"Nor Shall I Again Destroy Again All Living Things"
Student Summaries of Sichot of the Roshei Yeshiva
Yeshivat
Har Etzion
Parashat
NOACH
SICHA
OF HARAV YEHUDA AMITAL SHLIT"A
"Nor
Shall I Again Destroy All Living Things"
Adapted by
Shaul Barth
Translated by
Kaeren Fish
In our parasha, following the Flood, God says: "I shall no more curse the
earth because of man, for the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth;
nor shall I again destroy all living things, as I have done" (Bereishit 8:21).
Why does God reveal this reason only after the Flood? The inclination of man's
heart was evil even before the Flood; why, then, was there a Flood in the first
place?
Before addressing this question, let us first look at another problem in
our parasha: why was man permitted to eat meat only after the Flood? We will be
able to answer this question if we first understand what change the Flood
brought about in man. After Noach and his family spent the duration of the Flood
inside the Ark, together with the animals, sharing a common fate, Noach was
under the impression that now following humanity's sin and punishment he
shared the same status as the animals. Therefore, after emerging from the Ark,
he was in perpetual fear, for he was starkly aware of his minority status: there
were hundreds of pairs of animals, but only a small number of people in the
world. He lived in fear that any beast could devour him.
Since Noach believed, after the Flood, that he had lost his superior
status in relation to the animals, God had to renew this superiority by means of
a promise that "the fear and terror of you shall be upon all the creatures of
the earth, and upon all the birds of the sky." In addition, man was now
permitted to eat meat. This served to restore the situation in which man knew
that he ruled nature, that he was the center of Creation. Only after man
regained this perception could he know and understand that since he is the
center of Creation, his actions have the power to uplift all of nature (if he
does good) or to destroy it (if he sins).
God restored man to his central role in the world, which brought
responsibility along with privilege.
Yet God knew that the inclination of man's heart can be evil, and this
could lead to man's destruction instead of to man's development to reach his
fullest potential. So as to allow
this development, God promised not to destroy humanity again. However, according to the Ramban, God
kept this promise to Himself (at least until Moshe wrote it in the Torah). Only thus would man take his behavior
seriously, since he thought that evil conduct could again bring about the
destruction of the world. At the
same time, God would allow the world time to develop, despite man's misdeeds, so
that man would ultimately rise to the challenge of repairing the world and
perfecting himself.
[This sicha was
delivered on leil Shabbat parashat Noach 5762 (2001).]