Massive destruction! The entire world flooded, and all living things save one family and a representative pair of each living thing perished. Such was the decree Hashem carried out against the world He created, for all the earth had deteriorated and become corrupted, and the world was filled with thievery.
Why was thievery a sin so onerous that the world could not survive? Surely there are sins more serious. Yet, if we reread the second half of the previous Parsha, Bereishis, we may detect a disturbing pattern in man’s conduct. It begins with something apparently innocuous but leads down a slippery slope ending in such egregious behavior that Hashem decides He must wipe out all living things and start the world anew. What is most disturbing, Rabbi Reiss points out, is that these same patterns exist today and must give us pause.
Rabbi Frand, in discussing Parshat Noach, notes the progression of immorality from those transgressions against God performed behind closed doors to those transgressions against man who now finds himself living behind locked doors, for when society becomes decadent, all morality falls apart.
Rabbi Reiss, in Merosh Tzurim analyzes this progression. There are those who approach life in a super egotistical manner. Everything they do is geared to increasing their personal pleasure, and they see life through this very small lens with themselves at the center. Others are super altruistic, seeing themselves as part of the greater world, and weighing their actions according to how it will impact the people and the world around them. When one is then faced with the philosophical question of, “Why am I here,” the super egotist has no appropriate answer; he is here only to service and bring pleasure to himself. He cannot accept a system of justice and Godliness. As such, he has closed the door to the possibility of doing teshuvah and repairing his actions.
Such was the case with the generation of the flood. They were so involved in self gratification that nothing else mattered. To clarify the beginning of this mindset, the Torah records Lemech’s taking two wives. Rav Schwadron analyzes the motivation behind Lemech action. Lemech took the first wife, Adah, supposedly to fulfill the obligation of be fruitful and multiply. But he could not satisfy his lust with just one wife. He began by rationalizing his desire for a second wife by declaring that his first wife was acquired for a holy purpose and therefore should not be defiled and used simply as a means to satisfy his desire as well. She should remain “hekdesh”, dedicated for religious use only. To fulfill this holy purpose, he rationalized, he was required to take a second wife, Tzilah. She would drink a birth control potion that would render her barren so that she could always remain the trophy wife at Lemech’s side. This was the lifestyle of self indulgence that Lemech started and that his generation lived by, as cited by the Medrash.
Lemech’s sons continued what he had started. The elder became a shepherd who moved from one tent to another as he grazed his sheep. But the word “tent” is often used to denote a place of worship, in this case, idol worship. If there is no God above but merely man’s own creations, one is in reality worshipping some aspect of himself and need not answer to a higher Authority. The second son became a musician, but his music was dedicated to the worship of these gods. The rhythms and melodies aroused the baser passions and emotions of mankind, luring them into further sin.
No one complained about this behavior. These were sins only against God. There were no victims, only consenting adults. Only when this passion for self gratification began impacting others, when it led to robbery, were there victims who cried out for justice. As Rav Reiss points out, then Hashem could take action and render judgment, for Hashem takes note of the cries of the oppressed and champions their cause. But the whole generation had already become so immersed in their own egos that they could not see the greater social picture and would not be able to do teshuvah. Their super egotism had already sealed their own fate.
Rabbi Roberts in Through the Prism of Torah expands on the concept of robbery by explaining that Hashem created the world and gave it to us to use and enjoy. He gave us each our unique talents and personalities. However, we must remember that Hashem is the Owner, the Host, and we are guests in His house, the world we live in. We must treat His house and His possessions with respect. We must ask permission before we use them and thank Him when we are done. Most of all, we must use everything, whether in the world at large or within our own persona, in ways that would meet His approval, for everything is actually His.
The generation of the flood, continues Rabbi Roberts, misappropriated all the gifts Hashem had given them. Not only did they steal from each other, but they stole even more from Hashem. Hashem had bestowed upon them a world that was so bountiful that men could easily live in harmony with each other and expend only minimal effort to maintain their physical existence. Instead of living a life of harmony with each other and in harmony with the will of Hakodosh Boruch Hu, they misused these gifts to advance their personal agendas and pleasures, thereby stealing not only from each other but from Hakodosh Boruch Hu Himself
Rabbi Frand explains that when society focuses its attention on pleasure, on self indulgence and living only for today, the pursuit of pleasure becomes addictive. It is never ending and never enough until all morality is lost in its pursuit.
Where does this slippery slope begin? It begins with wandering eyes, with permitting ourselves to see that which is inappropriate and forbidden. What the eyes see, the heart may soon want, and action may follow soon after. The Netivot Shalom uses this premise as the reason Hashem included another passage at the end of Bereishis: “And the sons of the rulers saw that the daughters of man were good and they took themselves wives from whomever they chose.” Their eyes led them to desire women both inappropriate and prohibited, but they took them anyway, thus continuing the downward spiral toward spiritual, moral, and ultimately physical destruction.
The first boundary to protect us from sin, declares Rav Zilberg, is guarding one’s eyes from negative sights that can trigger improper emotions that may lead to sin. Noach “found favor in the eyes of Hashem”, because he kept his eyes focused on the “eye” of Hashem. He was therefore able to avoid the debauchery and the thievery of his generation. His life was not based on totally increasing his personal pleasure but on doing what was appropriate in the eyes of Hashem.
By guarding our eyes, we invoke Hashem’s help in protecting us from sin. May we be successful in keeping our eyes focused on (Transcribed by Chani Koplowitz)