Noach – Peninim on the Torah

ושם אשת נחור מלכה בת הרן אבי מלכה ואבי יסכה

And the name of Nachor’s wife was Milkah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milkah and the father of Yiskah. (11:28)

Rashi teaches that Yiskah was actually Sarah Imeinu, the Matriarch. She was called Yiskah, which is a name derived from the word, sachoh, meaning to gaze, to see. Sarah was able to gaze into the future, because she was endowed with Divine Inspiration. Also, everyone gazed at her extraordinary beauty. Rashi’s second explanation, which focuses on the physical beauty of Sarah Imeinu, seems out of place. The Matriarch was a spiritual person, her life’s purpose was to serve the Almighty in every possible way. Why should her extraordinary beauty play a role in identifying her by name? If Sarah would…

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וירד ד' לראות את העיר ...אשר בנו בני האדם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Noach, 5773

Hashem descended to look at the city…which the sons of Man built. (11:5)

Rashi questions the use of the words, bnei Adam, “sons of man.” Who else would they be? Were they the sons of donkeys? He explains that the Torah refers to their lineage ascending to Adam HaRishon, primordial man, who exhibited ingratitude when Hashem asked him why he had eaten the forbidden fruit. Adam replied, “The woman whom You gave to be with me – she gave me of the tree and I ate”(Bereishis 3:11). As he was a kafui tov, ingrate, likewise, his descendants rebelled against the One Who had spared them from the effects of the Flood. In other…

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ויאמר אלקים לנח קץ כל בשר בא לפני כי מלאה הארץ חמס מפניהם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Noach, 5773

G-d said to Noach, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with robbery through them.” (6:13)

Chazal focus on the word mipneihem, “through them,” written in lashon rabim, plural, implying that Hashem was weary with the actions of the gazlan, thief, and the nigzal, victim. This is enigmatic. While it is understandable that the actions of the thieves were at the point of disgust, what blame can be placed on the hapless victims? Is it my fault that someone decided to rob me? Apparently, the Torah has a dim view of the victim. Perhaps he is not as blameless as we would be led to believe. Horav Arye Leib Bakst, zl, explains that we are all…

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כי מלאה הארץ חמס

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Noach, 5773

For the earth is filled with robbery. (6:13)

Rashi quotes the Talmud Sanhedrin 108A, which teaches that the sentence meted out to the dor ha’Mabul, generation of the Flood, was sealed on account of chamas, robbery. The people committed many reprehensible sins. Promiscuity was a leading sin, but it was robbery that sealed their verdict. Clearly, thievery of any sort is repugnant behavior, but should it have been the one behavior that sealed their verdict? The Tiferes Shlomo offers a novel insight into the matter. He begins by questioning why Hashem took umbrage over the fact that the wicked people were stealing from other wicked people. Was it…

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נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Noach, 5773

Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. (6:9)

Was Noach a tzadik – or not? Rashi quotes a dispute in which yeish dorshin l’shevach, some interpret the phrase b’dorosav, in his generations, in a praiseworthy manner. Noach was righteous even in his corrupt generation. Certainly, had he lived in the generation of Avraham Avinu, he would have earned even greater accolades. Others, however, are critical of Noach, ascribing to him the title of tzadik only in comparison to the morally depraved generation in which he lived. Had Noach lived in a generation whose members were morally upright, he would not have been that noticeable. It all depends from…

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ושם אשת נחור מלכה בת הרן אבי מלכה ואבי יסכה

And the name of Nachor’s wife was Milkah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milkah and the father of Yiskah. (11:28)

וירד ד' לראות את העיר ...אשר בנו בני האדם

Hashem descended to look at the city…which the sons of Man built. (11:5)

ויאמר אלקים לנח קץ כל בשר בא לפני כי מלאה הארץ חמס מפניהם

G-d said to Noach, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with robbery through them.” (6:13)

כי מלאה הארץ חמס

For the earth is filled with robbery. (6:13)

נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. (6:9)

YEARS

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