Hamaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Noach Volume VIII/Number 2 (337) 1 Cheshvan 5754/October 16, 1993 Many commentaries cite the Zohar saying that there is a relationship between Noach and Shabbat. On the most superficial level, "Noach" is reminiscent of "Menuchah" -- rest. However, R' Shlomo of Radomsk writes that Noach relates to "Nechamah" -- consolation. Shabbat, he explains, consoles us by reminding us of the ultimate consolation -- Olam haBa, which Chazal call, "The day which is entirely Shabbat." (Tiferet Shlomo) Noach is also associated with farming. Chazal say that Noach invented many of the farm implements which we take for granted; in his day, the curse of the land which was told to Adam was mitigated somewhat. Parashat Noach is thus particularly meaningful when it is read during the Shemittah -- the sabbatical year when farmers rest. Noach, the expert farmer, has Menuchah, rest, and brings us Nechamah, consolation. ************************************ "These are the generations of Noach, Noach ....." (6:9) The Midrash asks: Couldn't the word Noach have been written only once? This (i.e., the repetition) teaches that he was pleasant ("Noach") for himself and for his sons, pleasant above and below, pleasant in this world and in the next world. R' Aharon Rokeach of Belz explains that, in most respects, a person's accounts with Heaven are closed when he dies and he is rewarded and punished based on those accounts. However, if a person has left behind children or students, he can be rewarded or punished based on their future deeds which are the result of his influence. This is the meaning of the Midrash quoted above -- not only was Noach rewarded for his own good deeds, but he taught his sons well also. (from an untitled collected of R' Aharon's Divrei Torah) ************************************ "Hashem said to Noach, 'You and your household enter the ark...'." (7:1) R' Chaim of Czernowitz asks: Why here is the name "Hashem" -- representing G-d's attribute of mercy -- used, while before (6:13) we read "Elokim said to Noach..."? (The name "Elokim" represents the attribute of justice.) Noach himself was a great Tzaddik, and he was able to be saved from the flood even without the intervention of the attribute of mercy. Note that when Elokim spoke to Noach He said, "Make yourself an ark." (6:14) Strictly speaking, the ark was for Noach alone. Our verse, however, addresses Hashem's decision to save Noach's entire immediate family from the flood. They were saved only in Noach's merit, and thus the attribute of mercy was required, for when Hashem acts through that attribute, He saves the unworthy with the worthy. (Be'er Mayim Chaim) ************************************ Last week we discussed one of the problems inherent in selling Eretz Yisrael for the Shemittah year. This week we address another issue. R' Yaakov David Willowsky ("Ridvaz"; 1845-1913) argued that selling the land makes no sense. The whole basis for selling the land is that it would ease the fulfillment of the Mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisrael. However, argues Ridvaz, if we sell the land, it is no longer Eretz Yisrael. No, writes R' Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook. That position assumes that the holiness of the land arises solely from the fact that Mitzvot such as Shemittah are observed there. In fact, there are two types of holiness connected with Eretz Yisrael: the holiness which comes from the Mitzvot which can be done there and the holiness of the land itself. To what is this analogous? To the holiness of Torah. One aspect of that holiness relates to the Mitzvot which one learns how to perform and the other aspect of that holiness is the sanctity of Torah and its study. Therefore, writes R' Kook, even if the special Mitzvot of Eretz Yisrael (e.g. Shemittah) are suspended when the land is sold, the inherent holiness of the land can never be extinguished, and, similarly, the Mitzvah of living there. (Shabbat haAretz) Selling land in Eretz Yisrael is not the only prohibition which is sometimes set aside in order to facilitate settlement in Eretz Yisrael. The Gemara (Gittin 8b) states that a non-Jew may be asked to write a contract on Shabbat so that a Jew may buy land in Eretz Yisrael from a non-Jew. (Note, however, that telling a non-Jew to perform labor on Shabbat is only a Rabbinic prohibition.) Why did Chazal allow a Rabbinic prohibition to be transgressed for the Mitzvah of settling Eretz Yisrael? According to R' Yosef Engel, there is more at stake here than settling in Eretz Yisrael - - a Mitzvah which some say is not in force today. Rather, buying land in Eretz Yisrael from a non-Jew is akin to annexing land to Eretz Yisrael, and thus increasing its Kedushah (holiness). ************************************ THE "CHATAM SOFER" (R' Moshe Sofer) 7 Tishrei, ca. 5623 (1762) - 25 Tishrei 5699 (1839) R' Moshe Sofer (Schreiber) was born in Frankfurt-am-Main. R' Moshe was a child prodigy, and many Yeshiva students are familiar with the scholarly debate which he held with the author of Sha'agat Aryeh when he (R' Moshe) was only four or six years old. (The question was: Who were the witnesses at the marriage of Adam and Chava?) R' Moshe's primary teachers were R' Pinchas haLevi Horowitz (author of Hafla'ah and other works) and R' Natan Adler. The latter had many customs based on Kabbalah which his contemporaries in 18th century Germany considered eccentric, and he was eventually run out of Frankfurt. His devoted student, Moshe, followed him. R' Moshe is known both for his written works and for the profound influence that he had in fighting the Reform movement in Hungary. He wrote on many areas of Torah, and his Torat Moshe on Chumash and his Halachic responsa and Talmudic novellae (both entitled Chatam Sofer) are each classics in their fields. Some of his interpretations of Chumash are "pilpulistic," e.g., attributing knowledge of Halachic arguments to non-Jewish biblical characters, but his Halachic and Talmudic works are oriented more towards the simple ("P'shat") meaning. R' Moshe's Yeshiva in Pressburg (now Bratslava, Slovak Republic) was the largest in Central Europe. Among his leading students were his son (the "Ketav Sofer") and the "Maharam Shick" and the "Maharam Asch." In Ketav Sofer, R' Moshe's son offers an interesting insight into Hashem's conduct of the world. Rashi writes that before the flood, Hashem truly regretted (so-to-speak) creating man. Why then, asks Ramban, was Noach saved? Says the "Ketav Sofer": Sometimes the very evil of man makes Hashem act mercifully. Justice requires that evil be allowed to take its normal course and that man be punished for all of his bad deeds. However, Hashem will sometimes kill the sinner, as an act of mercy, before he has incurred the full wrath of Heaven. That is what happened in Noach's time. Furthermore, once Hashem had already "activated" His attribute of mercy, Noach was able to be saved. ************************************ The learning schedule for this Shabbat is: Terumot 3:6-7 Kitzer Shulchan Aruch chapter 29, paragraphs 11-15 Gittin 40 Ma'aser Sheni 17 ************************************ The hard copy distribution of this weeks Hamaayan is sponsored by: Mrs. Esther Liberman and family in memory of husband and father, Yaakov Azriel ben Aharon David, A"H ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax deductible