Why the animals, too? That’s the question I’ve always dreaded from my kids when it comes time for Parashat Noach – meilah, the sinful humans, but why the animals? What did they do? Why did everything need to be obliterated. At the end of Bereshit, Hashem “regrets” he created man, since his urge and thoughts are only evil all day. And therefore – all creation is exterminated?? What’s the connection?
It’s true, we’re told that “all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth”, and the Midrash explains that everything had relations with everything else. But if this is true, why is man singled out for special mention? Did we lead the charge, seducing the ant and the elephant alike?
And besides, isn’t this approach the complete antithesis of what we read not so long ago in Maftir Yonah, where Hashem has pity on Nineveh, where there are oh so many ignorant people AND EVEN LOTS OF ANIMALS!! So if he didn’t punish there, why does he punish here.
And now for something that seems completely different. I’ve begun learning the Ramchal’s Da’at Tevunot. At the beginning of this dialogue between the soul and the mind, the soul list the principles of faith that it understands and those that it does not. A quick comparison shows that theses thirteen principles are precisely those famous thirteen outlines by the Rambam in his commentary on the Misheh (Perek Chelek). With one exception. The fifth principle by the Rambam is “that it is only Hashem to whom it is fitting to render praise”. Yet the Ramchal list as his fifth principle: The creation of the world. Now this is passing strange, as the Rambam explicitly eliminates belief in chidush haolam as one of the fundamental thirteen, claiming in the Guide to the Perplexed that, though belief in creation is true, if (Aristotelian) science would dictate otherwise (he believes it does not), the Torah could be understood not to contradict that position. Other rishonim took him to task for this omission. So how can the Ramchal list as the fifth principle “creation of the world”?
Here’s a clue: In Yigdal, a poetic rendering of the thirteen principles from before the time of the Ramchal, the fifth principle is phrased thus: “Behold He is Master of the World, and every creature shows/teaches His greatness and sovereignty”. Now, this is not what the Rambam said!! And some have suggested emending the word “shows/teaches” to “confesses” (a simple switch of “Resh” to “Dalet”). But the truth is that this formulation fits the Ramchal’s teaching to a T. The Ramchal posits that the purpose of creation is to reveal the oneness of Hashem. This is done by making a multitude of entities who come to see how, in truth, everything is one. There is a danger here –the multiverse might get lost and intoxicated by its own fascinating diversity – but the Oneness revealed thereby – and only thereby - is true Oneness – “Ein Od Milvado”.
Thus: Hashem created the world so that we could recognize Him. The two formulations of the fifth principle – He alone is worthy of praise, and He created the universe from nothing – imply each other and are necessarily connected!! Hashem creates us by utterance so that we can “create” (since He doesn’t “exist” in the terms of “Alma d’peruda”) Him! Freud was more correct that he had the “kelim” to comprehend!
Cut back to Noach. The reflexivity of the universe is intimated over and over, like the symbol of infinity. Shofech dam ha’adam b’adam damo yishafech, says Hashem in Parashat Noach. Why? “Ki b’tzelem E-lohim asah et ha’adam”. Chiasms are embedded in the depth of the creation, every utterance is palindromic (“Madam, I’m Adam”). Hashem can no more maintain a creation that cannot express and reveal His Being than He could create such a reality in the first place. But He created us in His image, with creativity and freedom and the possibility of rebelling against our essence – like He did in the Tzimtzum.
Wwwwwwwwiipe Out!! Start over. Hashem creates worlds and reformats them. But you know, when you reformat a disk, you only erase the addressing information which accesses the files. The files are still there. In fact, even true disk erasure also leaves behind sensitive information, tiny clusters of bits and bytes that can be painstakingly reassemble to make sense.
Viewed from above, the tempestuous seas and fierce storms have overrun everything. Nothing escapes their fury, everything is dashed to pieces. Oh, look, down there, what’s that speck? Probably just the remnants of a ruined building or some other flotsam and jetsam.
But we know – there's a safe space inside, it’s a teivah, it’s a seedpod of hope and possibility that can explode onto a cleansed landscape and offer sweet savor to the L-ord as the first expression of a remade world – a world where His creation and ours call each other to ever higher vistas. “And Noach found favor” - “v’NoaCH matza CHeN” – reflect on that, and save the animal inside.
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