The Weekly Shtikle - Noach

On Rosh HaShanah, as part of the mussaf liturgy, we recall the story of the great deluge as the first textual reference for the section detailing zichronos, remembrances. While the rest of the world was worthy of destruction, HaShem remembered, as it were, Noach and the animals and saved them. Many commentaries are quick to point out that the concept of remembering, as we know it, involves something having previously been forgotten. This certainly cannot be the understanding of Divine remembrance. Rather, the term is merely an anthropomorphism, speaking in a language that is familiar to the ear. Shaarei Aharon exposes a fascinating nuance in Targum Onkelos from the sefer Passhegen that illustrates this point. Any time Divine zechirah is mentioned, although the Torah text uses past or present tense, the targum is always dachir which is a present tense form of the word, as HaShem's "recollection" is ever-present. Consider our parsha (8:1), "vayizkor" (past) and (Vayikra 26:42) "ezkor" (future) as examples. Conversely, human remembering will take on its proper tense in Onkelos, such as when Yosef recalled his dreams (42:9), "vayizkor" rendered by accurate versions of Onkelos as ve'idkar. 

There is another intriguing to this pasuk recounting HaShem's remembering of Noach. I can't speak for everyone but I would generally associate the remembering of Noach with his being saved from the initial destruction of the world. However, this pasuk is actually related to the calming of the waters, 150 days after the beginning of the flood. Why is the place to recount the remembering of Noach?

The Midrash (33:3) explains that the remembrance of Noach and the animals refers to Noach's caring for the animals in the teiva. Additionally, Radak notes that Noach and the animals had already suffered enough through the trials and tribulations of the first 150 days and so the process was initiated to reduce the waters and ultimately let them out to roam the world again. It seems that although Noach merited to be saved from the mabul, he had one test left to pass. He needed the merit of taking care of the animals as well and only then was his salvation complete.

 

***

 

On the lighter side (since, as illustrated below, the teiva was quite heavy): A good friend of mine and noted author, Mordechai Bodek, wrote a humourous book called Extracts From Noah's Diary. Check it out!

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Al Pi Cheshbon: The Weight of the Teiva and The Constant Rate of Recession 
AstroTorah: Sailing the Friendly Skies by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: The World's First Boat?

AstroTorah: Interesting Calendrical Facts About the Mabul

Dikdukian: Noach's Three Sons

Dikdukian: Different Ways to Wake Up

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Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Bereishis

This coming Sunday, 28 Tishrei, is the 21^st yahrtzeit of my dear friend, Daniel Scarowsky, z"l.

This week's shtikle is dedicated leiluy nishmaso, Daniel Moshe Eliyahu ben Yitzchak.

 

On the sixth day of creation, HaShem created Man. The gemara (Sanhedrin 38b) teaches that Chavah was created in the seventh hour. In the ninth hour they were commanded not to eat from the eitz hada'as and already in the tenth hour, they sinned and ate from it. In the pasuk dealing with the sin we find a confusing incongruity. Chavah is seduced by the snake and she comes to accept (3:6) "that the tree is good to eat, etc." Rashi writes that she accepted the words of the snake, i.e., that her eating from the tree would not result in death, and believed it. She committed the sin with the confident belief that she would not die. However, in the very same pasuk, she gives of the fruit to her husband. Rashi comments there that the reason why she did so is because she was afraid that she would die and he would marry someone else. Wasn't she just convinced by the snake that she wouldn't die?

 

R' Chaim Kanievsky, zt"l, comments in Ta'ama D'kra that we are taught here a very telling lesson in the nature of the yeitzer hara, the evil inclination. When one's desires are raging the yeitzer hara has the power to convince its host that there will be no retribution for wrongdoing in order to seduce him or her to transgress. As soon as it is over and the yeitzer hara has accomplished its mission, this power subsides and he or she returns to reality. Chavah wasn't really convinced by the snake that she wouldn't die. She was temporarily blinded by her own desire to eat from the tree and that allowed her to believe the snake temporarily. But as soon as she actually ate from it, she looked at herself and said "my goodness, what have I done!" She came back to reality and realized that indeed she was going to die. She then tried to bring her husband with her.

 

Ohr HaChayim on the very next pasuk explains similarly. We are told that Adam and Chava's eyes were opened. This speaks to their instant realization of the gravity of the sin they had just committed.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

 

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Do you Sea what I Sea

Dikdukian: And the Days Was
AstroTorah: Emunah in Time and Space

AstroTorah: The Two Luminaries

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Sukkos

This coming Thursday is the17^th yahrtzeit of HaRav Naftali Neuberger, zt"l, of Ner Yisroel.

This shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmaso, Naftali ben Meir Halevi.

 

"And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of the hadar tree, branches of palm trees and the boughs of thick-leaved trees and willows of the brook" (Vayikra 23:40) The Midrash Rabba in Vayikra Rabba 30 delves into the symbolism behind the esrog, lulav, hadasim and aravos that we take every year on Sukkos. In 30:12, the Midrash speaks of the arba minim symbolizing different traits among B'nei Yisrael. The esrog, which has smell and taste, is likened to those who have smell and taste, i.e., those who have Torah and ma'asim tovim, good deeds. The lulav comes from a date tree. The date tree has taste but no smell. This is like the man who has Torah but no ma'asim tovim. The hadas has a smell but no taste, corresponding to the man who has ma'asim tovim but not Torah. The aravos, which have neither taste nor smell, represent the empty man of neither Torah nor ma'asim tovim.

 

The Midrash's choice to refer to Torah with taste and to good deeds with smell is surely not coincidental. There must be a significant meaning behind it. I heard a wonderful explanation from R' Ariel Shoshan, an alumnus of Ner Yisroel and currently a rav in Scottsdale, AZ. Taste is surely a more fulfilling sense than smell. It satiates and satisfies whereas smell often leads only to the desire to taste. Likewise, Torah is a more fulfilling trait. It is demanded of us to show proper respect for the man of Torah for his stature is paramount. But like taste, it is a trait that must be experienced at close range, with direct contact, just as taste requires you to actually have the food and place it in your mouth.

 

Good deeds are different. Just as an object with a pungent smell may be sensed from across the room, a good deed may be sensed from a far distance. If someone, for example, holds the door open for someone, everyone around sees it. Good deeds are sensed by all in the vicinity, just as smell has this power to affect a great many at one time. In a nutshell, Torah must be "tasted" up close, but good deeds can be "smelled" from afar. (In the age of the Internet, I suppose this analogy doesn't hold quite as true as it once did. After all, you are likely nowhere near me as you read this.)

 

I would like to add two more points, other possible meanings behind this symbolism. First, it is known that the sense of taste requires the sense of smell to aid it. I'm sure we've all experienced the tastelessness of food when suffering from a cold. But you don't need a tongue to smell. Likewise, if a person has ma'asim tovim but no Torah, at least his ma'asim tovim can exist as a virtue unto themselves. But one who has Torah but not ma'asim tovimm, even his Torah is affected and surely hindered by his lack of midos. This is the exact message of the mishna in Pirkei Avos (3:9) "One whose good deeds exceed his wisdom, his wisdom will endure. One whose wisdom exceeds his good deeds, his wisdom will not endure."

 

Second, it is interesting to note that the object of good smell is the hadas itself. It is the very object we include in the arba minim that provides the pleasant aroma. The object referred to as having good taste is the lulav. But please, do not try to take a bite of your lulav, even after Sukkos. It is not the lulav itself which tastes good but rather the fruit from the tree from which it came. Perhaps this symbolizes that the one who has good deeds, even if he lacks Torah knowledge, his deeds endure and are sensed directly. His lack of Torah does not prevent his good deeds from having a positive impact on others. But one who has Torah but not good deeds, his Torah becomes hidden and not sensed due to his lack of midos.

 

May we all merit to be like the esrog!

Have a Chag Samei'ach!

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Harachaman hu yakim...

Al Pi Cheshbon: How many bakashos in Ya'aleh v'Yavo

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Ha'azinu

In the concise, yet powerful, rebuke contained in this week's parsha, we are warned (32:26) of a time when HaShem will consider our utter and complete destruction, to put an end to us and our memory. However, HaShem will hold back for the reasons explained in the very next pasuk. "Were it not that I dreaded the enemy's provocation, ... lest they should say: Our hand is exalted, and it is not HaShem who has wrought all this." It is the enemy's blasphemous arrogance that turns HaShem's anger to them and spares us.

It is easy to read this or observe this and allow it to pass by as simply a "close call." But that is clearly not sufficient. In order for HaShem's rage to be turned toward our enemies, we must make sure to possess the very merits they lack. If they are to meet their demise because they were unable to see HaShem's Hand in their victory, then certainly it is incumbent upon us to see HaShem's hand in our defeat. When difficult times are upon us, we must not lose sight of the fact that everything is part of HaShem's plan. If we are able to face adversity and accept that it is HaShem's will, it is that very virtue that causes HaShem to turn His wrath from us upon those who refuse to acknowledge His Divine Hand. If not, we are no better than they are so why should we be saved?

This is indeed a task not to be taken lightly and perhaps one that evolves over the generations and the various challenges we face as a nation. When we face Godless and faithless enemies relying completely on their own might and not recognizing any Divine intervention, this distinction is easily made clear. However, an enemy claiming to serve and fear God and act on His will demands an even greater level of faith from us. It is imperative for us to emerge as the true believers in order to ensure that HaShem's wrath is directed at our enemies.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

 

Weekly Shtikle Blog Roundup:

Dikdukian: HAL

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