Rabbi Breitowitz "Living With The Parsha" Parshat Noah

oh okay hi everybody uh w wow it's wonderful to see such a large crowd I guess a uh good taco dinner will uh bring people in as well as the great this year that Rider gave and anyway forgive me I'm a little uh under a lot under the weather but it is and that's uh in that's always aim and want to wish people AES and as a little digression or an introduction I want to talk a little bit about perhaps the least understood month of the Jewish calendar and that is the month of kesan you know they tell the story about a Russian peasant who lived in AIC community and he noticed that there was many many parties and get togethers and fans that were always going around so he figured this is a wonderful religion always parties eating drinking singing dancing so somehow he got himself converted I don't know how exactly and uh and then he told his friend Ivan that this is a wonderful religion you got to join it you know we have wonderful parties we eat and we drink and we sing and we dance so Ian didn't get around to converting till kind of the middle of the summer and it was already the month of Tomas so he immediately gets confronted with the 17th of thas and the three weeks and the 9 days and no haircuts and no meat and no weddings and no music and he goes over to his friend and says you know you really tricked me into this you told me this is a religion where we have parties and frolicking all the time and all I get is one restriction after another restriction so his friend looked at him and said you know you're really right ever since you've joined we've been going we've been going downhill but anyone that knows the Jewish calendar obviously knows that indeed we have a calendar like life itself full of extremes extremes of Joy extremes of grief crying laughing singing dancing moments of introspection where each person has to Grapple with their own inner demons as they try to make peace with the almighty and then we have times which are social in which we emphasize our community and our togetherness and the funny thing is this is not only indicative of the calendar of as a whole but this in fact is the experience of a single month the month that is ending the month of Tish think about the different multiplicity of emotions that we had to go through that we went through in just a few weeks in less than in less than four weeks uh introspection crying sobbing begging God for forgiveness the unrestrained joy of sukot culminating of course in times of introspection times of sharing times of private reflection and meditation times of community because you see Ros sh is a template for the entire year and therefore God is basically saying you have to experience you know the exhibit they have mini Israel near the U there is that that's kind of a miniature exhibit of the entire country like an acre or two acres you can see everything so at the beginning of the year we have to experience all of the different modalities that life puts our way so we will be able to know how to respond when we need to respond because the point is many of us are naturally geared to a certain modality you know some people love maybe most people love but you know maybe you might be surprised or maybe you won't be some people actually love the ninth of of not in the sense that that you know it's a happy day you you dance on a table although when mashiah comes that'll be the case but because they enjoy the opportunity for introspection and meditation and thinking about the serious issues of life so some people gravitate towards one aspect of our holiday cycle and some gravitate towards another but God is basically saying you got to be capable of both if one is not capable of feeling deep grief over theban MD you're not capable of feeling deep joy for the Torah and vice versa if you don't feel Joy for the Torah then what why are you so sad if there's no bet mikdash if that doesn't mean that much to you and therefore the whole lesson of Tish is to learn how to be a total person try to incorporate within our personality the multiplicity of emotions that human beings are capable of and utilizing those emotions in a constructive positive way but we then come to the the month of now the month ofan its official name is Maran and there is a popular vort which is almost probably wrong and I I'll tell you right off the bat that it is probably incorrect but it's a very very well-known thought that the reason the month is called Mar is is a of bitterness because this is a bitter month because it is the only month in the Jewish calendar that does not have a or a special holiday now let's test that for a moment okay doesn't K of course has Kana T has the second half of Kana shat has two bat we're already stretching a little bit butat is a best of day Adar is POR Nissan is PES uh has both PES sheni which is a pretty big stretch and if you are a Zionist as we should be you have y as well as y you have sh now Thomas Thomas is a tough one Thomas actually the only notable event in Thomas is the fast day of the 17th of thas but kazal do tell us that all of those fast days in commemoration of the destruction of the temple shall become very festive and happy days so we treat it as potentially a happy day a has the 15th of a which is a very happy day and the ninth of will become a happy day that's the day mashiach will be born okay so far so good actually does not have a but is already in anticipation of all the that are coming as well as the idea that mosha Renu went up after the sin of the ago mosh went up for 40 days and 40 nights fromes to and that is why is called days of grace and therefore it's kind of the whole the whole month is a holiday month okay has nothing but here I want to now now the reason why I say emically it's probably not correct is that most historians point out that kazal already say that the names of the months in the Jewish calendar are of Babylonian origin they date from the 70 years of Exile that is why you don't you don't not find those names earlier than the Book of Esther and the Book of danal Ezra and prior to the Babylonian exile we had other names we either went went with the torah's dating first month second month counting it from Nan or there were some other names for example Tish was called the month of the mighty Ones based on a tradition that the OS were born in the month of Tian was called the month of bull bull might be connected to Maul perhaps because the um the rainy season begins inan as well as the Noah flood began in the month of K as well uh So based on that historians have shown that Maran is actually a Cadian for the eth month based on their cycle so that that name just got carried carried over also Mar in Biblical Hebrew uh is often used for raindrops and the like so there are different anemology that's not so important huh yes yeah even before yeah yeah yeah absolutely from the Babylonian exile yeah uh no that I don't know I'm not sure the earliest right right right right right I understand yeah yeah yeah I have to check exactly when Mar came into use uh but be as it may because it was switch from one word to another so it was okay okay right right right right very good but be it as it may even if that's not the origin of mar it's a popular thought but the idea is it is true does not have a yam so here I want to share with you a thought from s of Lublin uh and he says the following uh the earliest cabalistic book that we have uh is said to be the book that is called safer the book of creation According to some traditions it goes all the way back to AR some even say adish very early in any of that and the saer uh discusses you can even get an English translation I mean you know we have the saer uh but you know we don't really understand it that well it discusses how through the combination of the spiritual forces in the alets one is able to create things CU I'll even say there were T and who would create a calf through the combinations OT of and they would the and eat it every of Shabbat there's a discussion in poim if a Golem like the Golem is created through if a Golem is created through sa does he count for a minion and the like the actually alludes to it to make footnotes uh some want to use the analogy to cloning but cloning is obviously not the same thing at all cloning is a uh biological process that is not a supernatural or miraculous practice uh but be it as it may one of the things that that saf does is every single month of the calendar is assigned a letter obviously obviously only 12 letters are used but is assigned a a letter and the letter is linked to a to a certain sensory function and ROK likes to go through every month the letter and the sensory function for the month of which is the month I want to talk about tonight the letter is the letter n and the sensory function is re the ability to smell and the way is worded is God took the letter of he made it the M over the month of over the and the combination of N and generates this Z this that we call the month of obviously it's a very obscure formulation what does n have to do with happens to have know but other months have it as well very nasal sound say again the very nasal okay yeah and what is so explains the following n in symbolism represents the notion of falling down losing ground in a spiritual sense NE from the word and this is seen in a well-known statement of right that that's that's correct that's correct that's right in as which is actually it's interesting we everybody calls it the truth of the matter is to him 145 begins with the is actually taken from another s so we call it as but it's the H 145 k and as you know every begins with a different letter of the Al Al gimel but it skips the letter N it says your kingship is an eternal kingship Etc and the next one is there was no now it's true I understand in the Dead Sea Scrolls they discovered a version of to that actually has I'm not going to get into the archaeological again yeah yeah well C Scrolls has a has a version it's not but it's not the mtic it's not the mtic text you could see it you can get it online you just type in dead SE scroll Psalms and and you'll see it but say in our text we don't have a n and commented why there's no why is there says because as the says in describing the she shall fall and she will not get up the virgin of Israel it is a and did not want to begin a with the letter that suggests he only mentions in the next verse which isem supports you that's NE now the gorah has a parenthetical comment though that the the people of the West now you know in the gamorra people of the West is always a reference to the land of Israel because the Babylonian talet is a product of B which is where modern day Iraq is it's amazing how much of our Torah we uh we have in that that part of the world and therefore erish Israel is to the West uh and therefore the Babylonian talet always refers to theel people as so it mentions they were very optimistic they punctuated the PK a little different instead of looking at the P She has fallen she will not get up again they read it this way she will not fall anymore arise so it's good you live in Isel you have to learn to be optimistic this is this is what we have what we have discovered but the Babylonian T talid was a bit uh a bit stricter on this or at least less optimistic uh and therefore we don't it offers the explanation that we don't have because of NE so ROK says if n canotes or suggests NE we understand why is connected to the letter N because after all of the after after all the Y after all of the spiritual excitement and hopeful inspiration that we gained we're back to ordinary life there's going to be a sense of let down how do you sustain the excitements how do you internalize everything that we gained that is the great challenge Sook says that is why the nun is combined with re Aroma what is aroma aroma is what lingers after the actual thing is gone if you had a nice roasted chicken maybe even a good taco uh here and the chicken is gone but the aroma can linger if any of you ever read Marcel prce remembrance of things past that you which I have not read actually it's a huge novel of of something like seven seven big volumes uh but it begins with a memory that is triggered by a fragrance by a sense by an aroma so my knowledge myself was limited to the first page but that that I remember is the first page of the of the novel so ruk says even if does not have the still has the aroma the of the Y and that is the antidote of by remembering and it's really the ultimate test because the Kish gave a very nice mus the K said if you have a pot that's on a fire and the pot overflows it boils over you don't really know if it was a full pot or a half empty pot because even something that's half empty will bubble over when it's on the heat Source the only way you can tell how much is really in the pot is when it's not on the fire anymore then you see how high the water really is so he says when a person is inspired during Peak moments that does not really suggest that there's been a permanent meaningful change in that person's life everybody gets inspired you know when these moments happen but if you can take it into ordinary life that's really the sign that we have grown from the and therefore one might say is an extremely important month because it is the litmus test of whether we can take Holiness into the mundane and uh truth is life is never mundane life is always miraculous we say three times in the amida every day for the Miracles that surround us every single day of our lives and part of uh being a Jew is to recognize that all of life is precious and all of life is special but L we are human beings and and we tend to uh you know at some point we get back to our old ways automatic Pilots not thinking not always being inspired and K is kind of the opportunity to carry forth now that's why it's so beautiful fact that right after the first week actually on We Begin we read Brit but then the shabas after is of course Shabbat Brit which is the shabas of New Creations New Beginning so I'll tell you a little another little story you know on which in Israel of course is the same same day by the way the Confluence of emotions is so apparent you know sh we recite Yar for our relatives who are not alive and that is normally kind of a sad somber moment so in you kind of split it is and are but in it's all mixed together right you go from you go from hak toar Etc so it's an interesting idea that all of these different emotions are combined on the very very same day uh but uh be a at May The Story Goes that U there was hakot and people were dancing but a number of Yeshiva students were not really participating so the rebi went over to them and said why don't you dance with the Torah so the students said we're ashamed we really haven't uh learned that much so you know we don't have a right to Rejoice with the Torah so the rebi told him the following Marshall very very nice Marshall he said you know there are two Honors that most synagogues auction off on at least two one is T that's the privilege to finish the Torah usually they'll give they may give it to the rabbi R but people option and the second is so although there are different Customs but I'll tell you the way the story went the story is is reflective of the custom everywhere it says you always give to the most eminent member of the congregation the rabbi the r Etc you can give to the highest bid anybody who wants it gets it again there are different Customs but this is what he said what's the difference why is only given to the great person and gracious is given to anybody so he said the following is a celebration of what you accomplished you finish the Torah so the one that gets is the one that has the best record of accomplishment at least in theory is not a celebration of what you've accomplished it's a celebration of the new opportunities that a year is giving for you everybody has access to that so the Russa said whatever the past was makes no difference you rejoice because of the notion of renewal New Beginnings tremendously beautiful idea the notion of of new beginnings that what we are today is doesn't have to be limited to what we were yesterday and what we can be tomorrow doesn't have to be what we are today we are in a position of continual change continual flux continual growth and like the T-shirt says and I'm a devote of t-shirt sayings because I I find them usually correct if they're not obscene um and that is uh you know life is a journey not a destination and and that is really fundamentally true because it is the process of becoming that gives our life meaning it's not necessarily where we finally arrive because in truth if we truly finished our life's task that's it right why are we here there would there would be no other reason to even stay another minute you know so if God is giving us life that's really a message we still have work to do we still have good things that we can accomplish uh we still have a journey that we have to take so that's a little bit of a meditation or perspective on the month of really that says that this is an important month because it allows us to glory in the ordinary and and to see the extraordinary in the everyday and that's really a a sign of a spiritually sensitive person you know one of the um uh most beautiful discussions In classical literature of uh how to develop an appreciation of towards God is in the duties of the heart very classic saer and in particular in the chapter that is called which seems to me the Gate of observation and he really talks about the idea of Simply opening our eyes and looking at what Hashem has given us in the world the ability to breathe the ability to walk color music these are things that are not necessary for survival we could have lived without color but it's as if God gives you extra Pleasures that are not necessary for basic survival and he says the more one learns to notice in fact that's why the word the Hebrew word for gratitude is so instructive now if you translate it very literally hakarat is recognition of the good the verb to Express gratitude is not so much focusing on whether you say thank you it's focusing on whether you notice there's anything to say thank you for in the first place if you don't notice then of course you're not going to be grateful the first step to be grateful is the capacity to be mindful mindfulness noticing paying attention seeing right that's what a is and that is the chish of to toada comes from theak okay so that was kind of a bit of General introduction now um oh okay yeah we are so now I'll tell you something on the para of the week I am debating I have a lot of stuff on brait that I wanted to share you through but but uh but you know but I I'll talk about just to try to stay uh stay in order because once if I start with the last week's para I'm going to be permanently behind which I have been in a number of sh but uh okay uh so here is the uh thought I want to share with you it's a very very famous rash it's one of the most famous rash the Torah talks about the world becoming corrupt the world becoming evil and primarily it is interpersonal evil the idea ofas Kamas you know reminds us of another Kamas that we still deal with an epitome of of evil butas is violence Gazo that the world was simply going to Pat and there was one righteous man in his family who Hashem decided would be the one that would be saved uh for Humanity this is Noah his three sons and all of their all of their wives and theuk says no isad Noah was a righteous man he was perfect in his Generations no walked with God he was a loyal follower of of Hashem now Rashi brings really from the gamar not it's not rashi's invention Rashi says that there are two opinions in kazal how to understand he was perfect in his Generations note the plural some say it to his credit if I'm man could be righteous in a world that was so perverse and so evil if he would have been in a generation of other righteous people how much more so would he have been righteous meaning the Tor Mish his great credit he was righteous even in an evil World others say some people always look for the negative some people say the well yeah he was righteous compared to everybody else but if you put him in the generation of Abraham he would have been a zero right so first of all like you know why do you know why why be negative you know what do you mean some people T positively some people T negatively but I'll tell you a very interesting from the L Lush wrote A Commentary in rash ya Lush just as a historical note was in the time of the Rama and it was one of the great great ashkenazic poin at the time of the and in fact he wrote a work which really was a rival to the sh and for around half a century it was the dominant code even more than eventually one and it's interesting because Lush is actually a stylistically a much Superior work sh is a list of rules with no reasons given at all the Lush is very discursive and very analytical and gives you many many many reasons for the uh and he still considered a great source of but in terms of authoritativeness eventually superseded the we have to assume it was Divine Providence one way or the other but in addition to writing the wrote many others for as well among them was a pish a commentary on rashi's commentary and the Lush says a very interesting point he actually suggests that maybe there's no makus here they are simply looking at Noah from two perspectives but each would agree I'm going to make up numbers just to illustrate let's imagine a perfect sadic is a 10 no was a five Abram was a 10 the first opinion says well yeah Noah was a five because he was affected by his environment if he would have been in a generation of the righteous he wouldn't have been a five he would have become a 10 so the opinion that Dar admits that Noah as he was was inferior to Abraham as he was but it's making the point had he been with Abraham he would have been elevated so the second opinion is looking at Noah as he was and the first opinion is looking at Noah as he would have been so in point of fact there's no M but the other thing to is putting it even aside is that there's a certain asymmetry in the way kazal presented ionomy in the first part of the dichotomy meaning the ones that Daran positively if he would have been in a generation of sadim he would have been very very great the second that Dar negatively does not say in a generation of sadim he wouldn't have been great it specifically says in the generation of he wouldn't have been great in other words it is drawing a specific comparison between Noah and Abraham and it is telling us that Noah fell short was wanting in a certain Dimension that AB excelled him what is that so the Z says come and see the difference between Noah and Abraham when Abu is told that Hashem wants to to destroy the corrupt and evil degenerate city of sodon Abraham argues and he pleads and he and he begs and he Bargains and he's quite he says what if 50 people what about 45 what about like the old Arab shook these all these different bargaining things uh that you do and of course keep in mind this is a question maybe we'll discuss later that when it came to sacrificing his own son y AB didn't ask for any special treatment didn't bargain there but when it comes to Sadam all of a sudden he's arguing and bargaining as evil as was Abraham saw some Redemptive potential something to pray for something to ask for when Noah is told that I'm that God wants to destroy the world Noah's response is build ark Noah was not misp this is the Z Noah was not missp for his generation now it's true that Noah did not ignore his generational say Noah spent 120 years building an ark so that people would ask him what's going on and he would explain what was going on and they should do Chua because Hashem is going to bring a flood that will destroy the uh the world Etc uh but that we will call passive Outreach meaning if you come to Noah he'll tell you what's going on as opposed to abrah ainu who opened his tents who went out looking for people to bring to the worship of so the Z says the greatness of ab a was AB ainu was not only concerned with himself and his own Survival was concerned with even the of the world to be and because Noah was less concerned somewhat indifferent to those to the rest of that world that is why the Maul is entitled in SE May Noah remember the it is Noah's flood Noah is held accountable for the flood because perhaps he could have stopped it now the says a very beautiful thought and you're going to see how it fits the wording of theim in such a great way the says that is why Noah had to spend 12 months really read the right the mble began on the 17 Day of generally speaking we pass again 17th day of and no did not emerge from the T until the 27th day of in other words a solar year 365 days why did he need to spend the year in the T ifm wanted to wipe out the world and just have Noah repopulate the world that could have been done in a minute what is the point of keeping him cooped up in that Tava for a whole year so there's a little hint elezar aram's faithful servant many years after the Mao he had the occasion to interview the last survivor of the flood none other than shame the son of Noah who was alive for many years imagine the ability interview somebody who had that memory of that event huh also yeah o is around here but o was wasn't giving interviews [Music] yeah right right so so so Shane said sh no said you don't want to know what life was like like you said morning and night some animals only ate in the day and some animals were nocturnal and my father was running around feeding this animal this diet and that diet and that diet and once he was late with the lion and the lion know clawed off his arm Etc what's the point here is the point if Noah's character flaw was a sense of indifference and a lack of compassion for the plight of others God did not want him to be the new Adam until he inculcated within his personality compassion concern responsibility even for animals and therefore over the course of the year day after day he went through the exercise of thinking of other entities and that slowly builds compassion slowly builds right we build we build mid generally not So Much by our mental Reflections we build it by our behaviors virtuosity is inculcated by repetitive actions you do you do you do you do and we become what we do this is that the says many many times we are affected by the actions that we in fact there's a very interesting statement that the rambam says the rambam says now again this is not a so don't take it as the ra says in that if a person has a choice to give a large sum of money to one St give a th000 once or give1 doar a thousand times the ra says you should give a thousand different times because each action builds up builds up one builds up virtue by the number of actions that you do as opposed to one big fancy action which doesn't have followup and therefore Noah need the year so the says now we understand something very very beautiful let's go back to the so first let's ask ourselves the question what is the difference between the word sadik righteous and the word tamim perfect so brings different that say sad is primarily aad is the relationship of man to God is compassion now you'll huh well yeah okay well yeah but there but even there there does not refer so much to doing mitvah it refers to the attitude of not worrying about the future and that could also be involved in interpersonal behaviors that you know you don't you're not concerned with giving of your time to other people because they'll take away from some future future plan now notice the word do Generations why the plural because Noah was a man who lived in two generations the first two-thirds of his life was pre flood right the first 600 years of his life the last third of his life was post flood the the Tava was the transition so the way interprets it is this in the earlier part of his life he was but not tamim after the ma he graduated to the Madre of tamim and that's why tremendous the listen to this the when hasem tells Noah to go into the ark he says go into the ark because I have seen you as a sad go into the ark Rashi raises the question right away if no is described as sadik why does hem tell him to go into the ark because he's sadik so Rashi gives an answer that when you praise a person to his face you don't want him to get a swell head you only give part of when is talking to no he only calls him s but according to the the it's so beautiful because when hasem tells to go into the table before the M he is only aad is what he acquired afterwards and that is why in retrospect when the Torah is describing Noah as he eventually became he became and but at the time of the when he went into the he was only a but that's the that's the but the point I wanted to conclude with is this so we can look uh at no and we could say oh Noah didn't care enough he could have done more Etc but in reality one has to understand something that why why didn't Noah why wasn't Noah more involved with trying to change his society and the truth of the matter is Noah actually had a pretty rational calculation which even though it may be a uh an evil it might very will be a necessary evil Noah was worried that if he got too involved in the corrupt society that he was surrounded with he would be dragged down Noah needed to have a philosophy of insolar a philosophy of Separation because he understood very well how dangerous a negative environment is particularly when there's no one else that is representing a positive environment and therefore Noah had to play it safe as a matter of self-preservation you know they tell the story the B Kan had a student who he felt was hanging around with bad influences so he told the student he says you know you really shouldn't hang around with those people so the student had a brilliant uh response the you know rebi I'm not a person who gets influenced after all I've been with you for so many years and I haven't become so righteous so don't worry about me I can be with them I'm not going to become a bad guy right I I just I don't get influenced by people so the balatan says no you have to understand and it's much easier to be influenced by negative influences than positive and he brought a a proof from a is that if something T let's say a dead animal touches just touches something to the Tuma is communicated meaning the right if a dead animal touches a vegetable or fruit or a person even I don't again just just to be sure you understand this when an animal is properly Sheed it is not t meat is not t but but if something if an animal died without there is T that's called and certainly a dead dead human body conveys TOA so impurity is conveyed by mere touch and the other hand K is not if a Corban touches some vegetables the vegetables do not become holy unless they are cooked with the corbon then they absorb the taste and then you have to eat it like the Corban so what do you see tum the bat says is transferred by n casual contact but kadus requires Bish total cooking total immersion and therefore the balatan says just because I haven't influenced you doesn't mean you're not going to be influenced by the negative influence so in reality therefore we shouldn't look at Noah God forbid as someone that was in different as someone that didn't care we look we have to look at Noah and indeed there's a certain tragedy in Noah I mean for example why did Noah plant a Vineyard right after the marble and again the simple shot is the simple shot is that Noah had a sense of despondency I mean just put ourselves in his shoes the whole world is gone destroyed you're a Survivor that's a great blessing but what on Earth are you going to do how are you going to take care of this there's loneliness there's a sense of isolation and a person wants to kill that despair by drinking that's a very very natural response Noah was overwhelmed with despondency and and there there there is a concept that Noah was prone to these negative influences and therefore he needed to withdraw as difficult as that might be now rutner points out that there are two architectural structures in the toah there is the Ark of Noah the T of Noah and there's the mishan the mishan the difference between t and mishkan is T hermetically seals the good inside so it will not be engulfed by the Wild and wicked waters on the outside that the T represents ins Solarity protection withdrawing the mishan is the opposite the mishan radiates the light of Holiness outward and therefore these are the two ideas Noah represents the T and uh Abu already represents the idea of mishan spreading Holiness to ever widening circles but here's rutner subtlety rutner subtlety is that the same way in human and Jewish chronology the T preceded the Mish so too in our own individual lives there needs to be a certain aspect of T that we need before we are ready for the mishkan meaning to say before a person will truly be able to spread the light of T there needs to be a certain aspect of their life in which they try to remove themselves from negative and Ive influences to build up a fortitude build up a strength build up an understanding build up a commitment and then they will be able to give and to share and to be open to what others have to offer them as well suff I should to say it's not the direct topic tonight that in any form of Jewish Outreach every person has to understand that when we try to help another person become more observant it is not simply we have the wisdom and we are you know speaking from high to low obviously there is mutual sharing in which we open our heart for the insights that each person is offering as well there is a shared learning and a shared growing and without that respect one cannot be successful because one is simply being patronizing or condescending but at the same time there has to be a certain stage in a person's life in which sometimes a certain amount of insolar is necessary now how you strike this balance this is obviously a very live issue in the Jewish World now uh on many many different levels the notion of ins Solarity separation versus openness sharing and obviously the higher goal the higher goal as you see from the mishun is openness and sharing but we have to be cognizant of the danger something might be the higher goal but it may have also many more risks than the lower goal so do you play it safe or do you play it great uh this is a great this is a a dilemma of life really uh the potential for greatness is certainly much more in the sight of openness and mutual learning but there's also a greater potential for failure and therefore at different points different families different societies different times in Jewish history and even different times in our own personal lives we sometimes need insularity we sometimes times need openness and the trick of life and the trick of how we raise our children is when to do one when to do the other how to know what is good that we can take it and what is like not good that we have to be able to reject and in many ways you know U as is always the case uh any type of All or Nothing behavior is always easier than making reasoned discriminations you know one might say everything outside the BET mid is P I don't want anything to do with it that's one modality the other is I embrace the totality of the world with all that it offers and those are simplistic on both sides of the equation but to be able to discriminate that takes great as indeed the says right in the fourth of the we have a paragraph that we add about now the gar asks the question in why do I put that or that in the fourth so the gor's answer is because the fourth is about and and it says without a deep knowledge and understanding how will you able to discriminate between the good and the bad the and the thees and so it takes a great great deal of does so in a sense the the movement from no to represents kind of an evolutionary not dealing with the issue of evolution but but an evolutionary development in spiritual consciousness starting with insularity and then moving to inclusiveness but you needed that insularity it's not that the inity bad inclusiveness good rather the tal tells me that you need to incorporate of both of those things so how you do it again I don't have concrete answers maybe we'll discuss it further as we go through the different partiot of of the aot but again it's something to to think about again I also want to add one one little disclaimer that uh when uh we say things that may be a little critical of Noah uh we do have to realize of course the phenomenal righteousness of a man who was able to serve God in spite of a whole world that went the other way and I don't want to speak for anyone else but I I suspect if I would have been at the time of the flood I might not I might not have been one of the survivors so um when we speak about no we have to realize that we are talking about a person of phenomenal phenomenal Greatness by the way there are a lot of other interesting issues uh again maybe I'll I'll cover them next time uh how do you understand the flood story in light of the G epic you know a lot of historical issues uh was the flood truly Global or was it not because I'll tell you this the Garian actually BR that there isn't there was no in the land of Israel that the ER was SP from mble now that immediately gives rise say again a reference to M yes we talking about wasn't a flood in Israel would a Iraq yeah that's correct Asia Minor the middle in the Middle East it was in the Middle East but not inel prer now that immediately gives rise to an interesting possibility well if there was no flood in the land of Israel could there have been human beings yeah who lived in Israel ER who were spared now that's that's a very interesting point then which not Noah would not be the you know would not be the only ones but the gamar seems to indicate just I'm just quoting the gamar without getting into all of the possible possibilities here the gamar seems to indicate that even if there was no Maul in Eric Israel all living creatures were wiped out Simply from the heat the the water around was boiling hot water and apparently except for the fish again the fish did not die and that's also an interesting question how that works uh well normally fish get cooked yeah yeah yeah but but all all I'm saying is that if you look at however you interpret the exactly the seems to indicate that even if the mul did not reach the land of Israel all life even in Aro did die so K in the gamar at least did do not acknowledge the possibility of survivors other than oh you know the people who kind of hung around on the outside of the Ark and and and the life but again interesting questions yeah the C car indicates that the whole world needed to go like through a m except for subti was already tar right right right right says also that was supposed to be a m but M's not necessarily water not necessarily destructive but it was supposed to be m m is Tyra so it could have been so it could have been Tyra but because they were bad it was it was a flood it was dister May got the yeah Al as I said who was in AR died so so it didn't result in a survival but yeah I hear I hear um by the way yeah one one thing about that you know uh the PUK says the Maul began in the 600th year of Noah when no was 600 or 599 in his 600th year the Z remarks that in the sixth uh uh century of the sixth Millennium which is 5600 5 5600 what does it say it says that the heavens will open up the the windows of heaven will open and there will be great water so theor says this is a prediction actually that in the 600th year of the sixth Millennium there will be great great wisdom released upon the world only IDE May and indeed it kind of corresponds with the Industrial Revolution and and the like as well as a phenomenal growth in Torah learning this was the age of Theon reer and the like and the zor correlates it as a remes to the and the May of that come into the world okay you all well have a good chabas and a good good [Music]