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Nov. 24, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran : The Atheists' unintended gift
JWisdom.com: You are a Philanthropist with Aliza Bulow (5 minutes)
Nov. 23, 2009
JWisdom.com: Actually, it really is all about you with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff
Nov. 20, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: How to make every second of your life come first
Caroline B. Glick: Whither American Jewry
Nov. 19, 2009
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Please Listen to this Godcast (5 minutes)
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Oct. 30, 2008 / 2 Mar-Cheshvan 5769

Our Immutable Noble Essence

By Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz


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Noah and us


“Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations ... ”

                        —   Genesis 6:9


This week's Torah reading states that Noah was a perfect tzaddik, a truly righteous man. Why, then, does the previous verse say he found favor — chein — in the Divine's eyes, implying that he needed special compassion and mercy from Above to survive the flood?


The commentator Sforno (ibid. 6:8) answers that the Divine's "favor" was required, not to save Noah himself, but rather to save Noah's sons and daughters-in-law, because Noah's own righteousness was insufficient to save them. Why? Where was Noah lacking? The Sforno explains that although Noah rebuked his generation for their misdeeds he did not teach them to "know" the Divine, i.e., to understand G-d's kindness, mercy, and goodness and to follow His ways.


The Sforno continues: A truly righteous man such as Noah, who perfects only himself, can merit saving only himself. Others like Abraham, Moses, or Samuel, who reach out to others to perfect them as well, can save others through their own merit. Since there is hope that they will bring their generation back to the Divine in teshuvah, repentance, the entire generation deserves to be saved.


Imagine yourself in noah's position. You live in an immoral society that has become so debased and corrupt that even the animals, even the earth itself, have broken all barriers of decency (Bereishis Rabbah 28:8). Thievery is the norm — employers rob workers, workers cheat their employers (Sforno 6:13). You proceed to build an ark, on Divine command, for 120 years. As people ask why, you tell them that their terrible sins have brought about their imminent destruction. They ignore you; they jeer and ridicule you (Bereishis Rabbah 30:7). Would you think that these immoral, vulgar, and shameless people could have an appreciation for the lofty concepts of the Divine's kindness and compassion? Could these wicked people, who ignored Noah's repeated, direct rebuke and refused to repent when faced with doom — could they be inspired by the greatness and beauty of the Divine's attributes and eventually mend their ways?


A human being, no matter how low he has sunk into the filth of immorality and corruption, still retains his noble essence. Buried under the layers of sin and rationalization is a receptivity, an appreciation for the splendor and glory of the Divine's infinite kindness.


Man can be motivated by this appreciation — even when all rebuke has failed — to raise himself from the abyss of sin and return to the Divine. Noah failed to teach these lessons, did not reach for the greatness within his fellow man, and therefore lacked the merit to save his children. Only through the Lord's mercy were they saved.


In our generation, so many of our brethren have been led astray by the indecent and corrupt influences of our society. We look at these tragic victims in despair and resign ourselves to their loss. "How can we reach them?" we question. "Surely, they have no appreciation for the ethical and moral beauty of the Torah [Bible]." Nothing could be further from the truth. They can and do respond to the grandeur of Biblical morality. We need only teach it to them to reach the magnificence that lies within their souls.

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One of America's senior Torah sages, Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz has been the dean of the Rabbinical Seminary of America, in Queens, New York for more than 50 years. The institution has branches and affiliates all across North America and Israel.

This article was prepared by two of the sage's disciples, Rabbi Aryeh Striks and Rabbi Shimon Zehnwirth, and excerpted from the just released book, "Pinnacle of Creation: Torah insights into human nature".


Previously:

The 'living dead' are all around us
We have the power to alter another's destiny — use it well
The Crowning Glory of Creation
The Divine's eternal, unconditional love
Perverting sincerity
Do 'clothes make the man'?
Divine vindictiveness?

© 2007, Mesorah Publications, Ltd.