This week’s parasha, Parashat Noach, presents the personage of Noach - the link between the antediluvian and post-deluge worlds – the link between Adam and Avraham.
At the end of last week’s parasha, before introducing us to Noach, the Torah explains that Hashem will destroy the world because all of man’s inclinations were evil and his society had become corrupt. The world had been created for man’s benefit, yet man distorted and perverted its purpose – necessitating its destruction. Hashem commits to destroying the world. However, Hashem, in His infinite wisdom, chooses Noach as the vessel through which the world would maintain continuity with its beginnings.
After the deluge, Noach emerges from the ark and builds an altar to Hashem – upon which Noach offers animals as a sacrifice. Hashem accepts Noach’s sacrifice and commits to Himself to never again destroy the land and all living things. The Torah provides the rationale for Hashem’s commitment – because man’s inclinations are evil from his youth.
Our commentators are all puzzled by the logic of Hashem’s reasoning. Hashem says that he will not destroy the world because man’s inclinations are evil from his youth. Just forty days earlier, Hashem destroyed the world because man’s inclinations were evil! Why should man’s evil inclinations save him after the flood when they were the cause of his demise in the flood?
Different approaches are taken in answering this question. Many of our chachamim explain that man was a changed being in the post-flood world. In the world that we live in, man is not born with an inclination to do good – he is born with deeply seated inclinations. Inclinations such as the desire for food, intimacy and aggression – the yetzer – often lead man to sin. Because of this tendency, we call these inclinations, the yetzer hara. Man must develop his ability to use these desires for good. Man must cultivate his sechel, his intellect, his morality and his sources of good. Through this cultivation, man enables himself to direct these instincts for the good. With these tools in place, man actualizes his yetzer hatov.
At the beginning of one’s life, a baby is guided by its instincts. Even as the child matures, his actions continue to be guided by the instincts. However, as the child continues to mature, he or she can cultivate the ability to positively channel these instincts. This process continues through adulthood. Man’s instincts are very powerful and his capacity for evil is very great. However, Hashem placed in man the possibility of an antidote – the yetzer hatov. Although man has the capacity for good, because man is hard-wired to live by his instincts, G-d commits that He will not destroy the world again.
Based on this understanding, it is fitting that Noach creates an altar and offers sacrifices upon leaving the ark. Noach recognizes that, in this new existence, man has an exceptionally powerful tool – his instincts and inclinations. This tool can be used for evil – what we call the yetzer hara – or for good – what we call the yetzer hatov. The tool is in man’s hands. Noach’s sacrifice conveys to the world that, like the instincts which man must intentionally use as a tool for good, the animals which he sacrificed were also tools which Noach dedicated for the service of Hashem. Through his sacrifice, Noach teaches that creating and doing good requires exclusive dedication of resources to a certain purpose.
Like Noach, we should teach those within our sphere of influence that greatness and goodness only come through complete dedication of our efforts to a purpose.
At the end of last week’s parasha, before introducing us to Noach, the Torah explains that Hashem will destroy the world because all of man’s inclinations were evil and his society had become corrupt. The world had been created for man’s benefit, yet man distorted and perverted its purpose – necessitating its destruction. Hashem commits to destroying the world. However, Hashem, in His infinite wisdom, chooses Noach as the vessel through which the world would maintain continuity with its beginnings.
After the deluge, Noach emerges from the ark and builds an altar to Hashem – upon which Noach offers animals as a sacrifice. Hashem accepts Noach’s sacrifice and commits to Himself to never again destroy the land and all living things. The Torah provides the rationale for Hashem’s commitment – because man’s inclinations are evil from his youth.
Our commentators are all puzzled by the logic of Hashem’s reasoning. Hashem says that he will not destroy the world because man’s inclinations are evil from his youth. Just forty days earlier, Hashem destroyed the world because man’s inclinations were evil! Why should man’s evil inclinations save him after the flood when they were the cause of his demise in the flood?
Different approaches are taken in answering this question. Many of our chachamim explain that man was a changed being in the post-flood world. In the world that we live in, man is not born with an inclination to do good – he is born with deeply seated inclinations. Inclinations such as the desire for food, intimacy and aggression – the yetzer – often lead man to sin. Because of this tendency, we call these inclinations, the yetzer hara. Man must develop his ability to use these desires for good. Man must cultivate his sechel, his intellect, his morality and his sources of good. Through this cultivation, man enables himself to direct these instincts for the good. With these tools in place, man actualizes his yetzer hatov.
At the beginning of one’s life, a baby is guided by its instincts. Even as the child matures, his actions continue to be guided by the instincts. However, as the child continues to mature, he or she can cultivate the ability to positively channel these instincts. This process continues through adulthood. Man’s instincts are very powerful and his capacity for evil is very great. However, Hashem placed in man the possibility of an antidote – the yetzer hatov. Although man has the capacity for good, because man is hard-wired to live by his instincts, G-d commits that He will not destroy the world again.
Based on this understanding, it is fitting that Noach creates an altar and offers sacrifices upon leaving the ark. Noach recognizes that, in this new existence, man has an exceptionally powerful tool – his instincts and inclinations. This tool can be used for evil – what we call the yetzer hara – or for good – what we call the yetzer hatov. The tool is in man’s hands. Noach’s sacrifice conveys to the world that, like the instincts which man must intentionally use as a tool for good, the animals which he sacrificed were also tools which Noach dedicated for the service of Hashem. Through his sacrifice, Noach teaches that creating and doing good requires exclusive dedication of resources to a certain purpose.
Like Noach, we should teach those within our sphere of influence that greatness and goodness only come through complete dedication of our efforts to a purpose.
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