Friday, February 22, 2008
![He waited another seven days and again sent the dove from the ark. The dove came to him in the evening and behold, there was an olive leaf torn off in her mouth. (Bereishit 8:11)
Torn off : The Midrash explains this to mean food, and interprets “in her mouth” as speaking, i.e., she said, “Rather that my food be bitter as an olive but from the hand of God, than as sweet as honey from the hand of mortal men.” (Rashi)
In other words, the dove told Noach, “Nothing is better than living with the knowledge that God is the hand that feeds you, even if it means eating bitter food.” The dove’s message is not that man should forsake physical pleasure in this world; there is plenty to enjoy in life without even coming close to violating one’s relationship with God.
Rather, the dove’s message to Noach was, “Don’t forget what led to the downfall of mankind and brought about the Flood! It was man’s insatiable need for physical pleasure, as if such pleasure was a goal unto itself. The goal of Creation is to be close to God, to be like Him, even if it means sacrificing physical comfort and pleasure to do so. Remember this,” the dove reminded Noach, “and mankind will avoid sliding to such physical destruction again.”
Lest we mistakenly think that such danger only exists for those who do not live by Torah, the Ramban explains otherwise:
God told Moshe, “Speak to the entire congregation of the Children of Israel and tell them, ‘Be holy, for I, your God, am holy.’” (Vayikra 19:1-2)
BE HOLY: In my opinion, this “separation” is not from forbidden relationships, as he (i.e., Rashi) says, but it is the kind of separation mentioned throughout Torah when it comes to being elevated. For, the Torah warned us regarding forbidden relationships and forbidden foods, but it also permitted spousal intimacy and [kosher] meat and wine. Thus, a person with strong physical desires could behave immodestly with his own wife … and eat [kosher] meat and drink wine in a disgusting manner, since the Torah has not yet forbidden this. Nevertheless, [if he acted in this manner] he would be a “menuval b’reshus HaTorah” — “disgusting with that which the Torah permits.” Therefore, after the Torah specified what is certainly forbidden, it returned to tell us that we should exercise restraint with that which is permissible. (Ramban, Vayikra 19:2)
The physical world exists as a means to become closer to God, which means using it in a Godly manner. If so, then its value is derived by its ability to facilitate a closer relationship with God, not by how physically pleasurable it is. When the latter becomes the priority, warned the yonah, the animal to which the Jewish people are compared (Brochos 53b), we tend to lose sight of the purpose of life, the goal of Torah.
Or, even worse, God forbid, we cease to justify our success and existence, as Jewish history has shown time-and-time again.](AF7097F7-6E4E-4BDF-BA18-7F96852D030B_files/shapeimage_2.png)
