Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 13:10:09 +0200 (IST) B"H "Path Markers" Noach: By: Yaacov Silverstein e@mail: hm16@popeye.cc.biu.ac.il HomePage: http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~hm16/ Year: 5760 This Weeks Dvar - Torah was prepared in the memory and merit of: My grandfather: Rav Yitzchak Zev Ben Yisroel Mordechai Hakohen Solomon Z"L ~*~*~* Mazal Tov To Yisroel Mordechai and Aviva Silverstein on their recent marriage!! *~*~*~ Pasuk: (6:9): "These are the offsprings of Noach - Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations...." Noach, righteous or not? ------------------------ The ten generations from Adam to Noach, had ended in failure. Hashem resolved to wipe out all the inhabitants on earth, except for Noach and those who were to be with him in the Ark. This was due to the low level of which mankind had stumbled to. The Torah praises Noach as a righteous person, there are various opinions of how righteous Noach really was. There are those who say that Noach was righteous in his generation, that even though his generation was corrupted, he survived the corruption, and imagine how much more righteous he would have been in a generation like that of our Avos (Forefather's). There are those who say the exact opposite, that only because his generation was so corrupted, did he look so righteous, however, if he would have lived in the times of the Avos, he would have been insignificant, compared to them. In this Dvar Torah I would like to take these two opinions and try to make it into one idea of Noach's righteousness, and where this righteousness was lacking, based on Rav Dessler's Sefer "Michtav Me Eliyahu". Of course we are no where near the level which Noach had reached, yet we can learn from him what true Chesed is. Noach entered the Ark, from the fear of the flood, his safety was in the Ark. His safety in the Ark was based on the Chesed (kindness) which he performed to all the Ark's inhabitants. At the time of the flood, there was also one other safe place from the floods, Eretz Yisroel, for here the floods could not pose any danger at all. Two types of kindness: --------------------- Rav Eliyahu Dessler explains, that there are two types of Chesed (kindness). One type is when one feels that it is his duty to do kindness to others. This type of person only does Chesed when he feels that he has to, but if there is no one requesting, he doesn't feel bad that he can't do a Chesed to another person. Such a person is called a Tzaddik, but not a Chasid. This was Noach. The second type of Chesed, is when it is done whenever a person can find someone who needs the Chesed, and when he can't find such a person, he feels miserable, this was Avraham, and in his merit we received Eretz Yisroel. Since Noach did not reach the level of Avraham, he couldn't be saved by Eretz Yisroel alone, for this he would have to be doing complete selfless Chesed. Noach thus needed to build an Ark, so he would have the duty to perform Chesed to others, and in this merit, he was saved from the waters of the flood. As Rav Aryeh Carmell explains, "Noach needed an intensive program of training in active Chesed." A person is only categorized as a Tzaddik, once he is aware that everything in this world is here for the service of Hashem. Noach was on this level, he was honest and he didn't desire something that belonged to his neighbor. Tzaddik VS Chasid: ------------------ Each person in this world is given the instruments which he needs to meet his tasks in this world. To help a person with this task, man's helpmate is selected 40 days before his embryo is formed, as it says in the Gemarah (Sota 2:a). The total environment which a person finds himself, is called a persons Mazal. A Tzaddik works with his Mazal to achieve his lifes goals, however each one of us can change our own Mazal, both for the better, and for the worse. Avraham originally had a Mazal to only be Av-Ram, the spiritual father of Aram(Middle East). At the end he changed his Mazal, and he became the spiritual father of all humanity. A Tzaddik is thus someone who has completed his portion in this world. In this case, all Tzaddikim are equal, it makes no difference which generation they live in, rather it is the goal which they have reached in their life time. Noach completed his task in this world, yet this doesn't meet up to Avraham. For Avraham accomplished more than his task. The Torah hints to us by Noach, that it is a disgrace when a person does not do more than his task in this world. Avraham was greater than Noach, because he was a Chasid. He didn't just do Chesed when it was available, he even searched for it when the opportunity was not available. It says in Pirke Avos (2:6) "In a place where there are no leaders, strive to be a leader." Noach was an "Ish" - a person who took leadership, in a place where there were no leaders. The problem was that he only did it when he felt compelled to do it. He only entered the Ark, once the waters starting rising, from the fear of the waters he went into the Ark. We also find that after Noach left the Ark, he planted a vineyard, yet this was only when he felt that there was no one else left to do the job, and thus is was his duty. We learn from here that we are here in this world to do more than just our goal, and through acts of kindness to one another, we can actually increase our Mazal and change from a Tzaddik to a Chasid. ******* I would like to thank my mother (S.M.F) for helping me out by looking over the first draft. (The above Halacha is not Psak, it is there to try to help to increase ones Torah awareness, for final Psak, please consult your : Local Reliable Orthodox Rabbi.) ------- **********--------- --------***********--------