To think about wine
.
by Rabbi Gustavo Surazski
.
Every year, while reading the first verses of Parashat Noah, I ask myself the same question: Why isn’t Noah the father of the Jewish people? "Noah was a righteous man, faultless in his generation. Noah walked with G-d" (Genesis 6:9). What more is required?
.
Commentators on the Torah suggest countless explanations to that same question. Most of them relate to Noah’s indifference to the destructive outcome of the flood. It’s written in the Zohar that when Noah exited the ark and saw that the world was in ruins, he began to weep and said to the Holy One:
Commentators on the Torah suggest countless explanations to that same question. Most of them relate to Noah’s indifference to the destructive outcome of the flood. It’s written in the Zohar that when Noah exited the ark and saw that the world was in ruins, he began to weep and said to the Holy One:
“Lord of the Universe! You should have had mercy on your creation!”. The Holy One replied: “Now you say this? And not when I said to bring the flood?! Since you heard that you would be spared in the ark, the evil that would fall upon the world didn’t enter your heart!” (Midrash HaNeelam, Noah)
.
However, this year I would like to add an additional reason for denying Noah the right to be named the founder of the nation. This reason relates to the beginning of Noah’s path after the flood.
However, this year I would like to add an additional reason for denying Noah the right to be named the founder of the nation. This reason relates to the beginning of Noah’s path after the flood.
.
Immediately after exiting the ark, the Torah tells us: "Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard" (Genesis 9:20). The Midrash (Bereshit Raba 36:3) explains the word “Vayachel” not in the sense of “beginning” (lehatchil) but from the root “profane” (chulin). ("Noah profaned himself and he became profane). Noah could have begun by planting a fig tree, or an olive tree or something else that provides reparation to the world.
Immediately after exiting the ark, the Torah tells us: "Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard" (Genesis 9:20). The Midrash (Bereshit Raba 36:3) explains the word “Vayachel” not in the sense of “beginning” (lehatchil) but from the root “profane” (chulin). ("Noah profaned himself and he became profane). Noah could have begun by planting a fig tree, or an olive tree or something else that provides reparation to the world.
.
How would we have reacted had we been in Noah’s place? We see the world in ruins and we have to begin from scratch… How would we begin?
How would we have reacted had we been in Noah’s place? We see the world in ruins and we have to begin from scratch… How would we begin?
.
Someone might begin by building a house, another by building a school. What did Noah think of? He thought of wine!
Someone might begin by building a house, another by building a school. What did Noah think of? He thought of wine!
.
We see that this wasn’t the situation with the forefathers of our nation. Of what did our forefathers think?
We see that this wasn’t the situation with the forefathers of our nation. Of what did our forefathers think?
.
They thought of finding wives for their sons, for example. They worried that their sons wouldn’t take wives from among the daughters of Canaan (Genesis 24:3, 28:8). They thought of what would follow, they thought of their families. When Iaacov went down to Egypt, the Torah relates that he sent his son Yehudah "ahead of him to make preparations in Goshen". (Genesis 46:28).
They thought of finding wives for their sons, for example. They worried that their sons wouldn’t take wives from among the daughters of Canaan (Genesis 24:3, 28:8). They thought of what would follow, they thought of their families. When Iaacov went down to Egypt, the Torah relates that he sent his son Yehudah "ahead of him to make preparations in Goshen". (Genesis 46:28).
.
According to RaSHI, Yehudah was sent first in order to establish a house of study in Egypt from which would come teaching”. Iaacov thought of education in order that his sons wouldn’t arrive in Egypt without finding there a spiritual center that would meet their needs. Of what did Noah think? Of wine!
.
A friend of mine told me many years ago that he once stayed at a hotel in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. In the state of Nevada, as you know, gambling is legal and Las Vegas became the casino capital of the United States and of the entire world.
A friend of mine told me many years ago that he once stayed at a hotel in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. In the state of Nevada, as you know, gambling is legal and Las Vegas became the casino capital of the United States and of the entire world.
.
My friend, who went there for the purpose of business and without any connection to the casinos, returned late to his room at the hotel in the city after a long day of work and wanted to open his window to breathe some fresh air. He pushed on the window and saw that it wouldn’t open. He immediately called down to the reception desk and asked for the reason behind it. The clerk answered that in the State of Nevada, and in Las Vegas in particular, people might jump out of the window after losing their money gambling, so it was hotel policy to lock all of the windows.
My friend, who went there for the purpose of business and without any connection to the casinos, returned late to his room at the hotel in the city after a long day of work and wanted to open his window to breathe some fresh air. He pushed on the window and saw that it wouldn’t open. He immediately called down to the reception desk and asked for the reason behind it. The clerk answered that in the State of Nevada, and in Las Vegas in particular, people might jump out of the window after losing their money gambling, so it was hotel policy to lock all of the windows.
.
That sounds odd. How is it possible that a person would place his fortune in a higher order of importance than his life? Don’t people realize that there is no comparison? Is it really true that people need to form such a policy in the hotel in order to save their lives? Yet this happens.
That sounds odd. How is it possible that a person would place his fortune in a higher order of importance than his life? Don’t people realize that there is no comparison? Is it really true that people need to form such a policy in the hotel in order to save their lives? Yet this happens.
.
Something similar happens, for example, when driving under the influence of alcohol. Everyone knows that it is dangerous. But the state threatens drunk drivers who are caught with fines of hundreds and even thousands of shekels. Everyone knows that the combination of alcohol and driving can be fatal. People know this, yet the State still takes it upon itself the responsibility because it knows that many people at the time of the act will be thinking of the alcohol and not of life… as did Noah.
Something similar happens, for example, when driving under the influence of alcohol. Everyone knows that it is dangerous. But the state threatens drunk drivers who are caught with fines of hundreds and even thousands of shekels. Everyone knows that the combination of alcohol and driving can be fatal. People know this, yet the State still takes it upon itself the responsibility because it knows that many people at the time of the act will be thinking of the alcohol and not of life… as did Noah.
.
Choosing the correct order of priorities is one of the toughest battles an individual faces in his lifetime. It is the key to building the future of mankind, societies and countries.
Choosing the correct order of priorities is one of the toughest battles an individual faces in his lifetime. It is the key to building the future of mankind, societies and countries.
.
Rationally, the matter seems simple enough. The vast majority of mankind thinks “in present tense” and not in “future tense”. Noah established for himself a faulty order of priorities. He thought of wine and made the insignificant important, and the important insignificant. It is impossible to found a nation with eternal values upon such an order.
Rationally, the matter seems simple enough. The vast majority of mankind thinks “in present tense” and not in “future tense”. Noah established for himself a faulty order of priorities. He thought of wine and made the insignificant important, and the important insignificant. It is impossible to found a nation with eternal values upon such an order.
.
Other Drashot
.
