A Geography Lesson- Parshat Noach 5782/ 2021

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

October 8^th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 1 2^nd Cheshvan 5782

Parshat Noach

A Geography Lesson

I think it is perhaps one of the greatest and most popular Jewish pastimes. Goyim don't play this game and I don't even think it's even too common amongst non-orthodox Jews. But if you're frum you've inevitably either played this game or have been the subject of someone else playing this game. It's called Jewish geography and I'm pretty much the king of it. The premise is that two Jews that meet up can reveal some type of mutual connection that the two share with a few pointed questions. "Where are you from?", "where do you live?" "where did you go to school… to yeshiva…to camp…" who are your in-laws…your siblings Your machatonim" "where are your grandparents from?" "what concentration camp where they in?' OK maybe not that last one… But you get the idea.

What makes me the king of this game? Well despite my normally shy and quiet nature and demeanor it seems that somehow I happen to know a lot of people and they know me as well. It could be that I lived in a lot of places, went to quite a few yeshivos, have been involved in careers that have brought me in contact with a lot of people. I'm not sure what makes me so good at it, but I rock at Jewish geography and I love playing it. In the good old days I got to play it often. Sometimes even twice or three times a week with tourists. These days I play it with my kids, but it's not nearly as fun. I turn to Elka and it turns out she's the sister of my son Tully. Rivka is actually the daughter of my wife Aliza and even my grandson Yoel is related to me because his father is my daughter's husband. Yeah… it's not really that fun.

Yet as boring as playing Jewish geography is with your immediate family-and I have over the past year and half of a tourist-free life have had the opporotunity to play it with the handful of those that have managed to smuggle into our holy land. I take heart that I'm not the only one who in history that pretty much didn't see in anyone but his family for a year and change. Just open up this week's Parsha and meet our good friend and father of all mankind Noach who as well didn't have to many people to schmooze with during his sojourn in the Ark. The Parsha begins with these are the generations of Noach and then lists his three sons. That's all the Jewish geography that there was; the sons and their wives. Now of course you can argue that Noach after a while began to play the game with the animals as well. "Hey aren't you the seagull related to the pelican? Didn't I see you flying over Miami last winter? But with two of a kind there really isn't much animal geography you could play as well. And frankly animals really aren't that fun to play with, certainly not cooped up in an Ark.

When you think about it though it really does seem like a pretty crazy way to destroy the world and your creations. What is it with this flood thing? If Hashem was angry at the world, He really could've jut brought a global pandemic that killed everyone and everything except Noach his family and the two of each species that He wanted to save. Why have him build an Ark? Why bring all of that water down? And perhaps most preplexing why make Noach and his family quarantine with a bunch of animals for a whole year with really no one else to talk to.

The truth is our sages tell us that Noach really didn't even have anytime for any games on the Ark. It was a full time job for him. He was the world's zookeeper. He was on call pretty much 24/7. The llamas were kvetching, the cows needed to be fed and milked, the monkeys had an accident in the middle of the second floor, forget about the birds, the ducks, the crocodiles, and those pesky little rats, cockroaches and  rodents that would just be crawling all over the place. A job like that almost can make a man want to pop off that Teiva window and go for a little swim with everyone else out there.

The answer perhaps is given in that first Jewish geography verse of Noach. It tells us he was righteous in his generation. Rashi quotes that famous Midrash that there were Rabbis that saw in this praise a condemnation of Noach. It was only in his generation that he was righteous, had he lived in the generation of Avraham he wouldn't have been considered a Tzadik. The contrasts between Noach and Avraham continue in that Avraham prayed for his generation, he brought people closer to God in a world that was also idolatrous and full of sin. Noach on the other hand didn't. It was him and his family. The rest of the world was beyond hope in his eyes. They could all drown in the sea. And they did.

The Ksav Sofer interestingly enough finds a defense for Noach in his actions. He notes that Avraham didn't have any children when he was involved in his outreach work. Perhaps it was even the reason why Hashem didn't give him children until so late in life. Thus he had the freedom and latitude to get out there down and dirty with the sinful world and try to lift it up. He didn't have to worry about any negative influences on his children. The Ramban takes this even a step further when he notes that is the reason why we find that both Avraham and Yitzchak built altars and called out in the name of Hashem to the world whereas we don't find that by Yaakov. Avraham and Yitzchak didn't have 12 kids running around the house that they had to worry about, thus they were free to teach and bring the entire world closer to Hashem. Yaakov though had the future of the Jewish people in his living room, he couldn't afford to open those doors up to whatever and whoever wanted to come in. Noach as well had three children that would be the future of mankind. He needed to protect them and that meant leaving the world to implode on its own.

That attitude of Noach though which perhaps made him a Tzadik and kept him and his family pure was not the way Hashem needed the world to be built once again. He needed Noach to understand that when you lock the rest of the world out and you are only worried about your own spirituality then in fact all you are left with is a bunch of animals in an Ark. At the end of the saga of Noach in the Ark the Torah tells us Va'Yisha'er Ach Noach- Only Noach remained. The Mikdash Yehuda suggests that the Torah is telling us that Noach was all that was left without any of his previous fancy "tzadik tamim" titles. Noach's greatness was only in comparison to everyone else. Now he was just plain Noach. But perhaps one can read the verse homiletically as well. Va'yishaer Ach Noach- and he left behind the "only Noach" attitude that he had beforehand. After a year of no one to play geography with he learned that the world needs us to be connected to one another. To be responsible for one another. We weren't put here to only worry about our own spiritual points that we are earning up in heaven. This world is not casino where we merely are meant to keep throwing mitzvos into a spiritual slot machine and wait for the big payout at the end. It's about lifting up the whole world so that we are all winners. It's feeding each others slot machines. It's appreciating the connection we all have with one another.

In reality Noach never played Jewish geography, because in fact he wasn't Jewish. As I said gentiles don't play that game. Bob from Montana will never find anything in common with Larry from Brooklyn, Francois from Paris, or Ahmed from Bahrain. Its perhaps why they are called Bnai Noach. They are the children of Noach that don't feel that sense of Mishpacha obligation to the rest of the world and mankind that the Jewish nation the descendants of Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov do. As children of Avraham we are programmed with that DNA that is there to connect with others. To worry about them. To feel the need to inspire them. It's what we are here for.

It's been a long month chock full of holidays, simchas and plenty of time with our families, our communities and most of all with our God, our Father in heaven. So many mitzvos, so much prayer, so much simcha, joy and holiness. So much about me and my relationship with Hashem. It's almost as if we have been in an Ark. But the month of Cheshvan is here. It's a month without any holidays. It's back to the big world. It's time to leave that Ach Noach behind and take all the gifts that we have been given and share them with the world. We don't have to start with the gentile world even and perhaps that isn't even where we are meant to begin. There are enough of our Mishpacha, our fellow brothers and sisters out there that we should be meeting, inviting and inspiring first. I know you're a little bit shy. But just play some Jewish geography with that Jew sitting next to you on the train, on the plane, in the back of your shul, at the water cooler, or the lady next to you in line in the supermarket. It's a great game and it can change and save the world.

Have a marvelous Shabbos and a Chodesh Cheshvan Tov,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 " Shtil vasser grobt tif."- Still waters run deep

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 47) A temple of the Goddess Hat’hor was found at:

A) Mount Carcom

B) Ovda Valley

C) Timna Park

D) Tel Beit Shean

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

 https://youtu.be/rYnQMp0Ynms   - Ari Goldwag's latest song and video- Shomer Yisrael

https://youtu.be/doJX0RPaCdw   – Chacham Ovadia Yosef on his yartztiet with hundreds of Jewish children and women giving out siddurim to families saved by Yad La'Achim. beautiful

 

https://youtu.be/jMC_lAwJxX8   – Lipa Shmeltzer new song Gemurah song

 https://youtu.be/R1CqkngPCW8    –Benny Friedman singing new song- Oryasa at the Siyum of the Oraysa Amud Yomi (that I have been fortunate enough to be a participant in) on Tractate Shabbos.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/SHABBOS CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Just for Us- Parshat Noach- The world begins anew this week after it was destroyed with the flood. And just as in the first story of Creation Hashem tells us about the day of Shabbos and how blessed it is, here as well the Torah tells us that Shabbos has a special place in the world. What you missed it? Well that's what this column here is for. To find that Shabbos connection that you may have missed and to explore it.

 Right after the flood Hashem tells Noach that He will never bring a flood to destroy the world again. He makes a Bris/ covenant with mankind with the rainbow symbolizing that. Yet it's not just that there won't be a flood. Hashem throws in another caveat

 Layla V'yom lo yishbosu- Night and day will no longer rest or take a break. Neither will the seasons of winter spring summer and fall. The world will have order. Rashi tells us that it seems that during the year of the flood. There was no day and night or seasons. There was no weeks. There was no Shabbos. This is not merely a consequence of the flood and the dark skies rather this was the way that the world returned to it's pre-creation state and was wiped clean of all its sins. The mechanism to destroy the world is to remove Shabbos from it. Without Shabbos the world will just implode and that's what happened.

 Yet our sages derive a halacha from this verse. They don't read it merely as a promise from Hashem that there will always be a Shabbos in the world and day and night and seasons. Rather they see it as a prohibition for Gentiles to observe the Shabbos. Day and night they should not rest- from here our sages tell us, a non-Jew that rests on Shabbos gets the death penalty. One of the sages, Ravina even adds that this is not only a reference and prohibition for a goy to observe the Shabbos on the 7^th day of the week. Rather even if they declare a day of rest on another day-like Sunday or Monday- they are also violating this commandment. They note that this is not one of the seven Noachide laws because it's violation is passive-by not working, while the 7 are all violations that are for prohibited actions.

 There are different explanations for this prohibition. Some suggest that it is because it would be as if they are making up their own religion by declaring a day of rest when they are not commanded to. Other's take this a step further and say that the Shabbos is the symbol and gift to the Jewish people and gentiles observance of it would blur the lines between us and them and lead to assimilation. Another approach along similar lines is that Shabbos is a gift and by the gentiles appropriating it they are "stealing" our special day. While other commentaries suggest that mankind was created to build and improve the world. Hashem didn't make man to be idle. When Jews celebrate the Shabbos we are filling the world with spirituality. We are declaring that Hashem is it's creator and there is nothing else in existence besides Him. We don't need to work or worry about anything else because it is all fixed. All our work is complete. A gentile who doesn't have the mitzva to bring that faith into the world or the capacity to infuse the world with that spirituality. He never saw Hashem's revelation on Sinai. He never received this Mitzva. Thus his resting on Shabbos would be mere idleness and that is prohibited. Not only is it prohibited but since idleness and being non-productive eventually lead to being sinful and destructive they are prohibited from taking any day off and wasting that gift of life and the job they were put here to do.

 The Midrash though has a different view. It sees Shabbos as that special quality time Hashem spends with His nation in his private chambers. It is a King with His beloved daughter. It is a bride and groom. Shabbos is our Bashert; our match. If a stranger enters and tries to interrupt or partake in that special moment they are disturbing the beauty between Hashem and His nation. That is the greatest grievance and chutzpa that there could be. For this reason right A non-Jew is not allowed to observe the Shabbos.

 It's an amazing day and an amazing Mitzva that we have and been blessed with. And yet even before there is a Jew on the planet here in Parshas Noach right from the get go Hashem is telling the world in it's first treaty. Realize that Shabbos is not yours. It's for my nation. How amazing is that?

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

 Aravnah's threshing floor and the end of the book of Shmuel - 837 BC- We start a new season of this column and this week we conclude the book of Shmuel Beis. We had left off last year with the terrible plague in which 70,000 people died over the sin of Dovid's mistake of counting the people needlessly and without taking the half shekel coin in advance as the Torah proscribes. Dovid had chosen the punishment of a plague for he wished that the punishment would come by the hand of Hashem directly rather than through enemies or famine that would make them dependent on other nations.

The book of Shmuel concludes with the end of this plague that occurred when Dovid had a vision of the angel of Death standing in Jerusalem over the granary of Aravnah; the place where the Temple Mount would ultimately be built. The Midrash writes how the merit of the future sacrifices came before Hashem and He wanted Dovid to finally know about this holy place and to offer sacrifices here for the first time since the binding of Yitzchak over 1000 years before. Now Yerushalayim had been conquered Yoav, Dovid's general years before. If you want to hear that story come with me on a tour to Ir Dovid where I can show that story by Warren's shaft. Dovid though, had allowed the Yevusim/Jebusites to remain living there and Aravnah was their king who either converted, was in the process of conversion or was a Ger Toshav- "resident alien"- a non-Jew that was permitted to remain in Israel provided he didn't worship idolatry and observed the Noachide laws.

 Aravnah offered him the granary and animals for sacrifices, however Dovid refused and bought it from him. There are two versions of the purchase price. In the book of Shmuel it says 50 shekel was the purchase price and in the book of Ezra it says 600 shekel. The Talmud explains that Dovid took 50 shekel from each tribe thus the purchase of the ultimate place of the altar was purchased equally by all the tribes. With this purchase the Temple mount would always be called after Dovid Ha'Melech despite him not even being alive when his son Shlomo will build in the tenth year when he became king.

There are three places we are told that the Torah specifically tells us that they were purchased for full price so that the nations will never be able to claim it was stolen from the. The cave of Machpela bought by Avraham, the burial place of Yosef in Shechem and the temple mount. In the greatest of ironies there are no three places that the nations dispute our claim and always have then these three places. The message though isn't for them, they don't learn the Torah. The lesson is for us. We need to know that these are always ours legitimately. This week the court of Israel for the first time sanctioned Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount which had been prohibited for the decades since it returned to our hands (whether we should be going up there or not is a different halachic question). May the return of Jewish prayer to that altar of Dovid in Jerusalem bring us one step closer the return of the temple.

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE FLOOD JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 Where did Noah keep the bees during the flood? In the Ark Hives.

 A man who lived by the sea grew a cucumber so large he was able to turn it into his house. One day a bad storm flooded the area with salty seawater and damaged his home. Now he’s in a pickle.

 What did God say to all the animals during the Great Flood? Don't worry. I Noah guy

 Husband: My wife is missing. She went to rescue people from the flood yesterday and has not come home ...

Sergeant at Police Station: What is her height?

Husband: Gee, I'm not sure. A little over five-feet tall.
Sergeant: Weight?
Husband: Don't know. Not slim, not really fat.
Sergeant: Color of eyes?
Husband: Sort of brown I think. Never really noticed.
Sergeant: Color of hair?
Husband: Changes a couple times a year. Maybe dark brown now. I can’t remember.
Sergeant:What was she wearing?
Husband: Could have been pants, or maybe a skirt or shorts. I don't know exactly.
Sergeant:What kind of car did she go in?
Husband: She went in my Jeep.
Sergeant: What kind of Jeep was it?
Husband: (sobbing) It's a 2010 Rubicon with Sprintex Supercharger with Intercooler, DiabloSport T-1000 Trinity Programmer, Teraflex Falcon 3.3 Shocks ,1350 RE Reel Drive Shafts, Method 105 Bead Locks, Toyo 37" X 13.5" Tires, Custom Olympic Off Road Front Bumper, Olympic Off Road Smuggler Rear Bumper with tire carrier, Seward Radius 4s LED Light, Seward 12" LED Light bar, 50" LED Light bar with, sPod LED switch pod with Boost gage,, Rigid LED Lights, 15# Power Tank, Rock Hard Cage, Rock Hard Under Armor, Posion Spyder Sliders, Posion Spyder Crusher Fenders, Posion Spyder Evap Armor, Posion Spyder Extreme Duty Trans-Mount Cross Member, Bushwacker rear armor, 5.13 Gears, Magnum 44 Front Axle, Off Road Evolution "C" Gussets, Cobra 75 CB Radio, Warn 10K on Front and 8K Winch on Rear, Bartact Seat Covers, Delta Quad Bar Xenon Headlamps,Tantrum LED Offroad Rock Lights, Teraflex HD Tie Rod, Teraflex Falcon Steering Stabilizer, Teraflex Alpine Long Control Arms Front & Rear, Teraflex 4" springs, Teraflex JK Performance Slotted Big Rotor Kit, TeraFlex Monster HD Forged Front Adjustable Trackbar, Teraflex Front & Rear Brake Line Kit, Teraflex Bump Stops Front & Rear, Surprise Straps, Hothead Headliner, Teraflex D-44 Diff Covers, Wild Boar Grille, Rigid Ridge Hood, Drake Hood Latch's & a Tuffy Security Drawer......
(At this point, the sobbing has turned into a full cry.)
Sergeant: Don't worry buddy. We'll find your Jeep.

 Two old restaurateurs run into each other in the lobby of an office building.

"How's it going?" asks one.
"Oof!" says the other. "Business was down from covid, the rent was due, and to top it off there was a fire in the kitchen that burned the whole place down. I'm just here to talk to my insurance agent".
"Wow", says the first, "By coincidence I'm here to talk to my agent. Last week a flood hit the restaurant and ruined everything".
"So tell me", he whispers, "How do you start a flood?"

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Answer is C –  I really wasn't sure about this one. I knew it wasn't Beit She'an there was an Egyptian Temple there but it the goddess thing didn't ring a bell. I didn't know much about Karkom mountain- but actually turns out there was ancient idolatry and pagan worship that was found there. I was leaning towards Timna or Ovdat valley- I knew there was some temple at Timna but for some reason I went with Ovda and was wrong. It turns out the right answer was Timna where they have the ancient copper mines of Shlomo Ha'Melech and it seems this goddess was in charge of copper and the miners who were probably not even Jewish worshiped there.So got it wrong- but being I already passed this exam I don't really care. So the score is  Schwartz 35 and 12 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.