From: JoshHoff@aol.com
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 10:01 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Cc: IntenseGal@aol.com
Subject: Netvort:parshas Noach,5768
The Logical Conclusion
                          By Rabbi Joshua (logicaly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
                             
                      In memory of Rebbetzin Shifra Tendler, wife ofRabbi Moshe D.Tendler and daughter of Rav Moshe Feinstein,who passed away in Monsey on Thursday morning.May her memory be a blessing.
                     
                     
                      In this week's parsha,the Torah records  the process that God went through in deciding to destroy the world through a flood.At first,we are told,"And the earth had become corrupt before God,and the earth had become filled with robbery ( chamas) " ( Bereishis,6:11) .Rashi explains that the 'corruption' ( 'hashchasa') mentioned here refers to idolatry and sexual immorality. We are then told, "God saw the earth and behold it was corrupted,for all flesh had corrupted its way upon earth."In the next verse,God speaks to Noach,and tells him,"The end of all flesh has come before Me,for the earth is filled with robbery through them;and behold,I am about to destroy them from the earth"(Berishis,6:13).In this verse, God only mentions robbery in telling Noach that He has decided to destroy man from the earth,and not the corruption that the Torah mentioned previously. Rashi, based on the Talmud ( Sanhedrin,108b) explains that the sentence of destruction was sealed only because of robbery. Why was this so? Ramban and Rabbeinu Bachya explain that  robbery is a crime that logic dictates to be wrong, while idolatry and promiscuity are not. Perhaps the idea behind this is that once people do not even follow laws that logic dictates,society cannot continue to function properly. This is,in fact,how Rabbi Dovid Kimche,the Radak,explains,in his commentary to Yonah, the sentence that God passed on Nineveh,which was also addicted to chams,or robbery.
                     
                     
                      The problem with this approach, however,is that the Talmud in Yoma,67b,,when enumerating those sins which are considered to be matters of logic,includes the sins of sexual immorlaity and idolatry..Why,then do Ramban and Rabbeinu Bachya say that it is not a matter of logic? Moreover,the Rambam, in his Shemoneh Perakim, or Eight Chapters,which is an introduction to his commentsry to Mishnayos Avos,seems to contradict himself in this regard.In differntiating between'mitzvos shimiyos,'or mitzvos which seemtohave no logical purpose,and are  only a matter of obedience to God's decree, and 'mitzvos sichlios,' or mitzvos which do have a logical basis,the Rambam includes sexual immorality in each of the two categories at different stages of his discussion.Is promiscuity,then included among mitzvos sichlios,or is it not? My teacher,Rav Aharon Soloveichik zt'l,felt that some categories of sexual prohibitions belong  in one category,and others belong in the other category.Rav Dovid Feinstein,in explaining the passage in Yoma,and applying it to our verses here in parshas Noach,suggested that even though idolatry and sexual immorality seem,at fist blush,to be prohibitions that are purely between man and God,still,if allowed to run rampant,they will lead to chaos,and robbery will also occur,as a result. I would like to suggest a somewhat different, but related,understanding,based on an idea I heard from Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik,zt'l.
                     
                     
                      At the end of parshas Balak,we learn  of the incident at Shitim,when the Jews sinned by worshiping Ba'al Peor,and by having illicit relations with the daughters of Moav.The rabbis tell us that it was, actually,Bilaam who gave Balak the advice to station women outside their tents with idols,and to offer their favors to the Jewish men if they first worship their idols.In the haftarah to parshas Bilaam,the prophet singles out Bilaam with opprobrium  for the advice he gave to cause the Jews to stumble in thisway.Why was his crime so heinous? Rav Soloveitchik explained that although idolatry alone and promiscuity alone are both terrible sins,when the two converge,they are not simply two terrible crimes,but a life style of uncontrolled behavior. Based on Rav Soloveitchik's insight,we can suggest that sexual immorality and idolatry,when each stands alone,iareconsidered to be in the category of mitzvos shimiyus,but,when they converge,, are considered to be in the category of' mitzvos sichlios,'or prohibitions which logic dictates. Following this approach we can say, along with Rav Dovid Feinstein, that hashchasa, or corruption,leads to chamas,when the two elements of hashchasa,namely,idolatry and sexual immorality, converge and form a life style.This is,apparently what happened to the generation of the flood,and led to its ultimate destruction.


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