holiness of the Land of Israel."

(Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, zt"l, Eretz Chefetz 4:12)

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TORAH TIDBITS / NOACH 5780

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NOACH

ALIYA-BY-ALIYA SEDRA SUMMARY [P> X:Y (Z)] and [S> X:Y (Z)] indicate start of a parsha p’tucha or s’tuma. X:Y is

STATS 2nd of 54 sedras, 2nd of 12 in B'reishit Written on 230 lines in a Torah, rank: 15

Perek:Pasuk of the Parsha’s beginning; (Z) is the number of p’sukim in the parsha.

Numbers in [brackets] are the Mitzva-

18 Parshiyot; 5 open, 13 closed; rank: 12

count of Sefer HaChinuch AND Rambam’s

153 p'sukim - ranks 4th

Sefer HaMitzvot. A=ASEI (positive mitzva);

Largest in B'reishit - tied w/Vayishlach

L=LAV (prohibition). X:Y is the perek and

1861 words - ranks 11 (6th in B'reishit)

pasuk from which the mitzva comes.

6907 letters - ranks 13 (6th in B'reishit)

KOHEN FIRST ALIYA 34 P’SUKIM - 1:1-2:3

Drop in ranking for words and letters is due to No'ach's very short p'sukim. No'ach ranks 49th in words/pasuk and 51st in letters/ pasuk in the Torah. No sedra in B'reishit has shorter p'sukim.

MITZVOT None of the TARYAG mitzvot are from No’ach, yet there are mitzvot in the sedra, specifically (but not only) references to the Noahide laws. So too is P'RU URVU repeated to No'ach - it is counted as a mitzva from B'reishit, when it was commanded to Adam...

The sedra of B'reishit began with the glorious account of creation and "went downhill" from there: The exile of Adam and Chava from Gan Eden, Kayin and Hevel, the continuous degeneration through successive generations until G-d's "regret" for having created the world and his "decision" to destroy it.

The only high note of this universal downslide comes at the end of the sedra: "But No'ach found favor in G-d's eyes."

[P> 6:9 (4)] The sedra of No'ach continues this thread and tells us that No'ach was "completely righteous IN HIS TIME".

Rashi presents the divergent opinions as to whether "in his time" is complimentary or derogatory. Was

SDT

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TORAH TIDBITS / NOACH 5780

No'ach great EVEN in his very wicked generation, or was he great only by comparison to the generation in which he lived. Although Rashi does not seem to favor one side over the other, it seems obvious that No'ach was not as great as Avraham Avinu. A look at the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot will reveal a significant difference between No'ach and Avraham. Ten generations from Adam to No'ach and ten from No'ach to Avraham, both to teach us about G-d's long patience.

Same. Yet when the first full run of ten generations was up, the Flood came. When the second one was up, the Mishna tells us, that Avraham's merit sustained the whole world. No'ach's merit seems to have been only enough only to save his own family.

On the other hand, there was a significant difference between the generations of No'ach and Avraham that cannot be ignored, and makes comparisons unfair.

The Torah essentially repeats that No'ach had three sons - Sheim, Cham, and Yefet, and that the world was totally corrupt.

[S> 6:13 (48)] Then No'ach is informed

by G-d of His plans to destroy the world and is commanded to build an ark, bring into it two of every kind of animal and sufficient food for his family and the animals.

Commentaries point out that No'ach was given ample time to try to influence his generation to mend its ways. He either tried and didn't succeed or didn't try too hard. He did exactly as he was told (implying, and not more).

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Think about this...

G-d could have destroyed the world and saved No'ach and family and the pairs of animals with a miraculous snap of His finger. In no time. With no human involvement. He could have, but He didn't. He could have left No'ach on his own, to do the whole job of saving his family and sample pairs of all the animals. He didn't do that either.

(It probably would have been humanly impossible for No'ach to have done the whole job on his own.)

What G-d did do is command No'ach to build an ark of a specific size, a three-tiered floating structure, and to gather all the food necessary to feed many, many animals and his family for a year. This, say some commentaries, cannot be done without a heavy dose of miracle, of suspension of the laws of nature. But it wasn't all supernatural.

No'ach was part of it. And that is what G-d usually wants when it comes to

Judith Levin PsyD ‫ד"ר יהודית לוין‬ Clinical Psychologist

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052 882 6495 - j.levin@hotmail.com

miracles. We, as humans, relate so much better to that kind of miracle. We need to see some familiar nature inside a miracle, in order to relate properly to it... and we also need to see the miracles inside nature. AND we need to input our HISHTADLUS when feasible.

LEVI SECOND ALIYA 16 P'SUKIM - 7:1-16 G-d tells No'ach and his family to go into the Teiva (ark) and to take with him seven pairs of each kind of kosher animal and bird. Noa'ch is told that in seven more days it will rain for 40 days and nights during which time all life on earth will be wiped out. No'ach was 600 years old at the time of the Flood. And so it happened.

How many gnus?

(Nothing much; what's gnu with you?

- old joke) Seven pairs because the gnu is a kosher animal, or only one pair because the gnu is never brought as a Korban? [The gnu, an east African antelope - a.k.a. wildebeest - comes in two species of different colors, blue and black. Halachically a CHAYA T'HORA, it is not fit for the Mizbei'ach.] Since some say that the reason for the seven pairs was because of sacrifices, and others say it was to provide kosher food, what's the answer for gnu? Similarly, how many chickens? Sacrifices? No. Food? Yes. So which was it?

Rabbi Zev Leff explains that B'nei No'ach

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TORAH TIDBITS / NOACH 5780

are permitted to offer sacrifices from ANY kosher animal or bird; No'ach was not restricted to cow, goat, sheep, and two types of doves - the only acceptable Korbanot for Jews. Hence, for either reason, it would seem that there were seven pairs of kudu, giraffe, okapi, gnu, yak, bison, chicken, sparrow, pheasant, quail, etc.

SHLISHI THIRD ALIYA 22 P'SUKIM - 7:17-8:14 The rains fell and the waters of the deep surged for 40 days and nights, but the Flood remained at its highest level for an additional 150 days. G-d 'remembered" No'ach and all with him in the ark, and the waters began to recede.

The ark settled on Mt. Ararat and 40 days later (Remember the first 40 days which represent death of all living things? This time the 40 represents the rebirth of those who survived the Mabul), No'ach opened the "window" of the ark and sent out a raven. Then he sent out a dove, and again, and finally after a full (365-day) year, the earth was ready to receive its new inhabitants.

R'VI'I FOURTH ALIYA 15 P'SUKIM - 8:15-9:7 [S> 8:15 (15)] G-d tells No'ach to leave the ark with his wife, his sons and their wives, and all the animals and birds.

No'ach builds an altar and sacrifices upon it from all the kosher species.

G-d's "reaction" to No'ach's offerings is that in spite of the basic evil potential OU ISRAEL CENTER

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of human nature, He will not destroy in the "wholesale fashion" of the Flood (but rather punish on a more restricted and specific basis).

The laws of nature are "adjusted" to provide the world with a neverceasing cycle of seasons and climatic conditions.

HERE'S A THOUGHT We can see in the account of the Flood and its aftermath, a continuation of creation. It is as if stage 1 of creation was recorded in Breishit and here we have stage 2. In other words, the world came into existence during the 6 days of creation AND during the Flood which took place 10 generations later.

Sort of like a rough draft and a further revision. And we, by the way, constantly affect the continuous further dynamic revisions.

G-d blessed and commanded No'ach and his family (and all of mankind) to "be fruitful and multiply".

(Let the point in the use of the two verbs not go by without notice: The ability to have children and raise a family is a mitzva and a wonderful blessing as well.)

No'ach got permission to eat meat (this was denied to the previous generations), but was warned not to eat from a live animal. Murder and the other Noahide Laws are referred to and/or inferred, at this point. Again, No'ach and family are told to be fruitful and repopulate the world.

CHAMISHI 5TH ALIYA 10 P'SUKIM - 9:8-17 [S> 9:8 (10)] G-d makes a promise to mankind that He will never again destroy the world as He did with the Flood. The rainbow will serve as sign and reminder of this promise.

We acknowledge the significance of a rainbow by reciting a bracha when we see one - "...He Who remembers the Covenant, is faithful to it, and keeps His word.â&#x20AC;? Of the 10 items mentioned in Avot as having been created at the instant between the Six Days of Creation and the first Shabbat, all but the rainbow are supernatural. The rainbow, by virtue of its inclusion on this special list, can be seen as a bridge between the natural and the super- natural. Put differently, we should see G-d's handiwork in all the elements of nature, not just in obvious miracles. "The mouth of the Earth" was a one-time creation to dispose of Korach and his gang. But regular rocks and hills, crags and clefts are no less part of G-d's handiwork.

Some say that a rainbow is a sign that G-d is angry with the world and would

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TORAH TIDBITS / NOACH 5780

want to destroy it - except He promised not to. On the other hand, Yechezkel describes the Heavenly Throne as being like a rainbow, and the radiance of the Kohen Gadol upon leaving the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur is also likened to a rainbow in the sky. And a rainbow is beautiful, too!

SHISHI SIXTH ALIYA 44 P'SUKIM - 9:18-10:32

SECOND LONGEST SHISHI IN THE TORAH

[P> 9:18 (12)] Some time after leaving the ark, No'ach becomes a tiller of the soil and a grape grower. He produces wine and becomes drunk. One of his sons, Cham, behaves immorally with his father in his drunken state; Shem and Yefet behave admirably in the situation, protecting their father's honor and modesty. When No'ach realizes what has happened, he curses Cham and Cham's son Canaan, and blesses Shem and Yafet.

No'ach lives 350 years after the Flood, and dies at the age of 950.

The arithmetic of No'ach's years (600 before + 350 after = 950) seems not to take into account the year of the Flood.

There is a good case to be made for not considering the duration of the Flood in calculations of the chronology of the world. We might look at the Flood as a period of "suspended animation" - laws of nature were not in effect; perhaps time as we know it cannot apply to that interval either. The animals in the ark did not function in their normal ways.

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No'ach had no sleep during the whole period (if we take statements made as literal). It clearly was not a natural time.

[P> 10:1 (14)] The Torah next outlines the generations that followed No'ach and the nations that came from Sheim, Cham and Yefet.

These are the descendants of No’ach (numbers in brackets count the 70 nations of the world - based on the Living Torah

by R' Aryeh Kaplan z"l). We’ll call NO’ACH the zero generation. That makes SHEIM, CHAM, and YEFET, the first generation after No’ach.

The counting of the 70 nation-progenitors begin with the children of Sheim, Cham, and Yefet.

The Torah starts the genealogy with Yefet. Generation 2 from Yefet are: [1] Gomer, [2] Magog, [3] Madai, [4] Yavan, [5] Yuval, [6] Meshech, and [7] Tiras (who Rashi says is Paras, which partners him nicely with brother Madai [3]).

Third generation from Noach via Yefet’s children (from only two of them; no decendants are named from the other five children): From Gomer: [8] Ashkenaz, [9] Rifat, and [10] Togarma.

From Yavan: [11] Elisha, [12] Tarshish,

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TORAH TIDBITS / NOACH 5780

[13] Kitim, and [14] Dodanim.

2nd generation from No’ach via Cham: [15] Kush, [16] Mitzrayim, [17] Put, and [18] K’na’an.

3rd generation via Cham’s children: From Kush: [19] S’va, [20] Chavila, [21] Savta, [22] Ra’ma, [23] Savt’cha Ra’ma had [24] Sh’va and [25] D’dan (both 4th generation) Kush also fathered numbered among the 70.

Nimrod,

not

From Mitzrayim: [26] Ludim, [27] Anamim, [28] L’havim, [29] Naftuchim, [30] Patrusim, [31] Kasluchim, (from either 30 or 31 came [32] P’lishtim - according to Rashi, Patrusim and Kasluchim swapped wives a lot and the P'lishtim came from both of them), [33] Kaftorim (who might also have come from either Patrusim or Kasluchim or from Mitzrayim - disputed by commentaries).

No one mentioned from Put. [S> 10:15 (6)] From K’na’an: [34] Tzidon, [35] Cheit, [36] the Yevusi, [37] the Emori, [38] the Girgashi, [39] the Chivi, [40] the Arki, [41] the Sini, [42] the Arvadi, [43] the Tz’mari, and [44] the Chamati.

So far, 25 from Yefet, 19 from Cham.

[S> 10:21 (12)] From Sheim: [45] Eilam, [46] Ashur, [47] Arpachshad, [48] Lud, [49] Aram.

From Aram: [50] Utz, [51] Chul, [52] Geter, [53] Mash.

From Arpachshad came [54] Shelach and from him came [55] Eiver. Eiver is 4th generation.

He had [56] Peleg and [57] Yaktan (5th generation).

From Yaktan: [58] Almodad, [59] Shelef, [60] Chatzarmavet, [61] Yerach, [62] Hadoram, [63] Uzal, [64] Dikla, [65] Oval, [66] Avima’el, [67] Sh’va (same name as 24), [68] Ofir, [69] Chavila (same name as 20), and [70] Yovav.

That’s 26 from Sheim. Total 70.

It should not be lost on us that the birth of the world population is describe as the 70 nations, and the birth of Israel begins (later) with the “70 souls” who went down to Egypt.

SH'VII SEVENTH ALIYA 32 P'SUKIM - 11:1-32 LONGEST SH'VI'I IN THE TORAH

[P> 11:1 (9)] The Torah tells us of the attempt to build the "Tower of Babel", the symbol of rebellion against G-d.

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G-d thwarted the plans, confused the languages of mankind and scattered the people far and wide.

Commentaries contrast the two sinful generations in this sedra. Dor HaMabul was destroyed because their sins included the destruction of society by total disregard of a person for his fellow.

Dor HaPlaga sinned against G-d alone, not against each other. Such a society (albeit warped) can survive; G-d can permit it to continue under these circumstances.

[P> 11:10 (2)] The sedra returns to the lineage of No'ach, this time tracing only through Sheim. We find for each generation, the name of the "main" person, his age when his main, named son was born, how many years he lived after his "main" son was born, and the fact that other sons and daughters were born.

Sheim was 100 when he had Arpachshad (2 yrs after the Flood). He lived a further 500 years (600).

[P> 11:12 (2)] Arpachshad had Shelach at 35. Lived 403 more years (438).

[P> 11:14 (2)] Shelach was 30 when he 14

TORAH TIDBITS / NOACH 5780

had Eiver. Then another 403 years (same as his father). (Total: 433).

[P> 11:16 (2)] Eiver was 34 when Peleg was born. He lived another 430 years (464).

[P> 11:18 (2)] Peleg was 30 when R'u was born. He lived another 209 (total, 239).

[P> 11:20 (2)] Râ&#x20AC;&#x2122;u was 32 when S'rug was born. Plus another 207 years (239).

[P> 11:22 (2)] Sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;rug was 30 when he had Nachor. He lived another 200 years (230).

[P> 11:24 (2)] Nachor was 29 when Terach was born. He lived 119 more years (148).

[P> 11:26 (7)] Terach was 70 (there's that number again, and also notice how much older Terach was when he had children, compared with all previous generations back to Arpachshad.) Terach had three sons, Avram, Nachor, and Haran. (Remember that No'ach also had three sons.) Haran had Lot. Haran died. Avram married Sarai and Nachor married his niece Milka, Haranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter.

The Torah makes a point of telling us that Sarai was barren.

Terach takes his son Avram, his grandson Lot, his daughter-in-law Sarai, they leave Ur Kasdim and head out for the land of K'naan. They make it as far as Charan and settle there. Terach dies in Charan at 205 years of age (first one since No'ach with a recorded age at death).

The sedra thus ends with the stage set for the next major phase of world development - the return to belief in one G-d and the "birth of Judaism" via Avraham Avinu.

HAFTARA 31 P'SUKIM YESHAYAHU 54:1-55:5 Yeshayahu draws a comparison between the covenant that G-d made with all mankind via No'ach and the promises to the People of Israel concerning their future. Just as G-d promised never to flood the whole Earth again, so too does He promise not to rebuke and punish Israel (in the future). There are phrases in the haftara that make the connection to the sedra all the stronger - especially references to MEI NO'ACH.

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RABBI DR. TZVI HERSH WEINREB THE PERSON BY OU Executive Vice President, Emeritus IN THE PARSHA

“Easy Spirituality”

T

he French poet Baudelaire once remarked that the devil’s greatest success is his ability to convince us that he does not exist.

Whereas Judaism does not believe in the devil quite as Baudelaire does, it does believe that there is a “devilish” force called the yetzer hara within each of us, and that that force works in very subtle ways. At the same time, with ambivalence, we definitely do tend to believe that this yetzer does not exist.

Jewish writings through the ages have debated the nature of this force.

All these writings ultimately trace back to a verse in this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Noach: “The devising of man’s mind are evil from his youth.” (Genesis 8:21)

inclination for evil in each of us. He or she who wishes to live the life of a good person is well advised to guard against this natural inclination. This yetzerforce rarely commands us directly to do what is wrong. Instead, it tries to craftily delude us into thinking that what is wrong and evil is right and good.

Noah walked with God. He enjoyed the sense of spirituality for which many of us yearn. He experienced a spiritual “high.” In the past, he achieved that level of spirituality by virtue of hard work.

And to a similar verse in last week’s Torah portion: “The Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time.”

(Genesis 6:5)

A favorite strategy for the yetzer is to persuade us that it seeks the same ends and objectives as God does, but that alternate ways of achieving those ends are also legitimate. Take spirituality, for example. How does one achieve a sense of spirituality?

Thus, there most assuredly is an

For Judaism, spirituality and the

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emotions which accompany it can only be achieved through hard work: prayer, study, sacrifice, and above all, charity and compassion. No easy “grace!” The yetzer, while not denying the value of spirituality, tempts us with short cuts, and cheap and ersatz methods to achieve the same results as the more arduous methods prescribed by the Torah.

A wonderful illustration of this dynamic is found in this week’s Torah portion, just after the story of the great Flood. Noah and his family are beginning anew, rebuilding their lives, rebuilding the world. What is the first thing Noah does? He plants a vineyard.

His grapes grow and ripen, he makes wine and drinks it and gets drunk.

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For, you see, the yetzer, or if you wish the devil, knows of the connection between

you felt before, and then some.”

Abraham was dedicated to the very arduous methods that Noah sought to circumvent by drink.

addiction and spirituality.

For, you see, the yetzer, or if you wish the devil, knows of the connection between addiction and spirituality.

What prompted Noah to make wine his first priority? Let me suggest the following imaginary scenario to answer that question. Noah walked with God. He enjoyed the sense of spirituality for which many of us yearn. He experienced a spiritual “high.” In the past, he achieved that level of spirituality by virtue of hard work: obedience, construction of the Ark, gathering the animals of the world, tending to them, offering sacrifices. Along came Noah’s yetzer-force, and said, “Noah! There must be an easier way! You can achieve the same spiritual high, the same sense of wholeness and holiness without all that work. All it will take is a few drinks of one of God’s own juices. Plant a vineyard, make some wine and drink it and you will feel all the good feelings

How well I remember the 1960s, and the many gifted spiritual seekers who resorted to alcohol and more potent substances to generate moods of spirituality.

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Judaism cautions us not to be seduced by facile techniques, even in the service of achieving higher and holier states of conscientiousness. That is why the Torah shifts next week into the story of Abraham, whose spirituality was based on service, on the courageous search for social justice, and on compassionate concern for others in need. In short, Abraham was dedicated to the very arduous methods that Noah sought to circumvent by drink.

Join us next week as we examine the impressive personality of Abraham and learn from him how to achieve a sober sense of spirituality.

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Thoughts on the Weekly Parsha from COVENANT & RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS Former Chief Rabbi of England CONVERSATION

‫לעילוי נשמות‬ ‫פנחס בן יעקב אשר וגולדה בת ישראל דוד אייז ע״ה‬ ‫עזריאל בן אריה לייב ומעניה בת יצחק שרטר ע״ה‬

The Light in the Ark

A

mid all the drama of the impending flood and the destruction of almost all of creation, we focus on Noah building the ark, and hear one detailed instruction: Make a tzohar for the ark and terminate it within a cubit of the top. (Gen. 6:16) There is an obvious problem understanding what “tzohar” means, since the word does not appear anywhere else in Tanach. Everyone agrees that it is referring to a source of illumination. It is what will give light within the ark itself.

But what exactly was it? Rashi quotes a Midrash in which two Rabbis disagree as to its meaning: Some say this was a window; others say that it was a precious stone that gave light to them.

The precious stone had the miraculous quality of being able to generate light within the darkness.

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Bartenura suggests that what is at stake between the two interpretations is the etymology of the word tzohar itself.

One relates it to the word tzahorayim, meaning “midday.” In that case, the brightness was to come from the sun, the sky, the outside. Therefore tzohar means “a window, a skylight.” The other view is that tzohar is related to zohar, “radiance,” which suggests something that radiates its own light, hence the idea of a miraculous precious stone.

Chizkuni and others suggest Noah had both: a window (from which he later released the raven, Gen. 8:6) and some form of artificial lighting for the prolonged period of the flood itself when the sun was completely overcast by cloud and the world was shrouded in darkness.

It remains fascinating to ask why the Rabbis of the Midrash, and Rashi himself, would spend time on a question that has no practical relevance. There will be – God promised this in this week’s parsha – no further flood. There will be no new Noah. In any future threat to the existence of the planet, an ark floating on the water will not be sufficient to save humankind.

So why should it matter what source of illumination Noah had in the ark during those tempestuous days? What is the lesson for the generations?

I would like to offer a midrashic

speculation. The answer, I suggest, lies in the history of the Hebrew language.

Throughout the biblical era, the word tevah meant an ark – large in the case of Noah and the flood, small in the case of the papyrus basket coated with tar in which Yocheved placed the baby Moses, setting him afloat on the Nile (Ex. 2:3).

More generally, it means “box.” However, by the time of the Midrash, tevah had come also to mean “word.”

It seems to me that the Rabbis of the Midrash were not so much commenting on Noah and the ark as reflecting on a fundamental question of Torah. Where and what is the tzohar, the brightness, the source of illumination, for the tevah, the Word? Does it come solely from within, or also from without? Does the Torah come with a window or a precious stone?

There were certainly those who believed that Torah was self-sufficient. If something is difficult in Torah it is because the words of Torah are poor in one place but rich in another. In other words, the answer to any question in Torah can be found elsewhere in Torah. Turn it over and turn it over for everything is within it. This is probably the majority view, considered historically. There is nothing to be learned outside. The Torah is illuminated by a precious stone that generates its own light. This is even hinted at in the title of the greatest work of Jewish mysticism, the Zohar (see Bartenura above).

There were, however, other views.

Most famously, Maimonides believed that knowledge of science and philosophy OU ISRAEL CENTER

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– a window to the outside world – was essential to understanding God’s word.

He made the radical suggestion, in the Mishnah Torah (Hilchot Yesodei ha-Torah 2:2), that it was precisely these forms of study that were the way to the love and fear of God. Through science – the knowledge of “He who spoke and called the universe into existence” – we gain a sense of the majesty and beauty, the almost infinite scope and intricate detail of creation and thus of the Creator. That is the source of love. Then, realising how small we are and how brief our lives in the total scheme of things: that is the source of fear.

The case Maimonides made in the 12th century, long before the rise of science, has been compounded a thousand times with our accelerated knowledge of the nature of the universe. Every new discovery of the vastness of the cosmos and the wonders of the micro-cosmos, fills the mind with awe.

“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?” (Is. 40:26).

Maimonides did not think that science and philosophy were secular disciplines.

He believed that they were ancient forms of Jewish wisdom, that the Greeks had acquired from the Jews and sustained them at a time when the Jewish people, through exile and dispersion, had forgotten them.

So they were not foreign borrowings.

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Maimonides was re-claiming a tradition that had been born in Israel itself.

Nor were they source of independent illumination. They were simply a window through which the light of God’s created universe could help us decode the Torah itself. Understanding God’s world helps us understand God’s word.

This made a significant difference to the way Maimonides was able to convey the truth of Torah. So for example, his knowledge of ancient religious practices – albeit based on sources that were not always reliable – afforded him the deep insight (in The Guide for the Perplexed) that many of the Chukim, the statutes, the laws that seem to have no reason, were in fact directed against specific idolatrous practices.

His knowledge of Aristotelian philosophy enabled him to formulate an idea that exists throughout both Tanakh and the rabbinic literature, but that had not been articulated so clearly before, namely that Judaism has a virtue ethic. It is interested not just in what we do but in what we are, in the kind of people we become. That is the basis of his pathbreaking Hilchot De’ot, “Laws of ethical character.”

The more we understand the way the world is, the more we understand why

the Torah is as it is. It is our roadmap through reality. It is as if secular and scientific knowledge were the map, and Torah the route.

This view, articulated by Maimonides, was developed in the modern age in a variety of forms. Devotees of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch called it Torah im derech eretz, “Torah with general culture.”

In Yeshiva University it came to be known as Torah u-Madda, “Torah and science.”

Together with the late Aaron Lichtenstein zt”l, I preferred the phrase Torah veChochmah, “Torah and wisdom,” because wisdom is a biblical category.

Recently, the science writer David Epstein published a fascinating book called Range, subtitled, How Generalists Triumph in a Specialised World. He makes the point that overconcentration on a single specialised topic is good for efficiency but bad for creativity. The real creatives, the Nobel prize winners, are often those who had outside interests, who knew other disciplines, or had passions and hobbies outside their subject. Even in a field like sport, for every Tiger Woods, who had a feel for

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golf even before he could speak, there is a Roger Federer, who exercised his skills in many sports before, quite late in youth, choosing to focus on tennis.

He showed that it is possible to be utterly devoted to Jewish faith and law and yet be creative, showing people spiritual and intellectual depths they had not seen before.

Lehavdil, it was precisely Maimonides’ breadth of knowledge of science, medicine, psychology, astronomy, philosophy, logic, and many other fields that allowed him to be so creative in everything he wrote, from his letters, to his Commentary to the Mishnah, to the Mishnah Torah itself, structured differently from any other code of Jewish law, all the way to The Guide for the Perplexed. Maimonides said things that many may have sensed before, but no one had expressed so cogently and powerfully. He showed that it is possible to be utterly devoted to Jewish faith and law and yet be creative, showing people spiritual and intellectual depths they had not seen before. That was his way making a tzohar, a window for the tevah, the divine word.

On the other hand, the Zohar 24

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conceives of Torah as a precious stone that gives light of itself and needs none from the outside. Its world is a closed system, a very deep, passionate, moving, sustained search for intimacy with the Divine that dwells within the universe and within the human soul.

So we are not forced to choose either the one or the other. Recall that Chizkuni said that Noah had a precious stone for the dark days and a window for when the sun shone again.

Something like that happened when it came to Torah also. During the dark days of persecution, Jewish mysticism flourished, and Torah was illuminated from within. During the benign days when the world was more open to Jews, they had a window to the outside, and so emerged figures like Maimonides in the Middle Ages, and Samson Raphael Hirsch in the 19th century.

I believe that the challenge for our time is to open a series of windows so that the world can illuminate our understanding of Torah and Torah guide us as we seek to make our way through the world.

Covenant and Conversation 5780 is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l.

These weekly teachings from Rabbi Sacks are part of the ‘Covenant & Conversation’ series on the weekly Torah reading. Read more on www.rabbisacks. org.

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RABBI NACHMAN (NEIL) WINKLER PROBING BY Faculty, OU Israel Center THE PROPHETS l

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here are times when, upon reading or hearing the haftarah, we assume that there is no reason to wonder about its connection to the parashat hashavua. A certain theme, or a specific phrase found in the selection makes it clear why Chazal chose that exact reading from the nevi’im for that exact Shabbat. That is certainly true of this week’s haftarah. The reading found in Sefer Yishayahu perek 54 is a familiar one for us, since we read it less than two months ago as the haftarah for parashat Ki Tetze. On that occasion, we used the words of the Navi as a source of comfort for a grieving nation who were still mourning some weeks after Tish’a B’av. On this Shabbat, it seems that Chazal chose this same selection because of its mention of “the waters of No’ach”, certainly a fitting choice for the parasha of No’ach. But we would be mistaken if we made that assumption.

the haftarah, it is that Chazal seldom chose any specific reading based upon one phrase or a simple idea. And that is true of this haftarah as well. Hashem promises Israel never again to punish her as He did at churban bayit and reinforces His pledge by comparing it to the brit He made with No’ach promising never again to flood the earth-“Ki mei No’ach zot li.” But, as Chief Rabbi J.H. Hertz wrote, there is a deeper message to be found in this comparison.

If we have learned anything over these years of analyzing the deeper (and sometime hidden) messages of

Rabbi Hertz suggests that Yishayahu’s message goes beyond the mere mention of No’ach and the flood. The Navi is also reminding the nation that the destruction of the flood led to the construction of a new world, a better world. Through this simple reminder, Hashem was urging the people to see in the churban and their subsequent galut not simply an end-but also a beginning;

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The Navi is also reminding the nation that the destruction of the flood led to the construction of a new world, a better world.

not a final destruction of their society but an opportunity to build a new and better one.

For us, the new beginning hinted to in the haftarah reflects the reality of our day.

2,700 years ago Yishayahu proclaimed to the grieving nation: “Ha’arichi m’kom oholeich”, “Broaden your tent”, predicting “Ki yamin us’mol tifrotzi”, “For you will burst out to the south and to the north.” He continues to prophesy: “V’zar’ech goyim yirash”, “Your future descendants will conquer nations” and “V’arim n’shamot yoshivu”, “They will settle the (once) desolate cities”. And Hashem’s promise “Ki heharim yamushu”, that even though the mountains may be moved and the hills might falter, Hashem will never remove His kindnesses from us-that promise, so long awaited, is being fulfilled before our very eyes.

I would strongly submit to you that our search for meaning in the haftarot, important as it is, takes on a new significance for us. We no longer have to search to reveal hidden meaningsfor they are no longer hidden. Whereas past generations searched for meaning in the promises as a source of comfort, we look at those same promises and find their fruition in the headlines of our day.

So much of the “Atachalta D’g’ulah” that we always prayed for is something that we now experience. And our recitation of the weekly haftarah often becomes a revelation of the fact that what is occurring today is precisely what was predicted yesterday.

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RABBI SHALOM Kehilla, Nofei HaShemesh ROSNER Rav Maggid Shiur, Daf Yomi, OU.org

Using Time Productively

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n Parashat Noach, we are introduced to a world replete with theft, promiscuity, and corruption. How could the behavior of mankind sink so low so quickly? What was at the root of their evil behavior? Rav Pam explains that the answer to this question may be provided by understanding a particular midrash.

We are introduced to Noach at the end of last week’s parasha. Why was he named Noach?

‫ זה ינחמנו ממעשנו ומעצבון‬:‫ויקרא את שמו נח לאמר‬ )‫כט‬:‫ (בראשית ה‬.’‫ידינו מן האדמה אשר אררה ה‬ They called him Noach because they saw that he would help them, that

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he would save them from all their agricultural difficulties. (Bereshit 5:29) What led the people to think that this newborn child would provide some sort of salvation to mankind? Were they prophets?

The midrash explains that Noach was the first human to be born with separated fingers. Prior to Noach’s birth, all humans were created with webbed fingers. This was not an issue, since before Adam sinned, man was not supposed to have to work the land.

His punishment was “by the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread.”

(Bereshit 3:19). For an individual with webbed hands, this was indeed a harsh punishment. How is someone with webbed hands supposed to hold a shovel or other tools needed to plow the land?

Then, suddenly, a child is born with separate fingers. At first, the people did

not know whether this was a mutation or something that would become a new reality. Quickly, it became apparent that it was a “game changer.” Noach’s birth brought about unbelievable technological advancement in the world. Fingers! What an amazing creation! Suddenly, people could work the land more efficiently! With this newfound dexterity, tasks that seemed difficult and nearly impossible were accomplished quickly, efficiently, and with precision. Tasks that took hours could now be completed in minutes.

According to the Midrash Tanhuma (11), he invented the plow to seed the earth, the scythe to cut wheat, and the ax to fell trees. As amazing as it may seem, until then, all such work was done by hand! These basic tools were absolutely revolutionary in the times of Noach and brought about a radical improvement in the task of earning one’s daily bread.

Getting back now to our question (how did mankind turn so evil so as to deserve to be destroyed?), the simple answer is that innovation led to leisure hours. People became much more efficient and suddenly had a lot of free time on their hands. Free time in and of itself is not problematic. What is problematic is when that time is used in the wrong way.

When there is free time, when we have freedom to do whatever we want, we can use that time productively and accomplish great things, or we can use it in an unproductive and wasteful OU ISRAEL CENTER

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manner that can lead to destruction.

As we know, what transpired among the generation of the Flood was corruption, crime, and violence.

Society degenerated at a shocking pace, and the worst forms of immorality took hold. There was an epidemic of absolute wickedness that the world had not seen in more than fifteen centuries of its existence.

What led to the destruction of the generation of the Flood was the way they misused their free time.

As we know, we are always better off when we’re busy than when we’re not. The more work we have, the more productive we become. This idea helps illuminate the last mishna in Makkot (3:16), which states, “HaKadosh Barukh Hu wanted to bring merit to Israel, so he increased the Torah and commandments for them.” Several

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commentators ask: Hashem wanted to give us merit, so He provided us with 613 commandments? Give us ten!

How is it meritorious to have so many commandments? An answer might be that the busier we are, the better off we are. When a person does not occupy his time with constructive activities, it leads to boredom, which can be destructive. The reason for this is that boredom brings on mental instability and a desire for immorality. When a person has nothing with which to fill his time, he gets into trouble. What led to the destruction of the generation of the Flood was the way they misused their free time.

A story is also told of the Hafetz Hayim, who was approached by a talmid who explained that Rabbi Naftali Tropp, a Rosh Yeshiva in Radin, was very ill, and talmidim were undertaking to donate time from their lives toward Rabbi Tropp. This talmid asked the Hafetz Hayim how much time he was willing to donate: a day, a week, a month?

The Hafetz Hayim thought for a few moments and said, “I will donate one

minute.” The talmid was puzzled. The Hafetz Hayim explained, “Do you not realize how much one can accomplish in a minute?” This was the Hafetz Hayim, who wrote Mishna Berura, Shemirat HaLashon, and many other great books. He utilized and maximized every second of his life productively.

There is a famous saying: “If you want something to get done, give the task to the busiest person in the room.”

It is easy to turn down a job or forgo an additional responsibility because we are “too busy” to learn for half an hour at night or attend a shiur once a week. One important lesson we need to learn from the generation of the Flood is to be as productive as we can and to utilize our time properly.

This dvar torah appears in Rav Shalom Rosner’s recently released book “Shalom Rav” – insights on the weekly Parasha. Available at: www. maggidbooks.com

CHESED FUND Please help us help the 40 individuals and families who turn to us for help Make checks (Israeli, only) payable to the "Chesed Fund" and send them to

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REBBETZIN SHIRA SMILES Faculty, OU Israel Center

Wonderful Words

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he similarities between our society and the generation of the Flood are striking. Immorality, lack of respect for people and property -- a general sense of lawlessness pervades our world. What was Noach’s secret, how was he saved? What is the secret of the ark that protected Noach and his family?

The key is found in a cryptic phrase at the end of Parashat Bereishit, “Noach matza chen b’einei Hashem” (Bereishit 6;8). What was this special “favor” that Noach possessed? Rabbi Schorr in Halekach Vehalibuv extrapolates from the words “hutzak chen besiftotecha” (Tehillim 45;3) that “chen” is connected to purity of speech. The generation of the Flood is characterized by those who didn’t stand by their word. Chazal attribute the passuk, “Let those who

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speak falsely be destroyed” (Tehillim 5;7) as a reference to those that lived at the time of the Deluge. Indeed, the Mishnah teaches us that one who reneges on a transaction will be punished by the One who punished the generation of the Flood (Baba Metziah chapter 4;2). Noach separated himself from this behavior and carried himself with decency and propriety.

Tefillah is the medium through which we connect to Hashem and to others.

We can now appreciate the Torah’s description of non- kosher animals as those that “are not pure” as opposed to the shorter phrase “impure” when Hashem commands Noach to gather the animals before the Flood. It is specifically in this section which teaches us the value of language and verbal expression that the Torah emphasizes refined speech.

Indeed, Teivah which means ark, literally means a ‘word’. Noach was saved by entering into the world of positive speech, the world of refinement. The dimensions of the Ark reflect this idea as well. The Ark was 30 amot by 300 amot by 50 amot.

The Hebrew letters that parallel these numbers are “nun”, “shin” and “lamed” which spell “lashon” – speech.

However, it is important to note that the letter “vav” is missing to highlight a lack in Noach’s speech. Vav is the letter of chibur-connection. Tefillah is the medium through which we connect to Hashem and to others by feeling their pain and difficulty and caring enough to daven for their relief. The lack of vav in the word lashon indicates Noach’s lack of desire to connect with others and do something to improve their future, hence the absence of the letter vav. Noach did not bond to the people of his generation by not davening for their salvation.

This is the ‘teivah’ that we can create in our lives to shield us from the deluge of immorality that surrounds us. Let us ensure that we keep our word and speak with refinement and sensitivity.

In this way we will be blessed with the elusive quality of ‘chen’ and increase goodwill in our world.

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RABBI JUDAH OU-NCSY MISCHEL Mashpiah, Executive Director, Camp HASC Dedicated L'Iluy Nishmas HaChaver Shlomo Michael ben Meir z'l

Noach: Believing in a Sleepy Maariv

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ne winter, a young man set out on a long journey to meet with the Chafetz Chayim in Radin. By the time he arrived at his host, he was deeply exhausted. After a good meal, he slipped under the warm covers of the bed, and as he was drifting off to sleep, remembered that he had not davened Maariv. He struggled with the idea of getting out of bed, and considered davening right there, under the covers. But, he thought, a purported Ben Torah on his way to meet the Gadol HaDor the next morning — how could he even consider davening a ‘Shluffy Maariv’ in bed? The young man decided to give himself a couple of minutes to muster his strength to get up, get dressed again and pray ‘properly’.

Alas, nature took its course, and the next thing he knew, he awoke with a jolt; it was morning, and later than he’d planned to arise. Pressed for time before his meeting, 34

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he rushed through Shacharis prayers and also neglected to offer a Tashlumim, a make-up prayer for his missed Maariv.

As the young man entered the Yeshiva in Radin, before he could even offer his greetings, the Chafetz Chayim said, ‘A generation ago there was great wealth in Russia, and so much so, that if a gold coin fell on the floor, no one would rush to pick it up. Today, times have changed; there’s such grinding poverty in Russia, there are long lines of destitute people waiting for food, and ready to swarm over any loose, rusty ruble….

We could perhaps understand a Yeshivah Bachur feeling that — in relative terms — his own personal service might not be not be “worth” very much.

‘In earlier times, when the Temple stood,’ explained the Chafetz Chayim, ‘in an era of prophecy, when Am Yisrael enjoyed days of great spiritual abundance, we could perhaps understand a Yeshivah Bachur feeling that — in relative terms — his own personal service might not be not be “worth” very much. In our generation,

there is great spiritual poverty and alienation. And,’ concluded the Chafetz Chayim, ‘even a sleepy Maariv, or a rushed Tashlumim on the way out the door, is very precious to the Ribbono Shel Olam!’ ~ “Noach was a righteous man he was perfect in his generations; Noach walked with God…” While our sedra begins by extolling the virtues of Noach, further on in the Parsha (7:7), Rashi explains that Noach was M’katnei Emunah, “one who had little faith, believing-and-not-believing that the Flood would come, and he did not enter the ark until the waters forced him to do so.”

How can someone whom the Torah calls Tzadik, righteous, and Tamim, perfect — a man who “walked with G-d” — be considered M’katnei Emunah, underdeveloped spiritually and possessing little faith?

Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev zy’a explains that while Noach certainly believed in G-d, he didn’t believe enough in himself. Noach didn’t believe that he

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was up to the task of leading, of inspiring others, or that his prayers could make a difference and avert the Flood. Lacking self esteem and the awareness that Hashem was empowering him to make a difference in the world, Noach fell short of his potential, and in some way, was held responsible for the destructiveness of the Mabul.

Parshas Noach is an opportunity to remember that true faith in G-d means knowing that G-d believes in us. Reliving the account of Noach’s opportunity ought to awaken our sense of being charged with purpose. While we may feel far from considering ourselves Tzadikim or Temimim who “walk with G-d,” we can all learn from Noach’s struggle and be encouraged to strengthen our faith

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through the opportunities and challenges Hashem has summoned us to.

In the day-to-day Mabul of busy-ness and distraction, we can be swept away by the mighty waters of our Yetzer Hara.

It is specifically during those moments, when our Avodas Hashem feels less than ideal, that we can fix the mistake of Noach.

When we are exhausted, yearning for some warmth under the covers, and all we can manage is to mutter Maariv under our blankets in between sleepy yawns, we must recognize that our every attempt to grow and to serve Hashem shines brilliantly with holiness, and is cherished by the Ribbono Shel Olam.

May Hashem help us believe in ourselves and our efforts!

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The Jerusalem Municipality is proud to present the upgraded site for Anglos

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SIMCHAT SHMUEL

BY RABBI SAM SHOR

Program Director, OU Israel Center

T

here is a fascinating teaching in the Zohar HaChadash that upon emerging from the teiva and witnessing the destruction in the world following the flood, Noach began to weep, and then call out to Hashem- questioning how could it be that the world was decimated. Hashem, according to this teaching answers Noach, calling him a foolish servant- I told you that you were righteous before me, and that the world was destined for destruction, and you did nothing! You had the capacity to daven and intercede, and you did nothing to convince me that the world was worth protecting!

The great Chasidic Master Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, zy’a points out something interesting in this teaching. In not advocating at all, by not making any effort whatsoever to show concern for others, Noach was not simply selling others short, but rather was selling himself short! Noach simply did not understand or believe that he as a righteous person, had the ability to both advocate for or influence others! He simply didn’t understand that he, like each of us can indeed make a difference-that we are all given the gift of koach hatefila, the power of tefila to transform ourselves, and transform the world!

Reb Levi Yitzchak teaches us so powerfully that so too each of us should 52

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reflect on this powerful lesson, that each of us should appreciate the capacity each of us has been endowed with, that our actions and tefilot do have the ability to impact others, and to lift up the entire world.

How can I contribute to making the world a better place?

This idea is reflected in a powerful short teaching from the Tzidkat HaTzadik, Reb Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin: K’sheim She’Adam Tzarich L’Haamin B’Hashem Yitbarach, kach tzarich achar kach l’haamin b’atzmo-Just as a person must believe and be faithful to Hashem, so too one must believe and have faith in oneself!

Hashem bestows each of us with incredible capabilities-each of us must look inward with confidence and ask ourselves-how can I contribute to making the world a better place?

May each of us take to heart these two powerful ideas, and B’Ezrat Hashem, may we merit both to channel those inner strengths, and collectively bring about a transformation of the entire world.

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RABBI AARON Editor, Torah Tidbits GOLDSCHEIDER

Noach’s Water

I

n a world taken over by evil, violence, and corruption Noach is presented in the Torah as a tzaddik, a righteous man, who was the only follower of God left on earth (Bereshit 6:9).

On the verse, “And Noach had begotten three sons: Shem, Cham, and Yephet” (Bereshit 6:10), the Noam Elimlech, Rebbe Elimelech of Lizensk gave the following symbolic interpretation. Beyond the simple meaning the pasuk also hints to three outstanding traits that Noach generated (va’yoled) in his life. Noach ascended to higher and higher degrees of perfection.

Shem (‘name’) stands for the first degree, which alludes to sanctifying the Holy name (Ha’Shem) through obedience and devotion. Cham, which means warmth, represents feelings of love and closeness towards the Creator. The third degree, Yephet, which alludes to ‘beauty’ or ‘perfection’ reflects purity of service to the Almighty (Noam Elimelech, pp. 3-4).

Although Noach attained the lofty status of a tzaddik, our Sages note certain imperfections in his overall performance (Rashi, Bereshit 6:9).

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Rabbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740-1809) offered a most memorable interpretation (Kedushat Levi, Noach p.8).

The Berditchever noted that there are two types of tzaddikim. There is the tzaddik who is concerned only for himself and does not get involved with others, who therefore does not influence others in achieving spiritual heights. Then, there is the tzaddik who is very much concerned for his fellow man. He is the one who tries to bring people closer to God and helps people reach great heights. Noach exemplified the first type of tzaddik.

‫ נח לבדו היה עובד‬:‫“את האלקים היה מתהלך נח‬ ‫ אבל לא היה מתהלך עם הבריות‬,‫ ברוך הוא‬,‫הבורא‬ ‫ ברוך הוא” (קדושת לוי‬,‫לקרבם להיות מעובדי הבורא‬ )‫פרשת נח ד”ה אלה תולדות נח‬ Chassidim have a compelling way of making this point. They called Noach ‘a tzaddik im peltz’, ‘a righteous man wearing a fur coat’. There are two ways of keeping warm on a cold night. You can wear a fur coat or light a fire. Wear a fur coat and you warm yourself. Light a fire and you warm others. We are supposed to light a fire.

With this simple, yet profound teaching the Berditchever puts forward one of the most beautiful and forceful ideas found in Chassidic thought and practice: the responsibility to reach out to others to bring them closer to the Creator.

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Rebbe Levi Yitzchak himself is remembered for his utmost compassion and gentleness and for his legendary love for every Jew, no matter his spiritual or material state. He once said. “If ever I pass away and I have the option of being alone in paradise or to go to purgatory, but there to be in the company of other Jews, I would certainly choose the latter.

As long as I am together with other Jews!”

He was always judging people in a favorable light. One of his best known examples is the following anecdote: A wagon driver in Berditchev was saying his morning prayers, and at the same time, was greasing the wheels of his wagon. He was indeed an interesting sight, praying, wearing his tefillin, with his grease-covered hands. The townspeople walked by and snickered, “What a disgrace. Look at this ignoramus.

He is greasing his wagon wheels while praying.” The great Rebbe Levi Yitzchak then came along and said, “Master of the Universe, look at your servant, the wagon-driver, even while he is greasing his wagon wheels he is still praising Your great and holy Name.” (‘The Light Beyond’, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan p.5).

The Berditchover beautifully taught that whenever we correct others it must be done with pleasant words, with warmth and compassion. The key, he argued, is to view every Jew as containing a lofty soul. The Rebbe wrote, “All Jewish souls are actually hewn from a place higher than the Throne of Glory...The individual who corrects 56

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other Jews by speaking of their greatness uplifts Jewish souls higher and higher.”

(Kedushat Levi, Chukat p. 225). In the words of one contemporary Chassidic teacher, “Were we to see the image of God in the other - could we ever show anger to another human being?’

Rabbinic sources have famously compared the conduct of Noach with Avraham (Rashi, Bereshit 6:9).

The following Midrash associates a verse in Tehillim (45:8) with the personalities of Avraham and Noach: “You loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellow.” The Sages explain that this passage refers to Avraham. The meaning of this verse is not be understood as simply stating that he loved righteousness and hated wickedness -that goes without saying.

Rather the meaning is as follows: ‘You loved righteousness’, you loved justifying and finding the good in others, ‘and hated wickedness’ - you refused to accuse others of their faults.” In this way you are “above your fellow,” you excelled in kindness well beyond the conduct of Noach (Bereshit Rabbah 49:9).

When the prophet Isaiah hearkens back to the incident of flood and the actions of Noach, he refers to the episode with a rather surprising expression Mai Noach, ‘Noach’s water’ (Isaiah 54:9).

Rabbi Joseph Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik zt”l (1903-1993) taught from the Zohar

that Noach’s name is connected to the flood because he was in a certain sense responsible for it. He did not pray to God to spare the people, nor did he take any initiative to bring the people to repent. Noach did not act, assured in the knowledge that he and his family would survive even though all others would perish (‘Rosh Hashana Machzor: With the Commentary of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’, p 402).

Following the events of Noach, the Torah shares the story of Avraham. We quickly learn about the great lengths Avraham took to save the sinful city of Sodom. Although God clearly states that the people of Sodom are wicked beyond question - ‘The cry of Sodom and Gemorrah is great and their sin very grievous”(Genesis 18:20) - nevertheless, Avraham’s response exemplified mercy and compassion. He was determined to find good, even righteousness, in the midst of the city of Sodom’s misdeeds and wrongdoing.

The holy Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidut, urged us to consider the teachings of the Torah not as stories from days gone by, but rather lessons to be internalized and lived.

We are called on to perceive the image of God in our fellow man and be steadfast in our belief that a spark of holiness can be ignited in everyone.

It is a profound act of love to pursue the gesture of vindicating others and a foremost mitzvah to relentlessly search for virtue in our fellow man.

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DIVREI MENACHEM

BY MENACHEM PERSOFF

Special Projects Consultant, OU Israel Center mpersoff@ou.org

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n this day and age, we are wont to consider sacrifices as bloody, inhuman, and anachronistic. For did not the ancients appease their angry gods accordingly, often accompanied by abominable practices? So of what significance was Noach’s offering of “Olot” – ascent offerings – after his deliverance from the Flood? Moreover, asks R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch, what was so unique about Noach’s sacrifices that spurred Hashem to set a plan for the subsequent development of earth and humanity? For, inter alia, G-d declared, “Never again shall I curse the ground for the sake of Mankind” (Bereishit 8:21).

One of the rabbi’s several textual insights provides us with an authentic Jewish approach to these questions.

The term “Mizbe’ach,” the altar, as presented frequently in Jewish law, was to be “a man-made elevation of the ground [directed] towards G-d.” As such, the Mizbe’ach symbolizes man building himself up from the base level of nature to the “godlike, free-willed level of humanity” – an a priori state from which he aspires to become ever closer to Hashem.

In this way, Noach, the progenitor of the human race, consecrated the earth at the very place, according to several 58

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sources, destined to become “the mountain of G-d,” Mount Moriah.

The term “Mizbe’ach,” from the root ZEVACH, implies a feast – not a killing.

While the sacrifice is yet “Lechem Isheh Lashem,” this term can be understood as food to nourish the flame of godliness on earth. It is as if the one who offers the sacrifice is offering himself to Hashem – the G-d of Mercy (the only biblical reference to G-d associated with sacrifices) – who is the Source of all life and future existence. What a beautiful and sublime thought to take us into Shabbat!

Shabbat Shalom!

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FROM THE VIRTUAL DESK OF THE

OU VEBBE REBBE RAV DANIEL MANN

Personal Requests on Shabbat Question: What types of requests are prohibited on Shabbat? Is davening for peace and tranquility in one’s own words permitted?

Answer: It would appear that there are contradictory approaches on the idea of withholding requests on Shabbat. The Yerushalmi (Shabbat 15:3) says that one is not allowed to “demand his needs” on Shabbat.

In Berachot (5:2), it explains that Havdala in Shemoneh Esrei is at the very beginning of the request section because requests are inappropriate before ending Shabbat. The gemara (Berachot 21a), though, rules that if one began one of the middle berachot on Shabbat, he completes that beracha, as the middle berachot are appropriate and are withheld only to avoid tircha (extra toil) on Shabbat for daveners.

So it seems to be a machloket whether the content of requests is appropriate on Shabbat. (Some Rishonim (see Beit Yosef, Orach Chayim 268) say that only the first beracha can be done if 60

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started by mistake, because asking for wisdom is a spiritual request. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 268:2) rejects this distinction.)

However, a distinction in the first Yerushalmi allows the sources to coexist. It raises the question of whether the parts of the third beracha of Birkat Hamazon that contain requests can be recited on Shabbat. Its answer is that it can since it is a tofes (set form of the) beracha. In other words, special requests are problematic, not ones that are part of the normal text. Thus, Chazal did not have to remove Shemoneh Esrei’s middle berachot but decided to do so because of tircha (Aruch Hashulchan, OC 268:3). Therefore, if one accidentally slips into the set Shemoneh Esrei mode, he may finish it.

The Midrash Tanchuma (Vayeira 1) does gives a different reason for omitting the middle berachot – thinking about the needs addressed in these berachot can remind one of his problems and make him unduly sad.

We might suggest that requests of the masses are permitted, as they are in the first and last three berachot of Shemoneh Esrei (Shulchan Aruch, OC 112:1). However, the Rivash (512) proves from the fact that the requests in Birkat Hamazon, which apply to the

The Orthodox Union - via its website - fields questions of all types in areas of kashrut, Jewish law and values. Some of them are answered by Eretz Hemdah, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, headed by Rav Yosef Carmel and Rav Moshe Ehrenreich, founded by HaRav Shaul Yisraeli zt”l, to prepare rabbanim and dayanim to serve the National Religious community in Israel and abroad. Ask the Rabbi is a joint venture of the OU, Yerushalayim Network, Eretz Hemdah... and OU Israel’s Torah Tidbits.

masses (Yerushalayim etc.), would have been forbidden if they had not been part of the set text, that this does not solve the Shabbat problem.

It is unclear the extent to which being set helps. On the one hand, the Rivash explains that Zocherenu L’chayim can be said during Shabbat of Aseret Y’mei Teshuva because it is a set part of Shemoneh Esrei throughout that period. The Ohr Zarua (II:89) similarly justifies Elokai Netzor (full of requests) on Shabbat on these grounds. This is not obvious when one considers that it is somewhat after the Amida and Chazal did not institute it as a required text (Berachot 17a cites it as one Amora’s personal prayer). He says that it is permitted now only because it has become widely accepted, implying that an individual’s set addition would be a problem.

The Rivash (ibid.) discusses Avinu Malkeinu, reasoning that since it is separate from regular tefilla, it should be improper on Shabbat. (On the other hand, he justifies all of the several minhagim on the matter, saying that the halachic issues are not serious enough to change a community minhag.)

We should also note that almost all communities recite public requests (e.g., Yekum Purkan), specifically on

Shabbat, as well as Mi Shebeirach for the sick (we do add, “Shabbat hi milizok”).

In short, while it is difficult to explain every element of our minhagim on public prayers on Shabbat, the individual should not add his own requests, other than in a case of acute need that cannot be delayed.

Your question about peace presents a wonderful opportunity to point out that we have many opportunities. Sim Shalom, which remains in the Shabbat Amida, is a request for peace. Nothing prevents us from taking a little extra time to contemplate ideas that abound in our standard text and cognitively relate them to matters that are on our mind. One should just avoid doing it a manner that makes him sad on Shabbat.

Having a dispute?

For a Din Torah in English or Hebrew contact ‘Eretz Hemdah - Gazit’ Rabbinical Court: 077215-8-215 • fax: (02) 537-9626 beitdin@eretzhemdah.org OU ISRAEL CENTER

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Puah for Fertility and RABBI GIDEON Machon Gynecology in Accordance with Halacha WEITZMAN

Being Infertile Is Not An Illness

W

e return this week to our discussion on the definition of illness and the halachic status of a couple experiencing fertility difficulties. This is based on the answers received and published by PUAH from a variety of poskim.

Last time we saw that the Beit Yosef (Orach Chayim 328) lists four levels of illness. The most severe is a person suffering from a life threatening condition or illness, called choleh sheyesh bo sakanah.

In such a case we can and must break Shabbat to save their life. It is clear that a couple undergoing fertility treatment or suffering from infertility cannot be

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considered choleh sheyesh bo sakanah as their lives are not in danger. There are rare cases, such as hyperstimulation, that can potentially be dangerous, but this extreme case does not determine that all couples with fertility challenges can be considered choleh sheyesh bo sakanah.

It would appear that the infertile couple must fall into one of these categories.

This leaves three other possible categories of illness to consider; the least severe is called michush beâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;alma, meaning someone who has discomfort but who is not ill. The next two categories are choleh sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ein bo sakanah, someone who is ill but not in danger, and sakanat eivar, a case in

which there is danger to a limb but the person is not in danger.

It would appear that the infertile couple must fall into one of these categories. In most cases there is no threat to a particular limb or organ of the body, and so we are left with two categories; discomfort but not ill or ill but in no danger.

The Aruch Hashulchan (Orach Chayim 328:19) states that in order to be considered ill one must be bedridden or at least housebound. Only when the entire body is weak and in pain can one be considered to be ill. Based on this, Rabbi Dov Lior, the previous Rabbi of Hevron, classed the infertile couple as healthy and, at the most, in the category of michush beâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;alma.

I heard a similar psak from the late Rabbi Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth, the author of the monumental work on Shabbat, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah, considered as a major expert and authority on the laws of Shabbat.

Following from his psak Rabbi Lior wrote to us that any action, medical treatment or test that involves a Torah prohibition, such as drawing blood, would be prohibited even if performed by a non-Jew. Any procedure that involved a rabbinic prohibition, such as giving an injection, can be performed by a non-Jew, but cannot be done by a Jew. More on this next week.

Supervision, and education programs.

Offices in Jerusalem, New York, Los Angeles, Paris. Contact: (02) 651-5050 (Isr) 718336-0603 (US) www.puahonline.org OU ISRAEL CENTER

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TORAH VEHA'ARETZ RABBI MOSHE BLOOM INSTITUTE BY www.toraland.org.il/en

Sprouting Seeds in Your House for Consumption #2 Continuing our discussion on home sprouts from last week: Placing the seeds on mesh screens before Shabbat It is permitted to moisten or soak seeds before Shabbat, even though some seeds will probably start to sprout on Shabbat: This is permitted since the act is completed as soon as the seeds enter the water. The actual sprouting occurs afterwards, with no further action needed on Shabbat (Shulchan Aruch, OC, §252:1).

It is the accepted practice to sow fields on any day of the week without the concern that the sprouting might occur on Shabbat.

Removing sprouts from mesh screens on Shabbat If you want to use the sprouts on Shabbat, you need to remove the sprouts from the growing container before Shabbat and store them in a storage container (different from where the sprouts grew).

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If the sprouts were not removed, they are forbidden to use on Shabbat. Removing the sprouts from the growing container on Shabbat is considered “uprooting a plant from its place of growth,” which is forbidden as a subcategory of kotzer, harvesting.

This is a biblical prohibition, even though we are not uprooting the sprouts from the soil, since this is the common way sprouts are grown (it is not considered like a plant growing in an unperforated pot, a rabbinic prohibition).

Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank explains that “For every (plant), the place where it generally grows will always be subject to the prohibition of kotzer, whether connected or unconnected to the soil.”

For this reason, with home sprouting, which is the general method of sprout cultivation, it is a biblical prohibition to remove sprouts from their growing containers, even if not growing in water.

(Shabbat 27b; Shulchan Aruch OC §366,5– 7; Har Tzvi Tal Harim Kotzer 1; Emunat Itecha 100 (5773), p. 22)

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RABBI BEREL WEIN Rav, Beit Knesset Hanassi, Jerusalem

T

he Torah describes for us in this week's reading that the rainbow becomes the symbol of God's covenant with the human race that the world will not be destroyed by another flood. The appearance of the rainbow in the narrative of Noach and Noach’s emergence from the ark does not mean that rainbow was then created. According to rabbinic tradition, the rainbow existed from the time of original creation itself.

What is significant is that God points out to Noach that the rainbow now has a significant meaning to humankind, and is not to be observed and thought of as being merely another of the great many phenomena that we call nature.

Rather, when human beings see a rainbow, they should be reminded of God's covenant with us, and how we are all descended from one family that was the progenitor of humankind, as we know it today. One of the interesting aspects about the rainbow

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is that when Jews view it they are bidden to recite a blessing about it. This is meant to teach us an important lesson that the wonders of nature are there to serve us as constant reminders of our relationship to our Creator, and our obligations that this obligation entails. Because of this, Jewish tradition also teaches us that we are not to stare at length or directly at a rainbow, because the rainbow represents God's presence in our world, and He is not to subjected to prolonged stares.

This lesson is true in all areas of human life and in our relationship to nature. Pantheism promulgated the idea that nature itself is God. That is a misrepresentation of the true relationship between the Creator and what was created. Judaism teaches us that we are to see the wonders of the planet that we inhabit as part of God's scheme in creating the world, and react to them

through the prism of the Torah that the Lord has granted to Israel. Viewing nature without Torah insight and background is again reverting to pantheism. That is the meaning of the Mishnah in Avot that one should not interrupt one's study in order to admire a beautiful phenomenon of nature. Nature has to be viewed through knowledge and understanding of Torah, and not as something that is distinct and unrelated to Torah and its values. Seeing nature devoid of any moral backdrop or spirituality diminishes the wonders of nature, and the grandeur of the world that we live in. A rainbow without the message of the Lord to Noach loses much of its beauty and a great deal of its meaning.

In the Talmud, we find that great and noble people were themselves compared to the rainbow, because in seeing a noble person one can also see links to the nature of the Creator that fashion that person.

Everything in life and in nature, as well as our judgment of human beings, should always be viewed from the perspective of Torah and eternity.

Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Berel Wein

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Outlines of three pears with different animals in them. Old joke about the worms coming to Noah's Ark in an apple, but all the other animals coming in pears (pairs) • Swan and sheep are marked with x7, since, as kosher animals, they came in seven pairs • The fish reminds us that fish were not taken on the Teiva, but survived the Mabul, according to Tradition, in a column of water under the Teiva that did not have the destructive forces of the rest of the floodwaters • Triceratops did not survive the Flood (one explanation) • The famous dove with olive branch...

• the cloud with rainbow is obvious as is the cloud with rain • The grapes and wine flask are references to No'ach's post-Flood occupation of vintner... and the sad episode that followed his over-tasting of his product • People figures represent the proliferation of human beings after the Flood • The (leaning) Tower of Babel accompanied by words of many languages • The words all mean HELLO • Ear of corn, TIRAS in Hebrew • a KUSH ball • GOMER Pyle • an OVAL for one of the sons of YOKTAN ben EIVER • another son of Yoktan was SH'VA, represented by the SH'VA in the oval • a 12-inch ruler represents one of the sons of Cham, PUT, as in U'FOOT • Buttons are for KAFTORIM, descendant from Cham via Mitzrayim • package, in Hebrew, CHAVILA - not spelled the same as the two 68

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of No'ach's descendants, but sound-alikes • "Falafel" insignia of a major in the IDF. In Hebrew, RAV SEREN, acronym: RESEN, the name of one of the cities built by Nimrod • The letter CHET is for CHEIT, one of the descendants of No'ach via Cham via K'naan • Razor blades - LEHAVIM, descendant of Mitzrayim • Railroad crossing sign and the rat go together to make R R rat. Say it just right, and you get the resting place of the Teiva • The letter O and the numeral 4.

Read the four in Yiddish and you get OFIR, a son of YOKTAN • Super Circles (a great card game for all ages) is rainbow-like • Lower-right is a BUL (stamp) of a bull. BUL is another name for Marcheshvan • Poker hand is a pair of sevens - reverse that to seven pairs of kosher animals on the Teiva • Phone number is that of Zohar • Other stamp is a UN issue featuring No'ach's dove and the rainbow • between the bull stamp and the razor blades is the set-up of a game called NIM using keys as the 15 playing pieces of this particular version of NIM, given us KINIM. This does not mean lice, which is spelled with a KAF, but in Parshat No'ach we find KINIM spelled with a KUF and meaning that the ark was to be built with compartments • the baseball player towards the upper-right is Curtis FLOOD • and to the left of the dove is the logo of Babylon (as in Migdal Bavel) - a computer dictionary and translator. Seems likely that the name of the program was chosen based on the Tower of Bavel (Babylonia) episode • crocheted kipa is for S'RUG. Note to (grand)parents: After looking the PP over and these explanations, choose which elements would be most appropriate for you (grand)children).

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RABBI EPHRAIM SPRECHER Faculty, OU Israel Center

Noach’s Drinking

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hy is wine so essential to Judaism? All of our sacred occasions are accompanied by the drinking of wine. During Kiddush, Havdala, Weddings, Sheva Brachot, Brit Mila and the 4 Cups on Pesach wine is required. Why??

To find the answer we must look into the Talmud. The Talmud discusses the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, wondering what type of fruit it was (Berachot 40a, Sanhedrin 70 a-b). Three opinions are presented.

According to one opinion, the forbidden fruit was wheat. This suggestion is innovative since wheat stalks are not normally considered trees.

Another opinion in the Talmud states that the forbidden fruit was a fig, for it was a fig leaf that was later used to cover Adam and Eve’s nudity (see Bereshit 3:7). According to this approach, the very item that brought about the spiritual downfall of the first human couple was sewn together to cover up their embarrassing state.

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At the root of this approach is the idea that the same object can be used to wreak destruction as well as to repair all that is wrong. It is in this vein that the prophet tells us that in the Messianic Era the sharp metal of the deadly sword will be made into plows for preparing the land to provide sustenance to all mankind. (See Yeshayahu 2:4).

According to the first opinion cited in the Talmud, the forbidden fruit in Gan Eden was a grape vine, since it is always wine that is the source of human misery.

To prove this contention, the Talmud cites the passage where Noach partook of wine and became drunk (see Bereshit 9:2).

Noach and his family came out of the Ark to a new, idyllic world. All evil had been destroyed, and what remained was pure. Noach quickly began life anew by working the cleansed land and planting a vineyard. The produce of this vineyard was made into wine, and when Noach drank and became intoxicated, his behavior and that of his son, Cham, was grossly inappropriate. Thus the new beginning - just like G-d’s initial program – was sullied by wine.

While the Talmud doesn’t quote this, another biblical episode provides a similar lesson (see Bereshit 19:30-36).

After Lot and his daughters escaped the

destruction of Sodom, they reached the safety of a cave. The two girls mistakenly believed that the entire world had been destroyed. In a desperate move, they conclude that they must have children by their father to ensure the continuation of humanity.

Yet, how could a father agree to such a depraved and immoral act? The solution suggested by the older daughter and implemented by the two women is to get Lot so drunk on wine that he would be oblivious to any sin that he committed.

This decadent plan succeeded, and both daughters became pregnant by their very own father!

of corruption and sin or as objects of holiness that repair this broken world?

(TIKUN OLAM) G-d created the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil. We choose and decide whether Knowledge is to be used for good or evil. A classic example is the internet, which contains evil, or www. rabbisprecher.com. You make the Call!

Thus, in an attempt to reverse this tragic trend, at every Sabbath and Yom Tov we seek to repair the initial damage from the Garden of Eden. Wine should no longer be a tool that brings about grief and sin. Instead, wine should be used in the service of spiritual growth and sanctification.

All G-dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creations are tools for bringing G-dliness into this physical world. Despite the woeful history of wine, we do not abstain from this hazardous drink. We seek to sanctify wine on occasions of potential spiritual growth.

Instead of relegating wine to the annals of vice and sin, it is elevated to open each and every Jewish ritual service, proudly announcing that physical objects have neutral value. We choose how to employ G-dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creations and write their history. Will they be recorded as tools OU ISRAEL CENTER

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THE DAILY BY SIVAN RAHAV-MEIR PORTION

The Power of Words ‫יש‬ ׁ ‫ִמ ּכֹל ַה ְּב ֵה ָמה ַה ְּטהו ָֹרה ִּת ַּקח ְל ָך ִׁש ְב ָעה ִׁש ְב ָעה ִא‬ ‫יש‬ ׁ ‫ׁשר לֹא ְטה ָֹרה ִהוא ְׁש ַנ ִים ִא‬ ֶ ‫ְו ִאְׁש ּתוֹ ּו ִמן ַה ְּב ֵה ָמה ֲא‬ .ֹ‫ְו ִאְׁש ּתו‬ Of all the clean animals you shall take for yourself seven pairs, a male and its mate, and of the animals that are not clean, two, a male and its mate.

(Gen. 7:2) Reading online comments on the internet can be very unsettling.

Obscene, insulting, violent, and frightening language is commonly used. I am constantly amazed that people don’t even bother to hide behind a pseudonym but use their own name and display their own cover photo when using such foul language.

In the Parashat Noah, we encounter a completely different use of language.

Noah is commanded to bring every living species into the ark: seven pairs of clean animals and one pair of not clean animals. The Torah usually uses precise language, yet in this instance the text – “the animals that are not clean” 72

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instead of “impure animals” – seems unnecessarily verbose and there must be a reason why the animal species are not defined as being impure, but rather as “not clean.” Every effort is made, and cumbersome language is used, to avoid labeling an animal as impure. The Torah chooses to use the more refined term “not clean.” (Similarly, describing a person as “not so good-looking” is more delicate than “ugly.”)

We learn from the Torah that the words we use reflect on our inner state of mind and that each word has great influence. Using the above verse as an example, the sages state: “One should never allow something disgusting to come out of one’s mouth.” Why are they so insistent? Because the Torah itself uses seemingly superfluous words to avoid labeling an animal as impure.

It is well worth the time and effort to speak in a more respectful manner.

Before you hit the keyboard and call someone a “traitor” or “a piece of trash,” take a second to think how if reflects on you and how it affects others.

Sivan Rahav Meir is an Israeli journalist and lecturer who is currently an emissary of the World Mizrachi Movement in the United States.

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RAKEL BERENBAUM PORTION FROM BY Contributor, Torah Tidbits THE PORTION

Midot and Mida Kneged Mida

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n Shmini Azeret we said tefilat geshem- a prayer for rain-”mashiv haruach umorid hagashem” and we will be adding “ ten tal umatar livracha”. The land needs the water to flourish. Water seems to be a good thing, a Bracha. We pray for it.

And yet in this week’s portion God uses rain to punish the world. Is rain good or bad? Is it a blessing or a curse?

Rav Chaim Sabato says that everything can be good or bad. It depends on the timing, and amount.

For example, the rain we got this sukkot was detrimental - it even destroyed some sukkot built for the holiday and disrupted lives. The same with the punishment of the flood. God sent down too much rain all at once.

The timing and amount was what made it detrimental.

The punishment God sent to the generation of the flood was actually “mida keneged mida” “measure for measure” because the sins that we see 74

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in our portion were when people took a certain quality out of proportion.

We have a mitzvah of “peru urvu”, to populate the world, but they “ hishchit kol basar” perverted this creative potential, using it in the wrong time or place.

Also in the sin of the tower of Bavel the people used a quality that is potentially good - achdut, cooperation, to do something bad , to go against God. They used it in the wrong way.

So “ mida kneged mida” He confused their language, so they would no longer understand each other and could no longer work together.

We must be in control of our characteristics, and not let them control us. We don’t have to fight against them, but rather use them at the right place and time. All our characteristics can be good or bad, our job is to channel them correctly.

Rav Sabato says that Rav Kook even said that all types of thoughts are neither good nor bad but depends on the situation. We usually think of disbelief -kfira as bad types of thoughts, but Rav Kook says that even these can be appropriate in certain situations. For example Abraham’s disbelief in idols helped him break

away from paganism and grow closer to belief in one God. Let us take inspiration from this portion to pay attention to how we use our midot properly in each situation.

RECIPES The dove sent out by Noach brought back a freshly picked olive leaf, so this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recipe is made with olives.

TAPENADE 3/4 cup pitted black olives 3 tbsp. capers, drained 1/4 cup anchovy fillets 2 cloves garlic clove peeled and sprout removed 1/2 cup olive oil 1 tbsp. lemon juice black pepper, to taste Place the first five ingredients in a food processor and puree them at high speed. Add the oil slowly, processing until the tapenade is smooth and thick like mayonnaise. Mix in lemon juice and pepper.

Great served with raw vegetables, eggs, fish, meat, or toast.

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THE NEW OLD PATH

BY RABBI BENJI LEVY CEO Of Mosaic United

The Righteous Child

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oah is introduced with unprecedented acclaim: ‘Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generation; Noah walked with God.’ The plain meaning of the text clearly sings his praises, and the fact that God singles out Noah and his family as the sole survivors of the old world bears testimony to his redeeming qualities. Yet, soon after his task is complete, Noah drops from being humanity’s hero as ‘a righteous man’, to a ‘man of the earth’ who plants a vineyard and debases himself. How is it that Noah, selected to be the single flame from which the rest of the world will be rekindled, deteriorates so rapidly?

In the short passage concerning the ark’s construction, the Torah emphasises no less than three times that: Noah did ‘exactly as God had commanded him’.

Following God’s orders meticulously was the root of Noah’s righteousness. However, this unwavering obedience also turns out to be a double-edged sword, ultimately leading to Noah’s demise when he is left to his own devices. Amidst his passive adherence to God’s orders Noah absolves himself of any personal responsibility 76

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and initiative. He builds the ark perfectly, yet having developed a sense of passivity, since God had not explicitly told him to get on board, ‘he did not enter the ark until the waters compelled him.’ While some may see relying on the command of God alone as an admirable expression of faith, Rashi explains it as a lack thereof.

Similarly, even when ‘Noah knew that the waters had subsided from upon the earth…’ he did not have the fortitude to leave the ark until God explicitly commanded him to do so.

It is often asked why Noah does not pray for those around him or encourage them to mend their ways, given his inside knowledge of the imminent flood.

Perhaps the answer is simple – Noah does not do anything, because God never instructs him to. If he had been told to, he would have acted differently, but he does not initiate unless he has received a direct instruction. And this, could be the cause of his regression to nothing more than a ‘man of the earth’.

Noah is the antitype of other central characters in the Torah who, in contrast to his passivity, take active steps beyond that which they are commanded. For example, Joseph the dreamer amasses reserves of food for an entire empire – a stark contrast with Noah who builds the ark for his family alone. Moses presents

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another contrast. Initially described as an ‘Egyptian man’, Moses chooses to actively risk his own life in order to stand up to injustice against strangers on three separate occasions in his youth, and thus he graduates to the title ‘man of God’.

Later in life, Moses asks to be wiped out along with his people rather than allowing them to be wiped out alone.

He is the antithesis of Noah, who never once questions God’s justice but rather passively follows His word. This contrast between Noah and Moses is perhaps alluded to by the Torah’s use of the word ‘ark’. While Noah’s ark is mentioned twenty-five times in the Torah, the only other single time the term ‘ark’ is used in the Torah is in reference to the one that was selflessly built by Moses’s family, risking their lives to save his.

The transition from ‘walking with’ to ‘walking before’ represents the graduation from spiritual childhood to spiritual adulthood.

In an approach similar to that of Moses, and in direct contradistinction to Noah, Abraham screams out to the Heavens, challenging the seeming injustice of God’s plan to destroy the people of Sodom, ‘Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?’ Rabbi Judah explains the difference between Noah and Abraham 78

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in simple terms: This may be compared to a king who had two sons, one grown up and the other a child. To the child he said, ‘Walk with me,’ but to the adult, ‘walk before me.’ Similarly, to Abraham, whose moral strength was great, [He said,] ‘walk before Me,’ of Noah, whose strength was feeble, [it says,] ‘Noah walked with God.’ Childhood and adulthood are two formative and necessary stages in the healthy development of an individual.

However, to remain a child when one is called upon to ‘grow up’ is to abdicate responsibility. God may accept and even desire obedience as ‘step one’, but this is by no means the ideal for the long term.

Abraham, Moses, Joseph and many of the greats throughout history become true leaders as they continue to develop throughout their lives. Noah, in contrast, does not advance from compliance to initiative and consequently debases himself when left to his own devices.

We are expected to follow God’s commands like a child does to a parent; however, like a child who matures in his relationship with his parents, we are expected to grow beyond the stage of child, and intuit in the manner expected of adults.

The transition from ‘walking with’ to ‘walking before’ represents the graduation from spiritual childhood to spiritual adulthood. It is this task that requires us to go beyond passively accepting our fate, and to take active steps on our journey of spiritual maturation towards our ultimate destiny.

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