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| Noahidenations.com |
Parashas Shelach: Forward Progress and Without Looking Back
Rabbi David P. Katz
In the Torah Portion of Shelach, The Jewish People make a
classic repetitious shortcoming of wanting to retreat and reverse course back
to Egypt. If it was not bad enough with the episode of the spies in the
beginning of the Parsha (which led to Tisha B’Av [9th of the Jewish
month of “Av”], of which the Jewish People have been agonizing over for
thousands of years trying to reverse the grieving into a celebration of joy;
Moshiach is said to be born on [the reversal] of Tisha B’ Av [9th of
the month of “Av”]) and the speech of slander that they spoke against the Land,
now they immediately fall directly into pure exile mentality of, “Let’s return
to Egypt!” The audacity of such crimes is premised on the fact that until now,
they were practically upon the threshold of Moshiach and the 3rd
Temple! Once this opportunity is spoiled with negativity, it becomes the
destruction of the Temple (1st and 2nd) and we now rely
not on Moshiach, but the prophetic and future-based “Birth of the Moshiach.”
(Talmud Yerushalmi)
The basic lesson to be learned from the doubt of progression
is the Forward Movement of pure “אמנה” / Emanah (a derivative
of “Emunah” – Faith). Emanah is stronger than faith, in that it contains the
basis of service of God, all in one concept; Faith is an offspring of Emanah.
[Emanah can simultaneously mean any of the following: Loyalty, Truth, Covenant
of Truth, Confident, Amen, Faith, etc.] One important fact to keep in mind is
that the entire Torah is made of this Emanah! [Talmud Makkos based on a verse
in “Habbakuk” in Tanach states that the entire Torah is comprised within one
Commandment: “צדיק באמונתו יחיה”
– “The Righteous Lives by his “Emanah-ness!”] If the heart of exile is the lack
of this Truth [Emanah translated as Truth – Targum Yonaton on the word: Emunah,
which is a derivative of Amanah], to the extent that the Jewish People have
living within this fallen state for thousands of years, where in the Torah (or
World for that matter) do we find the solution? Being that the verse in Habbakuk
speaks of the Righteous and the Truthful (of Amanah/Emunah); perhaps we should
turn to Noah and Shem, who the Torah defines under these two terms. Noah is
termed Righteous by God Himself, and what may be seen as a surprise to some,
the Torah states that Noah was short in his Truth. However there is not to
worry, as where Noah is limited, Shem shines forth as the excellence of Truth
and serves to the Honor of his Righteous father Noah! Where the Jewish People have
stumbled and Noah just missed the cut, as expressed by retreat and a hesitance
to enter the Ark right away (which was the seat of Noah’s lack in Truth), Shem
ran with the baton of progression, Truth, and Righteousness into the Ark at the
first possible moment, thus equating into the polar opposite of this
reiterating sin and basis of shortcoming. It is exactly for this reason that
Shem was elected to be one of the four Craftsmen of Redemption. [Talmud Sukkah
52b] Shem was the better fit based on his craft even more so than Noah. As
ironic as it may seem that Shem would be identified by craftsmanship within the
Ark more than Noah, is testimony to his eagerness to fulfill the Command and
hasten the Redemption by rushing into the Ark, and thereby earning the merit to
take part in the final craftsmanship: the Third Temple in the End of Days!
The Ramban states [Noah 7:7; 7:1] that Noah was of what Rashi
states as “Small Faith” [Small Truth] and that Midrash Rabbah on the same
selection of Torah explains this as “Lacking Faith” in Noah’s association with
the Flood Waters and the Command of entering the Ark. To see the Greatness of
Shem amongst the Chaos, let’s now quote Rashi [7:7] and then the Ramban
[7:7/1]; [7:7] – “And Noah came and his sons came and his wife, and the wives
of the sons, with him, to the Ark, because of the floodwaters.”… [Rashi] – “even
Noah was of “Small Truth”; he was however full authentic levels of Truth[!] (Which
begs the question, where was the shortcoming?!) – he didn’t believe that the
floodwaters would come, and he didn’t enter the Ark until the waters forced
him.” Noah erred on a major philosophical point, that Hashem’s greatest
miracles are when Hashem grants the miracle in nature rather than superseding
it! The answer was not to miraculously end the Flood, but rather work
Redemption through the Flood. [Ramban] Through this hesitancy, Noah did not
rush into the Flood, and the scar of such a minute mistake was eternally being
deemed as one without Faith! It is said that the punishment of the Righteous is
far more severe than anyone else; Noah was one of two Men in the Torah to be
called Righteous! King Solomon suffered similar fate, when the Torah called him
an idolater for not being the promised Messiah son of David; Noah also was
tasked with the salvation of the World, and he succeeded! – Just not to the par
excellence that Hashem desired and saw from him. The Midrash states that Noah
was held accountable for from him would come Moses, and of course the entire
Torah! Just as Hashem looked into Moses and saw nothing but the image of God
(From Moses’ perspective, he saw only God in the World, and when Hashem looked
into Moses, Hashem “saw Himself” through Moses’ gaze - Ramban), in Noah too,
Hashem saw the Final Redemption, Torah, and God filling the World with
Knowledge of God! Thus the margin of error was ZERO! Noah feels the pain of the
scar of shortcoming until this day, but we can be sure that the bitterness of
lack, is the fuel that burns within the eternal soul of Noah, that will
eventually bring the Final Redemption, as Moses is the final redeemer, and he
is a direct Re-incarnation of none other than Noah! From the pain of his
failure, (“Noah lacks Faith”) will be the means of his “Chassidut” – in making
bitter waters sweet with the powers of “Higher Intellect”, for Noah will finish
his job in the End of Days, when it will be said that Noah is the Man of Faith!
(Moses and Noah are one, and the inverse of Moses in Gematria is 102:
Emunah/Faith!)
The Ramban on 7:7/1 thus states the following: “Noah was
lacking in Truth, for the waters began to reach his upper ankles and he still had
not entered the Ark. [Thus only with a height of the waters did he enter the
Ark, as opposed to Rashi who explained that he did not believe that the waters
would even reach his ankles!; here, he waited to see.] The Ramban then comes
with a very interesting suggestion [understood in the manner of “Secrets”,
which is the style of the Ramban – Medieval commentator]…”if so, then we must
say, that Shem did not enter until the waters strengthened and covered the face
of the entire earth, and he saw this was Nature! [As in, the Miracle was being
worked through Nature!] We see here that where Noah was weak (and we can interpret
7:7 as the whole family had to influence Noah to get into the Ark, as it says, “…
they all came ‘with him’” – which one can induce also that perhaps “with him”
was a reference to Shem, who perhaps according to the Ramban was already in the
boat! And when it said, “and his wife” this was not a reference to Noah’s wife,
but Shem’s! – for according to the Zohar, we already know Noah’s wife entered,
as she is allegorically compared to the Ark itself!)
The Verse 7:1 states, “and God said to Noah come! You, and your
entire House to the Ark, for you I see as the Righteous before Me in this
generation.” Rashi states that this was partial praise as to not embarrass Noah,
yet if it was partial praise, there must be another worthy of the remaining
Praise! Shem would be the other Righteous Soul, and he expressed merit in entering
the Ark of which rewarded him a direct aspect of the End of Days as a Craftsman
of Redemption. Noah would see it too, but through reincarnations of Moses and
Shem. With this said, what was the source of merit from Shem?
The commentators state that this declaration of God to Noah
was specifically for him and no other. It was Noah’s merit that the World was
saved. Thus in the Ark, Shem had learned the powers of Redemption, yet still
maintained honor for his father, even after the evil of Cham upon Noah! Shem
let his father’s merit carry him to its natural seat: as the merging of the
First and Final redeemers, expressing the unity of God. Thus even with the flaw
of Noah, coupled with Shem’s knowledge of the repair, he allowed his father’s
merit to endure; by doing so, he brought Redemption to himself, his father, and
the World – all in the realization of Honoring his Father, and subsequently
Honoring God. This was the righteousness of Shem, and this was the zeal (a
Priestly trait, presumably the merit of Shem becoming a Priest – “Malki Tzedek!”)
of which Shem ran into the Ark before evil could latch onto his soul. For this
Shem was not short in Amanah / Truth, rather he is the Teacher of this Amanah,
notable to Abraham when Abraham found the Priesthood from Shem. Thus context of
the debate between Abraham and Noah is missing content that effects
connotation, for the meaning between the two opinions of Noah in regards to
Abraham, is the open expression of Praise of Shem! But like Rashi says, it is
not Derech Eretz to Praise too much to a Righteous Soul. However, Shem received
all of his praise in secret, and it is Shem that progresses forward with the
secrets of the Redemption, as he is one of the Four Craftsmen termed “the
Righteous Priest” along with the two Messiahs. An interesting observation, is
that the word for Messiah, “משיח” = שם חי = “Shem
Lives!”
In the Parsha of Shelach, the tendency of Man is seen to
want to retreat, or at best stay idle; the consequence is exile and the lack of
redemption. Shem teaches us the opposite, for even though the guardianship of
his father’s merit is seemingly keeping us in exile (for if Shem’s merit would
begin, redemption would ensue), it will be Shem’s Truth (that by the nature of
Truth allowed the World to endure for 6000 years – so people could share the World
to Come with him! Hence, the nature of Shem’s Torah predicated on his
righteousness) that will eventually usher in the Messianic Age. When the World
wants to relent or waster time idly, think of Shem, the opposite of evil and exile;
it was Shem who ran into the Ark, it is Shem who we can run after into the
Messianic Age, and learn the Righteousness and Truth from his actions and
Torah, something that the Spies Joshua and Caleb, perhaps were searching for,
when they prayed at the cave of Machpela and the forefathers. Abraham had a
tremendous level of Amanah, as he should, he learned it directly from the mouth
of Shem, and where the 9th of Av is the depths of exile, it will one
day acknowledge its antidote: Shem ben Noah, who came from a world where there
is so much wrong, he is the one Man who got it right; for that he truly is the
Righteous Priest.
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| שבת שלום |
