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"For as long as the world exists, sowing and reaping and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night will not cease. (Gen. 8:22)
The Peshat , plain, simple, and direct meaning of this pusek is that the natural order of the universe will continue and never again be put on hold. The Midrash claims that God caused the sun, moon, and stars, to stop their movements during the time of the flood.
However Talmud Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin 58b, the same Tractate which finds ways around capital punishment, so that it calls a court that declares the death penalty, once in 7 years (or 70 years) a ''bloody court,'' decides this verse means something different.
They posit that a non-Jew who desists from creative labor (melakha) on Shabbat is deserving of death. (The Sages then say that he is not put to death, but that they said this to explain the severity of this rule.). Ravina says it is forbidden for a non-Jew to stop any form of labor even on a weekday. The Talmud then explains that it is not forbidding a non-Jew from resting, on a week day, or on Shabbat, or even doing his own form of spiritual renewal. They are saying that a non-Jew cannot stop work in order to study Torah.
The sages of the Talmud are trying to instill in the Jew the privilege and the gift that Shabbat is to the Jew, to stop work, and to study, and that this privilege, (the studying part, not the resting part) was not given to the other nations of the world. At the same time, the rabbis speak of the importance of work on the six other days of the week.
The sages are convinced that work is needed to develop the world. They shun gamblers and pigeon racers and say they are unfit to be witnesses (Talmud Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin 24B) because they are wasting time, not working, and not helping to build the world. Rabbi Natan (his Avot 11:1) says that God would not live among Israel until they worked, quoting : "Let them make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst." (Ex. 25.8)
In Sanhedrin 58b it reads: "One who has no work do to – what should he do? If he has a yard that is bare, or a field that is bare, let him go and occupy himself with it, as it is written, "For six days you shall work and you shall perform all of your labor." What do we learn from the expression "all of your labor"? It comes to teach us that a person who has empty yards or fields should go and occupy himself with them.""
''Reish Lakish asks: What is the meaning of the verse, "One who labors over his land (oved admato) will be satiated with bread" (Prov.12:11)? If a person makes himself like a servant (eved) to the land, then he will be satiated with bread; if he does not, then he will not have sufficient bread.''
A Jew is obligated to be a servant only to God. This is stated three times in the Talmud in Tractates Kiddushin 22b, Bava Kama 116b, and Bava Metzia 10a: "They are My servants, and not servants to servants." So how can Reish Lakish say that a Jew is required to make himself a servant to his land?
The sages are teaching that when we work, we should work with the same zeal, as when we study and serve God. We still must remember what is most important, and that is our personal relationship with God. We cannot let work become the center of our lives and when we work we must do so with proper ethics.
The proper balance is up to each individual's situation. The rabbis try to arrive at a definitive answer and cannot. In Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth 32b Rabbi Simon bar Yochai says: "The intention is that when Am Yisrael perform God's will, their labor is performed by others, and when Am Yisrael do not perform God's will, they have to perform their labor themselves! " (Remember, Bar Yochai lived in a cave buried in sand for years eating carobs and writing the Zohar).
Rabbi Yishmael maintained that one should labor in order to support himself, and to study Torah in his remaining time.
''Abaye said: Many people acted in accordance with the teaching of Rabbi Yishmael and they were successful; others acted in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and they were not successful.''
The whole point of this discussion is that one should find a profession or trade that is challenging, and helps one earn a good living, but still give time for that person to have a spiritual life, as well as a family life.
Noach, who jumped off the ark, and grew grapes, which according to the Midrash grew in one day after planting, made wine, become a drunk, and had sex with his son, is not the ideal role model for the Jew in the business world or family life.
Shalom,
Werner
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4. From Marty R.:
Hi. You ask: ''How do we keep ourselves from trusting in finite humans like Nimrods, who ask us to put our faith in finite towers, or riches, and keep ourselves trusting only in the Infinite, Ein Sof?''
Psalm 118 has the answer for me, especially verses 8 and 9:
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
"His love endures forever."
4 Let those who fear the LORD say:
"His love endures forever."
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
23 the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O LORD, save us;
O LORD, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27 The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine upon us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Todah, Marty R.
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5. From Ellen:
Noah's drunkenness and a party I went to near campus this weekend reminded me of this Midrash:
And Noah began to be a man of the earth, and he planted a vineyard (Gen. 9:20)
''When Noah took to planting, Satan came and stood before him and said to him: "What are you planting?" Said he: "A vineyard." Said Satan to him: "What is its nature?" Said he: "Its fruits are sweet, whether moist or dry, and one makes from them wine which brings joy to the heart." Said Satan to Noah: "Do you desire that we should plant it together, you and I?" Said Noah: "Yes."
What did Satan do? He brought a lamb and slaughtered it over the vine; then he brought a lion, and slaughtered it over it; then he brought a monkey, and slaughtered it over it; then he brought a swine, and slaughtered it over it; and he watered the vine with their blood. Thus he alluded to Noah: When a person drinks one cup, he is like a lamb, modest and meek. When he drinks two cups, he becomes mighty as a lion and begins to speak with pride, saying: Who compares with me! As soon as he drinks three or four cups he becomes a monkey, dancing and frolicking and profaning his mouth, and knowing not what he does. When he becomes drunk, he becomes a pig, dirtied by mud and wallowing in filth.
(Midrash Tanchuma )
L'Chaim, Ellen
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Thanks everyone who emailed comments and discussions and for the ones that allowed me to post theirs, my appreciation as well.
Shalom,
Rabbi Arthur Segal, Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, via Shamash Org on line class service.
Hilton Head Island, SC; Bluffton, SC; Savannah, GA
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Renewal
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Jewish Spiritual Renewal: Shabbat 11/1/08 Hebrew College,MA,USA:Jewish Renewal
You´ve been lookin´all down in the mouth
and down at your shoes
Well, baby, I came to give you the news
I´ll paint rainbows all over your blues
Let´s go for a bounce
on my trampoline
I can show you the prettiest mountains
that you´ve ever seen
You better run to your closet
and fish out your blue suede shoes
I´ll paint rainbows all over your blues''
John Sebastian - 1970
"I'll Paint Rainbows All Over Your Blues"
Synoptic Abstract
Last week's parasha ended with the birth of Noah and his three sons. It described the evil taking place on earth at that time. Our parasha continues with the Flood story, the
In studying this week's parasha, we need to review a few verses (listed above Gen. 5:28-6:05) from last Shabbat. Noah was Methuselah's grandson and his name in Hebrew (Noach) means "rest" or "comfort." When he was five hundred years old he fathered three sons: Shem, Japeth, and Ham. It is said that the Semites are descended from Shem. A Midrash says that Noah's wife was Naamah, who was Tubal-Cain's sister. Naamah means "lovely" in Hebrew. Noah was born 126 years after Adam died in the Hebrew year of 1056. These calculations are derived by taking the dates in the Torah literally.
At the end of last week's parasha we learn that "the sons of the rulers saw that the daughters of man were good and they took for themselves from whomever they choose" (Gen. 6:02). Man was so wicked at this time that "every product of the thoughts of his heart was but evil always" (Gen. 6:05). It was not that some thoughts were bad some of the time, but that all thoughts were bad all of the time. God actually had second thoughts about having created Man and the world. God is said to "reconsider" and have "heartfelt sadness" (Gen. 6:07). Luckily, though, Noah had God's grace (Gen. 6:08), and so begins this week's parasha.
"Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generation" (Gen. 6:09). This line sparked much debate among our sages. What does the Torah mean by saying "in his generation?" Wouldn't Noah have been righteous in any time? Some rabbis look at it this way; if Noah was righteous during the corrupt times in which he lived, imagine what a righteous man he would be in more moral times! Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1040,
Verse 6:11 says that the world was corrupt and filled with robbery. God was going to destroy the world for this corruption and robbery. This seems awfully harsh, especially in today's world where corruption and theft seems commonplace. Rashi says a better translation of corruption is immortality and idol worship.And the best translation for robbery, chamas, is terror. The Midrash says that adultery, incest and stealing were all part of man's daily schedule. Powerful men would take any women that they chose. The Midrash also says that a major sin of this generation was sexual relations purely for lascivious gratification. Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 57A says that the world was immersed in jealousy, greed, theft, violence, lying, impatience, intolerance, deception and fraud. The worst of all the transgressions according to both Rashi and Ibn Ezra was that people exploited each other sexually. Sounds rather familiar, doesn't it? Hold on, there's more.
The Midrash Vayikra Rabba says: "Everyone and everything became amoral. Even animals became so morally corrupt and decadent that one species mated with another species – dogs with wolves, horses with donkeys, snakes with birds. The generation of the Flood was finally wiped away when they started writing songs extolling cohabitation of males with males and males with animals." Another Midrash says that males just didn't sodomize other males, but that they signed ketobot (marriage contracts) legalizing these relationships. Another Midrash says: "The custom of that generation was to take two wives; one for having children and one for pleasure. The one for having children would sit ugly and neglected like a living widow while the one taken for pleasure would be sterilized and would sit by him, made up with cosmetics like a harlot."
Rabbi Chaninah, in the
What could Noah have done differently during this horrible time that the Torah would call him righteous in "all" generations and not just in "his?" In Tractate Sanhedrin 108A Rabbi Lakish supports Noah. Rabbi Yochanon, not so much. Yochanon said that Noah merely reacted to the immorality of his time and believes that Noah would not have been inspired to do more than his everyday tasks had he lived in Abraham's time. The Midrash says that Noah "believed and did not believe" that God would bring a flood. He believed in his mind, but not in his heart. He carried out God's blueprint to the cubit, but after spending 120 years building the ark, he did not physically enter it until the flooding began (Gen.7:06). Rashi says that Noah had only modest faith. During the 120 years it took Noah to build the ark, he was not able to convince a single person of the coming disaster. If Noah believed God's word more than merely intellectually, perhaps he could have persuaded his neighbors to repent. Perhaps if he had believed on a visceral level, Noah could have made a greater impact.
In Midrash Devorim there is a story of a conversation between Moses and Noah in Heaven. Noah boasts to Moses that he is greater than Moses because he was saved from the generation of the Flood, to which Moses replies: "No, you saved yourself, but were not able to save your generation. When did I save my generation? When God said, 'Desist from me and I will destroy them.' (Deut. 9:14) I pleaded with God and was successful in saving both my generation and myself. Therefore I am greater than you." The Kabbalistic Zohar points out that this is why this week's Haftarah in Isaiah 54:9 refers to the Flood as the "waters of Noah." Noah is to blame for not being able to save his generation. While Moses prayed for everyone, Noah cared only for himself, his wife, and his sons. The Zohar puns on the words with which Moses pleaded to God after the sin of the Golden Calf. In Exodus 32:32 Moses says to God: "Now if you would forgive their sin, and if not, erase me, I beg you." The Hebrew for "erase me" is "m'heni," which is an anagram of "mei Noah" (waters of Noah).
The Kabbalah also compares Noah to Abraham. Noah died when Abraham was 58 years old. While Noah doesn't sin like the rest of his generation, he doesn't do any good deeds either. The Zohar says that after the Flood Noah cried to God that He was not compassionate. God responds: "You are a foolish shepherd. Now you say this? Why did you not say this at the time I told you that I saw that you were righteous in your generation, or afterward when I said I will bring a flood upon the people, or when I asked you to build an ark? I constantly delayed and I said, 'When is Noah going to ask for compassion for the world?' And now that the world is destroyed, you cry?" Not exactly a ringing endorsement, is it? God is criticizing Noah – calling him a foolish shepherd – because he could not even save one member of his flock in 120 years.
The Zohar's rebuke of Noah continues. It says that Abraham prayed for
After 150 days in the boat, what does Noah do when he comes to dry land? How does Noah cope with the destruction and his role in it? He plants a vineyard. Noah "drank of the wine and became intoxicated...and Ham (his son), saw his nakedness and told his two brothers outside. And Shem and Yafet took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him" (Gen. 9:21-24). The Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 70A says that either Ham sodomized Noah, or he castrated him. Ham had so much rage against his father for Noah's passivity. Remember, Noah was the only just man of the time. That means that his sons were like the rest of the people. They were saved due to Noah's merit. Noah failed at educating one of his own sons (Ham) in sexual morality. Whereas in the beginning of this parasha Noah is called righteous, after the flood he is called "debased" and a "man of the earth" (Gen. 9:20). We will learn that Moses starts out being called an "Egyptian man" (Exodus 2:19). He ends up being called a "man of God" (Deut. 33:1). Noah did not learn the lesson of the flood. He did not plant an orchard to help feed the population that soon would be born. He did not try to raise cattle. He immediately sought individual pleasure. Noah plants a vineyard and Abraham plants an orchard (Gen. 21:33).
Three hundred-forty years later, while Noah is still alive, man again tries to rebel by building the
The Midrash also compares Noah to Adam. Both have a problem with fruit. Adam was responsible to care for all the trees and not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Noah was responsible for replanting all of that was lost in the Flood. He was warned against grapes, according to the Midrash. The Midrash says that Noah's vines produced grapes on the same day they were planted. Both Adam and Noah thought that they were above the effects of these fruits.
Even the raven that Noah sent out to look for dry land has suspicions about Noah. No human or animal was allowed to have sex while on the ark, says the Midrash. The raven circles the ark and did not complete his mission (Gen. 8:7). Tractate Sanhedrin 108B says that the raven suspects Noah of having "improper intentions" toward his mate. The raven feels it has to keep an eye on Noah. Therefore he circles the ark so that Noah will not steal Mrs. Raven. Before he goes on his mission the raven complains that, of all the birds, why is he chosen? Noah answers: "What does the world need you for? You are not edible nor are you fit to be offered as a sacrifice." The Midrash is making an interesting point about Noah. Noah has not learned anything from the Flood. All life has value. Years later it will be ravens that save the world. Elijah placed a curse during the time of the evil King Ahab that would dry up the entire world in drought. He had to hide in the wilderness. The ravens fed him and kept him alive so that he could remove his curse and save the world (Kings I 17:6). Without ravens the world would have had another disaster. Ravens mate for life. The raven was concerned about his wife. As we have learned, the men of Noah's time were not concerned about their marital obligations (Tractate Pesachim 113B). Noah could not appreciate the raven's morality.
What you should learn from this parasha is that we all have an obligation not only to do no harm, but to actively to do good deeds. Building big homes with all kinds of collections – our arks – is fine so long as we teach our children proper values. Leave the ark – in your gated community or suburb – to help those who are less fortunate. The Torah used this portion as the place to announce what are called the Seven Noachide Laws that predate the Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus. Unlike other religions with dogma saying that if you do not believe in their specific way you are "voted off the island," Judaism believes in the righteousness of all nations regardless of their belief systems, and that all are equally beloved by God and have an equal share in the world to come. Anyone who follows these seven rules is defined as righteous (Gen. 9:01-07):
1. Not to eat a limb or meat that was severed from a live animal.
2. Not to curse God.
3. Not to steal or rob.
4. Not to commit adultery, incest, or rape.
5. Not to murder.
6. To have a fair justice system.
7. Not to worship idols.
As Jews, our goal is not to convert people to Judaism. Our goal is to lead a moral life and to actively work to do good in order to make this world a better place. We all can do better than Noah did. By actively doing Tikun Olam (repair of the world) and truly loving our fellows, we can be a "light unto the nations."
Shabbat Shalom:
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