Noach(Genesis 6:9-11:32)

Noach 5769

Man was banished from the Garden of Eden after Adam's sin and was made to live in this world with all its temptations. The ten generations between Adam and Noah saw a decline in spirituality and in interpersonal behavior, until mankind reached a nadir in morality. The result was God's decree to bring the flood and destroy all living beings except for Noah, his family and the animals in the ark. The Torah tells us the reason for this holocaustal decree.

Genesis 6:12-14

"And God saw the earth and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth. And God said to Noah: The end of all flesh has come before Me, the earth is filled with thievery because of them, and behold I will destroy them with the earth."

RASHI

The end of all flesh - RASHI: Wherever you find lewdness and idolatry, total upheaval comes to the world, killing the good and the bad alike.

The earth is filled with thievery - RASHI: Their fate was sealed only because of robbery.

WHAT IS RASHI SAYING?

The first Rashi tells us that lewdness and idolatry were the sins for which mankind was destroyed.

The second Rashi tells us that although man and animal had crossed all red lines with their perverse sexual norms, nevertheless their fate was not sealed. The decision to destroy all living beings was not settled in God's mind until He realized the extent of their thievery.

QUESTIONING RASHI

The question should be apparent. Rashi seems to contradict himself. First he says that sexual promiscuity and idolatry were the sins for which they were punished! Then he says that thievery was the fatal sin for which their fate was sealed. Which is it?

Can you explain away the contradiction? Certainly this is not easy.

Your Answer:

UNDERSTANDING RASHI

An Answer: To understand Rashi's reasoning we must be aware of a Midrash which says that when God punishes man, He does not start off by punishing the person himself. First He strikes at his material belongings, then if there is no repentance He punishes the person himself.

But this principle can only make sense when the person's material possessions were lawfully earned. If he had stolen other's property, then God's punishing his property would not deprive the person of anything that was really his. He would only be losing what he had stolen.

In such a case God would have no choice but to begin by punishing the person himself, since the first line of defense, his possessions, could not be meaningfully attacked.

This, then, is what Rashi means. The major sins were lewdness and idolatry and for them man was to be punished. But God would have begun punishing him by destroying his property first and only later destroying him – if he didn't repent.

However, since mankind had also sinned by stealing other people's property, his fate was sealed by the sin of thievery – meaning that now he would be immediately punished personally because of his sins of lewdness and idolatry. The usual first stage of punishment – attacking his possessions – wasn't an available option for God, since man's possessions were stolen from others and not rightfully his.

So Rashi says correctly "his fate was only sealed due to the sin of robbery." Meaning his fate of being immediately doomed to destruction was sealed.