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May Hashem extend Yafes, but he will dwell in the tents of Shem. (9:27)

Horav Shabsai Yudelewitz, Shlita, tells a story which serves as an analogy demonstrating the message of this pasuk.  There was once a wealthy man whose daughter had reached marriageable age.  Alas, all the father’s money could do very little to compensate for her physical appearance which was, at best, homely.  The shadchanim had given up hope of finding a suitable husband for this hapless girl.  Suddenly, an idea dawned upon the father.  He would look for a talmid chacham, a yarei Shomayim, a G-d-fearing ben Torah, who was devoted to Torah study. This individual would see beyond the physical and…

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The dove came back to him…And behold an olive leaf it had plucked with its beak. (8:11)

The image of the dove returning with an olive branch in its bill has become the symbol of peace.  Chazal tell us that the dove does not eat the bitter olive leaf. He was sending a message using this  gesture.  “Better that my food be bitter, but from Hashem’s hand, than sweet as honey but dependent upon mortal man.”  Horav S.R. Hirsch, zl, understands this message to mean that freedom overrides bitterness.  The sweetest food eaten under duress, beholden to others, is no longer sweet, while the most bitter food eaten in freedom suddenly becomes sweet. In his commentary to…

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

The Torah emphasizes “his generations.”  This word stimulates various interpretations of Noach’s true level of virtue.  Was he virtuous only because he lived in a generation that was synonymous with evil? Or would he have been considered much more righteous had he lived in a  truly virtuous society?  Regardless of the outcome of this dispute, we have to wonder.  What is the basis for these two opinions?  What  aspect of  Noach’s virtue provokes question? Horav Eliyahu Schlesinger, Shlita, applies a thought from Horav Meier Shapiro, zl, to respond to this question.  The quest for peace is most compelling.  Every single…

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These are the generations of Noach, Noach was a righteous man. (6:9)

The Torah begins by stating that it will list  the “generations” of Noach. Instead, it proceeds  to relate that Noach was a righteous man.  Are we discussing  his offspring or his good deeds?  Rashi cites the Midrash that infers from this pasuk  that the primary generation, the principle legacy of a righteous person, is his good deeds.  This is what he bequeaths to the next generation.  Horav Moshe Feinstein, zl, remarks that offspring and good deeds should be analogous.  No good deed should be viewed as inconsequential.  The same love that one manifests toward his offspring should, likewise, be demonstrated…

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