Ramban on the Torah | 5785 | 01 | Noach, by Rav Eli Weber
Did Hashem give up on humanity? Was Noach a tzadik? What does it mean that Hashem remembers?
KMTT - the Torah Podcast
Ramban on the Torah | 5785 | 01 | Noach
(upbeat music) - Welcome back everyone. It seems like it's been a while since we learned together, but we're back with a new cycle of the Torah. We miss gracious, but we're starting with Shmoos. I'm starting with Noah, and I look forward to learning with you again this year. Ramban's on the parasha. Again, I try to pick out most interesting Ramban, sometimes a theme forms as with today. I'd like to focus particularly on who Noah was, which is something that, seems obvious in the Psukim, Karshbok, who saved Noah. Obviously, he was a great person. But then we know, you know, he was Sadik Hayabad-Dor-O-Tav, and the famous Rashi quotes, (speaking in foreign language) He was only ecstatic in his door. Had he been in Avram's door, he would have been thought of as nothing. Right, the Ramban takes issue with this, and deals with it thoroughly. And so, let's start at the very beginning. The Psuk says, (speaking in foreign language) Right, you'd think it would be pretty obvious that Noah was Sadik. And the Ramban thinks that that's right. (speaking in foreign language) This is the Ramban, when it says, (speaking in foreign language) that's pretty dispositive of the fact that he was a really, really good person. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) He wasn't guilty of anything. He was a Sadik. (speaking in foreign language) He's perfect in his righteousness. And here's the main point. (speaking in foreign language) The word Sadik says the Ramban is not so much a description of the person as a legal conclusion. The Torah concludes that he's a Sadik. (speaking in foreign language) Right, when the Torah describes something as a Russia, he's guilty of a sin, and he needs to be punished for it. (speaking in foreign language) What does it mean, in every court case, the person who's found innocent is a Sadik, and the person who's found guilty is a Russia? No, says the Ramban, but it's the conclusion that the court reaches. With respect to this transaction, the person claims that somebody did something wrong to him. If it turns out that his claim is supported by Bezden, he's considered that Sadik, it's the conclusion of the court, that with respect to this issue, he's a Sadik, and with respect to this issue, the other person is a Russia. So it says the Ramban, when the Torah says, East Sadik, tell me why the Torah's concluding based on the facts, that Nakh was a Sadik, and that Akkar Ashbar, who saved him from the marble, not just because in a generation of terrible people, he was somewhat okay. 'Cause in a generation of terrible people, he was a Sadik. Okay? (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) That means he's perfect, he's correct. (speaking in foreign language) Judging us, Bezdenk is a method of judging. It's the perfect method of judging. It's the correct method of judging. And so the word Sadik is not just descriptive. It is descriptive, it's an adjective, but the Ramban is saying it's not just relative to someone else. It's in fact, the case that he was a Sadik. Okay, skipping a few lines in this first, in this first passage of the parasha, (speaking in foreign language) After the Torah tells us that Nakh was a Sadik, meaning he was not like the other people in his generation who were evil. (speaking in foreign language) On top of being a Sadik, on top of being an innocent person, Nakh was a really good person. Let's assume for purposes of this conversation that Sadik means moral, which it could mean. Nakh is saying in addition to being moral, he's also from. He also loves Akhar Shbokh, it's not just that he respects property values and he respects private property and he respects values and he respects societal norms. He was a from guy, (speaking in foreign language) He doesn't follow what his neighbors are doing in terms of divining the future and figuring things out. (speaking in foreign language) He doesn't follow our vote of Zara. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) He cleaves to, he desires to be one with Akhar Shbokhoo. The Ramban is sort of hinting here that obviously Nakh said cousin, the Ramban obviously believes that Nakh was a Sadik as the Torah describes, but more than that, the Ramban is saying he wasn't just a moral person, he loved Akhar Shbokhoo as a result, he stood up to all the evil influences that existed, Nakh lived amongst people, I mean, the world was destroyed because of those people, they were bad people and the Ramban here is saying that Nakh was able to stand up to that. (speaking in foreign language) He follows Akhar Shbokhoo. (speaking in foreign language) Oh, which God commands him, 'cause by the way, says the Ramban, (speaking in foreign language) He wasn't just a regular person, he wasn't just a regular Sadik, he was a prophet. (speaking in foreign language) So the Ramban, this is a hint at, there are people later on in the Torah who are prophets, but they're false prophets, right? They tell you that God appeared to them and he said worship of Odysara. Okay, so that's not who he was. (speaking in foreign language) Once we conclude, as the post success, then Nakh was righteous and innocent in all ways, and there was no reason to punish him. (speaking in foreign language) Right, this is the more of a difficult point. This is the Ramban, if you're a Sadik, your children are worthy of being saved because of your righteousness. (speaking in foreign language) Another Ramban is touching on really a subtle point that we don't think about enough, I don't think, which is, let's say you have a child, and that child's a bad person, and that child, God forbid, you know, rebels against that cottage baricle, but to punish that child is to punish the parent, right? There's no such thing. When God forbid someone in the family gets hurt, or gets injured, or gets sick, the whole family suffers, right? Somebody has to take this person for chemo treatments. Nobody can take the kids to school. It's stress on the whole family. All illness is stress on the whole family, and the Ramban says, or at least I think the Ramban says, there are people who are so good that how cottage baricle has to look out for their relatives because otherwise they'd be hurt by that, they would suffer. (speaking in foreign language) It says the Ramban, it's also possible that they weren't saved because of Noah, but because Noah was such a perfect sadic, it's safe to assume that his children were also sadic him. (speaking in foreign language) There's every reason to assume that the father educated his children to be like him and to be good people. Okay, but one thing is clear in the Ramban. It's absolutely clear, which is, the Torah is describing Noah as it's sadic because he was it's sadic, because he was innocent of everything I caught a spore who saved him, not just because he was the best person in his generation, God forbid, but because he was an outstanding person, and presumably he would have been outstanding no matter what generation he lived in. When I was a kid, and even now I suppose, it's strange, but in safe or gracious, people sometimes talk about who was greater, who was greater, was Avram greater than Yitzhak, was greater than Yaakov, was Avram greater than Noah. Okay, so the answer is the Ramban is sort of raising that issue here subtly, and he's saying, I'm not telling you who's greater, but I'm telling you that Noah was great. Okay, so if this is the case, and it is the case, we need to turn to the difficult word in the Pasuk. 'Cause the Pasuk says (speaks in foreign language) right, and Rashi on that medrash, and then we'll quote it in the Ramban, (speaks in foreign language) well, if he was it's sadic in a generation like the Bible, (speaks in foreign language) obviously, if he lived in a generation of sadic, he'd have been even greater. (speaks in foreign language) says the Ramban. Now what's the Ramban gonna do with this? Now the Ramban has shown us before, and will show us again, that he's not afraid to disagree with the (speaks in foreign language) when it comes to a Pasuk. When it comes to Allah, you know, he's bound by Hazal. When it comes to (speaks in foreign language) he's happy to do it, but here he doesn't need to. Says the Ramban, I know what the big fight is about. (speaks in foreign language) (speaks in foreign language) all the time means to say (speaks in foreign language) was to say, he's the only sadic in his generation, or generations, (speaks in foreign language) (speaks in foreign language) there's no one who's sadic, there's no one who's perfect like Noah was. (speaks in foreign language) God looks at the generation, and it's not an insult, it's not to limit Noah's praise, it's to increase it. If he's in that, you know, if he's sadic in that generation. (speaks in foreign language) Says the Ramban, God is explaining to us, wasn't there some guy, wasn't Chaim Schmeral, who also lived at that time, wasn't he also worthy of saving? The answer is no. (speaks in foreign language) He was the only one who was worthy of saving. It's not to make him greater, it's not to make him worse, although I think you could assume, in my heart, I think it makes him greater. I think to be the only sadic in the world is harder than to be a sadic amongst sadic him. I happen to think that positive peer pressure makes a big difference in a person's life. But be that as it may, there was no positive peer pressure for Noah, and that's all the Torah is saying. It's not telling you that he was unique in his generation, but he wouldn't be unique in another generation, it's telling you he was the only one. (speaks in foreign language) What does it say, plural, in his generations? (speaks in foreign language) (speaks in foreign language) Because it was many generations, right? This is the, Noah lived 10 generations after Adama Rishon. So where exactly the evil started with, (speaks in foreign language) It's hard to know, but (speaks in foreign language) Yeah, it means for many generations, there was not a sadic like Noah. Had there been, maybe humanity would have been saved. Okay, so that's a significant point. In the Ramban, in the Ramban's part (speaks in foreign language) where he's reading a postdoc and he doesn't. Yes, Rashi is a different, a difficult word (speaks in foreign language) And he quotes (speaks in foreign language) But the Ramban, the postdoc makes it so clear that Noah was a sadic, a sadic (speaks in foreign language) that it's much easier to just translate with the word (speaks in foreign language) not to mean, to modify the type of sadic he was, but just to say, he was the only one in his generation. Okay, good. Very quickly, as I think we did this last year. The Torah in explaining why God is bringing the Bible, says in (speaks in foreign language) So I don't wanna talk about (speaks in foreign language) you know, the word means what the word means, but it really means like theft, robbery. (speaks in foreign language) is to steal something. So the Ramban says it's a fascinating point. It's not necessary, but it's fascinating. And it reveals a lot about the Ramban. (speaks in foreign language) The Torah could have said, you know, they've corrupted their family life. They're sexually immoral. Why is it saying (speaks in foreign language) it's the most famous sin. (speaks in foreign language) That's why the Bible happened, because of (speaks in foreign language) Why? (speaks in foreign language) It is amidst for that any intelligent person could understand. (speaks in foreign language) There's no need for a Navi. There's no need for a Karshbahu to come and to declare. (speaks in foreign language) Okay, (speaks in foreign language) Tell me that that's also, but theft? (speaks in foreign language) It's bad for everybody. There's no justification for theft. But I think what the Ramban is really saying and what the Ramban really thinks is that there's morality in the world, and the Ramban thinks, any moral person should understand that Hamas, that theft is wrong. It's gonna corrupt a society. It's gonna change the world. And when God saw that they were not just, not from, it wasn't that they were just ignoring a Karshbahu, they were not moral. They were not good people. Hamas is something that any good person, you don't go to somebody's house and take their flat-screen TV 'cause yours broke. You just don't, moral people don't do that. If I told you that that happened, you would say to me that he's an immoral person. And God can't stand immorality. At least the Ramban thinks that. And so yes, there's who I am as a person and there's who I am as an obeyed ashram. And for us, there's a certain unity of those two. But says the Ramban in a world in which there's not a unity of those two, God doesn't destroy the world because people are on Mahalah Shabbos, 'cause Goyama Mahalah Shabbos, Goyama not allowed to be Shomer Shabbos, right? That's it. That's a halacha given by Akartosh Barghul. But with respect to how people behave to each other, says the Ramban, has said, if Akartosh Barghul looked at the world and said, they're not good people. They're not moral people. They're not the kind of people I created the world for. Therefore, Vihin inimashrita Mehtah Arts. Okay, I think that's unique in the Ramban, this kind of sensitivity to morality and the fact that he's gonna destroy that Akartosh Barghul destroys the world. Daafka because this doesn't have to be a halacha. How do I know I shouldn't steal? Yes, it's in a sarsah divas, but I should've known that well before, says the Ramban. Only an immoral person would act that way, and therefore, the world is gonna be destroyed. Okay, good. Let's continue. So in positive design on the first paragraph of Noah, the Torah continues. Vihin inimay Vihin inimay vihitamabul maimalah Arts, le sachate kol basah sha boh ruach hai yimitah khatah sha maim, kolah sha boh arts yikvah. Okay, now the question is, and this comes up in a number of places in Noah, but is this a rejection of the world? Is this a rejection of humanity? How do we understand this? So says the Ramban. Hein inimashkim imotansha amru, leaf nay, lefanai, mah anosh kittiz kireno. That's Rashi, right? Rashi says, you know what? When goddess sees like speaking Allah, he's saying, you know what? The people who objected to me creating a world with humanity, they were right. That's the medrash. Says the Rambani Tamayah. How could that be? Vihayah maskimi moham, vuhumashir laham sha'i rit, leflei togidola, bin knowach, ubanov, v'chul hai, leha boh arts aram ke'chol. How could it be that on the one hand says the Ramban, God is destroying the world, which in fairness, seems like a rejection of humanity, right? I made a mistake, kiviyachal, in creating the world. But the whole parasha is about how he's saving knowach and his family and how the world is going to regrow from knowach and his three sons. So how could it be that he's rejecting humanity? So says the Ramban. (speaking in foreign language) Maybe it's an agreement, you know, if God wasn't going to have mercy on them. Hard to know. I'm skipping to the end of the Ramban, well, sorry, it's all Kabbalah there. But the Ramban raises the issue for us, which is on the one hand, you read parasha's, noach, and you say, okay. You know, (speaking in foreign language) That's a difficult puzzle. What does it mean that God who sees the future and who knows the future regrets something in the past? You know, why do they create the world to begin with? They're different in Medrashim. But here the Ramban is saying, why is he saving knowach right now if he's given up hope on humanity? And so the Ramban, you know, in the Kabbalah part, which I didn't understand, frankly, but the assumption in the Ramban is that can't be the case. God is not giving up on humanity. God wouldn't give up on humanity. And the whole process of saving knowach is sort of like a new beginning, right? Which I think fits in nicely. We're not going to have time to do it. But when the postook after the marble, when knowach is saved, so God permits man to eat meat. So I don't make too much out of this, although I do enjoy eating meat. I mean, I'm not a vegetarian. But it's like hakarishpah who's saying, okay, you know, making a world in which everybody was a vegetarian doesn't make sense, right? Man, maybe man needs an outlet if he let people eat meat. It would have been better, it would have been different. The sense you get in the Ramban is that God is resetting the world, but he's not rejecting the world. God is saying, I need to create a new world with new rules or with certain new rules. And just from the family of noach, as in theory would have happened later on when hakarishpah who says, you know, let me destroy Beneti's trial, and Mosha, I'll make you a new nation. So thank God, Mosha, I've ain't been convinced that hakarishpah who not to do that. But the idea of let me make a new beginning isn't as troubling to us and should be as troubling to us as the idea of I made a mistake, you know, let me make a new world, right? Hakarishpah doesn't not choose to make a new world. He's simply choosing to start a new, you know, to choose a new progenitor and a new person to create a world in which people will be, I'd like to say more moral, if not, you know, more from, right? Getting ahead of ourselves, but, you know, when God chooses Avraham, is he rejecting everybody else, right? Does there have to be a chosen people? When God created the world, whether it's going to, was there going to be a Jewish people and Gentiles to begin with, right? And those are things we can talk about as the pouches unfold, but my sense is that maybe originally there wasn't going to be a chosen people and then Hakarishpah who realized it wasn't going to work. And there are things that Hakarishpah who realizes as he sees history unfold that do not conflict with the fact that Hakarishpah who knows the future and controls us. Okay. Let's go to Parikrhet, the first possek. Says Hakarishpah as they're leaving the table. (speaking in foreign language) So the Ramban is bothered by, what does it mean God remembered? Did he forget them till now? And there's a phrase that comes up a number of times in the Mitzreim story, when we were sent out to Mitzreim to be slaves, right? You also have (speaking in foreign language) all of a sudden God remembers. What does it mean? So says the Ramban (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) It's not just that (speaking in foreign language) but God had promised to save him. (speaking in foreign language) And when it says no, it's not just describing one person, it really means all of humanity. It means his family, the only living representatives of the human race. (speaking in foreign language) It didn't mention the other people (speaking in foreign language) Right, before the Ramban was playing around with where Noah's children satikim also where they saved only because of Noah. Here the Ramban seems to have settled on the idea that they were saved because of Noah. (speaking in foreign language) When it says that God remember the (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) There's no such thing as a lion who's satik. There's no such thing as an elephant who's a Russia. (speaking in foreign language) The only people who have (speaking in foreign language) The only people who can merit a reward in this world are human beings. (speaking in foreign language) No, no, he's talking about not just the deal with Noah. He's dealing with it. He's talking about the deal with the world, right? (speaking in foreign language) He had (speaking in foreign language) created the world through his own conversation, right? (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Had (speaking in foreign language) remembered why it was that he created the world. And I think the Ramban would tell you that God needs us. But that's a topic for another discussion in the Ramban. But I think that that's true. (speaking in foreign language) God had a reason for creating cats. Although in Israel, I don't know what that reason would have been. But in dogs, and lions, and tigers, and elephants, and he had a reason for everyone. (speaking in foreign language) And he realized now, if he doesn't take them out of the table, they're gonna run out of food. They can't live in a table. (speaking in foreign language) Right, if you mention that I'm saving the coyote, so it means you're also saving the birds and all other species of animals. But says the Ramban, once again, that God remembered, it sounds like it doesn't really mean remembering, as we say it in modern English, as opposed to, I wanna say we're calling, but as opposed to rethinking his position, God remembered why he created the world to begin with. God remembered why human beings need to exist. (speaking in foreign language) without human beings, (speaking in foreign language) There's a need for us. And when that happens, so both, the fact that God promised Nakh that he would save him, and the fact that God created a world in which there are human beings, requires a karishbakh who to once again, do the same thing and save human beings. Okay, I wanna do, with our remaining time, a Ramban that doesn't exist. Okay, it exists in Safa Vayikra, but not so much here, right? When Nakh is saved, what's the first thing he does when he leaves the table? (speaking in foreign language) Et cetera, et cetera. In Vayikra, when Karishbakh who introduces us to the world of carbonate, there's a famous Ramban, maybe we'll do it then also, in which he quotes the Ramban. And the Ramban says, there is no reason for carbonate, right? It used to be that people did it for Avodazara, and so we changed it, and now we do it for our karishbakhal. But if it wasn't for that, if it wasn't for the instinct that people had, and the influence that Avodazara had in the world, we wouldn't bring carbonate. And says the Ramban there, the Ramban goes crazy, literally, against the Ramban. And amongst the things he says is, who was in the world when Noah came out of the table? What pressure was there on Noah? What practice was he adopting that was worldwide to bring a carbon? He wasn't. A carbon is something good. A sacrifice to a karishbakh was something good. And when the Torah says (speaking in foreign language) right, it's impossible to read that in a way that doesn't recognize that bringing a karbanate karishbakhal is good, is inherently good. Now, we can discuss why that is, and maybe we'll do that in Vallekra. Now it's not the time for that. But the fact, the Ramban, it says the Ramban, the fact that when Noah left the tava, he brought a karban, speaks to the human instinct, speaks to the idea that karbanata are a good thing. That a karishbakh who Kilo wants carbonate, right? Rashi says that Noah had to take seven of the (speaking in foreign language) 'cause he understood that a karishbakh wanted to bring carbonate. But there's no evidence of the fact there was a command, and it doesn't seem like it was a command. It seems like Noah did it instinctively. And says the Ramban, if we can figure out why Noah instinctively brought a carbon, we can figure out the reason for carbonate and why carbonate plays such a big role in our (speaking in foreign language) or God willing, one day, will play such a big role. Okay, so we're out of time. Basically, we saw today a bunch of Ramban's on the nature of Noah. The Ramban is not willing to consider the possibility that Noah was not a tzadik tamim, as the pulse says. Then why does it say (speaking in foreign language) to say the fact he was the only one in his generation, not to compare him to any other generations, because the word tzadik is a legal conclusion, right? He was completely innocent, therefore he had to be saved. Okay, why was the marble brought because (speaking in foreign language) That's the Ramban's emphasis on morality, right? You should have known that theft was prohibited. Therefore, God had to destroy the world because it was an immoral world. However, God didn't give up on humanity. (speaking in foreign language) He's not rejecting humanity. He's just rejecting the people who lived then and is giving the world a new beginning through Noah. (speaking in foreign language) It's not that he remembered something in particular or that he forgot. Although you do think the sense I get in Noah, much like the beginning of Safer Schmoss is Hestherpannim, right? God brought the marble, but he doesn't have to look. He doesn't have to pay attention. Okay, but in the end, he recognizes that humanity is good, humanity is necessary. The world that he created was right. He was correct to create it, and therefore he's gonna save it by Noah. And finally, the proof for the Ramban that carbonote have inherent value is the fact that upon exiting the Teva, Noah brings a carbon. Okay, that's it for today. Great to be back and see you next week. Shabbat Shalom. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)