Summarizing the writings of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
The meaning of the word חטא is an act where the moral will has retreated, and the deed is done without thought, without moral or spiritual guidance; it is an act performed under the control of the senses.
חטא is an act that is removed from the fire of holiness, and חטאת (the sin-offering) is the symbolic rectification. The קרבן חטאת restores the חלב וכליות to the fire of the sacred, and thus rectifies the חטא.
Beraishis 13:13
pages 319-320
וְאַנְשֵׁ֣י סְדֹ֔ם רָעִ֖ים וְחַטָּאִ֑ים לַיהֹוָ֖ה מְאֹֽד׃
The people of Sedom were wicked and licentious; against God exceedingly.
RSRH comments that the verse makes a distinction between two categories of sin.
Regarding communal life (בין אדם לחברו) the evil is kept within limits. People are afraid of one another; hence, due to degenerate self interest, they kept the evil withing limits. Even among thieves, there is a certain amount of honesty to one another.
Not so matters of morality of the spirit (מצוות בין אדם למקום). People think these have no bearing on society. Everyone deludes himself into believing that harms only himself and his own welfare, for which he is responsible only to Heaven – were he to have any fear of Heaven. Thus, in מצוות בין אדם למקום, unbridled licentiousness exceeds all bounds.
Beraishis 13:13
pages 318-319
Avraham tells Lot (v.9) to choose any direction he wishes to settle. He explains that he has limited options, as he must seek isolation. But, he tells Lot, “since you have dissociated from my view of life (see 13B), you have no need to be so particular in your choice of where to live”.
And so we see (v.12) that while Lot chose a place of prosperity, where his herds and tents stretched all the way to Sodom, Avraham continued to dwell apart, avoiding all contact with the Canaanite cities. He only drew near to society to fulfill his mission of proclaiming the name of Hashem.
Avraham had just undergone a painful experience of failing to win over to his way of life his closest relative.
Only after God encouraged him to look beyond his isolation and to become involved, without fear, with the inhabitants of the land, for his own sake and for the sake of his principles, did Avraham enter the well-inhabited are and settle in Chevron (later in this chapter, verses 17-18).
Beraishis 13:8-12
pages 315-318
Look closely at the cantillation of the verse and notice where there is a pause. The verse reads:
וְגַ֨ם־לְל֔וֹט הַהֹלֵ֖ךְ אֶת־אַבְרָ֑ם הָיָ֥ה צֹאן־וּבָקָ֖ר וְאֹהָלִֽים׃
And also Lot, who went with Avraham, (PAUSE), had sheep and cattle and tents.
The verse is asking us to pause and reflect. Lot went with Avraham. Avraham had dedicated his life to kindness and teaching about God to the world. Lot saw Avraham’s tent open and welcoming to all. Did he absorb these lessons? What did Lot get from his time with Avraham?
Lot, who went with Avraham, had sheep and cattle and tents. He acquired nothing of Avraham’s spirituality. He went with Avraham because it brought him material profit.
He had his own wealth. He had his own tents. He stopped being a member of Avraham’s household.
Avraham dedicated his life to spirituality and calling out in the name of God. The management of his home, he entrusted to Sarah. It was Sarah’s tent. (See commentary on 12:8, page 303, derived from the letter ה in the word אהלה. His tent was really her tent.) But Lot, who should have know better and learned from Avraham, was concerned about his materialism. He had his own possessions and tents.
Beraishis 13:5
pages 313-314
Because of famine, Avraham had to temporarily give up his isolation. Upon his return to the land of Canaan he wanted to return to the place where God had first appeared to him – the place where the significance of that land for the future, and the need for his isolation in the present, had been revealed to him. See 12A and 12G.
He now resumed his work of summoning people in the name of God.
Beraishis 13:1
page 312
מעשה אבות סימן לבנים
Culled from:
Beraishis 12: pages 300 and 312
See post 12L where the question was raised as to Avraham’s reasons for leaving the Land of Canaan, in which God appeared to Avraham, indicating this was the Land he would be given. Why didn’t Avraham remain, putting his trust in God? Also, how could Avraham put his wife in peril, having her say that she was his sister? Wouldn’t that endanger her?
(Later, 14:22, we see that Avraham refuses payment for saving the people of Sedom. Surely this teaches us that he wasn’t concerned about personal gain.)
RSRH suggest the following explanation:
We of later generations have the fortune of hindsight. We can look back at Jewish survival and say God will help. But Avraham Avinu didn’t have someone who preceded him to see how Hashem takes care and ensures Jewish survival.
In addition, he adds, Avraham did not want to rely on miracles. We have a principal of אין סומכין על הנס. The first action when in danger of starvation is to find a way to get food.
As for his conduct in Egypt (and he repeats this again in chapter 20 as does Yitzchak in chapter 26), RSRH offers the following explanation:
If a woman was married, they might be quicker to take her than a single woman. They would just kill the husband. But in the case of a single woman, they might delay the process, offering the brother gifts, convincing him to agree to the marriage. While all of this takes place, there is a delay of time, and in the meantime, perhaps help will come from Heaven.
Avraham was concerned for Sarah. He states, they will keep you alive – meaning that will be a situation you would never want; living a life of shame.
Avraham then adds, to convince Sarah, if you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me!
At first the plan worked. But Avraham didn’t consider the king. A regular citizen would first go to her brother but the king could do otherwise and she was taken immediately. And still the king wanted to do things respectably and first presented Avraham with gifts.
Beraishis 12:10-20
pages 304-312
See Beraishis 28:10, page 598:
Yakov goes forth in order to establish a Jewish home, and to achieve this he needs only the resources inherent in his own personality. Thus begins the story of Yaakov, for everything that follows revolves around the establishment of that home. Yaakov was the first to give expression to the idea that God is to be sought within the home….. The sphere in which man blossoms and thrives, the place to which he brings all that acquires and in which he acts and builds his life – that sphere is the greatest and nearest place for the revelation of God…. עיקר שכינה בתחתונים
See Beraishis 28:14 page 603:
Yaakov exhibits the first Jewish home and teaches how, without inherited wealth one can build and live a family life upheld by the blessing and dignity of work, with all its worries, troubles and griefs.
How to lead a family life, a national life, upheld by the grace of God and refined in accordance with His Will – this, mankind will learn from you (Yaakov) and from your descendants.
See Hirsch’s commentary on the Korban Pesach where RSRH explains its symbolism of the importance of family and of a community that cares for one another. (First major essay in the Hirsch Haggadah)
Beraishis 12A – לך לך – Avraham is Commanded to Seek Isolation
Beraishis 13H – Isolation is a Necessity to Prepare for Engagement
Beraishis 14E – Avraham as a Neighbor Who Maintained his Unique Character
Beraishis 14F – Education Must Start at Birth, in the Isolation of the Home
Yaakov’s Isolation: See Beraishis 28:10, page 598:
… We see Yaakov, like Avraham, carrying out his own “Lech Lecha”; we see him too – our last patriarch… going forth into isolation. But his departure differs from that of Avraham. True Avraham left his homeland to go into isolation, but he did so as head of his household, with relatives and with wealth. Yaakov, however, took nothing with him at all. Yaakov goes forth in order to establish a Jewish home. To achieve this he needs only the resources inherent in his personality. (see more there)
Avraham leaves the land of Canaan due to a famine. He seemingly places his wife Sarah in great moral peril by lying and having her say that she is his sister. Avraham seemingly asked Sarah to do this for his own gain when he said “so that they will deal well with me to get you through me…”. Could his fear of dying have led him to such sins?
Indeed the Ramban writes on these verses אברהם אבינו חטא חטא גדול בשגגה “Avraham inadvertently committed a grave sin by placing his virtuous wife before a stumbling block of iniquity because of his fear of being killed. …. His leaving the Land, about which he was commanded, because of the famine was another sin he committed – עון אשר חטא.”
RSRH offers an explanation for Avraham’s behavior. (See the following post – Beraishis 12M.)
Even so, RSRH writes an important preface stating that the notion that one of the forefathers could have sinned or made a grave error wouldn’t be perplexing.
The following words are an exact quote from RSRH:
The Torah does not seek to portray our great men as perfectly ideal figures; it deifies no man. It says of no one: “Here you have the ideal: in this man the Divine assumes human form!” It does not set before us the life of any one person as the model from which we might learn what is good and right, what we must do and what we must refrain from doing. When the Torah wishes to put before us a model to emulate, it does not present a man, who is born of dust. Rather, God presents Himself as the model, saying” “Look upon Me! Emulate Me! Walk in My ways! We are never to say: “This must be good and right, because so and so did it.” The Torah is not an “anthology of good deeds.” It relates events not because they are necessarily worthy of emulation, but because they took place.
The Torah does not hide from us the faults, errors, and weaknesses of our great men, and this is precisely what gives its stories credibility. The knowledge given us of their faults and weaknesses does not detract from the stature of our great men; on the contrary, it adds to their stature and makes their life stories even more instructive. Had they been portrayed to us as shining models of perfection, flawless and unblemished, we would have assumed that they had been endowed with a higher nature, not given to us to attain. Had they been portrayed free of passions and inner conflicts, their virtues would have seemed to us as merely the consequences of their loftier nature, not acquired by personal merit, and certainly no model we could ever hope to emulate.
Take, for example, the humility of Moshe. Had we not known that he was capable also of flying into a rage, we would have assumed that his humility was an inborn trait not within our capacity to emulate. It is precisely his outburst שמעו נא המורים (Bemidbar 20:10) that lends his humility its true greatness: We thus infer that he acquired humility through hard work, self control and self refinement, and that we are obligated to emulate him since it is within our capacity to do so.
Let us learn from our great Teachers of Torah, among whom the Ramban is one of the most outstanding, that we must never attempt to whitewash the spiritual and moral heroes of our past. They do not need our apologetics, nor would they tolerate such attempts on our part. Truth is the seal of our Torah, and truthfulness is the guiding principle of the Torah’s great teachers and commentators.
Beraishis 12:10-13
pages 304-306
The south of the land of Canaan is dry and desolate. The entire region of the south is called “Arava” “wilderness”.
Just as the Torah was given in the wilderness, so too Avraham sought the wilderness. Just as the Torah was given to a stiff necked people, not easily inclined to change. This highlights the fact that the creation and birth of the nation and the power of the Torah to influence the world is not dependent on physical conditions.
Later, when the Jewish nation entered Israel, the altar was built of Mount Eival, the mountain that was barren, to bring out the same point.
The command of Lech Lecha is what drew Avraham to the inhospitable south.
Beraishis 12:9
page 304
Avraham built an altar there and proclaimed in the name of God.
RSRH points out that this was in opposition to Nimrod and his contemporaries whose sole aim was “let us make a name for ourselves”.
Beraishis 12:8
page 303
אברהם קראו הר, יצחק שדה, יעקב בית – פסחים דף פ”ח עמוד ב
For Avraham the mountainside was where God revealed Himself. Avraham was a lone and solitary figure, singular among men; he could not find God in the sphere of human society. To seek God and uncover the traces of His deeds, he went out to the wilds of nature in the mountains, where the traces of men’s doing had not yet reached.
As the story of the patriarchs unfolded, they increasingly saw the “finger of God” revealed in the course of their lives. Yitzchak called his place of Divine revelation “field”; that is no longer the wild open mountainside, but nature that is harnessed by man for his nourishment. This sphere already pertains to man’s existence, though still only in a material manner (see below 26:12).
Ya’akov did not have to leave his home in order to find God; he found Him in the place where God always wants us to find Him: he was the father of children. Not in the hills and mountain, not in the fields and forests, but in his own home he found God; his own family life was where God revealed Himself to him. The stone on which a man lays down his weary head became to him “the house of God” (see below 28:22).
(GS- RSRH wrote above about the central importance of family as the sphere where morals and godliness develop, ultimately influencing society. See above 1:28.)
Beraishis 12:8
pages 302-303
Avraham gave order to move on from there toward the mountain … Beis El to the west and Ai to the east…
Avraham had to urge the people traveling with him to move on. They would be happy settling where they were. Avraham sought more isolation by traveling toward the mountains.
Even there, he pitched tent between the places that were inhabited. Beis El to the west and Ai to the east.
Beraishis 12:8
pages 301-302
Avram passed through the land until the place of Shchem, until the grove of Moreh, and the Canaanite was already there in the land. God appeared there to Avram and said: To your seed I will give this land. Avram then built an altar there to God Who had appeared to him.
Avraham entered the land and kept on traveling until God appeared to him, indicating that he had come to the right land.
PROPHECY: RSRH points out that while we don’t know the nature of the vision, we do see from the wording that God appeared “to” Avraham. This was not some sort of human imagination or inspiration. God directed his message by means of this vision to Avraham.
While God spoke to Avraham before, He only appeared to Avraham in this land. This is the beginning of the process of the Shechina (Divine Presence) returning to the lower realms – that being the goal and purpose of all human history. As we have noted before – עיקר שכינה בתחתונים.
The specific location where God chose to appear is called:
– Shechem – A place later known to produce hot-blooded men who are prone to murder. Even parallel Shechem across the Jordan in Gilaad, the same was true.
– Elon Moreh – This is where two mountains stood. One is green and flourishing and the other is barren.
– In this land the Canaanites had sunk to a low, degenerate level.
What was God telling Avraham by choosing this place to appear to him?
God linked the return of his Divine Presence to a place, the land of Canaan, which could corrupt man to teach that despite this, the Divine quality in man, the ability to attain closeness to God, are within the reach of every nation. In Avraham’s place, murderers can dwell next to a prophet. The Jewish people are known to be a stiff-necked people (see Exodus 32:9). Even so, the אשדת, the Divine fire of the Torah, would succeed in refining this people in this land! This would show that there is no nation, no matter where it dwells, that cannot be won over by the אשדת. (This is also why the Torah was given in the desert, a place where nothing thrives.)
On one side a mountain flourished. On the other side it is barren. These teaches us that blessing in not the condition but rather the result of building one’s life according to God’s will. The altar of God can be built on desolate ground just as it can be built where the conditions are already flourishing.
Perhaps this grove is called Elon “Moreh” because it is a grove (flourishing) that teaches this lesson.
(GS – Just as the Torah begins with the lesson of free will, so too the reentry of the Shechina into the realm of man beginning with Avraham and the creation of the Jewish people, begins with the lesson of free will. God asks of us to choose to submit to His Torah which can purify and uplift us. The conditions don’t have to lend to this. We choose, and the conditions will flourish in response.)
Beraishis 12: 6-7
pages 298-301
“.. They set out for the land of Canaan, and came to the land of Canaan.”
In 12:1 God never said He would direct Avraham where to go. God said “Go to the land I will show you”. Meaning, Avraham would only know that he went to the right place once God appeared to him at that place.
This begs the question, how did Avraham know in which direction to head out? Why did he choose to head to the land of Canaan?
Even though the land was inhabited by the descendants of Canaan, the most corrupt of Noach’s sons, there was still much potential for good in this land. Malki Tzedek (according to our tradition the same person as Shem, the son of Noach) was still alive and lived in this land. There were some others who learned from Shem there as well, and so this was a place where one could still find some inhabitants who had an awareness of God.
In addition, our tradition teaches that on Mount Moriah, Hevel the son of Adam brought his offering, as did Noach when he left the ark. Later it was on this same mountain that Avraham’s greatest test would take place, the Akeida. And later the Temple stood there, the place where man is constantly reborn spiritually and morally – at the same place where God gathered the dust to form Adam.
Beraishis 12:5
pages 295-298
ואברכה מברכיך ומקללך אאר ונברכו בך כל משפחת האדמה
I wish to bless those who bless you, and whoever brings a curse upon you, I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you.
This verse appears to allude to a third stage in which Avraham’s people are dependant on man. This is a stage in which man has the power to bless or to curse them.
This stage refers to Exile which would be decreed to befall this people if they would forget their mission and seek, like all other nations, to receive blessing, not to be a source of blessing.
(The nation will still retain the same mission, but exile will serve as an education to learn that their goal is to be blessed and not to place receiving blessing as their goal. – GS – culled from other places and implicit between the lines here.)
While living among the nations, those who value your principles and submit to the service of your God – those I will bless. (In other words God is wishing that we learn the lessons of exile and thus conduct ourselves in such a manner that furthering the Jewish nation will be a furthering of the well being of the nations).
God tells Avraham: I will go with you into exile. No nation will be able to deprive your descendants of their inner vitality, but the nations will be able to oppress your descendants and restrict the conditions of their existence and deprive them of the means for their development. Those nations – I will deprive them of the inner vitality necessary for their own development.
(See the original text for how all the above is lying in the wording of the text- GS)
Beraishis 12:3
pages 293-295
ואגדלה שמך והיה ברכה
Choose to be a blessing to others and I will make your name great
The more correct translation of the phrase ואגדלה שמך is “And I wish to make your name great” (not “And I will make your name great”).
Also the next phrase “והיה ברכה” is correctly translated as “become a blessing” (not “and you will be a blessing).
God gives the Jewish people the free will to live up to the task He has set before them. He can only wish that they live up to the task. When the nation lives up to the task of 1) staying separate and then 2) being a blessing to others, then the fulfillment of Stage Two will occur. The nation will dwell prosperously and securely in their land.
The nation of Israel is to have no national politics and no national economics. The One who guaranteed its national welfare does not need to allocate funds, form coalitions, or conclude treaties. At His command are rain and sunshine, strength and life, power and victory.
While the rest of the world is concerned about “Let us make for ourselves a name”, with ambition to exert power and extend its domain – no matter what the cost (see above regarding Nimrod and his tower – GS) the nation of Avraham is to be devoted to the Divine aims of bringing harmony to mankind and to the world and restoring man to his former glory.
Beraishis 12:2
pages 292-293
STAGE TWO
ואברכך – And I will Bless You
The nation will be planted in a land flowing with milk & honey.
This second stage of Jewish history, the creation of a nation out of Avraham, was to have become a reality in Eretz Yisrael. There, Israel would live apart from the nations. Not only would Israel be blessed, but blessing would spring from Israel. Israel would become a source of blessing.
Had we been worthy, all the promises to us that are to be fulfilled at the End of Days would have been fulfilled thousands of years ago, and the whole course of human history would have been radically different.
Beraishis 12:2
pages 291-292
STAGE ONE
“I will make of you a great nation, …”
The fulfillment of these words cover the period of time from the days of Yitzchak until the Exodus from Egypt.
Avraham was commanded to leave his place of security. Where all other nations develop out of their place of birth and are attached to their homeland, Avraham is to begin building his nation without a birthplace or land.
All the external conditions and natural circumstances will be against the formation of this nation, so it will be plain for all to see that God Himself is the Creator of Israel. (among the many indicators will be that Avraham and Sara were old and childless and Sara conceived miraculously.)
All other nations have their shared lands to form their common bond. In the case of Avraham it is his spirit that will be the uniting element that forms the nation. That is the meaning of the expression referring to God as The God of Avraham – אלקי אברהם. The spirit of Avraham’s relationship with God and faith in God will be the base of the formation of this nation.
(Of course, God is the God of the whole universe as Malki Tzedek later says that God is the Master of all Heaven and Earth – קונה שמים וארץ (14:19). However the emphasis here on Avraham is about how Avraham perceived God and began to set the world straight on the correct understanding of God.)
Beraishis 12:2
pages 290-291
Avraham is told to go; to remove himself from his homeland, his birthplace and family.
Judaism places great value on Family, Community and Nationhood.
Family, the home, is the private sphere in which a person thrives.
A homeland grants a person civic status and independence.
The community should represent exalted values. On this premise Judaism attaches importance to the community and forbids the individual from detaching himself from the community.
However if it becomes necessary, if the principle adopted by the majority is untrue – then go it alone and serve God!
This was the attitude demanded of Avraham as the starting point from his own mission and that of the nation that was to descend from him. True, strong ties bind a person to his homeland and to his family. Nevertheless, the bond that attaches us to God must be stronger than the bond that attaches us to homeland and family.
(Note the order that Avraham was commanded. First the homeland, then the community and lastly the home. This was in the order of difficulty.)
Yaakov’s Isolation: See Beraishis 28:10, page 598:
… We see Yaakov, like Avraham, carrying out his own “Lech Lecha”; we see him too – our last patriarch… going forth into isolation. But his departure differs from that of Avraham. True Avraham left his homeland to go into isolation, but he did so as head of his household, with relatives and with wealth. Yaakov, however, took nothing with him at all. Yaakov goes forth in order to establish a Jewish home. To achieve this he needs only the resources inherent in his personality. (see more there)
Beraishis 12:1
pages 286-290
Avraham’s contemporaries were the first ones to give expression to the idea of נעשה לנו שם – disregarding the individual’s unique relationship to God, caring only about the advancement and achievements of the community. (Nimrod, a cunning dictator, convinced the masses that this was the way of progress and better for them. He, however, put himself at the head of this new enterprise.)
Aver descended from Shem (v.14). His descendant is referred to as אברם העברי. According to Rav Yehuda’s explanation (ב”ר מ”ד,ח) this means כל העולם כולו מעבר אחד והוא מעבר אחר. The whole world stood on one side and he stood on the other side. Avram completely disapproved of the direction the entire generation had gone.
It is אברם העברי who exercises his free will and begins the world’s path back to its relationship with God. As he sets out to begin his mission, the very first thing he does in the land of Canaan is to build an altar and call out in the name of God.
As explained in the previous two posts this doesn’t simply mean declaring God’s existence. It means utilizing all energies available, from the community and the individual, in every phase of private and public life, to glorify God’s Name. To live a completely godly life, engaged in this world and society – elevating it.
(This is what living by the Torah achieves. The Jewish people are to model this for the whole world. When they achieve this, it will ultimately bring about עיקר שכינה בתחתונים in the fullest way. GS)
Beraishis 11: 10-16
pages 280-282
God (using the name of Divine Providence that ensures the future of mankind) came down, examining the motives of the collective effort to build the city and tower. God chose to intervene to ensure that ultimately the Divine presence will be able to dwell with man on earth – עיקר שכינה בתחתונים). If the community as a whole continues as it set out, there would be no room for God to enter man’s world.
God introduces a new element which will pull apart this unity.
Language can be formed from an objective view of the world and how it should be defined. The language man spoke until this time was based on this and was rooted in a tradition that transmitted this. All people spoke one language and uniform words because they had the same basic opinions and attitudes. The differences in dialect were subtle, the result of living apart and under different physical conditions.
Language can also be formed from a subjective view of the world. When language is formed that way, even if the words would be the same from one country to the next, they would mean different things. (see pages 274-277 where Hirsch cites many examples of this distinction)
At the early stages of history, God taught man to speak one language; שפה אחת. This language reflected the unchanging nature of things. Through this language He taught man the nature of things and their purpose. It was God’s Will that man’s wisdom should be based on this view. To call out in the name of God, לקרא בשם השם, means to teach man the nature of things and their purpose, not according to man’s subjective, arbitrary view, but according to God’s view and His Will for mankind. We can only have a clear, objective view of the world if we call things by their right names.
Now a new element penetrated this uniform language, cutting language off from its source. That new element was the self-consciousness of the individual.
God awakened within each individual, his inherent value. Individuals resisted the attempt to be nullified by the power of the community. Individuals’ self respect moved them to break from the “group think” and form their own opinions. Now, individuals would be obstinate, subjective and egotistic. Now, individuals would not accept or submit to any view other than their own, not even to a Divine tradition.
This change in man might seem at first glance to undo God’s plan for mankind but the alternative was much worse. Man as a community had decided to use its power to leave no room for God. Now, the individual would break away from the community. True, people would now leave the good along with the bad, cutting themselves off from the roots of language, the root of how they were to understand the world, but this was now necessary. This path will ultimately bring about man’s redemption.
As individuals form their personal attitudes the uniform language of man withers away (נבלה שפתם). Although on the one hand this is a movement away from the pure and unifying source, this becomes the new path of man bringing God back into the circle of Man. Mindfulness awakens individuals to see beyond a Nimrod, to a Power above. This is now the path to bring back the שכינה.
Perhaps at first people still spoke the same language (שפה אחת) but their opinions were different (no longer דברים אחדים). Ultimately this developed into different languages being spoken.
Ultimately, mankind will come back to God’s objective view of the world and perceive the world in a united way.
כִּי אָז אֶהְפֹּךְ אֶל עַמִּים שָׂפָה בְרוּרָה לִקְרֹא כֻלָּם בְּשֵׁם השם לְעָבְדוֹ שְׁכֶם אֶחָד (צפניה ג,ט)
“For then I will restore to the people a purified language so that they will all call in the Name of God to serve Him with one shoulder (with united strength).
Beraishis 11:5-9
pages 269-280
Nearly 400 years had elapsed since the Mabul. People naturally branched out to different locations. The changes in location and the effect the elements in those locations had on the inhabitants created differences, including the dialects that people spoke (לשון). Even so, the basic language that was spoken was still one language (שפה אחת ודברים אחדים).
The older generation remained in the east. (a place of spirituality, even today. Also, note that the sun rises from the east.) Shem and perhaps Noach remained in the east. The younger generation removed themselves from God. (ויסעו מקדם – מקדמונו של עולם). They found a plain in the land of Shinar. This is where Nimrod, the first “cunning hero”, created a following by exerting his intelligence and force over others and began his reign.
They wanted to settle in this plain but it didn’t have the ready-to-use building material that nature provided. And so they invented the brick. They said, “Let us see if we can manufacture something ourselves. Let us produce artificial stones. (הבה נלבנה לבנים)” There wasn’t enough fuel to produce a large quantity of bricks and so they said, “Let us burn whatever we find. (ונשרפה לשרפה)” Lastly, they used mortar – until then, used as a bonding agent – as cement, replacing clay which they couldn’t find (וְהַחֵמָר הָיָה לָהֶם לַחֹמֶר). The raw materials were of course provided by nature but the product was man-made.
They said, “Let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top shall reach the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered all over the face of the earth.”
This “name for themselves” was directed at God (Who is over them) and directed at the individual (who is below them). Mankind as a whole has no equal. They came to recognize the power of a community. Working together, man can overcome and master nature. The purpose of the tower they set out to build was to be an ongoing project for all future generations. It was to be an everlasting monument to the power of the community and its preeminence over the individual.
In the Torah’s view, the community should serve to complement the individual. This is only so when the community’s aim is to serve God, which is the same goal of the individual. When that is the case, all the individual forces combine to serve God more completely. The primary goal remains the individual’s goal.
The danger in community is if it regards its collective power as an end in itself – if it declares that the individual only has value through the community. Then, instead of the community complementing the individual, the community nullifies the individual.
This was the danger here. Their aim was to make a name for themselves; to declare the power of community as the goal, leaving no room for God and no room for the individual to serve God. This community declared that they as a group had progressed and invented whatever they need. The community had no need for God.
With the community as the goal, they left no room for morality. While individuals weep when a loved one passes away, here everything is to be destroyed for the betterment of the whole. “Let us burn whatever there is, never mind what we destroy, as long as it will contribute to the needs of the community.”
In light of the above we can easily understand the following Midrash (פדר”א פרק כד): If a man fell at the construction site and died, they paid no heed to him, but if a brick fell, they sat down and wept, as said, “When will be able to get another to replace it?”
(The pyramids of Egypt – descendant of Cham as well – that each pharaoh built, were projects whose purpose was along the lines of this tower.)
(see Hirsch’s stirring words on page 268)
Beraishis 11:1-4
pages 262-269
וְכוּשׁ יָלַד אֶת נִמְרֹד הוּא הֵחֵל לִהְיוֹת גִּבֹּר בָּאָרֶץ. הוּא הָיָה גִבֹּר צַיִד לִפְנֵי השם עַל כֵּן יֵאָמַר כְּנִמְרֹד גִּבּוֹר צַיִד לִפְנֵי השם
Kush begot Nimrod; he began to be a hero upon the earth. He was a crafty hero before God; hence the saying: Like Nimrod, a crafty hero before God.
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Being a גבור, a mighty hero, wasn’t something the world hadn’t seen before. There were the נפילים mentioned above in chapter 6. But Nimrod’s signature and calling, the essence of his life was לִהְיוֹת גִּבֹּר בָּאָרֶץ. What Nimrod began continues to this day.
This is the beginning of Noach’s prophecy taking shape. Moral bondage leads to social bondage. Here we have a grandson of Cham beginning to overpower others.
גבורה is a gift from God. Its proper use is to enforce justice. But Nimrod did exactly the opposite with his might and cleverness.
He was a גִבֹּר צַיִד. The word צַיִד means to entrap through plotting and scheming. (This word is related to זוד as in the word מזיד, plotting, and סוד, secret).
According to the Jewish perception, secret politics are bad politics. The glory of kings is when their deeds are clear and transparent. As the verse in Proverbs (25:2) says, כְבֹד מְלָכִים חֲקֹר דָּבָר.
Nimrod used force and cunning to catch men for his plans. Power put to use for the purpose of justice has no reason to hide. But Nimrod had selfish aims for his use of power.
Nimrod sensed his material and perhaps intellectual superiority over others. He put those to use to subjugate those who were inferior to him, exploiting them for his needs.
The source of tyranny is force and cunning from the leadership, not the submission from the followers.
Nimrod was the first to misuse the name of God. He did all of this לִפְנֵי השם, before God. He masked his tyranny with the halo of Divine approval, demanding approval of his authority in the name of God.
Some generations later tyrants, also descendants of Cham, took this even further, declaring themselves as gods. The pharaohs bowed before images of themselves.
Nimrod is the prototype of all future tyrants who crown themselves with the halo of holiness. Their power and political policies all in the name of God described here by the words: כְּנִמְרֹד גִּבּוֹר צַיִד לִפְנֵי השם.
Beraishis 10:8-9
pages 255-257
מֵאֵלֶּה נִפְרְדוּ אִיֵּי הַגּוֹיִם בְּאַרְצֹתָם אִישׁ לִלְשֹׁנוֹ לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם בְּגוֹיֵהֶם (פסוק ה)
From these groups of nations branched out in their lands, each to its dialects, their families and their nations.
אֵלֶּה בְנֵי שֵׁם לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לִלְשֹׁנֹתָם בְּאַרְצֹתָם לְגוֹיֵהֶם. אֵלֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹת בְּנֵי נֹחַ לְתוֹלְדֹתָם בְּגוֹיֵהֶם וּמֵאֵלֶּה נִפְרְדוּ הַגּוֹיִם בָּאָרֶץ אַחַר הַמַּבּוּל (פסוקים ל”א-ל”ב)
These are the families of the sons of Shem, according to their families and dialects, in their lands, according to their nations.
These are the families of the sons of Noach, according to their generations in their nations; and from these the nations branched out over the earth after the Mabul.
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As opposed to what follows in Chapter 11, when a special Divine intervention disperses the nations, this chapter talks about a natural development due to the new conditions of man after the Mabul.
The word נִפְרְדוּ is used to describe the separation here. Later the word הפיץ is used which denotes a forced separation (brought about by Divine intervention).
The word for language here is לשון. The word used for language in Chapter 11 is שפה.
לשון is best translated as dialect and שפה as language.
As Noach’s descendants grew in number they naturally spread out. People were influenced and changed by external conditions. The one language initially spoken by all of mankind developed into various dialects. The separation in space and in language led to external separation, one nation from the other, becoming various גוים, and also led to internal bonds within each nation. Each nation linked within itself as משפחות בגויהם.
Beraishis 10: the entire chapter
commentary is on pages 252-253
…וְיִשְׁכֹּן בְּאָהֳלֵי שֵׁם…
… He will dwell in the tents of Shem…
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Other religions teach what man must do to attain closeness to God in the next world. Judaism teaches what we must do to so that God draws near in this world.
In Beraishis Rabbah, 19:7 we are taught the great principle of עיקר שכינה בתחתונים. The Shechina, the Divine Presence, resides primarily on earth.
The Torah teaches us “ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם“. “Let them make of their lives on earth a sanctuary so that I will dwell in their midst.”
The purpose of the Torah and the mission of Israel is to perfect the world through the reign of God ie. through carrying out God’s Will in our lives. (This is an obvious reference to the words we pray three times daily “לתקן עולם במלכות שקי” GS).
(Hirsch adds here: That is why all the promises of the Torah relate to this world ie. children, prosperity, peace, etc.)
The Torah’s ideal is שכינה. Wherever man sanctifies his home and his camp God fills him with rapture and allows him to experience closeness to God in this world that is מעין עולם הבא. This ideal is not unique to the Jewish people but will ultimately be reached by all of mankind.
But the closeness to God the Torah seeks is grounded. Man is not to “lose himself in God”, to “merge with the divine”. The word שכינה, the Divine Presence, is rooted in the word שכן, neighbor. Just as a person allows the space allotted to his neighbor, so too God wants man to live an active life on earth in man’s space; the earth.
The Talmud teaches us (סוכה דף ה) מעולם לא ירדה שכינה למטה מעשרה, the Shechina never came down lower than 10 tefachim. The ten tefachim are where man is active and only where man’s activity ends does the realm of the Shechina begin.
God draws near to man but He does not encroach upon the human sphere. Man is allowed to develop in accordance with his own free will, as a man on earth.
Judaism doesn’t teach that man should get lost in God, losing his mind in ecstasy. That would result in thinking that there is nothing for a person to do. All that’s expected of him is to feel close to God and God will act through him. Judaism wants man to take action. It requires man to have a composed mind, making use of his intellect and the freedom God gave him. Our actions become sanctified based on clear thinking, faithfully serving God. That is what makes us worthy of God’s closeness.
Beraishis 9:27
pages 250-251
וַיֹּאמֶר בָּרוּךְ השם אֱלֹקי שֵׁם וִיהִי כְנַעַן עֶבֶד לָמוֹ
And he said: Blessed be God, the God of Shem; may Canaan become their servant.
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ברכה is the fundamental idea of the Jew’s whole life. The whole purpose of the Torah is to teach us how to bless God, לברך את השם.
We are constantly called upon לברך, to bless God and God is ברוך, blessed.
The meaning is as follows: God’s Will is furthered by our commitment to fulfill His Will. God asks of man ברכני; further My aims, perform My commandments, realize My Will, bless my work, whose completion on earth depends on you!
ברכה is the commitment to further God’s aims in the world. When we make this commitment, God’s Will is furthered. He is blessed.
ברכה does not mean mere praise. Praise of Hashem becomes ברכה only when it has an effect on us, when our minds become illuminated and our hearts purified, leading us to do the Will of Hashem.
The ברכות we say in our daily שמונה עשרה are considered substitutes for the קרבנות not because of the requests we make, but because of the ברכות that we conclude each request with. Just as the קרבנות were לחם אשה השם, fuel for the fire of God on earth, representing the dedication of all of our energies and talents to carry out God’s will, so we make that same commitment with each ברכה of the שמונה עשרה. (For more, see Horeb, Avodah, pages 471-478)
Noach, the first ancestor of the new humanity, understood all of this. When we say ברוך, we are carrying out the work that was assigned to all of mankind. We are pronouncing the first word that was ever spoken to express man’s relation to God.
Beraishis 9:26
pages 249-250
See previous post which explains the characteristics of each of Noach’s sons.
See Hirsch’s essay “Hellenism and Judaism”, Collected Writings, volume 2, page 199.
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Cursed is Canaan. Nations that are controlled by their base desires and coarseness will lose their freedom and become enslaved. Canaan will be a slave to slaves. Other nations will have this characteristic as well.
Only nations that are themselves enslaved try to enslave others. The tyrant who wants to conquer other nations, first subjugates his own people who become his tool to subjugate other nations.
Freedom is found where the law of morality reigns. Lust is the breeding ground of slavery.
Cham’s gods are the gods of brute force. Man trembles before them. Tyrants build altars to such gods, creating an atmosphere of fear which enables them to rule over their people.
Shem calls out in the name of God, before Whom the enslaving gods disappear. God liberates man. He endows man with equal dignity and uplifts him above the forces of nature. The breath of God lives in each person. God who is merciful and compassionate is close to everyone equally. He calls man to His service, which liberates and uplifts.
The teaching of God does not do battle through might and force. It wages its struggle in the moral battles man must fight within himself to be honest, kind and giving. Ultimately, God’s teaching will be victorious.
Noach expresses the wish that if indeed Cham must be a slave, let him be a slave to Shem, where he can serve him and thereby fulfill his Divine mission.
But the step before this is Yefes; culture. Cham is not ready to receive the Teaching of Shem immediately. The uncivilized person must first become a cultured person. Before a person can live a life of submission to God and all that He asks of him, he must first become refined and learn “proper taste”, even if these are only material values. This is a step above savagery towards higher values. Culture is the pathway that leads to the teachings of Shem.
Ultimately, all the civilizations of the world will learn from Shem. In time, the world will learn to make their homes dwelling places for the Shechina. (More on this central theme of RSRH in the next post!)
Beraishis 9:25-27
pages 247-249
וַיֹּאמֶר אָרוּר כְּנָעַן עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים יִהְיֶה לְאֶחָיו. וַיֹּאמֶר בָּרוּךְ השם אֱלֹקי שֵׁם וִיהִי כְנַעַן עֶבֶד לָמוֹ. יַפְתְּ אֱלֹקים לְיֶפֶת וְיִשְׁכֹּן בְּאָהֳלֵי שֵׁם וִיהִי כְנַעַן עֶבֶד לָמוֹ
He said: Cursed is Canaan: he shall be a servant of servants to his brothers. And he said: Blessed be God, the God of Shem; may Canaan become their servant. God will open [people’s] emotions to Yefes, but He will dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a servant to them.
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This prophecy is very far reaching. It is not just about the future of Noach’s sons. It is about the three basic elements that form all civilizations throughout history.
Cham (חם=heat, unrestricted materialistic passion) is cursed. (This is not a wish it is a statement.) Hot, unrestricted sensuality, that has no respect for spiritual values is incapable of ruling and is unable to preserve its own freedom. It bears in itself its own ruin.
Unrestrained desire leads to slavery. He who at all times controls his passions will not be lead astray by bribes or enticements. (Freedom here means moral freedom. Slavery means the inability to exercise moral freedom. GS)
Shem. (שם=”name”=intellect, the mind recognizing God and deciding how to live based on this understanding. This is the opposite of Cham. Shem decides how to act in tranquility and doesn’t act without thinking.) The God of Shem (meaning the God as Shem understood God) is blessed. Recognition of God, the God of Shem, will grow and spread and ultimately conquer all hearts and all material forces will ultimately submit to it.
Yefes. (יפת= beauty. Its root is פתה which means open to external impressions and influences.) Yefes represents emotion. Yefes is the middle ground between Shem and Cham. From Yefes the world has culture which elevates and dignifies man.
All three exist in every man and nation, but only one of them is dominant both in individuals and nations.
Looking back on 4,000 years of history we see many nations acting like Cham. They conquer and destroy, putting their minds and emotions to use for their physical ambitions. These nations rise and fall; their essence being brute force.
Other nations, primarily the Greeks (and the Romans who built on what the Greeks taught), teach man to value beauty. They put a cloth of elegance over crude sensuality. They engage in poetry, music and art. They elevate man above the physical. This is the contribution of Yefes.
The highest goal, however, is not man living within himself, enjoying his own talents and creativity. A civilization cannot endure without a higher, object ideal, from outside of man that shines forth, raising man above himself. A nation that promotes spiritual values, contributing to the recognition of truth, exemplifies the character of Shem and advances the welfare of mankind.
Beraishis 9:25-27
pages 243-247
After the Mabul, Noach set out to rebuild the world. In time (by then, Cham had a child, Canaan), the soil flourished and he succeeded in planting grapes. He must have been ecstatic to know that there was hope for the future. He became drunk from his first taste of wine (quite possibly unintentionally) and went inside his tent to not be seen this way in public. The Torah describes his state of being as being “uncovered”. RSRH explains that this is not necessarily intended to be understood literally (he quotes sources for a broader meaning of the word ויתגל, uncovered). It means his weaker side was exposed. In that state he would not be viewed as the dignified father he was, and so he wanted privacy, to not be seen that way.
His son Cham followed him into the tent and reported what he saw to his brothers, who remained outside, in vivid detail (ויגד). He enjoyed witnessing the event and thought that the story would entertain his brothers. His brother’s reaction was to walk in backwards and cover their father’s nakedness (Shem at the lead and Yefes followed) (Is this part of the story literal? See below for its metaphorical lessons. GS).
The whole future of mankind depends on how children act towards their parents. As long as children regard their parents as keepers of God’s charge, revering their parents spiritual essence and not focusing on their physical essence, mankind flourishes. The children learn lessons from the parents and can grown and develop them further. But if the children delight in the physical side of the parents, if there is no reverence for the father, then the continuation from one generation to the next doesn’t occur. The important lessons of the past will not inform the future. The younger generation will consider the older generation obsolete.
Honoring and revering father and mother is the foundation for all of mankind’s development.
When Noach woke up and realized what had happened, he said that Canaan, the son of Cham, is cursed. Note that Noach didn’t say Cham is cursed. Noach’s lesson is: “Honor your father and your mother, lest you be punished through your children.” Sins that children commit against their parents will be punished by the manner in which their own children, in turn, deal with them.
The younger generation must “take a garment and cover their parents’ nakedness”, looking for the spiritual legacy they can take from then, so as to build their own future. If instead, they scorn their parents’, looking only at their frailties and weaknesses, they have nothing to build on and they have no future.
Beraishis 9:20-25
pages 236-243
Immediately before the Torah teaches us the source of the nation of Canaan’s degeneracy (so degenerate that we are taught in Vayikra 18:25 that the land would no longer tolerate its inhabitants) we are told that all the children of Noach left the ark. All, including Cham, the father of Canaan.
Each of them was found worthy of being saved with Noach. From this we can infer that this is true for current times as well. Differences in the character of nations, even if certain national characteristics border on degeneration, do not prevent a person from fulfilling the human mission.
All were created in the image of God (which was taught just a few verses above, 9:6) and no man can say to another “You are less of a human being than I am; in fact, you cannot even be classified as a ‘man'”.
Beraishis 9:18
pages 234-235
Symbolism of the Rainbow
As was explained above, the new world order after the Mabul was to create diversity. On the basis of the variations of human beings, God will educate mankind toward the Divine goal.
A rainbow is one unified and complete ray of light, broken up into seven colors. The red ray is closest to the light and the violet is the farthest. Together they form one white ray which shines forth in full purity.
The entire variety of living things, from man – אדם (= red/אדום) to the lowliest worm, are all united by God in one common bond of peace. In all of them is found a refracted ray of God’s spirit.
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Beraishis 9:8-17
pages 231-234
וְאַתֶּם פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ שִׁרְצוּ בָאָרֶץ וּרְבוּ בָהּ
And you, be fruitful and multiply, diversify upon the earth and multiply upon it.
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This verse is the culmination of God’s “Plan B” for mankind, after the Mabul.
After the Mabul the continents were split apart, the climate of the world changed and man’s life span was shortened. As RSRH explained, all of this stymied the spread of evil. See Beraishis 8:22.
Here, Hirsch explains the positive affect of this diversity of nations and cultures and how that too is part of “Plan B”.
In this verse God tells Noach and his family to spread out in the world, to bring about the diversification of man.
Under the most diverse conditions and influences they are to become “men” (אדם) in the true sense of the word (“Adam” means man who lives a Godly life on earth. A representative of God in this world.) and to develop the character traits common among men. Wherever he may live, man can be “man”, meaning he can find happiness and develop all of his human qualities.
People are born with a natural tendency to love the place where they are born and raised, even when that place has difficult conditions – מ”ר ל”ד, ט”ו ברוך שנתן חן המקום בעיני יושביו. The Midrash tells us ברית נחלקה לאוירות, a covenant was given to the special climates. Hirsch suggests that the deeper meaning of this Midrash is that God’s covenant with man is spread out over various climates. (God’s relationship with man, living as “אדם” will take hold by means of man’s varied ways of living in the world, influenced by the varied climates in the world. GS) Every local has its vices and its virtues. (Every individual and every culture has its own experience . Each has the capacity for its unique expression of a relationship with God. GS) By the same token, no man can judge others by his own standards.
The diversity will compensate for man’s shortcomings and pave the way to progress toward the goal.
Beraishis 9:7
pages 230-231
The purpose of judicial punishments is not deterrence. Proofs of this are:
The purpose of judicial punishments is not to repay the offender in kind. Proofs of this are:
(There are only four places where the Torah states that “all Yisrael should see and be afraid.” Those four places are specifically in cases where the crime was not successful. People might not have understood the significance of where these attempted crimes were leading (על שם סופן). They are: עדים זוממין, בן סורר ומורה, זקן ממרא and מסית ומדיח. In all four of these cases deterrence is the reason for the public execution or announcement, but not for the punishment in and of itself.)
All punishments are rather atonement (כפרה) for the offender. Even someone who is to be executed has a future in the next world and needs this atonement. His death atones for his misdeeds, enabling him to go to the next world in a new state of being, in purity.
Beraishis 9:6
pages 228-229
וְאַךְ אֶת דִּמְכֶם לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם אֶדְרֹשׁ מִיַּד כָּל חַיָּה אֶדְרְשֶׁנּוּ וּמִיַּד הָאָדָם מִיַּד אִישׁ אָחִיו אֶדְרֹשׁ אֶת נֶפֶשׁ הָאָדָם
But your blood which belongs to your souls I will demand; I will demand it of every animal. But from the hand of man, from the hand of a being that is his brother, I will demand the soul of a man.
שֹׁפֵךְ דַּם הָאָדָם בָּאָדָם דָּמוֹ יִשָּׁפֵךְ כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם
Whoever sheds blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God He made man.
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In the previous post (verse 9:4) we learned that while an animal is alive its blood is בנפש, subservient to the animal soul. There is an organic connection between the animal’s blood and its soul. The animal soul, together with its body is formed from the earth. The prohibition of אבר מן החי taught that it is not befitting a human to eat and thereby assimilate any connection to an animal soul into itself, because an animal is rooted in the physical.
There is a difference between the soul of an animal and the soul of a human. The animal’s body, blood and soul belong to humans. The human body, blood and soul belong to God.
These verses teach the prohibition of suicide and murder.
Suicide
We have no right to commit suicide. Human blood and souls are not ours. The human soul is not part of the physical realm. His blood, ie. his life, is subservient to that soul. A person’s own blood and soul belong to God. God denies man the right to be master over his own blood. If he takes his own life he will be held accountable.
Murder
Every person is “אדם” “Adam”, a representative of God on earth (see the post on the creation of אדם). He should understand this about himself and about all other humans. It must be understood that every other person is his brother. Human relationships are not body to body but soul to soul. We must recognize the spirit that God breathed into every person and respect and preserve each נפש. We have no right to cause harm to other humans. We certainly have no right to take their life.
Beraishis 9:5-6
pages 226-228
אַךְ־בָּשָׂ֕ר בְּנַפְשׁ֥וֹ דָמ֖וֹ לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽלוּ
However, (although flesh is now permitted to be eaten) you shall not eat flesh whose blood is still in it (in its soul).
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Here the Torah refutes a materialistic view of life. It speaks to those who think that power, intellect, soul, and life are merely variations and attributes of the material. They think that הדם הוא בנפש, that the blood is the soul, and that if someone destroys the blood he also destroys the soul. They think that there is no realm of the spirit. Everything can be understood materially. The Torah is saying here that body and soul are distinct from one another, and that the body is subservient to the soul.
There are 3 components of an animal discussed in this verse:
1. בשר – flesh, the body
2. נפש – the soul, the individual
3. דם – the blood
The blood is the instrument of the soul. As long as the animal is alive, the blood is still in the soul, meaning, the blood is encompassed and dominated by the soul. The blood is merged in the soul.
When the animal is alive, the blood is the physical representative of the soul. Every part of the body is dependent on the blood. The blood then subordinates the entire body to the soul. The body, the בשר – the מבשר, “the announcer”, declares, via the blood, the existence of the soul.
The soul – individuality, is expressed through the living body (the בשר). As long as the body is subservient to the soul via the blood, the body retains its individuality.
The link between body and soul is the blood. Once this bond is broken, once the animal dies, the body reverts to the elements of which it is made, no longer having any connection to the soul of the animal.
Based on the above….
This law teaches us that the body of an animal may be eaten only when the soul has departed from the blood. Now the body is merely passive, not under the sway of the animal’s soul. The blood is already dead and no longer represents the animal’s soul. Whereas if a part of an animal was severed while it was still alive, the flesh still bears the invisible effect of the living animal’s soul, unfit to be assimilated by man.
(See pages 225-226 for a full discussion of all the places in the Torah where דם and נפש are mentioned together and how they all fit into this understanding.)
In the following post we will see that the soul of a human is different to that of an animal. The animal soul is rooted in the physical and the human soul is rooted in the spirit of God.
Beraishis 9:4
pages 223-226
After the flood eating meat is permitted.
It is possible that this is because now that man’s life span was shortened, he would need to develop more rapidly. Another possibility is that now that the continents were divided and the climates would change from season to season, limiting eating to produce would be more difficult. With this allowance, man would be less dependent on food grown from the soil.
Had man remained at his previous, higher level eating meat would have been prohibited. Now that it is permitted it can even be a mitzva (such as eating meat for yom tov).
Once meat has become permitted, the Torah sets limitations to what is permitted. (See the next verse 9:4 which teaches the prohibition of אבר מן החי – eating meat of an animal that was separated from a living animal.)
Later, when the Torah is given to Israel, the only food that is prohibited by the Torah is animal-based food. By contrast all foods that are plant-based are permitted by the Torah. The exceptions (חדש, ערלה and כלאי הכרם) are prohibited for other factors.
Beraishis 9:3
pages 222-223
Before the Mabul man understood animals. Man was close with animals. At that stage in history, man’s task was to be caretaker of the world, preserving it – לעבדה ולשמרה. Man’s task was to master and perfect the world.
After the Mabul animals will fear you. Man’s relationship with the world and his goal changes. Man’s task is now to perfect and refine himself, and to restore the honored position he should have.
As we see from the entire content of the Prophets, the rest of history is the story of man’s return to his original condition and God’s deeds to further this goal.
This will ultimately come about, and with it longevity, the return of peace and the “new heaven and earth” (Yeshaya 66:22).
Beraishis 9:1-2
pages 219-222
We have a tradition that before the flood it was always springtime. the seasons never changed. A person would only need to sow the fields once in forty years. The earth was not yet split into continents and so it was possible to quickly travel across the world (ב”ר לד:י”ג) . The same Midrash implies that the reason people lived much longer was the perfect weather.
Before the flood the world was in a state of perpetual bloom. People grew rich and old, living in luxury. Their selfish ways (חמס) were perpetuated by the good life they lived and by their ability to pass this on to the next generations.
This was put to an end by the flood. Before the flood, there were changes in seasons but they occurred one after the other affecting all of civilization at the same time. When man was corrupt, all of nature responded at once to all of mankind. Now the continents would be split. All of these seasons would occur at the same time in different places of the earth. Here night, there day. Here winter, there summer…
This would create a new form of educating mankind. Ever since the flood man has been in a constant state of dependence. Now there are frequent climatic and meteorological disturbances.
As a result of man living in varied climates and terrains, there developed many civilizations, each an outgrowth of the locations people lived in. The division of the earth into continents obstructed the routes of travel (which would take a thousand years for man to overcome by artificial means). This would hinder the spread of evil. If one civilization became evil, it could not spread easily to another.
As a result of the rapid changes in climate, the human life span was shortened. This would ensure that evil would not rule forever. The worst tyrants can not rule for more than fifty years. In the new reality the wicked die off quickly and an upright generation takes its place.
Beraishis 8:22
pages 215-219
וירח השם את ריח הניחח ויאמר השם אל לבו לא אסף לקלל עוד את האדמה בעבור האדם כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעריו ולא אסף עוד להכות את כל חי כאשר עשיתי
God took note of the expression of compliance (וירח השם את ריח הניחח) and God said to Himself: Never again will I curse the earth for the sake (בעבור) of man when (כי) the design (יצר) of man is evil from his youth, nor will I ever again destroy every living thing as I have done.
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Until the time of the Mabul, whenever man wasn’t living as God wanted, God thwarted the development of the earth. This was for man’s benefit and for the sake of his moral and spiritual growth. From now on, He will not limit its fertility in order to educate man. Instead, there is a “plan B” for the new world order, to be explained in verse 22.
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The phrase “כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעריו” has been misunderstood. כי shouldn’t be translated as “because”. RSRH has 3 reason why not:
The verse should be read as follows: (Even) if (כי) man should become evil, even evil from his youth, and the destruction of the world would seem to be the only of salvation, I will never curse the land, as I have done previously. (Rather there will be a “Plan B” as is explained in the following verse.)
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The wording of “even if” teaches that this is not the typical behavior. Normally, the youth are not assumed to be evil.
The word for youth is נער which means to shake off.
Young people want to develop out of themselves; neither good nor bad impressions are permanently absorbed by them. A youth’s nature is still in its original state; it is not yet cloaked in hypocrisy; it still shakes off both good and bad impressions.
Youth are neither tsaddikim or reshaim. Woe unto him who thinks the average youth has a wicked nature. The thoughts of a person are not evil from his youth. There are more adults aspiring to evil than youth. Yes, youth will do many things that are evil but that’s because they haven’t yet learned to subordinate themselves to the yoke of mitzvos. Self control and obedience to duty appear burdensome to them. They want to “shake off” this burden. Intellectual immaturity gives youth the mark of obstinacy. (God chose Israel because they are a stiff-necked people. Ultimately they would overcome their obstinacy and then would use it for good.)
It is adults, not youth, who are addicted to base desire and greed and mock idealism, calling it “youthful dreams”. Once a person becomes an adult and “clever”, he learns to accommodate and conform, but he also succumbs to desire and selfishness.
All people are born with this youthful spirit and it is this very independence of will that, when harnessed and directed, is the root of the moral personality of the future adult.
Once a person realizes that the ultimate goal of God’s Law is freedom and not restriction, he is filled with youthful enthusiasm and he resolves to dedicate himself to every noble ideal.
Beraishis 8:21
pages 213-215
RSRH refers here to his earlier comment (see Beraishis 6E) that God uses physical terms to describe Himself in order to provide us a path to have a relationship with him.
There are scholars who turn the concept of God into a transcendental, metaphysical concept because of their fear of attributing to God actual physical features. However RSRH agrees with the ראב”ד (cited in the כסף משנה in יסודי התורה פ”א, ה”י) that the danger of not having a relationship with a personal God is greater.
In RSRH’s words: “It is a person’s duty to believe with perfect faith in the Personality of God and in His close relationship to every man. This belief is more important that any speculation on transcendental concept such as the eternity or incorporeality of God, for these concepts are as detached from the morality of our lives as are algebraic codes.”
Here, included in the term God’s “Heart” are His attributes of love, compassion and mercy.
An additional lesson is learned from the expression of God speaking to His Heart. God is the model for man who has free will and is not a slave to his emotions. Even though man was far from the level of his goal, and as things stood at that moment, perhaps warranted destruction, God’s attribute of mercy stood before the Throne of Glory and pleaded for the preservation of the world and of man.
Beraishis 8:21
pages 212-213
The offerings are a fragrance, ie. a slight and allusory expression (ריח) of compliance with God’s Will (ניחוח). They signify that our will is to do God’s Will. The offerings aren’t themselves ניחוח a show of full compliance. They are only a ריח ניחוח. They allude to our compliance; our desire to comply.
ריח – The sense of smell stands between the other 4 senses. We see and hear from a distance of that which we see and hear. We come into direct contact with that which we touch and taste. When we smell, the item itself remains at a distance but fine particles of that item come into contact with our organs of smell. (The word for “mill’ where grain is ground into fine particles is ריחיים.)
ניחוח – Coming to rest. Granting the wish or fulfilling the aspiration of another.
ריח ניחוח does not mean a pleasing smell.
Beraishis 8:21
pages211-212
The offerings must be brought on a מזבח. The root of the word is זבח which means killing or slaughter whose purpose isn’t to destroy but to provide nourishment. That is why זבח also means a meal. Offerings are considered a “meal”. The Torah calls offerings לחם אשה השם – bread of fire to השם. It sustains the the fire of holiness on earth. (RSRH expands on this idea in many places, calling the offerings fuel for the fire of holiness on earth. GS) Thinking of the symbolism of the offerings while bringing them evoke our commitment to carry out God’s Will on earth.
The offerings are offered to God with the concept of God as י-ה-ו-ה the educator man, the Giver of life, never with the notion of God as אלקים, ruler of the forces of nature, in mind.
Symbolically, one offers his own life in order to win new life from God. He offers himself up to God, dedicating himself to live a holy life on earth.
One dedicates…
…one’s mind through סמיכה ווידוי
…every pulse-beat through שחיטה,קבלת הדם וזריקת הדם
…every nervous impulse and muscular strength through הקטרת אברים
A קרבן עולה elevates. It is a consecration of action. The Cohen stands at a distance from the altar, dashing the blood against the lower half of the altar, thereby symbolically saying the person offering this isn’t even at the bottom of the mountain. He hasn’t reached the heights of his calling and should energize himself to reach the full potential of his calling.
A קרבן חטאת teaches man to return to his previous moral heights that he lost through his carelessness. The finger of the Cohen directs his (symbolic) blood back to the top of the altar.
A קרבן מנחה is a homage offering, brought in gratitude for the gifts he receives from God (and committing to make use of the gifts as God would want him to. GS)
Beraishis 8:2
pages 208-210