Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Noach
"cliff-hangers." At the end of Parshat
Bereisheit, Hashem decided that the world was so
evil - perhaps, even worse than the Nazis, ISIS
and the Palestinians - such that G-d decided the
world had to be destroyed and there would be a
cosmic "re-boot." And so, the birth of Noach is
announced. Then, in our Sedra, the Great Flood
commences, as Noach leads his family into the
Ark, along with the animal kingdom, and they will
start life as we know it today.
But why is this story divided into two? Why not
start with Noach's birth in our Sedra and just
continue from there? And another question that
must be addressed: In Bereisheit, Hashem declares
that Humanity is evil and deserving of
destruction. The Flood comes and a New World
begins. But almost immediately, Hashem declares,
"Yetzer lev ha-adam ra min’urav – Man’s heart is
evil from his youth." And so it appears that
nothing has changed; Humanity is no less evil
than before the Flood! So what was accomplished?!
True all this. But something has happened in
between these "two evils." Noach has built a
Mizbeyach and he has brought an offering, a
sacrifice. And in response, says the pasuk,
"Vayarech Hashem et rayach ha-nichoach, G-d
smelled the pleasing aroma." Says the Medrash on
this: "G-d smelled the fragrance of those who, in
the future, would dedicate themselves to their
Divine mission, even to the point of
self-sacrifice. This would include
Avraham, Chananya, Mishael & Azarya, who would
choose a fiery furnace rather than accept
idolatry (and who would miraculously survive);
and it would also include the Jews of the
pre-Messianic generation, who would remain
committed to Judaism despite suffering terrible persecution and calamities.
This generation would live through such
abominable horror and cruelty, and could
understandably ask, "Where is G-d?! Why is Hashem
concealed?! Do we not deserve Divine assistance?"
Yet, despite our anguish, we would maintain our
faith and not desert our path. Says the Midrash:
When Moshe foresaw the stamina of this generation, he was humbled.
When G-d saw the Jewish People continuing to
engage in spiritual life, and when G-d saw the
self-sacrifice, the "Mesirat Nefesh" of this
nation and the unabated enthusiasm we maintained
even during times of Divine concealment, G-d was
inspired to promise that, in their merit, life
would continue. If OUR devotion was stable and
unchanging, Hashem concludes, then nature would
be equally unchanging and stable, and day and
night would never cease from the Earth.
This is why our story is split into 2 distinct
parts: one is pre-sacrifice and the other
post-sacrifice. And yes, it is correct that evil
was there before the Flood, and is still,
tragically, rampant in our own times. But the
trait of self-sacrifice that we see today is what
allows life to go on, even when evil rears its ugly head.
Friends, we are all living through
Biblically-dramatic times. We are facing
abominable, almost unimaginable evil emanating
from Gaza and the Palestinians. This evil is
compounded by an evil world wherein millions of
misguided people actually march IN FAVOR of the
evil! We may be understandably filled with
despair & hopelessness by all this. But then, we
witness the unbelievable Mesirat Nefesh of our
holy chayalim and the nation as a whole -
millions of acts of heroism and courage that will
be told to every generation to come - and we must
be filled with admiration, pride, hope and love. We suffer, but we survive.
