Who Is Really In Charge
The backstory of the Mabul is that Hashem created the world and it did not work out. He ‘reset’ the world, starting anew. Little Us can screw up His Masterplan! What a power trip!
This underscores that we control our own actions totally. And therefore, we are totally responsible for our actions. Us, not our parents and principal.
Some people ask if Hashem knows the future, then He also controls it. Can we do other than what He knows that it happened? (The simple answer is that He knows future as we know the past: He knows that it will happen, but His knowledge does not make it be. He just knows what will be done independently.) Whether a question or not, the Mabul story is proof that Judaism considers us to control our actions; we spoiled His plans!
‘And they cannot be stopped from doing all they choose to..’ [- G-d’s comment about the builders of the Tower of Babel] Hashem considered Himself powerless against their plans. Yet He intervened by confusing their language. If so, He was not powerless at all, it seems. What gives??
Free choice is the basis of our world. Hashem ties His own Hands with regards to intervening. He may intervene in a roundabout fashion, creating circumstances that favor one choice, but He will not oppose us directly. Hashem said: these people have banded together and can do anything they choose to. So let us intervene indirectly, by confusing their communications.
When Hashem discussed the people He flooded in the Mabul, He said ‘and all their thoughts are purely evil, all day’. He expressed that there was no hope for even indirect intervention, for in all circumstance they would seek out evil. And as Hashem will not oppose man directly, this doomed them to destruction.
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The Toast Of Haran (Har, har…)
Haran, Avram’s brother, wasn’t sure whether to follow Avram and serve Hashem, or to follow Daddy Terach, and worship idols. He said ‘Let’s wait and see. If Avram survives Nimrod’s furnace, I’m on his side. Hashem is the true G-d. And if Avram gets burnt, then I’m on Nimrod’s side’.
Avram came out safe, and Haran professed belief in Hashem. Nimrod, unimpressed, tossed him into the furnace. Haran was toasted to death.(Nimrod ignored the marvelous miracle of Avram walking out of the furnace, continuing to punish anyone who not worshiping fire as he did. We believe what we choose!)
Why, indeed, wasn’t Haran saved?
Well, his faith was inferior and shallow. He just went along with the victorious party. Jumping on the bandwagon doesn’t merit miracles. Sorry.
(Stupid question: what about us – is our own faith real, or are we just following societal norms…)
But that s not the real reason. Rashi explains that the true reason he was not saved is because he witnessed Avram’s miracle. And therefore he assumed he would be saved, as Avram was. And the rule is that anyone expecting a miracle cannot receive it!
Here’s why: A miracle is when Hashem revokes nature. He overcomes His standing wishes that the world operate regularly, and does something unnatural. Overcoming our own nature, – denying our will to live, and instead offering our lives for Hashem, – justifies Hashem overcoming His ‘nature’ and preference. However if someone assumes a miracle, he has not overcome his nature at all; for he has not prepared to die. He has not forgone his own wishes, and so neither will Hashem.
Its one thing to die for Hashem. How about living for Him? We can live, yet be devoted that His will, not ours, be done. And that’s the greatest miracle of all…
Another thought: The Pasuk relates that Hashem addressed Avram at the Bris Beis HaB’sarim “I am Hashem who saved you from Ur Kasdim to give you this land” This infers that Avram was saved in order that he be given Eretz Yisroel. He had a great destiny awaiting, so Hashem saved him. Haran did not.
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For The Love Of Tzaddikim
The Torah in this and last week’s parshos details many generations. Mr. X lived this many years and bore Mr. Y. And then he had other children and lived Z years. Why does it only mention one son by name? Was it the main son? The eldest?
Nope. (For example, it mentions Sheis, Adam’s youngest). What happening is that the Torah is tracing down to Noach and Avraham. The gentlemen mentioned are links in that chain.
To the Torah only righteousness matters. All else, earth shaking as it may seem, is periphery, mere noise. The Torah is not giving an account of the generations and the principal men in each. That’s left to historians. What the Torah is doing is Cherishing Tzaddikim.
It ought to be all that matters to us too. Hamburg and Paris hardly exist. But Lakewood and Bnei Brak do. We need to know that…
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Responsibility
Noach was tasked to gather all animals two by two. However, says Rashi, they came by themselves. So why was Noach commanded to it?
Noach was responsible, and it was his task. But Hashem helped out. And since it was Noach’s task, and he accepted the mandate, it counted for Noach, as if he had done it himself. The Torah expresses here: ‘the animals came to Noach… as Hashem commanded Noach’; the animals coming – of their own – was accrued to Noach. It was considered his accomplishment, for it had been his job.
This is often the case. Faced with responsibility, we need to accept that duty. Its our job. If someone else helps out, we are tremendously grateful. We are well aware that it was our job, not theirs. Before getting married, a Rav told me ‘Always remember; the husband needs to say ‘Asartem, Aravtem, hadliku es ha’ner’ – because it is he who is responsible to bring Shabbos in. His wife helps, but the onus is on him. And he is therefore ever so grateful for her help!’
When we accept ownership of the job, its accomplishment is ours too, even if someone else actually did the work. Welcome obligation!
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Mabul Revisited
We wondered a few things; did Noach take each type of horse (about 267 varieties, meaning over 500 horses, between male and female) or other animal, or only one main type of each?
What happened after the mabul; when the lions were let out what did they eat?
Probably a deer or sheep. So did the deer survive with only one of the pair left?
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The good Sift
Hashem listed off the generations between Noach and Avram quickly, only stopping when reaching Avram. Rashi teaches that this is like someone sifting the sand for a coin he dropped there; he sifts and sifts, and when he finds his coin, he leaves off sifting the sand.
What is important to note is that often it takes much sifting to get the coin. A person ought not to be disheartened by the prospect of sifting, for that is what discovers the coin. Sometimes one needs to do lots of groundwork. No worries, its all part of the process…
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Science And The Flood
Science does not accept the Flood. But its not for lack of Flood remains, however. Quite on the contrary, there are loads of relics that seem to indicate a flood. (We read from Emanuel Velikovsky’s ‘Earth In Upheaval’ about whale skeletons found high in Vermont mountains, piles of splintered animal bones crushed into the crevices of the rock of Gibraltar, huge rocks originating in the alps now found cross-country atop other mountains, starfish remains found at Himalayan peaks and so on; marks of a catastrophic upheaval on earth. Today, more than ever before, the mark of the Mabul becomes evident.) Rather, its because a Miracle can never be of scientific interest, by definition.
Science studies normative physical behavior, which can be repeated. Miracle cannot be something that science has interest in, or even offers an opinion on…
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Individualism
The Drashas HaRan proposes that building the Tower of Bavel was not sinful, yet it represented an essential threat to anyone attempting to oppose society. For the tower builders were trying to create a controlled society, where they could impose the will of the majority on all. Hashem, however, wished that there be room for dissenters, people such as Avram!
Perhaps, indeed, these builders were reacting to the time of the Flood, when people did what they pleased, and took women whomever they chose. This led to the wholesale destruction of the world. People reacted, therefore, by trying to control matters. No open individualism anymore.
Yet Hashem thought otherwise. He wanted that there should be a safe place for a renegade, someone outside of society. And so He stopped the Tower. Unified mankind, one group under one authority, is the most dangerous situation possible. If wickedness takes government, the world is all over. There is no escape, for there is no alternative group.
Hashem deliberately spread them apart, to form separate and competitive societies. This allows for option: people can break the norms of society, following their conscience instead.
We like to talk of globalization today and the pervasiveness of the internet. Perhaps there are two sides to the picture. We need to be aware of the cage society places around us, and stand ready to break free.
Embrace renegades. Question assumptions. Rethink issues. Be real. Not everyone needs to be the same. Its OK to be different!
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Whats In A Name?
“And it was called Bovel because there Hashem was bolel (-mized) the languages of all men on earth..”. So why wasn’t it called Bolel? Why Bavel? (See Ibn Ezra and Netziv).
Naming conventions override the simple use of a word as a name. Although in many cases the reason for giving a name is reflected accurately in it, naming conventions often force the name to be a takeoff of the the original idea, but not an exact quote. An example is the name ‘zevulun’, which comes from “yizbuleini”. Its not an exact rendition, however, but rather rather a relative of the original idea.