Parasha: Noah
Having a righteous descendancy :
« Here are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation”
Why is it said it will be about Noah’s descendants? Because the real descendants of a man are his actions. The first of his “fruits” was himself. He worked to become what he was.
We often hear of parents thinking it’s too late for them to progress but they hope their children will be better. It is not good to think this because your self growth is as important as your children’s.
Of course you should invest in your children, because it is a mitzvah, and because they will say kaddish for you, and their merits will increase yours in front of G-d. But why put yourself in position to need it?
There is also no better role model than someone doing what he says.
Being criticized:
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation”
Some commented that it was positive, meaning surrounding by good people he would have been even greater. Others said it meant had he lived among righteous people he would have counted for nothing.
Pardes Yosef asks, how is it possible that people would say the latter, when G-d himself told Noah “I saw you righteous in front of me”?
Pardes Yosef says it is because they saw by prophetic vision that in the future almost all the righteous would be viciously attacked, so they wanted to teach that even the first man called a tsadik was blamed and denigrated. Which doesn’t preven’t G-d from telling him: I saw you righteous in front of me”. Because it doesn’t do anything to a tsadik’s greatness.
Theft:
Hazal tell us that although the generation of the flood broke all kind of laws (forbidden relationships, idolatry, etc,) only theft lead to their destruction.
Ramban says it’s because contrary to the others, not stealing is easy to figure out on your own, because any man hates to be stealed from, so he can understand how bad it is.
Pirke Avot: The world rests on three pillars: peace, truth and justice.
Theft breaks them all.
Teshuva:
“The merciful doesn’t touch to life in the beginning”
When a man needs to pay for his fault, first his money and his belongings are taken away. Then only his body, and finally his life. But if his goods aren’t really his (stolen/bought with stolen money), then how can he make a tikkun through them?
G-d decided of their destruction as, because of theft, they had only their body to “pay”.
In Pirke Avot it is said, any sin you do creates an accusatory angel. But the theft’s angel is the most chutzpadik and aggressive, first to accuse you and opening the way to all the others (Hafets Haim). Which is why this generation was judged so harshly.
Do not do to others…:
Indeed they committed worse things. But G-d was merciful. Only when he saw they weren’t merciful and had no pity of each other, did he stop to be.
Theft:
Theft is not only burglary and bank raid. Cutting in a waiting line or taking a disabled parking place is already theft. The act is as bad with 10 cents or 100000 dollars. “Din prouta kedin mea”, the law is applied the same for a tiny and a big sum.
Because stealing means wanting your fellow human being to disappear.
The Gaon of Vilna said, the one who stole (and didn’t give back) will have to come back on Earth in another gilgul (incarnation) to give back to the stealee’s gilgul.
Yesod Vechorech Haavoda: When his hands are full of theft, a man can cry and beg, his prayer isn’t heard, because his hands are full of blood.
Meam Loez: No man should think being honest makes you lose money, G-d forbid! Only in dishonesty and lie will he have no satisfaction and quiet.
Interesting: opening a daycare/crèche or a shop is theft if it diminishes the value of the neighbour’s houses around.
Pick your friends well:
Although Noah never came to practice theft, theft is the opposite of goodness, and he once lacked of it, when he didn’t pray to G-d for him to spare the other human beings. Even the greatest can be influenced by their surroundings. That’s why he had to care for all the animals for so much time, to anchor this midda into him.
Mida keneged mida:
The world of before the flood was awesome and full of blessings, that the men used for bad. The symbol of these blessings, the water of life, became water of death and destroyed them. Our generation should wonder about our blessings: medicine/science, technology, computers… and the way many use them: violence, teaching immoral ideas, showing immoral images, selfishness… when they could and should be used for good.
Talit:
When Noah was naked in his tent, Ham go and told his brothers, who came to cover him. But it is said: “Chem took, and Yafet, the cover…”: Chem was more “motivated” than Yafet to do this mitzvah, that’s why his sons deserved to wear the talit.
Money vs Spirituality:
“Let God enlarge Yafet, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem”
There are beautiful things in Yafet’s house (yafet also comes from Hebrew “beautiful”, and is the ancestor, among others, of the Romans), but G-d prefer the simplicity and “heimishkeit” of Shem (“name”, compare with Hashem)’s house.
« Here are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation”
Why is it said it will be about Noah’s descendants? Because the real descendants of a man are his actions. The first of his “fruits” was himself. He worked to become what he was.
We often hear of parents thinking it’s too late for them to progress but they hope their children will be better. It is not good to think this because your self growth is as important as your children’s.
Of course you should invest in your children, because it is a mitzvah, and because they will say kaddish for you, and their merits will increase yours in front of G-d. But why put yourself in position to need it?
There is also no better role model than someone doing what he says.
Being criticized:
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation”
Some commented that it was positive, meaning surrounding by good people he would have been even greater. Others said it meant had he lived among righteous people he would have counted for nothing.
Pardes Yosef asks, how is it possible that people would say the latter, when G-d himself told Noah “I saw you righteous in front of me”?
Pardes Yosef says it is because they saw by prophetic vision that in the future almost all the righteous would be viciously attacked, so they wanted to teach that even the first man called a tsadik was blamed and denigrated. Which doesn’t preven’t G-d from telling him: I saw you righteous in front of me”. Because it doesn’t do anything to a tsadik’s greatness.
Theft:
Hazal tell us that although the generation of the flood broke all kind of laws (forbidden relationships, idolatry, etc,) only theft lead to their destruction.
Ramban says it’s because contrary to the others, not stealing is easy to figure out on your own, because any man hates to be stealed from, so he can understand how bad it is.
Pirke Avot: The world rests on three pillars: peace, truth and justice.
Theft breaks them all.
Teshuva:
“The merciful doesn’t touch to life in the beginning”
When a man needs to pay for his fault, first his money and his belongings are taken away. Then only his body, and finally his life. But if his goods aren’t really his (stolen/bought with stolen money), then how can he make a tikkun through them?
G-d decided of their destruction as, because of theft, they had only their body to “pay”.
In Pirke Avot it is said, any sin you do creates an accusatory angel. But the theft’s angel is the most chutzpadik and aggressive, first to accuse you and opening the way to all the others (Hafets Haim). Which is why this generation was judged so harshly.
Do not do to others…:
Indeed they committed worse things. But G-d was merciful. Only when he saw they weren’t merciful and had no pity of each other, did he stop to be.
Theft:
Theft is not only burglary and bank raid. Cutting in a waiting line or taking a disabled parking place is already theft. The act is as bad with 10 cents or 100000 dollars. “Din prouta kedin mea”, the law is applied the same for a tiny and a big sum.
Because stealing means wanting your fellow human being to disappear.
The Gaon of Vilna said, the one who stole (and didn’t give back) will have to come back on Earth in another gilgul (incarnation) to give back to the stealee’s gilgul.
Yesod Vechorech Haavoda: When his hands are full of theft, a man can cry and beg, his prayer isn’t heard, because his hands are full of blood.
Meam Loez: No man should think being honest makes you lose money, G-d forbid! Only in dishonesty and lie will he have no satisfaction and quiet.
Interesting: opening a daycare/crèche or a shop is theft if it diminishes the value of the neighbour’s houses around.
Pick your friends well:
Although Noah never came to practice theft, theft is the opposite of goodness, and he once lacked of it, when he didn’t pray to G-d for him to spare the other human beings. Even the greatest can be influenced by their surroundings. That’s why he had to care for all the animals for so much time, to anchor this midda into him.
Mida keneged mida:
The world of before the flood was awesome and full of blessings, that the men used for bad. The symbol of these blessings, the water of life, became water of death and destroyed them. Our generation should wonder about our blessings: medicine/science, technology, computers… and the way many use them: violence, teaching immoral ideas, showing immoral images, selfishness… when they could and should be used for good.
Talit:
When Noah was naked in his tent, Ham go and told his brothers, who came to cover him. But it is said: “Chem took, and Yafet, the cover…”: Chem was more “motivated” than Yafet to do this mitzvah, that’s why his sons deserved to wear the talit.
Money vs Spirituality:
“Let God enlarge Yafet, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem”
There are beautiful things in Yafet’s house (yafet also comes from Hebrew “beautiful”, and is the ancestor, among others, of the Romans), but G-d prefer the simplicity and “heimishkeit” of Shem (“name”, compare with Hashem)’s house.