Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Noach.
In our Parsha, Noach was chosen with his righteous wife Naamah ( related to Kayin ) and his three sons Shem ,Cham and Yafes and their wives , to be the only family to survive the Mabul - the Flood by building an Ark for him and his family and the living Creatures to save them from the oncoming Flood . HaShem calls Noach an 'Ish Tzaddik Tamim Hayah Be Dorotaiv,' which means a 'Righteous Man, perfect in his generation.' Our Rabbis see two different points here .One being that he remained Righteous , no matter what pressures were put on him from the negativity around him .He stood up for HaShem and HaShem's Morality and stood against a World that was filled with robbery and idolworship . The other point states that he was righteous, considering the depravity of the World around him but he might not have been so righteous had he lived in and been compared to Avraham in Avraham's generation, where Avraham would have overshadowed his righteousness.
I feel that it is never fair to judge the actions of one holy man in a generation,with another holy man in another generation , for all tests and situations are very different. This is pointed out, with the second description word that Torah gives Noach, by not just calling him an 'Ish Tzaddik,' - 'A Righteous Man,' but also an 'Ish Tamim,' - ' A Perfect Man,' for he was as perfect a man as anyone in another generation would have been, had they lived in his generation.
The Rabbis also refer to the fact that in this Parsha, it says, 'Et Ha Elokim Hithalech Noach,' - 'Noach Walked with G-D ,' - and they compare this to the fact that it says in Torah how HaShem told Avraham , ' Hit'haleich Lefanai Ve'H'Yei Tamim ,' 'Walk before me and be Perfect,' and the Rabbis say that this shows that where Noach walked with HaShem, Avraham was given permission to walk before HaShem as if Avraham was higher than Noach . Through the very fact that HaShem directly called Noach an 'Ish Tamim,' shows that Noach had already reached a perfection in his generation and thus could walk with HaShem , as a friend. Avraham was told to walk before HaShem and be perfect for in Avraham's generation, Avraham's task was to walk before HaShem as a prelude to HaShem's Shechinah that Avraham helped to bring back to the World and so, Avraham was to re-introduce HaShem to the World as a page introduces the King that is coming . So both men were perfect in their generations.
Sadly, Noach did not pray for his generation for he was a man that didn't question HaShem as Avraham did in the incident of Sodom and Amorah. We see how Avraham did not question HaShem in the incident of the Akeidah . Noach followed HaShem without question .He did not wish to not pray for the rest, but meant to follow G-D's Command and never thought for a moment to question it.Avraham , on the other hand , was part of an equal covenant with HaShem and thus HaShem came to discuss His Actions before destroying Sodom and Amorah and Avraham pleaded for their lives. This did not make Avraham better. They were just two different men. But both were described as Righteous and Pure.
Not so Nimrod, who was the son of Cush , related to Cham, Noach's son . He was a different sort. His very name Nimrod, has within it the name 'Marad,' which means 'Rebellion,' for he was the one who brought rebellion against HaShem, in the building of the Tower of Bavel and the surrounding city. He ensured that all would move to a single city, the city of Shinar, He put fear into the people and told them of how every One Thousand six hundred and fifty years , the firmament shakes and makes a flood and so, the people must come together to build a high tower that reaches the Heavens and so,wage war on HaShem G-D and remove HaShem G-D from Heaven ,placing an idol on the top of this tower to defeat G-D . How silly an idea, for all things are Created by G-D . But this is what he got the people to do . Unlike the separateness of the Generation of the Flood, here, in this Generation of the Dispersal, he rallied all but Shem (Noach's son who was also known as Malchitzeddek) and young forty eight year old Avraham , to join in the project for Shem and Avraham both refused. Often Avraham would walk past this building project and , being a strong man, they would call him to help )for the people at the time valued more the dropping of a brick, then a human life that was lost on the building of the tower, yet he refused, calling HaShem to Judge them and 'confound' their actions as Psalm 55 says. Nimrod , who was known as a mighty hunter, was able to subdue all kinds of Wild animals and kill them He was the first to take advantage of the allowance to eat meat.He only was able to do hunt and catch animals because of the special coat that he wore that originated from HaShem ,Who gave it to Adam,for it was the special garment HaShem had made to clothe Adam and Eve ,in the Beginning when they left the Garden of Eden.It got passed down to Seth and found its way to Noach, where it was stolen by Cham's side and kept by Nimrod. Nimrod wanted to be worshipped as a deity and no one was permitted in his presence to stand higher than him . It was only Avraham who defied him , saying that it is only to HaShem we are to bow for HaShem is G-D. The One And Only.
This was the Nimrod who started the rebellion against HaShem .Nimrod told the people that Heaven should not only belong to G-D and G-D should not have control over the firmament that can bring forth a flood and so, he rallied the people to try to reach G-D and depose Him from Heaven .
As Shlomo Hamelech says in Mishlei , that the fear of the wicked will come to pass, the fear of Nimrod and the people ,as the Torah describes, that they should never get dispersed, ended up happening for so was their punishment from. G-D . For when HaShem came down with hosts of angels to judge man, that at the time spoke one language, the language of the Holy Tongue of Hebrew, HaShem came down and confounded their tongue and they ended up being dispersed. Within their very actions was the punishment, for HaShem came down and 'Navlah,' - 'Confused ' their language .Within the word 'Navlah,' are the Hebrew letters that form the Hebrew word 'Banah,' to Build, ' for by building against HaShem, their language was 'Navlah,' - 'Confused.'This is an important lesson , for when one does a wrong action, the resultant punishment is related to the wrong action that was done.
The reason, HaShem didn't destroy this generation , as He did for the Generation of the Flood, is because at least,they showed a 'togetherness' and HaShem hates Machlokes - Dissention among people .
So, we have two very different types of men . The one type like Noach and Avraham ,who walk with HaShem and clean this World - and the other, that walk away from G-D and try bring on rebellion , like Nimrod . The two paths are always open to choose from . A positive path that leads to G-D and a negative path that has no future. One might think that only a small and little deviation from HaShem's Wish and HaShem's Torah, couldn't be so bad Chas Ve Shalom, but the moment one starts to disobey G-D and go one's own way, even to a minute amount, one is already not following G-D .
To be a true child of G-D , is to be perfect to HaShem and to walk alongside HaShem toward HaShem ,in the same direction completely without any deviation great or small. Noach walked with G-D as HaShem told us and this showed that every step Noach walked, was alongside HaShem's Path.
As the World goes more and more into the modern age, sadly HaShem's Laws get pushed to the background as people think they can be more modern then G-D , Chas Ve Shalom . We must remember that nothing is more modern and no one knows more then G-D , for G-D Created our tomorrow . To deviate from HaShem's Laws in any way ,even if in a minute way, is to step away from walking with G-D . We are all the children of Noach and we all have it within ourselves to be as Noach was and to walk with G-D as a Friend , in the correct direction and not to deviate from G-D in even the smallest way in wrongly following modern times . HaShem Created time and we are to follow Him into the future for only HaShem is our destination for the past , the present and into the future . We are all children of Noach and so, each one of us has the strength and courage to stand up for G-D against the wrongs in the World and the wrongs people commit. We are all children of Noach and so,we all have the same equal obligation to stand up for G-D and to stand against that which tries to take humanity away from G-D 's Requested Laws and Ways. Stand tall and righteous and perfect as Noach did and make this World a World of G-D so we again can be righteous and perfect and walk with and in harmony with G-D as G-D so Wants us to . Give G-D the closeness with us that G-D so desires . Walk in G-D 's Ways and bring the World around you , to G-D .
With love to HaShem , I wish HaShem with love , a beautiful sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love and to all, a beautiful sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love .
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