The Weekly Dvar Torah
Volume I Issue #23
From Heaven to Earth and Back
Noach
Adapted from the wisdom of Rav Meir Simcha HaCohen of Dvinsk from the Meshech Chochmoh and Rav Tzadok HaCohen from Pri Tzadik and other works.
By Rav Yitzchak Schwartz Rosh Yeshiva Orchos Chaim Jerusalem
yschwartz@orchos.org.
This publication, Zichron Yehoshua, is in memory of Yehoshua Yakov ben Moshe-Jeffrey Nussbaum through a generous grant from Dr. Eric Nussbaum and family.
Breishis 9:20: "Noah, the man of the earth, began planting a vineyard." Why did Noah chose as his first activity upon leaving the ark to plant a vineyard? Furthermore, why is Noah referred to as a "man of the earth"? This is quite different from the description that the Torah gives of Noah in the beginning of this week's portion where he is referred to as a totally righteous tzadik. In explanation of this Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk quotes the Medrash Rabba 36:6 – "Moshe is more cherished than Noah. Noah who was called a righteous tzadik became known as an ish adama – man of the land. Moshe who was referred to as an ish mitzri – an Egyptian man, was later called a ish Elokim – man of G-d". Indeed, to be referred to as an Egyptian man is a very uncomplimentary epithet for a Jewish man. The medrash does not explain why Moshe was upgraded whereas Noah was demoted.
Rav Meir Simcha explains the medrash in the following way. There are two different paths in the service of Hashem. There are tzadikim who separate themselves from the common people and serve Hashem with intense devotion. However, there are many tzadikim who have taken a different approach. These people, in addition to their elevated service of Hashem, devote significantly to the needs of the community and selflessly give of themselves with little thought of their own needs and desires. We would naturally expect that former group would steadily ascend the heights of spiritual perfection while the latter would tend to "lose ground" due to their preoccupation with the needs of others. Often this is the case but in the case of Noah and Moshe we find the opposite. Noah was the righteous tzadik who separated himself from the masses, and for good reason. They were a sinful lot who were so evil that they would need to be destroyed in the flood. Nonetheless, the Talmud in Sanhedrin p108a teaches us that Noah was also supposed to be destroyed along with the rest of his generation but was granted a special pardon.
Rav Meir Simcha explains that Noah was guilty of not doing enough outreach. He should have spent more time and effort to teach and rebuke his generation and eventually guide them to repentance. Due to this deficiency in his service of his fellowman Noah suffers an enormous fall, plummeting from the pinnacle of "ish tzadik – righteous man" to "ish ha'adama – man of the earth", a mere earthly mortal. Moshe was different. He risked his life to save the Hebrew slave from the cruel torture of an Egyptian slave master. Prior to this heroic act Moshe was referred to as merely an "ish Mitzri – an Egyptian man". But in the merit of his concern and action on behalf of his brethren he was eventually able to scale the heights to become the greatest of spiritual giants; an "ish Elokim – a man of G-d".
While Noah began his spiritual career as a pious servant of Hashem he was lacking the degree of care for his fellowman that is expected of an elevated tzadik of his stature. No doubt, Noah wanted to plant the vineyard in order to produce wine that would be utilized to bless Hashem and give thanks for the salvation of mankind through the seed of his own family. But the Torah teaches us that the blessings over the wine should not have been his top priority. Because Noah was overly focused on the direct service of Hashem he was somewhat remiss in fulfilling the full role of an absolute tzadik who needs to compliment his devotion to Hashem with selfless service of man. Ultimately, his lack of attention to the service of his fellow man led to a certain level of erosion in his devotion to the service of Hashem. In the case of Moshe it was the opposite. The Torah's introduction to Moshe does not include any superlatives about his pious service of Hashem. Rather he receives special mention for his heroic devotion to others who were less fortunate than him. By virtue of his service of his fellowman he was eventually able to progress to the highest levels of pious service of Hashem.
Rav Meir Simcha's explanation of the medrash teaches an invaluable lesson. The apparent conflict between service on behalf of others and service of Hashem is not only artificial it is inherently flawed, ultimately leading to failure in both areas.
By Rav Yitzchak Schwartz Rosh Yeshiva Orchos Chaim Jerusalem
yschwartz@orchos.org.
This publication, Zichron Yehoshua, is in memory of Yehoshua Yakov ben Moshe-Jeffrey Nussbaum through a generous grant from Dr. Eric Nussbaum and family.
Breishis 9:20: "Noah, the man of the earth, began planting a vineyard." Why did Noah chose as his first activity upon leaving the ark to plant a vineyard? Furthermore, why is Noah referred to as a "man of the earth"? This is quite different from the description that the Torah gives of Noah in the beginning of this week's portion where he is referred to as a totally righteous tzadik. In explanation of this Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk quotes the Medrash Rabba 36:6 – "Moshe is more cherished than Noah. Noah who was called a righteous tzadik became known as an ish adama – man of the land. Moshe who was referred to as an ish mitzri – an Egyptian man, was later called a ish Elokim – man of G-d". Indeed, to be referred to as an Egyptian man is a very uncomplimentary epithet for a Jewish man. The medrash does not explain why Moshe was upgraded whereas Noah was demoted.
Rav Meir Simcha explains the medrash in the following way. There are two different paths in the service of Hashem. There are tzadikim who separate themselves from the common people and serve Hashem with intense devotion. However, there are many tzadikim who have taken a different approach. These people, in addition to their elevated service of Hashem, devote significantly to the needs of the community and selflessly give of themselves with little thought of their own needs and desires. We would naturally expect that former group would steadily ascend the heights of spiritual perfection while the latter would tend to "lose ground" due to their preoccupation with the needs of others. Often this is the case but in the case of Noah and Moshe we find the opposite. Noah was the righteous tzadik who separated himself from the masses, and for good reason. They were a sinful lot who were so evil that they would need to be destroyed in the flood. Nonetheless, the Talmud in Sanhedrin p108a teaches us that Noah was also supposed to be destroyed along with the rest of his generation but was granted a special pardon.
Rav Meir Simcha explains that Noah was guilty of not doing enough outreach. He should have spent more time and effort to teach and rebuke his generation and eventually guide them to repentance. Due to this deficiency in his service of his fellowman Noah suffers an enormous fall, plummeting from the pinnacle of "ish tzadik – righteous man" to "ish ha'adama – man of the earth", a mere earthly mortal. Moshe was different. He risked his life to save the Hebrew slave from the cruel torture of an Egyptian slave master. Prior to this heroic act Moshe was referred to as merely an "ish Mitzri – an Egyptian man". But in the merit of his concern and action on behalf of his brethren he was eventually able to scale the heights to become the greatest of spiritual giants; an "ish Elokim – a man of G-d".
While Noah began his spiritual career as a pious servant of Hashem he was lacking the degree of care for his fellowman that is expected of an elevated tzadik of his stature. No doubt, Noah wanted to plant the vineyard in order to produce wine that would be utilized to bless Hashem and give thanks for the salvation of mankind through the seed of his own family. But the Torah teaches us that the blessings over the wine should not have been his top priority. Because Noah was overly focused on the direct service of Hashem he was somewhat remiss in fulfilling the full role of an absolute tzadik who needs to compliment his devotion to Hashem with selfless service of man. Ultimately, his lack of attention to the service of his fellow man led to a certain level of erosion in his devotion to the service of Hashem. In the case of Moshe it was the opposite. The Torah's introduction to Moshe does not include any superlatives about his pious service of Hashem. Rather he receives special mention for his heroic devotion to others who were less fortunate than him. By virtue of his service of his fellowman he was eventually able to progress to the highest levels of pious service of Hashem.
Rav Meir Simcha's explanation of the medrash teaches an invaluable lesson. The apparent conflict between service on behalf of others and service of Hashem is not only artificial it is inherently flawed, ultimately leading to failure in both areas.