Noach

The first words of our parsha, אלה תולדות נח, "these are the offspring of Noach," are followed by, נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו, "Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generation." Rashi explains that the reason it mentions the offspring of Noach and then goes on to describe his righteousness before listing his children teaches us that the main offspring of a person are his spiritual accomplishments. The next Rashi focuses on the word בדרתיו, "in his generation," saying that some of our rabbis see it as praise - if he was righteous now in this decadent generation, he would have been even greater of a tzaddik had he lived in a good generation. Then there are those that say it's a negative, that compared to his generation he was good but had he lived in a good generation he wouldn't have amounted to much.

Many ask if you can interpret something good, why would we give a second option to interpret it negatively?

Shem MiShmuel points out that Rashi refers to the ones that view Noach in a positive light as our rabbis and the ones who view it negatively as “others” to show us that the ones to learn from are positive people and not ones who view everything negatively.

Another lesson we learn from Noach is that even though he was the only one in his generation that was good, the Torah still tells us that he was תמים, perfect; he didn't have an ego. The Noam Megadim explains why from the next words of the posuk, because, את האלקים התהלך נח, "Noach walked with Hashem." What kept him humble was the fact that Noach walked with Hashem, always aware that it was Hashem who was in control and everything came from him.

This means he understood that no matter what, even though the entire world was being destroyed around him for acting immorally and he was the lone one to be saved, he still felt like he was lacking in what he should be. Perhaps this is why some say that, when Rashi says that others interpret it negatively, it's referring to Noach himself for he felt that he could have still been better.

Noach lived through through the destruction of the world, came out to a world devoid of humanity, a world of utter destruction, yet he came out strong and resilient. From the ruins, he rose and rebuilt. How did he do it? Imagine coming out of the ark to a world with nothing, seeing the aftermath of the total annihilation of the word and having to rebuild. Can we imagine the difficulty? The only way he was able was his completeness with Hashem; he had total trust that Hashem was in control and did it for a purpose, so he was able to rebuild.

This week I lost my grandfather; he was a survivor of the war. Much like Noach, the survivors witnessed the destruction of their world and came out still ready to rebuild. How? They lost everything, families destroyed, no homes, no place to go yet they forged on ready to rebuild. What gave them the strength? There were two qualities that I noticed in my grandfather. First, he always saw the good in everything. I remember once he was telling us about the DP camps. The way he was describing it sounded so good that my grandmother said to stop talking like that; you’re making it sound like a party. He only wanted to focus on the good.

 The second quality was that all he did, he did for Hashem. I remember walking home from shul with him, but I don't remember walking there with him. Then I realized it was because he was always the first one there; he was at shul before I would even think about going, because he had to be the first one there. When it came to spiritual things  there was no comprise. It's these qualities that enable a person to come from the ashes and begin anew. Let's take the lesson of Noach and the survivors and make sure that all we do is for Hashem, then we too will see the good in everything and live happier more fulfilled lives!

Beraishis

As we begin a new cycle of the Torah reading the אוצר התורה brings our attention to the first word of the Torah, בראשית, beginning. Rashi tells us that the word בראשית is a contraction of two words, בשביל ראשית, because of the things that are referred to as ראשית, meaning that the world was created on behalf of the things that are called ראשית. The two things Rashi explains that are called ראשית are the Torah and the Jewish people. Everything that was and will be created, from the beginning of time until the end, came into being to serve the Jewish people, who were destined to accept, study and fulfill the Torah. As the Rambam writes, “it is possible that a person will build a breathtaking palace which serves no other purpose except to one day provide shade for a righteous man. The entire cosmos is that palace and the Jewish people are that righteous man who justify each molecule of creation.

There is an interesting dialogue in the Gemara that can be better understood based on this concept. The Gemara tells us that when the Moshiach comes, Hashem will hold up a Torah scroll and announce that whoever occupied themselves with Torah should come forward and receive their reward. The Romans will step forward and say, “Master of the world, we built many places for public gathering, many bathhouses and greatly increased the financial stability of the nation of Israel. All this we did so that the Jews would be able to practice and study Torah.” Hashem will reply, “Fools! Everything that you did, you did for yourselves.” Then this dialogue will repeat itself with all the nations of the world. Now this is hard to understand; how can it be in a world of truth that the nations will be so brazen to lie straight to Hashem?

Reb Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik explains that if you look at Hashem's answer, He doesn't call the nations, liars, he calls them fools. Why? Because they are not lying, what they did was really for the Jews, for the world was created for the Jews and the Torah, who are called ראשית. Therefore, whatever they did was inspired from Above to benefit the Jews. Nevertheless, since their motives were completely selfish, they deserve no reward. Fools, for by just having the right intentions, they could have gotten credit for the work that they were doing anyway.

The Trans-Siberian railway exemplifies this point. Over a period of decades, the cruel czars of Russia had the peasants lay the Trans-Siberian railway. Fantastic amounts of money and a great many lives were invested to run a railway through the most inhospitable parts of Siberia all the way to the port at Vladivostok which faces toward Japan and the Far East. At the time, the project seemed to make no sense and many wondered why it was done. Years later, the Brisker Rav said we see why this railroad was made. When the students of the Mirrer yeshiva escaped the Nazi inferno and arrived in Shanghai, China by way of Siberia and the Trans-Siberian railway, the whole thing become clear. The railway and all that went into it were justified for it was for the sake of saving the Torah and the yeshiva students that the railway was created. בשביל ראשית, this is another example of the nation’s creating something for the Jews who are called ראשית.

Let's take this opportunity to recognize the things that we are doing anyway. Instead of just going through the motions, recognize that we are doing it for Hashem and His Torah, insuring that one day our reward will be great!

Vezos Haberacha

After our parsha relates the death of Moshe the Torah attests to Moshe's greatness by saying ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה, there will never rise another prophet like Moshe. This seems to be in contrast, says Reb Elchanan Wasserman, with a statement from the Rambam that says        

“don't be like the fools that say that Hashem has predetermined a person from when he was first created, whether to be righteous or to be wicked; not true, each person has the potential to be great like Moshe Rabbeinu or wicked like Yiruvam.”

It seems that the Rambam is saying that every person can be as great as Moshe while the posuk is clearly saying that no one will ever reach Moshe's level. What does the Rambam mean?

Reb Wasserman explains based on a רד”ק in sefer Yehoshua that explains what the term ‘עבד ה means. We know that whatever a slave owns belongs to the master; everything that the slave has is really the master’s, so, really, the whole being of the slave is just for the master. This definition is befitting of Moshe as the עבד ה for all of Moshe's actions, thoughts and doings were all just for the sake of Hashem; being the servant of Hashem is what defined him. This is what the Rambam meant when he said that every person can reach the level of Moshe. Each person can reach the level where one's actions are all done with Hashem in mind, discerning what Hashem wants from me now. This is the situation He put me in, now how do I maximize whatever I am able to do for the sake of Hashem.

We see this exemplified by the last words of the Torah, לעיני כל ישראל, which Rashi explains to mean that Moshe broke the luchos right before their eyes which Hashem agreed with. The sefer Toras Moshe says, imagine how precious the luchos were to Moshe, as Moshe Rabbeinu himself said. “I gave my blood for this; I gave my soul for this”. On them was the writing of Hashem; we stood by Mount Sinai to receive them; they are what the world stands on. We can only imagine how connected Moshe was to the luchos, yet when he felt that it was in the best interest of Hashem to break them, he didn't hesitate. He didn't worry about all the work he had invested in them or how important they were; he did what he felt had to be done, what was in the best interest of Hashem.  This is the final lesson of the Torah, Moshe as the ultimate עבד ה.

This is the final lesson we must take, that whatever abilities we have, whatever we are blessed with, is given to us so that we can serve our Creator. That was Moshe's greatness. Whatever abilities he had, he used for Hashem. Although none of us can ever reach anywhere near the level of Moshe because we weren't given his abilities, if we use our own abilities in all that we do to bring us closer to Hashem and to do His will, then we too can be like Moshe. We, too, can reach the level of עבד ה!

Sukkos

As we approach the mitzvah of sukka, let's try to understand what we are to take out of it. The Torah tells us to go out from our homes and into a temporary structure. The sefer Menoras Hamaor tells us that the mitzvah of sukka teaches us not to put our trust in the strength of our homes and our possessions even if we have everything. Also, we should not put our trust in any person no matter how rich or powerful he is, rather to put out complete trust in the creator of the world, Hashem.

The fact that this mitzvah comes at this time supports this concept. When we used to live in an agriculture society, this was the time of year when all the produce was brought in, the store houses were all full and the people already prepared their houses for winter, fixing the roof and anything else that needed to be done. Specifically at this time, when the houses are strong and the storehouses are full we are commanded to leave it all behind and move into the sukka, a temporary dwelling with no roof, letting all the elements in to make us realize that all that we have comes to us only through the will of Hashem. That's also why the schach comes from the leftover from the granary, so we are reminded that all our sustenance comes from Hashem. Shlomo Hamelech tells us that wealth is not contingent on the amount of work put in or on the smarts of a person; rather it's contingent on Hashem's blessings.

Rav Nachman brings this point home with a parable. There were two very wealthy men who lived next door to each other. While they were alike in their material possessions, they were far apart in their deeds and actions. One wouldn't give a dollar to charity while the other would host all those that needed a place to stay or eat. One day, a person came to town needing a place to stay and something to eat. One of the locals pointed him in the direction of the benevolent man's house. However, unknowingly he knocked on the stingy man's door and asked for a meal. The man says, “sure, but first I will need you to help me with some work. Feeling he had no option, he obliged. After a few hours of heavy work, when he turned to the man and asked for his food, the man says, “just go next door and ask for your meal.” The traveler goes next door and is given a simple meal like this man gives everyone who comes. The traveler is a little upset. He thinks to himself, “after all that work I did, I just get a regular meal; I deserve a feast. Had I not worked for this, I would be very thankful for a decent meal. However, after all my work I deserve more! The benevolent man, sensing his guest’s discomfort, asked him what's wrong? The guest told him, “listen, I just worked for hours for you next door and all I get is this meal. I deserve so much more!” When the host heard what happened he shook his head and said one has nothing to do with the other; the work you did was for free and the food you got was for free…

Rav Nachman is telling us, that even though in this world we must work and do what is required, the outcome is not tied to the work. The money we get is a gift from Hashem; what we will make was already set on Rosh Hashana. Our job is to realize and internalize that all we get is a gift from Hashem. The more we have this as our mindset, the more thankful we will be for all that we have. Let's take the mitzva of the sukka and remember where everything comes from, so that the more we thank Hashem for the good He bestows upon us, the more He will give us!