Rabbi Dr Zvi Aviner
BLOODSHED AND NOAH-4/
Enosh and Noah
Last time we learned about the drama at the Ark’s door
that took place soon after the Flood. Although the water had subsided,
Noah and his family refused to abide by ELKM’s order to exit the Ark
and start procreation again.
A change in Noah
Noah, the righteous man who had walked with ELKM,
who had never disobeyed ELKM’s Commands,
decides to stay with his family in the Ark,
despite the explicit order of ELKM!
We see here, therefore, a mature Noah, one who exercises his Free Will.
He would not obey ELKM’s order unless his worries are answered.
This is important, since G-d would not enter a treaty, a covenant,
with anyone lacking Free Will.
Why didn’t he exit? As we’ve learned, he feared that
the past would haunt them again, culminating with a new Flood.
If so, why would he bring more children to this world?
What was on his mind?
The Torah does not elaborate on his fears,
but we can reconstruct them from the way he behaved afterword,
and also, from G-d’s response to his silent plea.
Thus, when he finally exited the Ark, he took his family and
traveled on foot from Mt. Ararat to Mt. Moriah,
a symbolic connection between Noahide and Jerusalem.
Silently and sadly, they passed through empty towns and villages
till they came to Mount Moriah. There, Noah showed his sons
the remnants of the stone altar that Cain and Abel had built
ten generations previously. Noah took those stones and built there
his own altar, shaped as a square filled by dirt.
That shape is important, since it would become the prototype
of all kosher Altars that Moses, King Solomon and Ezra
would later build for the Holy Temple.
And he told his sons –
Here is where BLOODSHEHD started,
and here is where it would end.
And he also told them to build there a city of peace, Jeru-Salem,
from where peace would spread to the world.
This story shows clearly what was on his mind.
Seeing himself as a new Adam, and his wife Naama as a new Eve,
he worried that one of his sons would turn a new Cain,
and kill his brother in a rage of jealousy – for the favor of the Merciful YHVH.
Wasn’t this a paradox, he must have wondered,
to murder a brother out of jealousy for the Love of
Mercy, Compassionate and Forgiveness?
In fact, we, in the 21th century, may also wonder how could
Catholics and Protestant kill each other with so much rage, rape and destruction,
during the European Holy Wars (for the sake of Mercy?
Or how could the Muslims in the 7th century commit the first Holocaust,
in the City of Medina, for the sake of the Merciful Allah?
Or how could ISIS terrorists behead their victims in front of a camera
in the name of a Merciful Allah?
Or how could the Spanish Inquisition burn people alive,
to save their souls from hell in Mercy?
Hence, Noah concluded, there must be underlying passions
That in fact had caused Cain to do the greatest paradox of all –
Murder his brother for the Love of the Merciful YHVH.
The Rabbis said that during the Flood, Noah had ample time to ponder
about the causes of the terrible BLOODSHED and THEFT that inflicted
his generation, bringing upon them the Flood.
Now, standing by his new Altar on Mt. Moriah, the site of the first murder,
Noah thought about the possible causes that underlined that action.
So he thought about Cain, Abel, Adam and Eve and their fascinations.
Obviously, pride and a sense of private ownership played a role in the murder
You see those fascinations in Eve’s words after giving birth to Cain.
Eve said, holding her first baby son in her bosom:
I will call him Cain, for I’ve purchased a Man with YHVH
In her words she expressed two fascinations:
One fascination was with recognizing YHVH.
Out of her misery and hard labor, facing the Angle of Death,
she came out holding her newborn son in her bosom,
her blood flushed with hormones and vitality,
filling her heart with joy, hope, love, compassion and mercy.
She was the first human who felt what YHVH feel for us- Her children.
That is why YHVH’s name appears here the first time alone, by Herself,
without ELKM by Her side.
Her second fascination was with the sense of OWNERSHIP
that she acquired here on Earth the first time.
The boy she held was HERS. I’ve acquired a Man, she said.
.
But in her beautiful words, Eve also seeded the opposite:
Along with sensing YHVH, came also the passion and fascination of doing evil,
Which YHVGH hates. After all, eating from the Forbidden Fruit
Had caused her to sense YHVH, but also to sense “good and evil”
As the name of the Tree implies.
Moreover, eating the Forbidden Fruit opened their eyes
And she found it good for the eye and sweet to the taste.
Henceforth Evil in YHVH’s eyes would be done with passion.
Meaning: murder would be done with passion.
The other fascination – with ownership – came along
With a sense of exclusion –
For if something is mine, it is not yours.
If this mother is mine, says the child, she is not yours.
And if G-d is mine, said Cain to Abel, She is not yours.
And if you’ve stolen my G-d into favoring you instead of me,
I would kill you in rage.
How amazing it is that our mother Eve seeded two passions in us –
The passion for YHVH, associated with the opposite – passion for BLOODSHED,
And a passion of ownership – along with the opposite – to STEAL.
Hence the source of Noah’s generation’s faults: BLOODHSHED (III) and THEFT (IV).
Why did he offer animals instead of fruits?
For he wished to show his sons that he identified with Abel,
the victim of BLOODSHED.
He also knew, that YHVH had preferred Abel over Cain.
He then selected for the burnt offering, animals from those species
that G-d had told him to bring into the Ark In samples of seven.
.
Those species would become the only kosher animals that Israel
might consume.
Why Burnt-offering, instead of Cain and Abel’s Gift Offering?
For, as we’ve said, Cain and Abel were fascinated with ownership,
and a gift is a transfer of ownership.
But Noah wished to unload his thoughts and tribulations silently,
as is usually done with Burnt Offering.
As a rule, the owner of a Burnt Offering hopes his heart’s tribulations and thought
would ascend up to G- d along with the smoke of the Altar.
So as the family was watching -his wife Naama disapproving-
Noah raised his knife and hit the offerings one by one.
In his heart, he thought: “G-d, you know my worries,
Let me know what can be done to stop my Children from repeating
the errors of my generation, so that another Flood would not come!
His knife went up and down on the offering, but to his dismay
the smoke coming from the Altar did not ascend to the sky.
Instead, a strong wind blew from the Sea heavy clouds
that kept the smoke hovering over the Mountain.
The air filled with a stench of burning flesh that choked everyone
.
Feeling rejected, deflated, Noah became more worried than before.
Could anything be done to secure his children future?
If not, he was adamant not to procreate!
We should note the change in Noah.
Again, gone is the righteous fellow who walked blindly with total submission to ELKM,
Here stood a new, mature Noah who dared to exercise his Free Will.
He would not procreate, unless he has received an answer to the worries
That filled his heart.
THIS IS IMPORTANT, SINCE ONE ENTERS A TREATY ONLY WITH MATURE PERSON
WHO HAVE A FREE WILL
We can reconstruct the rush of thoughts and worries in his heart,
from the words of the Heavenly Court that finally revealed itself at the Altar.
But for now, still wrapped by the smoke, Noah recalled the history of his generations,
trying to identify the causes of the terrible downfall of his generation.
Three peaceful and pious generations
He recalled that the spiritual decay of Mankind had begun
three generations after Adam and Eve, when humanity split into two main camps
each claiming superiority, each claiming to have the full truth on its side,
each hating the other to the death.
Like you see in Biology, that the mere separation of two ant colonies
Caused them to fight each other to the death.
Enosh
The first camp was Enosh’s camp,
named after Enosh, Adam and Eve illustrious grandson.
On Enosh it is said that:
“It was then that they began calling in the Name of YHVH.” )Genesis 4:26)
A common interpretation is that “They called – prayed to YHVH.”
But in fact, the verse says did call “IN THE NAME OF YHVH.”
A good interpretation is that Enosh saw YHVH everywhere
in stones, in trees, in the mountains, in the animals,
in the Sun and the Moon and all celestial bodies.
Another interpretation with is basically the same –
that Enosh believed that the Merciful YHVH was about
to come out from the “deep” into our world and rule it in the open.
In other word: the Kingdom of Mercy was about to enter our world!
Or: The Eternal Sabbath was about to enter our world – or vis versa.
Hence, according to Enosh, ELKM was overlooked, his Laws were almost abrogated,
Since by definition ELKM abstains from work during the Sabbath.
You can see here the affect of Eve’s words: I have purchased Man with YHVH.
She too saw YHVH ALONE, without ELKM by her side!
Enosh is described as a miracle of nature never to be repeated.
At the age of 900, his body and mind were sharp and vital as of a man 30 y old.
He was a giant, slim, beautiful, passionate, who had countless wives and concubines
and his seeds filled the four corners of the Earth.
In fact, humanity is still named in Hebrew after him – as Enoshim, Children of Enosh.
He is also described as a great orator, perhaps the greatest the Mankind had ever had.
When he spoke about the forthcoming of Mercy to rule the world,
His vast audience entered a stage of ecstasy, chanting hymns and clapping their hands,
CALLING LOUDLY IN THE NAME OF YHVH.
The verse also hints that Enosh profaned the name of YHVH by calling Her Name.
This is due to the fact that huchal, began, can be read as profaned.
One good interpretation is that he profaned Her Name by calling ONLY HER, overlooking ELKM, inferring that ELKM and his laws were not important anymore.
Hence, his teaching tantamounted to IDOLATRY,
For “splitting the glued Attributes,” as we’ve learned, is a highest form of IDOLATRY.
The RMBM describes Enosh as the “father of IDOLATRY.”
This is explained by the fact, that although his teaching
about the presence of YHVH everywhere was right,
yet his deciple took this to mean that the YHVH is the Tree, the Sun, or the Moon.
Or they prayed to items of nature as “the King’s Councilors,”
then gradually praying to the councilors themselves.
That is why tradition talks about Enosh’s Errors.
Noah
Noah was born seven generations down on Enosh’s line.
All the members of that line were extremely pious, among them
Hanoch, who never died since he was taken by ELKM,
and Metushaelach, who lived longer than anyone else.
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Noah, according to tradition, was born circumcised,
To the people of his town that was a funny, weird congenital blemish,
ye , for his loving parents, this was a sign of potential greatness,
since Adam too had been born circumcised.
Therefore, they called him MeNaHem, the One Who Would Bring Comfort to Mankind.
Indeed, when Noah grew up, he converted metal swords to metal ploughs,
Thus, inspiring the prophet oof Israel.
While Noah was still young, his mother passed away.
His father, Lemech married another woman, and placed the child Noah
n his own father’s home, namely in Metushelach’s home, yet this did not work well
since Metushelach was too old and aloof to raise a child.
Tradition says that Enosh then stepped in and asked Lemech, to let him raise the child
as his own son. As it turned out, that was a good match. Despite the enormous difference in age, Enosh and Noah developed a close relationship.
Enosh raised Noah and trained him to become his heir,as a leader of Mankind,
spreading the news about the forthcoming reign of Mercy into our world.
Since Enosh passed away at the age of 904, while Noah was 89 y old, we can imagine how Enosh trained Noah while Noah was still a teenager. Noah followed Enosh to his preaching
And watched closely the audience craze; yet he gradually detached himself from that teaching.
It seems that the reason for that was that Noah saw what Enosh did not see.
He saw how the same crowd that hailed YHVH in craze, went out after the sermons
to commit heinous crimes, not fearing ELKM retributions anymore.
“Since MERCY is coming,” they told each other, “why should we fear ELKM?”
“After all, wouldn’t She pardon us with Compassion and Love? “
Thus, from his position as a youngster, Noah could witness how the masses
generated from IDOLATRY into ADULTERY, then to BLOODSHED and THEFT,
so that their evilness filled the Earth.
Noah was married to Naama, who came from the opposite camp of Mankind,
who followed the ways of ELKM, overlooking the Merciful YHVH,
hence their nickname the Children of ELKM.
Since Naama is the mother of humanity, we should dedicate a class to her family.
In fact, the Torah devotes a relatively large portion of the text to her origin.
So who was our extremely beautiful lady, Naama?
After Adam and Eve.