Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace NOVEMBER 5, 2016 4 HESHVAN 5777 SHABBAT SHALOM FROM CYBERSPACE NOAH Haftarah: Yeshayahu 54:1-10 NOVEMBER 5, 2016 4 HESHVAN 5777 DEDICATION: To Serge and Nina – So Blessed to See You ! To subscribe or to unsubscribe, please reply to the Sadik. Like Joseph in the future, Noah’s righteousness [email protected] is rooted in his self-discipline Newsletter archives now at BenaiAsher.Org We saw that this lack of self-control was a theme extending Daily Minyan Mon – Thurs at 979 Third Avenue, 17th Floor, throughout the first portion of Bereshit. See last week’s Artistic Frame at 4:00PM – Please join us! 212-289-2100 – Mincha and Arbit – The most important tefilah of the day – article where Adam can’t wait for the Friday night wedding to marry Chava, where Even lusted for the fruit, where Give us 11 minutes and we’ll give you the World To Come! Kayin may have killed Hevel over a woman, where Lemach Editors Notes requires a second wife as an object, and where as we The Test of Man – Part 2 noted even the angels fell in more ways than one. We begin this portion about 1500 years after Adam is Is there no one redeemable? We finally meet Noah who is created and Hashem has had it, not only with mankind, but called a Sadik and through Noah, the world will go on. with the animals as well. And the only person worth saving is Noah and his family and a pair of each species. What But is Noah perfect. In fact the Navi in the Haftarah we was the shared sin of man and animal? How is Noah read calls the flood Mei Noach, it sounds as if the Navi different? And after the portion is done, how does Noah fail blames Noah for a role in its coming. Furthermore after the and why do we need to wait for Abraham? flood, Noah sends out the raven who refuses to search for dry land and returns. The rabbis tell us he was afraid that The Torah tells us that of all the inhabitants of the planet, should he perish, he would leave his spouse alone and the only Noah was the Sadik, the righteous one. It is an species would cease to exist. The midrash goes further incredible commentary on a person that the Torah or suggesting that the raven was a product of a the pre-flood Hashem himself bestows the title of Sadik on a person. We world of evil and was afraid that Noah wanted to eliminate often relate the title Sadik to Joseph. What did Noah have Mr. Raven so that Noah would have Mrs. Raven all to in common with Joseph? himself. As we mentioned last week, if we examine the closing And then Noah leaves the ark. He plants a vineyard. Note verses of last week’s portion, we find that man became the emphasis on planting. Noah is no longer Ish Sadik – a corrupt and G-d decides he must destroy mankind. There is righteous man. He becomes Ish HaAdamah – A man of the reference to the Benei Elokim seeing women. The Midrash earth which takes us back to Adam both in name and relates that when the generation of the Flood went astray, formation where Adam was formed from the earth itself. Hashem began to regret having created man. Then two Where the forefathers were always associated with angels, Shamchazai and Azael, came before Hashem and shepherding, Noah takes on the trade of Kayin. We see said, “Did we not warn You before You created man, that the planting and the formation of a garden of sorts saying, ‘What is man, that You should be mindful of him?’” finds its parallel in the Garden of Eden. The Midrash tells of the Satan coming to offer a miraculous fertilizer which Hashem replied: “Then what shall become of the world?” Noah accepts. The connection is reinforced by the fact that “We will suffice instead,” they replied. Hasshem answered, our Rabbis go so far as to suggest that Noah actually ate “I know that would you live on that world, the evil inclination from the self-same vine as Adam! would rule you just as much as it controls man, but you would be even worse.” But the angels persisted, saying: Then Noah eats from the fruit of his garden. By eating from “Let us descend to the world of men, and we will show You the fruit, his consciousness is altered. In his stupor he rolls how we will sanctify your name.” And Hashem said: “Go naked in his tent, reflecting the nakedness of Adam prior to down and dwell among them.” Sure enough, as soon as the Sin. Moreover, his drunken state allows him not to be the angels descended, their evil inclination overpowered ashamed (at the time at least!). Continuing, the Talmud them. When they saw the beautiful “daughters of man,” tells us that in this state, Noah enters into a homosexual they became corrupted and sinned with them. act with his son Cham, following which Cham castrates his own father. The result of the parsha is that a Curse is The Rabbis tell us that what started as private immorality issued. degenerated into public licentiousness. When one pleasure wears itself out, people seek another and the people of Parallel stories, one week later; Why? Noah's generation eventually took on the universal practice of bestiality. The Ramban writes: "The episode with Noah and the wine is written as a warning more severe than the portion of the Man, angel and animal had all failed. The practice of Nazir. (Recall that the Nazerite takes his vow after seeing restraint had ceased to exist. It was eat, drink, be merry the incident of the Sotah, an occasion where restraint was and do whatever else you want. Noah was different. He is lacking. We see here that even the perfect Sadik Noah, whose righteousness saved humanity, even he, was 1 Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace NOVEMBER 5, 2016 4 HESHVAN 5777 induced to sin by wine, leading him to a point of absolute Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, who also spoke at humiliation and the curse of his offspring." the event, focused on the tensions among the different movements within Judaism concerning the Noah fails in his self-control. He was a Sadik? We ask on issue of prayer at the Western Wall. that verse, would he have been a Sadik in the time of Abraham? What does Abraham have to do with it? We know that after Noah’s failure, the world will need to wait "We must find a way to recognize the differences another ten generations for Abraham who will be tested between us and respect them. Otherwise, we weaken and prove his control. the bond between us," he said. But I believe there is much more to the comparison. I Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, a former believe Hashem saw Noah’s potential downfall and hoped MK, marveled at the fact that 26 MKs took part in the to assist him to overcome it. How? By being more like discussion. "It is very impressive," he said. Abraham. Hashem asked Noah to grow the trees, cut the wood, build the ark, gather the food, collect the animals and then care for them for a full year. Hashem was training Summary of the Perasha Noah is Chesed, in acts of kindness. He should have come out of the ark and continued to care for the animals. He Noach - The flood could have left the farming to one of the others. 1- Hashem instructs Noach to build a tevah and advises him that he plans to bring a flood that will Perhaps he wanted to fix Adam’s sin by repeating the test. destroy all man and animals And he repeats the test as we have seen, but in the end he 2- Noach brings his family and animals in the tevah. fails. The flood begins. 3- The period of the flood Abraham too faces the test. In fact he faces them again and again. He succeeds where no one else could. And 4- Rebuilding the world. Hashem tells Noach and his we’ll learn more on that next week, BH. family to have children and fill the world 5- Hashem makes a covenant to never bring another Shabbat Shalom, David mabool 6- Noach gets drunk and becomes uncovered. Noach PM Netanyahu calls on Jewish Agency to join curses Ham. The parasha lists the descendants of fight against BDS Noach. 7- Dor hahaflaga and the tower of Babel. The "Delegitimize anyone who delegitimizes us. I want to parasha tells the 10 generations between Noach and enlist you [in the fight] for the truth and for Israel's Abraham. influence in every one of your countries. ... Your actions are of the utmost importance," PM tells Board FROM THE RABBIS OF THE JERSEY SHORE of Governors in Knesset event. “Make yourself an Ark of gopher wood.” (Beresheet 6:14) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday Hashem commands Noah to build the Ark. called on the Jewish Agency to assist Israel in its Rashi asks: “Why did Hashem trouble Noah (Hashem fight to undermine the anti-Israel boycott, divestment has many ways to bring salvation)? So that the and sanctions movement. people of the generation of the flood should see him, busy with the Ark for a hundred and twenty years, Speaking to members of the agency's Board of and ask him, ‘Of what use is this to you?’ He would Governors during a gala event in the Knesset's say to them, “In the future the Holy One Blessed Be Chagall Hall, Netanyahu urged them to "delegitimize He is going to bring a flood upon the world.’ Thus, anyone who delegitimizes us.