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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Noach
Translated by Hillel Fendel
This week's Torah portion of Noah takes us up to (and past) the birth of Avraham Avinu, in the year 1948 after Creation – and nary a word seems to be mentioned about the Land of Israel throughout these almost two millennia!
Is this not very strange, considering that the Foundation Stone – Even HaShtiyah – from where the world was actually created, is located in the Land, on what later became the Temple Mount? The longed-for Garden of Eden, too, is located in our Holy Land. How could the Land play such a minor role in the first 2,000 years of human history?
Maimonides states as follows (paraphrased from Laws of the Chosen House 2,1-2):
"The Altar is located very precisely and the place may never be changed… It is universally accepted that David and Shlomo built altars on the same spot as the site of the Binding of Yitzchak, namely, "in Jerusalem, on Mt. Moriah, where G-d had appeared to Shlomo's father David" (Chronicles II 3,1). And Noah built an altar on that location when he left the ark. It was also the site of the altar on which Cain and Abel brought sacrifices. Adam, too, offered a sacrifice there, and was created at that very spot, as our Sages said: "Man was created from the place where he [would find] atonement."
A careful study of Parshat Noah reveals that Eretz Yisrael does in fact play an important role in the events before Avraham. We first note that the first half of the Parsha tells the story of the Flood – which did not engulf Eretz Yisrael, as R. Yochanan states in the Talmud (Zevachim 113a), and as R. Levi states in the Midrash (Shir HaShirim Rabba 4). Their opinion finds supports in G-d's words to the Prophet Yehezkel: "Son of man, say [about] the Land, 'It was not cleansed, not rained upon on the day of fury'" (Yechezkel 22,24).
This teaching of the Sages is a clear and deep message that our Holy Land is truly special, and is certainly set apart from all the other places that the Bible speaks of.
The second half of Parshat Noah places a particularly negative emphasis on two of Noah's grandsons, Canaan and Cush, sons of Ḥam. According to one understanding of B'reshit 9,24, Ḥam was the youngest son of Noah, and Canaan was the youngest son of Ḥam. Canaan and Ḥam acted towards Noah in a most vile manner, and therefore G-d's grave response was to "curse" them (B'reshit 9,25) – similar to G-d's response to the primordial serpent (3,14-17). [Canaan, of course, was the namesake of the Holy Land before it was given to the children of Yaakov.]
This leads us to Nimrod, the great rebel against the Creator of the World and the eldest son of Cush. The Torah says that Nimrod was the prototype of a "great hunting warrior before G-d" (10,9) – meaning that he caused the entire world to rebel against G-d by building the Tower of Babel. It was via Nimrod that Avraham, who refused to accept Nimrod's heresy, first became famous, in surviving the furnace into which Nimrod threw him.
The eldest son of Canaan was Tsidon, whose city became the north-western boundary of the Land of Canaan. The destructive influence of the descendants of Canaan reached all the way up to "S'dom, Amora, Admah, and Tzvoyim, up to Lasha [the cities of the Great Plain, near today's Dead Sea]" (10,19). These became the symbol of evil and destruction for generations to come, and even today.
Parshat Noah, then, is a type of introduction to the story of the Nation of Israel, the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, and Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah.
The Journey Begins Here
Avraham Avinu's journey to Eretz Yisrael begins at the end of Parshat Noah. The first part of the portion explains why Eretz Yisrael was chosen of all places – and the answer is that this is the place where it is possible and required to live in sanctity and purity, and therefore it did not need to purified by the rains of the Flood.
And the second part of Parshat Noah explains why Avraham Avinu was sent there – because it was the place ["the cities of the Plain"] that required the most rectification following the Flood, in the wake of the terrible sins of the descendants of Ḥam.
We have merited in our generation to take an active part in the mitzvah of settling the Land, and turning the Land of Canaan into the Land of Israel. Let us pray that we merit to walk in the path of Avraham, the path of charity and justice, and to reveal the special potential of the Land, and to become a positive alternative to the followers of Ḥam, Canaan, Nimrod and the inhabitants of the cities of the Plain.
This week's Torah portion of Noah takes us up to (and past) the birth of Avraham Avinu, in the year 1948 after Creation – and nary a word seems to be mentioned about the Land of Israel throughout these almost two millennia!
Is this not very strange, considering that the Foundation Stone – Even HaShtiyah – from where the world was actually created, is located in the Land, on what later became the Temple Mount? The longed-for Garden of Eden, too, is located in our Holy Land. How could the Land play such a minor role in the first 2,000 years of human history?
Maimonides states as follows (paraphrased from Laws of the Chosen House 2,1-2):
"The Altar is located very precisely and the place may never be changed… It is universally accepted that David and Shlomo built altars on the same spot as the site of the Binding of Yitzchak, namely, "in Jerusalem, on Mt. Moriah, where G-d had appeared to Shlomo's father David" (Chronicles II 3,1). And Noah built an altar on that location when he left the ark. It was also the site of the altar on which Cain and Abel brought sacrifices. Adam, too, offered a sacrifice there, and was created at that very spot, as our Sages said: "Man was created from the place where he [would find] atonement."
A careful study of Parshat Noah reveals that Eretz Yisrael does in fact play an important role in the events before Avraham. We first note that the first half of the Parsha tells the story of the Flood – which did not engulf Eretz Yisrael, as R. Yochanan states in the Talmud (Zevachim 113a), and as R. Levi states in the Midrash (Shir HaShirim Rabba 4). Their opinion finds supports in G-d's words to the Prophet Yehezkel: "Son of man, say [about] the Land, 'It was not cleansed, not rained upon on the day of fury'" (Yechezkel 22,24).
This teaching of the Sages is a clear and deep message that our Holy Land is truly special, and is certainly set apart from all the other places that the Bible speaks of.
The second half of Parshat Noah places a particularly negative emphasis on two of Noah's grandsons, Canaan and Cush, sons of Ḥam. According to one understanding of B'reshit 9,24, Ḥam was the youngest son of Noah, and Canaan was the youngest son of Ḥam. Canaan and Ḥam acted towards Noah in a most vile manner, and therefore G-d's grave response was to "curse" them (B'reshit 9,25) – similar to G-d's response to the primordial serpent (3,14-17). [Canaan, of course, was the namesake of the Holy Land before it was given to the children of Yaakov.]
This leads us to Nimrod, the great rebel against the Creator of the World and the eldest son of Cush. The Torah says that Nimrod was the prototype of a "great hunting warrior before G-d" (10,9) – meaning that he caused the entire world to rebel against G-d by building the Tower of Babel. It was via Nimrod that Avraham, who refused to accept Nimrod's heresy, first became famous, in surviving the furnace into which Nimrod threw him.
The eldest son of Canaan was Tsidon, whose city became the north-western boundary of the Land of Canaan. The destructive influence of the descendants of Canaan reached all the way up to "S'dom, Amora, Admah, and Tzvoyim, up to Lasha [the cities of the Great Plain, near today's Dead Sea]" (10,19). These became the symbol of evil and destruction for generations to come, and even today.
Parshat Noah, then, is a type of introduction to the story of the Nation of Israel, the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, and Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah.
The Journey Begins Here
Avraham Avinu's journey to Eretz Yisrael begins at the end of Parshat Noah. The first part of the portion explains why Eretz Yisrael was chosen of all places – and the answer is that this is the place where it is possible and required to live in sanctity and purity, and therefore it did not need to purified by the rains of the Flood.
And the second part of Parshat Noah explains why Avraham Avinu was sent there – because it was the place ["the cities of the Plain"] that required the most rectification following the Flood, in the wake of the terrible sins of the descendants of Ḥam.
We have merited in our generation to take an active part in the mitzvah of settling the Land, and turning the Land of Canaan into the Land of Israel. Let us pray that we merit to walk in the path of Avraham, the path of charity and justice, and to reveal the special potential of the Land, and to become a positive alternative to the followers of Ḥam, Canaan, Nimrod and the inhabitants of the cities of the Plain.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
