Shabbat-B'Shabbato – ParshatNoach

No 1445: 4Cheshvan 5773 (20October 2012)

AS SHABBAT APPROACHES

From Families to Nations- by Rabbi Oury Cherki, Machon Meir, Rabbi of Beit Yehuda Congregation, Jerusalem

Groups of people are defined by some common unifying factor. When the criterion changes the communal identity also changes, and the name of the group might change too. In this week's Torah portion, the title "families" is followed by the title "nations." "These are the children of Shem according to their families and their languages, in their lands and bytheir nations" [Bereishit 10:31]. There is a very clear difference between the two terms. Different families can be expected to live in peace with each other, and war is the exception to the rule. The political nature of a nation, on the other hand, tends to be characterized by traits similar to those of individuals. "Strangers" are treated as being external to the national solidarity and as a threat and therefore as potential enemies. The normal relationship between different nations is a state of war, while peace is so unusual that the prophet views it as noteworthy: "No nation will lift up a sword against another nation" [Yeshayahu 2:4]. What is the source of this difference in outlook? The verse quoted above implies that when a group is defined by cultural factors – by "their languages" – it can be characterized as a family, but when the group is defined by territory – "in their lands" – the entity is a nation.

In reaction to the downfall of humanity from families to nations, two experiments were attempted to solve the problems of waging war: the Tower of Babel and the choosing of our Patriarch Avraham. The first attempt was a failure, and the second one was the ideal solution.

The Tower of Babel was an attempt to cancel out the differences between different people – the people had "one language" [Bereishit 11:1]. The word used is "safa" –a language - and not "lashon" – a tongue. Lashon is related to internal or spiritual content, while safa is external. The attempt was a cosmopolitan approach, which destroys individuality, eradicating the intrinsic value of a human being and replacing it by a shared human project, the Tower. However, Divine revelation not only doesn't blur individuality, it enhances its unique characteristics, so much so that people can no longer understand the language of others. And in this way humanity was rescued from the hell of absolute uniformity.

To make up for the complete failure of the Tower of Babel, Avraham arrives with his mission. He does not try to cancel out the concept of nationality but rather to bring the nations back to their former status as families. This can be accomplished only by establishing a new type of nationality, "a great nation" [Bereishit 12:2], whose sole purpose is to remove the idea of nationality and to bring humanity back to the status of families: "And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you" [12:3]. This means that the nation of Yisrael is the only legitimate national entity, because - as opposed to that of the other nations - its purpose is to mend the faults of the world.

The future ideal in the prophecy of Zecharia is that "all who remain among all the nations which invaded Jerusalem" [14:16] will become families. "Those who do not come from among the families of the earth... and if the family of Egypt will not come" [14:17-18]. Thus, instead of cosmopolitanism which insists on uniformity, and instead of nationalism which has taken over the nations of the world, unity will reappear. This will lift up all the nations, each one with its own unique traits, "to the Mountain of G-d, the House of the G-d of Yaacov. He will teach us of his ways and we will go on his path, for the Torah will emanate from Zion and the word of G-d from Jerusalem." [Yeshayahu 2:3].

Rabbi Charki is the head of Brit Olam – the Noahide World Center, Jerusalem

POINT OF VIEW

A Veteran Leadership which Seeks Support of Fresh Forces - by Zvulun Orlev, MK, Chairman of the Committee on the Rights of the Child

It can be assumed that after this article was written the Knesset did indeed decide to call for early national elections, as was decided by the Prime Minister. In a few months we will be voting to choose the members of the next Knesset. The call for early elections focuses the public attention on the internal preparations of each party and their efforts to present a slate of candidates for the next Knesset. Every party has its own system for choosing the candidates.

Our party, the "Mafdal – the Bayit Yehudi," is in the midst of voting for the head of the party and the candidates for the next Knesset by a system of primaries. About 53,000 eligible voters registered to participate in direct elections. This is the first time in our party that the public has been given an opportunity to directly choose its leadership.

I believe that most of those who registered will take advantage of the opportunity and will come to the polling stations in order to vote and to make their influence felt. If there is a high percentage of eligible voters,it will show that the public has great confidence in the party and in its leaders. The success of the registration process will also be clear if there is a high and impressive vote percentage.

The Commitment to Unity

I am committed in many public statements, on all possible platforms, to do what I can for unification of all the elements of religious Zionism in the Knesset, together with the Ichud Leumi Party and the Am Shalem Party of Rabbi MK Chaim Amsalem. A large turnout of those registered to vote for the head of our party and our Knesset candidates will enhance our ability to unite all the elements of religious Zionism. The large effect of people voting will be an expression of the vital need to run in the coming general elections as a united group which includes all the religious nationalists.

I was very happy to see the declaration by rabbis of religious Zionism – Rabbi Tzefania Drori, Rabbi Yerachmiel Weiss, and Rabbi Yitzchak Shilat – emphasizing the importance of "unity within the camp and close links within our community," which they call "the highest priority of unity, to bring the multitudes of the House of Yisrael closer to the light of the Torah and the land." They also note the great importance of choosing the party head and the candidates for the Knesset. "We must all choose in the internal elections only such candidates about whom we can be sure that they will sacrifice themselves in order to enhance the unity of the nation, the Torah, and the land, candidates whose lives are sanctified to the words of G-d in their personal and public lives."

Rabbi Chaim Drukman responded to a letter of mine as follows: "The national religious party represented and represents the approach of religious Zionism which is based on the Torah of Yisrael. Throughout all the years, it taught the State of Israel and all sectors of the Jewish nation the values of religious Zionism, and it left its mark on the image of the state and its character, according to the traditions of Yisrael. In addition, the movement knew during all that time how to strengthen and enrich the organizations of religious Zionism both spiritually and physically, including the educational institutions, the yeshivot, the ulpanot, Bnei Akiva, Emunah, the Kibbutz Hadati, and the moshavim... We turned to the entire community of Yisrael. We are linked to the entire nation – in the IDF, in settlements, and in all walks of life. Specifically because of our responsibility for the nation of Yisrael as a whole, our MK's and our ministers have a special mission, to struggle ideologically and spiritually to support the Jewish character of the State of Israel in all walks of life."

This is a perfectly clear statement. It means that the religious character of our movement must be preserved and that we cannot transform it into one that is mixed, something of a second-class Likud Party. The rabbi clearly states that in order to succeed in our mission the leadership must be made up of religious people who are deeply engulfed in Torah life and in observing the mitzvot, and who are faithful in their opinions and knowledge of the message of religious Zionism.

Political Experience is a Necessity

I proposed my candidacy as head of the party out of a sense of humility, after I accumulated a wealth of public, parliamentary, and government experience. I do not believe that in the political arena it is possible to succeed by dropping in people who have no political experience. From past experience, we can see that shortcuts are not a proper way to succeed in the Knesset and in the government.

I am aware of the desire for change, for refreshing the membership. I agree that this is desirable. I will therefore support and help new candidates who will be included in the Knesset list. But with respect to the head of the party, I feel that it is a mistake to gamble. Rather we must choose an experienced and successful leader who has a proven ability to lead national political processes.

I also call out to my colleagues who are competing and to our colleagues in the Ichud Leumi: Please, overcome your inclination to attack, to slander, and to blacken the reputations of political opponents. This can be compared to shooting a gun inside a tank, and it can lead to great political tragedy. After all, we will all be called on to stand behind the party leaders. How can one who slandered and attacked him defend the leader who is chosen and tell the people to vote for him and for the party, the very next day after the elections? Stop all such actions, this is vital to us all.

Men and women who registered for the party, here is my call to you: Let nobody be missed on the days when the voting takes place for the party leader and the Knesset candidates. This call is a faithful expression of the essence of the mission of the religious Zionist movement as it has existed throughout the generations.

LET YOUR WELLSPRINGS BURST FORTH

Come into the Ark to Understand the Deluge - by Rabbi Moshe Shilat, Director of "The Torah of Chabad for Yeshiva Students"

A selection of articles by the First Rebbe, the Tanya, on the Torah and the holidays appears in his books, Torah Or and Likutei Torah, both linked to the weekly Torah portion. These books are the earliest classical anthology of articles with the approach of Chabad. They include hundreds of essays that the "Tzemech Tzedek" chose out of thousands that were written by his grandfather, the Tanya. Chassidim have a custom of studying this material every week.

Why was such a Tumult Necessary?

Here is what the Tanya asks in his weekly article: "At first glance, the matter of the flood is hard to understand. If it was necessary to destroy the people who sinned, why was such a tumult needed? Couldn't G-d destroy them in a single moment, without any flood at all?"

He replies: the reason for the flood was to purify the earth, "which was filled with corruption and was very spoiled." Therefore the rains fell for forty days (symbolic of the forty "sa'ah" that is the minimum amount of water needed to fill a mikveh). The earth was immersed in this "mikveh" for almost a year, completely covered over the tops of the highest mountains. This is like a person who must be immersed in a mikveh in such a way that "the water completely covers his whole body."

When the prophet Yeshayahu describes the flood as "the waters of Noach," he is referring not only to the name Noach but also to the rest and settling down that is hinted at in Noach's name. The flood came to the world in order to clean it and purify it. Afterwards, a new improved and more peaceful era came to exist.

The son of the Tanya (the Middle Rebbe, in his book Torat Chaim) explains that such a difficult process of purification was necessary only one time. The next time that the world is purified will be at the end of days, and it will take place in a deeper manner. The spirit of impurity will leave the world on its own, once and for all, and this will occur when the Holy One, Blessed be He, is revealed in our world, when the Mashiach comes. But in the early times, the world which became corrupted was in need of being struck by a deluge in its simplest form.

Rivers will never Wash it Away

The Tanya continues by linking the Deluge of the portion of Noach to a very different type of "deluge" – the flood of annoyance related to financial woes and other thoughts of this world. These are also a punishment for the sin of Adam and for other sins. The world is not pure, and quite often our lives have the appearance of a huge flood, a sea of annoyance and tumult. But there is an "ark" that floats on the water – this is a "taiva" – the words of prayer and Torah study (taiva means both an ark and a word). The Baal Shem Tov explained that the command "Come... into the ark" [Bereishit 7:1] means that a person should enter as deeply as possible into the words of prayer and study, and then "rivers will not be able to wash it away."

In this, the Chassidic approach is introducing a very novel concept. Just as the Deluge was not only a punishment but mainly came to purify the world, so the flood of confusion in this world is not merely a punishment but also comes to purify us! There is something very deep that can be found in all the annoyances of this world! The flood in the world brings us to a depth that cannot be found in study and prayer alone. But this will be revealed only through the "taiva,"the word. "The ark was lifted up" [7:17]. The holy words of the Torah and prayer rise up because of the merits of the flood waters, because of the confusion of this world!

Our Great Mistake

Those who are immersed in the tent of Torah can never reach a state of terrible thirst. They "have a good life," they spend many hours of each day studying, and they approach their prayers calmly and in pure surroundings. The active people, who are kept busy with the annoyances and who exist in completely different surroundings, have the merit of reaching the level of those who repent, which is higher than that of the righteous.

Our mistake is that we think that truly deep prayer is relevant for people who are calm and collected. But if we can manage to quell the flood of our thoughts for a few moments of prayer, we will be able to remember how much we yearn for something else, how far we have come from the pure prayers of the month of Tishrei... A very deep sense of yearning can burst forth, just as light bursts forth from the darkness, specifically among the plain folks and not among the yeshiva students.

"This is the mistake of the businessmen, who feel that they cannot pray with the same intensity as those who dwell in the tents. Just the opposite is true! They can pray with greater depth, because the strongest light can be expected to come out from the darkness."

NATURE AND THE TORAH PORTION

The Chameleon - by Dr. Moshe Raanan, Herzog College and the Jerusalem College for Women

"With respect to a 'zikit', my father did not know what it eats" [Sanhedrin 108b].

We will begin with a story related to this week's Torah portion about Rav Channa Bar Bizna, as brought in Sanhedrin (108b). Eliezer, Avraham's slave, asked "the great Shem,"Noach's son, what keptthe people busy when they were in the ark. He replied that they had to expend great efforts in order to take care of all the animals. Those who usually ate during the day had to be fed during the day, while those who usually ate at night had to be fed at night. There was a unique problem with the "zikit" (chameleon) because Noach did not know what they ate. In the end Noach would wet bamboo leaves and feed the chameleon the worms that grew in them.

One of the most complex challenges that people who grow living creatures must face is feeding them, since many animals need food that is unique, is hard to find, or that changes as the animal grows from one stage of development to another. The reply that "the great Shem" gave to Eliezer conceals within it an interesting question. According to the story, Noach and his sons took care of all the animals that entered the ark with great dedication and with great effort, based on broad and detailed zoological knowledge. Why did Noach specifically lack information about a chameleon, which is a very common creature?

"It Knows All"

The answer to the above question depends on thechameleon's unusual behavior and on its unique way of eating, which are described in folktales and the beliefs of people who live in areas where these animals can be found. These lizards move very slowly, in measured steps, giving the appearance of creatures who take great care in how they live. One of their defense mechanisms is to blow very strongly, which adds an element of mystery. Their eyes, which can see a full 360 degrees around them, give them an air of "knowing it all." The mystery of the chameleon is enhanced by its ability to change color to match that of the background and in this way to suddenly seem to disappear. It can change color for camouflage, hunting, or because of the surrounding temperature or its mental state. A chameleon which is threatened turns black or dark brown, while in its normal placid state it is green.