A Thought on Parshas Noach
A Thought on Parshas Noach
"...Noach, Noach..." (6:9)
"...va'yoled Noach shlosha banim..."
"...and Noach bore three descendants..." (6:10)
Much has been said about the righteousness of Noach. Our sages have explained how he was a pure and good man, and how the Torah's emphasis on his "toldos" - his "descendants" - is really a reference to his good deeds. As Chazal tell us, the real legacy one leaves behind is not his family nor his wealth but the reputation which he makes for himself. Noach left behind his three sons but his real "descendants" were the values which he lived by and modeled for generations to come. The good deeds which he generated lived on and on.
Our first verse employs Noach's name twice. Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel notes that the gematria - the numerical value - of Noach Noach is 116. This is identical with the number-letter value of Imo (ayin-mem-vov) which means "with him."
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel associates this with the well known verse inTehillim 91:15 which has HaShem saying "Imo Anochi ba'tzara" - I am with him in times of distress. Now normally we use that phrase as an adage for how HaShem accompanies His people even during their hard times. He does not forsake the Jews. He is "with us" in our distress.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel applies the adage creatively. It was Noach who was in distress, all right, but it was also Noach who took HaShem along with him during his ordeal. Noach needed his faith in the Ark and needed to feel that he could depend on HaShem. Our verse uses his name twice, saying that he had "company" on the voyage. The Torah is illustrating for us his righteousness by hinting that "he took HaShem along with him in his distress."
When our second verse says that Noach had three sons, we must ask why it is necessary to write this, given that the verse has mentioned the three sons by name anyway. What is to be learned from the apparent redundancy of citing the number of his sons?
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel refers back to the sages' insight that one's real descendants are his deeds. The Torah records the names of his three sons. The second reference to his having had "three sons" refers to the "our deeds are our descendants" type of "son." He had three biological children, and he had three "descendant" levels of righteous deeds. One was that he was a tzadik, a model of piety. One was that he was a tamim, an honest man. One was that he was a his'halach, a "godly" person. The exemplary "descendants" left by good Noach were his piety, his honesty and his godliness. His three mortal sons were Shem, Cham and Yefes, the "ben Noach Brothers." At a spiritual level, however, Noach truly could have said, "For eternity, My Three 'Sons' are the Righteous 'Brothers'."
My great rebbi HaGaon HaRav Simcha Wasserman ztvk'l often cited Noach as a man who saw the world destroyed and then had a role in rebuilding it. We build our world through our deeds, as we learned in last week's Parsha Thought. The yartzeit of the Rosh Yeshiva is Motzaei Shabbos. Good Shabbos and Chodesh Tov. D. Fox
"...Noach, Noach..." (6:9)
"...va'yoled Noach shlosha banim..."
"...and Noach bore three descendants..." (6:10)
Much has been said about the righteousness of Noach. Our sages have explained how he was a pure and good man, and how the Torah's emphasis on his "toldos" - his "descendants" - is really a reference to his good deeds. As Chazal tell us, the real legacy one leaves behind is not his family nor his wealth but the reputation which he makes for himself. Noach left behind his three sons but his real "descendants" were the values which he lived by and modeled for generations to come. The good deeds which he generated lived on and on.
Our first verse employs Noach's name twice. Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel notes that the gematria - the numerical value - of Noach Noach is 116. This is identical with the number-letter value of Imo (ayin-mem-vov) which means "with him."
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel associates this with the well known verse inTehillim 91:15 which has HaShem saying "Imo Anochi ba'tzara" - I am with him in times of distress. Now normally we use that phrase as an adage for how HaShem accompanies His people even during their hard times. He does not forsake the Jews. He is "with us" in our distress.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel applies the adage creatively. It was Noach who was in distress, all right, but it was also Noach who took HaShem along with him during his ordeal. Noach needed his faith in the Ark and needed to feel that he could depend on HaShem. Our verse uses his name twice, saying that he had "company" on the voyage. The Torah is illustrating for us his righteousness by hinting that "he took HaShem along with him in his distress."
When our second verse says that Noach had three sons, we must ask why it is necessary to write this, given that the verse has mentioned the three sons by name anyway. What is to be learned from the apparent redundancy of citing the number of his sons?
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel refers back to the sages' insight that one's real descendants are his deeds. The Torah records the names of his three sons. The second reference to his having had "three sons" refers to the "our deeds are our descendants" type of "son." He had three biological children, and he had three "descendant" levels of righteous deeds. One was that he was a tzadik, a model of piety. One was that he was a tamim, an honest man. One was that he was a his'halach, a "godly" person. The exemplary "descendants" left by good Noach were his piety, his honesty and his godliness. His three mortal sons were Shem, Cham and Yefes, the "ben Noach Brothers." At a spiritual level, however, Noach truly could have said, "For eternity, My Three 'Sons' are the Righteous 'Brothers'."
My great rebbi HaGaon HaRav Simcha Wasserman ztvk'l often cited Noach as a man who saw the world destroyed and then had a role in rebuilding it. We build our world through our deeds, as we learned in last week's Parsha Thought. The yartzeit of the Rosh Yeshiva is Motzaei Shabbos. Good Shabbos and Chodesh Tov. D. Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 7:30 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home