Friday, October 19, 2012

Mikra - Parashat Noach (Part 2)

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom and torah.org?

So that through them The האור Light, The רפואה Healing and The אהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

	Mikra
	by Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom
	Print Version

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Parashat Noach

II

SCIENCE VS. TORAH

CONFLICT OR ILLUSION?

Before addressing the specific question of the "two stories" of the flood, a larger question (to which we alluded last week) should be addressed.

Much has been made of the apparent conflict between Science and Torah. In clearer terms, since the world has embraced the methods of scientific reasoning and has been willing to challenge a fundamentalist reading of the Bible, these two versions of reality have been constantly thrown against each other. Is the world 6,000 years old - or several billion? Were there six days of creation - or many trillions? Did Man evolve from "lower species" or was he formed ex nihilo as the crown of creation?

[Before asking these questions, we could challenge the Torah's report from its own information - was Man created before or after the animals? etc. - as presented in last week's shiur]

Responses to this apparent problem have fallen into three groups:

GROUP A: THE REJECTIONISTS

There are those who maintain that the Bible must be understood as being a literal account of creation, the flood etc. Besides the internal contradictions, this clearly pits the Biblical account against science. This leaves adherents to this perspective with two options - either accept the Biblical account in toto - and reject the findings of the scientific world - or else reject the Biblical account in toto. Each of these "rejectionist" approaches is rarely confined to the issues in question - someone who believes that the Bible is trying to promote a specific version of creation - one which he rejects on account of science - will not be likely to accept the Biblical mandate in other areas of wisdom, ethics or personal obligations. Similarly, someone who rejects the scientific approach to creation, evolution etc. out of hand is not likely to "buy into" the scientific method in other areas.

The result of this first approach is the rejection of one or another of the disciplines as the bearer of truth.

Although some of our fellow traditionalists have opted for such an approach (to the extreme of maintaining that God placed fossils on the earth in order to test our belief in the age of the world!), most contemporary Orthodox thinkers are too committed to the scientific method as a valuable expression of "Creative Man" (see the introduction to last week's shiur) to reject it so totally.

GROUP B: THE INTEGRATIONISTS

Of late, there has been a good deal of study and literature devoted to an attempted harmonization between the disciplines of Torah and science. Usually building on Ramban's commentary on B'resheet, works such as "Genesis and the Big Bang" try to demonstrate that the latest findings of the scientific world are not only corroborated - they are even anticipated - by the Torah.

(A marvelous example of this is Ramban's comment on the phrase "Let us make Man in Our Image", troubling enough on theological grounds. Ramban explains that God is talking to the earth, creating a partnership whereby the earth would develop the body of Man and God would, upon completion of that process, fill that body with a Divine spirit. The notion of the earth "developing" the body is curiously close to the process outlined by Darwin - in the widest of strokes.)

The advantages of this approach over the first one are obvious - there is no need to reject either area of study and a person can live an intellectually honest life as a member of "modern society" without sacrificing religious creed.

The "downside" is not so clear. Besides some "forced" readings (in both disciplines - bending science to work with Torah is sometimes as tricky as "bending Torah" to achieve compatibility with science), this method actually "canonizes" the products of the scientific method; since the claim is that these theories are already found in the Torah, that makes them somewhat immutable. What happens when (not if, but when) a particular theory which we have "identified" in the Torah - becomes outdated in the world of science? Will we still hold on to it, claiming religious allegiance?

Although the integrationist school has won many adherents in the recent decades, I believe that the danger outlined above - along with resting on a very questionable foundation - makes this approach a shaky one at best.

GROUP C: THE TELEOLOGISTS

Before asking any of these questions - about contradictions within the text or conflicts between our text and the world of scientific hypotheses - we have to begin with a most basic question - what is the purpose of the Torah? Why did God give us His golden treasure, which existed for 974 generations before the creation of the world (BT Shabbat 88b)?

This question is not mine - it is the focus of the first comments of both Rashi and Ramban on the Torah. The assumption which drives each of their comments is that God's purpose in giving us His Torah is to teach us how to live (note especially Ramban's critique on Rashi's first question). Besides specific actions to perform or avoid (i.e. Mitzvot), this includes proper ethics, attitudes and perspectives - towards each other, our nation, the earth and, of course, towards the Almighty.

Shadal (R. Sh'mu'el David Luzzato, 19th c. Italy) put it as follows:

"Intelligent people understand that the goal of the Torah is not to inform us about natural sciences; rather it was given in order to create a straight path for people in the way of righteousness and law, to sustain in their minds the belief in the Unity of God and His Providence..."

Therefore, our approach to issues of "science vs. Torah" is that it is basically a non-issue. Science is concerned with discovering the "how" of the world; Torah is concerned with teaching us the "why" of God's world. In clearer terms, whereas the world of science is a discipline of discovery, answering the question "how did this come to be?"; the world of Torah is concerned with answering a different question - "granted this exists, how should I interact with it?" (whether the "it" in question is another person, the world at large, my nation etc.).

Based on this principle, not only do we not regard the concerns of science as similar to that of the Torah, we can also approach apparent contradictions in the Torah with renewed vigor and from a fresh perspective.

Since the goal of the Torah is to teach us how we should live and proper beliefs about God and His relationship with the world (and the relationship we should endeavor to have with him), then it stands to reason that "multiple versions" of narratives are not "conflicting products of different schools" (as the Bible critics maintain); rather they are multi-faceted lessons about how we should live - different perspectives (and different lessons) of one event.

III

THE "TWO ADAMS"

We will need one more brief interlude before responding to our question about the flood narrative.

The goal in creating Man (Adam) was twofold. As we read in the "combination" of creation narrative(s), Man was to be a commanded being - facing God, having a relationship with Him, a relationship which includes both commandedness and guilt, loneliness and reunification (Adam II in Rav Soloveitchik's scheme). At the same time, he was to be a majestic being, bearing the Image of God and acting as His agent in the world (Adam I).

Neither of these goals were met. Not only did Adam fail to observe the one command with which he was commanded - and failed to own up to his responsibility in that regard - but his progeny violated the most basic principle of God's agency - the maintenance and furthering of the natural and social order - when he murdered his own brother.

These double "failings" continued for generations until God decided to "wipe man from the earth" - but not before identifying the seeds of a new hope. Noah was to be the next Adam, with the possibilities for both types of human ideal (majesty and humility) potential in him.

We can now return to our questions.

IV

BACK TO NOAH

Why did God decide to destroy the earth?

From the perspective of man's duty to maintain and promote the order-out-of-chaos of Creation - "The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness...for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth". Man had failed to promote order, violating both sexual and social (financial) boundaries.

But also - "Hashem saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time". Man had also failed to develop spiritually, to grow in his relationship with the Almighty.

This easily explains why Noah was chosen:

On the one hand, he was the one person in that generation who "walked WITH God" - promoting the righteousness and perfection of Creation. On the other hand - he "found favor in God's eyes" and was "righteous BEFORE Me" - he was able to stand in front of God as a righteous servant.

We now understand the dual purpose of taking the animals on to the ark. As "majestic Man", God's agent in the world, Noah took two of each kind - one male and one female - in order to insure continuation of each species. As "worshipping Man", standing before God and focussed on a dialogic relationship with Him, he took "clean animals" for purposes of worship.

We also understand the covenant and commitment presented in the aftermath of the flood. Noah, who stands before God in worship, is pleasing to God and God responds by committing to never again disrupt the seasons. God "realizes" that Man is incapable of the sort of perfection previously expected - and He "fine-tunes" the rules by which the world is governed.

But Noah is also the (potential) embodiment of "Majestic Man", who acts not only his own behalf as a worshipper, but also on behalf of all existence as their "king". With this king, God enters into an explicit agreement (King to king, as it were), complete with a publicly displayed sign of that covenant. That covenant, however, comes with a codicil - Man must live by the basic rules of God's order, filling and dominating the land but taking care never to shed the blood of a fellow. Ultimately, God says, I will act to correct the order if you do not - the world is Man's to perfect, but God will intervene to act if Man fails in this task.

The Torah tells us two stories - because there are two different relationships and duties being re-evaluated here.

In Man's role as God's agent, where God presents himself as "Elohim", the God of all Creation, it is his lawlessness and reckless abandon of the order of Creation which must be corrected. In order to do so, Creation is "reversed" (the "upper waters" and "lower waters" are no longer divided) and must be reestablished, by taking the one man who promoted that order, having him take enough of each species to repopulate the earth and forging an agreement with him by which such destruction would never again take place. Man, for him part, is responsible for the promotion of God's order on earth.

In Man's role as God's servant, where God presents himself as "Hashem", highlighting Divine compassion, it is his failure to develop himself spiritually which must be corrected. To that end, the one man who is "righteous BEFORE Me" is saved - along with enough animals that will afford him the opportunity to re-forge the relationship of worship.

The Divine hope that Noah would prove to be a successful "second Adam", embodying both roles, was only realized ten generations later, with the entrance of Avram/Avraham onto the scene. We look forward to meeting this giant among men next week.

Mikra, Copyright &copy 2012 by Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom and Torah.org. The author is Educational Coordinator of the Jewish Studies Institute of the Yeshiva of Los Angeles.

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Please Say Yes to Abba Yahweh and His Laws.

It is written in the Koran:
‘1. Surah Al-Fatihah:

1. In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
2. All the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).
3. The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
4. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)
5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).
6. Guide us to the Straight Way
7. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).

This is the 'start' in the Koran......

For more, what the Koran is teaching about: ‘Muslims Hate Jews, Christians all other faiths’ ‘Their Guide Book says to kill, behead and burn all non-believers’ click:
Index of The Quran (Satanic Verses of violence to us)

For more information about the development of these ‘Chaldean’ in our days go to our News-Blog: http://thewatchmenfromisraelnews.blogspot.co.il/

Please read the Mitzvoth go to: Positive Commandments and the Negative Commandments), easy to read. It is very important to know them. I don’t ask you this to become a good Jew! But to learn who you really are. That you can find your real identity. In a good understanding of the rest of The Scriptures. And that you understand that Rabbi Shaul is talking to a real Israel,

1Co 10:1 I do not want you to be without da'as (knowledge), Achim (brothers) b(in) 'Moshiach, that Avoteinu (our fore Fathers, you Yehudah and Ephraim! Nobody else.) all were under the anan (cloud),

(‘Achim (brothers) b(in)Moshiach are Yehudah and Ephraim who were all under the anan (cloud). The seed (literal) of Abraham, Yitzhak and Ya’acob) read it for yourself :)

Exo 13:21 And Yahweh went before them (Yehudah and Ephraim -Israel) by day in an ammud anan (‘Pillar of a cloud), to guide them haderech (the Way); and by lailah (night) in an ammud eish (‘Pillar of fire), to give them ohr (light); so they could travel yomam valailah (day or night);

Exo 13:22 He took not away the amud heanan (‘Pillar of a cloud) by day, nor the ammud haeish (‘Pillar of fire) by night, from before HaAm (the people, Yehudah and Ephraim) and passed through the sea.
Exo 14:22 And the Bnei Yisroel (Yehudah and Ephraim) then went into the middle of the yam (sea) upon the yabashah (dry land); and the mayim (waters) were a chomah (wall) unto them on their right, and on their left.

Exo 14:23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the yam (sea), even kol sus (all horses) Pharaoh, his chariots, and his parash (rider).

Exo 14:24 So it came to pass, that when came the watch of the boker (morning), Yahweh looked down on the machaneh Mitzrayim (camp of Egypt) through the ammud eish (pillar of fire) and of the anan (cloud), and caused confusion over the machaneh Mitzrayim (camp of Egypt),

Exo 14:25 And turned awry their chariot wheels, that they drove them with difficulty; so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the presence of Yisroel (really when Yehudah and Ephraim where together, not like today); because Yahweh fighting for them against the Egyptians,
So let we further listen what Rabbi Shaul has really to say:)

1Co 10:2 And all into Moshe Rabbenu were given tevilah (a ‘mikwah’ immersed) in the anan (cloud) and in the sea,

1Co 10:3 And all of the same spiritual okhel (food) ate [SHEMOT 16:4,35; DEVARIM 8:3; TEHILLIM 78:24-29],

1Co 10:4 And all of the same spiritual drink drank, for they were drinking from a spiritual TZUR (Rock) following them [SHEMOT 17:6; BAMIDBAR 20:11; TEHILLIM 78:15; 105:41], and that TZUR was Moshiach (Yeshuah – Yeshuah Yahweh).

And now one of our neviim:

Hab 1:1 The message which the prophet Ḥaḇaqquq saw.

Hab 1:2 O יהוה, till when shall I cry, and You not hear? I cry to You, “Violence!” and You do not save.

Hab 1:3 Why do You show me wickedness, and cause me to see perversity? For ruin and violence are before me. And there is strife, and contention arises.

Hab 1:4 Therefore the Torah ceases, and right-ruling never goes forth. For the wrong hem in the righteous, so that right-ruling comes out twisted.

Hab 1:5 “Look among the nations and see, and be amazed, be amazed! For a work is being wrought in your days which you would not believe if it were told.

Hab 1:6 “See, I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, who is going through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.

Hab 1:7 “They are frightening and fearsome, their right-ruling and their exaltation proceed from themselves.

Hab 1:8 “Their horses shall be swifter than leopards, and more fierce than evening wolves. And their horsemen shall charge ahead, and their horsemen come from afar. They fly as the eagle, rushing to eat.

Hab 1:9 “All of them come for violence, the direction of their faces is like the east wind, and they gather captives like sand.

Hab 1:10 “And they scoff at sovereigns, and princes are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every stronghold, for they pile up earth and seize it.

Hab 1:11 “Then shall he pass on as a wind, and transgress and be guilty, and ascribe this power to his mighty one.”

Hab 1:12 Are You not from everlasting, O יהוה my Elohim, my Set-apart One? You do not die! O יהוה, You have appointed them for right-ruling, O Rock, You have established them for reproof.

Hab 2:3 For the chazon (vision) is yet for a mo’ed (an appointed time); it speaks of HaKetz (the End), and does not lie; though it tarry, wait for him

Moshiach— see: Sanhedrin 97b, It has been taught; R. Nathan said: This verse pierces and descends to the very abyss:¹¹ For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though he tarry, wait for him; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.¹²¹¹ ^{For the Vision is yet
for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though he
tarry, wait for him (Moshiach); because it will surely come, it will not tarry.}
¹²^{];
because he (Moshiach) will surely come, and will not tarry.}

(11) Just as the bottom of an abyss cannot be reached, so is it impossible to grasp the full purport of this verse (Rashi).
(12) Hab. II, 3.

Believe…..

Hab 2:4 Hinei (behold), his nashamah (soul) which is puffed up is not upright in him; but the tzaddik (righteous) shall live by his emunah (believe).

Through Moshiach, Yeshuah from Yahweh who give you emunah (believe)…..

Gen 15:6 And he believed in Yahweh; and He credited emunah (faith)] to him as tzedakah (righteousness).

Please read the whole book of HaNavi Habakuk?

The Koran teaches us that you have to die…….

But, please Yudah (Jews) and Ephraim (most Christians) Listen to His Voice:

Hab 1:12 Art thou not mikedem

(‘everlasting’ also said of Moshiach, indicating Moshiach’s eternal divine nature: Dan 7:14 And there was given Him (Moshiach) dominion, and honor, and sovereignty, that all people, Goyim, tongues, should pey-lammed-chet. [1] (worship as deity) (see Dan 3:12, serve, reverence as deity Him (Moshiach). His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His (Messianic) Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.] see Michah 5:1[2];)

Yahweh Elohai (my Elohim) Kedoshi (my Holy One)? We shall not die. Yahweh, Thou hast appointed them (these Chaldean) for mishpat (ordinance); O Tzur (Rock), Thou hast ordained them (these Chaldean) for reproof.

Maran Rabbeinu Yeshuah and Rabbeinu Shaul are teaching that you, Yehudah and Ephraim all Israel, come together to the same point as where you were when you said:

Deu 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that Yahweh Eloheinu (our Elohim) shall say; and speak thou unto us all that Yahweh Eloheinu shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

But don’t ‘make’ from one of them Rabbeinu Yeshuah, Rabbeinu Shaul or Rabbeinu Mosheh another ‘mighty one’ but accept them in your live for what they really are….

Please take it serious what Abba Yahweh is telling us in:

Deu 18:15 Yahweh Eloheicha (your Elohim) will raise up unto thee a Navi (prophet) from among thee, of thy achim (bretheren), kamoni (like me.....

Exo 32:30 The next day Moshe said to the people, "You have committed a terrible sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh; maybe I will be able to atone for your sin."); unto him ye must listen;

Deu 18:16 According to all that thou desired of Yahweh Eloheicha (your Elohimin) Chorev (to be burnt dried up, ruined, wasted) in the Yom HaKahal (day of the congregation), saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh Elohav (your Elohim), neither let me see this eish hagedolah (‘great fire’) any more, that I die not.

Deu 18:17 And Yahweh said unto me, They have well-spoken that which they have spoken.

Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Navi (prophet) from among their achim (brethren), like unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

Joh 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have samchut (authority) to lay it down, and I have samchut to receive it again. This mitzvah I received from HaAv (the Father).

Deu 18:19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not listen unto My words which he shall speak Bishmi (in My Name), I will require it of him.

Joh 8:28 Therefore, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to them, When you perform the hagbah (lifting up) of the Ben HaAdam, you will have da'as (knowledge) that Ani Hu [YESHAYAH 41:4; SHEMOT 3:14-16], and from myself I do nothing, but as HaAv (the Father) of me taught me, these things I speak.

Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiah Yeshuah – is Yeshuah Yahweh. Like it is said in:

Gen_49:18 I have waited for Thy Yeshuah (Salvation), Yahweh.

Exo_15:2 Yahweh is my oz and zimrah (song of praise), and He is become to me Yeshuah (salvation); He is Eli (my Elohim), and I will praise Him; Elohei Avi (the Elohim of my Father), and I will exalt Him.

And not a half-god, or another mighty-one who came between HaShem and us! (Not, ‘It Suph’!) I believe many of us (Jews and Ephraimites!) have to learn that!

[1] Dictionary of the Talmud. M. Jastrow p. 1178 פלח

Please let us come together in Prayer (by singing/praying The Song of Moshe and The Song of The Lamb) and Teshuvah in the Love of Yeshuath YHWH. Yehudah, Ephraim and all 'the called out ones',
Until comes in fulfillment,

Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David (The whole House of Israel, Jews and Ephraim), and upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourned for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Isa 11:13 And the envy of Ephrayim shall turn aside, and the adversaries of Yehudah be cut off. Ephrayim shall not envy Yehudah, and Yehudah not trouble Ephrayim.
If you have a Prayer Request for yourself, family, friends, kehilah or the State of Israel. It can be brought to the Feet of The Mountain of Yahweh. (For Free) Click: Prayer Request