BE FRUITFUL AND REBUILD A WORLD

1. Leave the Ark

Our parsha relates that "in the second month (Iyar), on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry," and that G-d then said to Noach: "Go out of the ark — you, your wife, your sons, and their wives with you... bring out every living thing that is with you..."2

We need to understand the following. The earth was already dry — fully dry, for Rashi explains that "yavsha" means it "became [thoroughly] dry, as is its normal state" (the earlier stage, when "the waters dried up from upon the earth" and the ground had "become like a kind of clay, "3 having already passed). Why, then, did Noach need to be told "Go out of the ark"?

Furthermore: it was not enough to command Noach himself. There was a separate command regarding the animals — "every living thing... of birds, of animals, and of every creeping thing... bring out with you"!

The Midrash states:

Since the waters had subsided, Noach ought to have left the ark. But he said: "I entered with the permission of G-d — for He told me, 'Come, you with your entire household, into the ark' — and now I will leave only with His permission."

Yet, (aside from the fact that Rashi does not cite this idea,) with the simple meaning of the passuk, — and as Rashi writes — it would seem that G-d's telling Noach "Come... into the ark" was not a granting of permission, but rather because Noach did not want to enter the ark {in the first place}.

On a basic level, one could answer that the need for the command lies not so much in the actual departure as in its manner — "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives with you" — as Rashi explains: "Husband and wife: here He permitted them marital relations." {While they were} in the ark, by contrast, "the men and the women were separate," because "marital relations were forbidden."8

2. A Miracle Within the Ark

The same applies to the animals: here too, the command made room for what the ark had not allowed — that they "swarm on the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth," as the verse concludes.9 As Rashi comments, "but not in the ark" — teaching that the animals and birds, too, had been forbidden to mate while inside it.

But from the simple understanding of the verse, it is implied that the command concerns the actual departure as well — "Go out of the ark." This is emphasized especially strongly regarding the animals, where Rashi observes that "hotzei is written [in the Torah text — the causative 'take them out']... if they do not want to leave, you take them out yourself."10 That is: the animals might not want to leave the ark, and so there is the command "take them out" — even against their will.11

One explanation of this is as follows.

It is explained in a number of places12 that inside Noach's ark there reigned a state of peace — a foretaste of the time to come, when "a wolf shall dwell with a lamb... they shall neither harm nor destroy..."13 After all, every kind of beast and animal was together in the ark — including predatory, rapacious beasts — and even so, "they did each other no harm whatsoever, and did not destroy one another."14

This is inherent in the simple meaning of the verse. For although, on the verse15 "you shall make the ark with compartments (kinim)," Rashi explains "compartments upon compartments, for every animal and beast" — that each kind of beast and animal was set apart from all the rest16 — nonetheless:

• It is hard to maintain that one could, by natural means, pen beasts of prey into so cramped a space (a single compartment) for an entire year without a single incident18 of a savage beast doing harm, or the like.

• We see plainly (in a zoo) that handling a large number of predatory beasts takes a large staff of people. Yet here, in Noach's ark, a mere handful of people (Noach, his sons, and their wives) managed every kind of beast of prey19 — of the entire world!

We must therefore say that while in the ark, the nature of the predatory animals20 was changed — similar to the future, when there will be a state in which "a small child shall lead them {the beasts}."21

Nor does this present a difficulty. One might have thought that Rashi should have noted somewhere that so great a miracle took place in the ark (akin to the time to come, when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of G-d"). But it may be said that this is already accounted for by Rashi earlier,22 where he writes that only "those that clung to their own kind and had not corrupted their way came of their own accord; and whatever the ark could absorb, he brought in." From this we see that:

• only the choicest — "those that had not corrupted their way" — came into the ark;

• already on their way to the ark, the beasts of prey did no harm;

• their very coming, and

• their entering the ark — were altogether miraculous.

It is no wonder, then, that afterward, once inside the ark, the miracle continued23 (as regards the animals' not destroying one another) — that the nature of the beasts of prey was changed, so that they would not harm another animal or beast.

3. Leaving as a Descent

This, too, is the reason why, after "the earth was dry," a command "Go out of the ark" was needed — because Noach did not want to leave the ark;24 he was in a place where a utopian, futuristic state of affairs prevailed.

[This is especially so in light of what is explained in Chassidus,25 that the change in the animals' nature in Noach's ark came about because so lofty a divine light shone there — a taste of what will shine in the time to come — a light that brings about this state of peace.]

For this reason, leaving the ark was a descent relative to the state which prevailed inside it.26

All the more so for the beasts of prey themselves — in whom the change of nature had taken place in the ark — who, of their own accord, did not want to leave, only to... revert to being predatory, harmful beasts!

This is why Noach had to be told separately {and specifically}, "every living being that is with you... bring out with you." For there is room to distinguish: for Noach (together with his wife and household), leaving the ark is necessary, in order to accomplish something in the world outside it — and so the descent ("Go out of the ark") is worthwhile for the sake of what it achieves in that outside world.

Not so with releasing the beasts of prey from the ark: this would cause a descent in them (they would revert to what they had been before entering the ark), and the world would once again hold beasts of prey!

And so Noach was told that even so — "every living being... bring out with you."

From this, however, it is understood that through "Go out of the ark... bring out with you," an elevation is achieved relative to the state as it had been within the ark.

4. Rebuilding the World

What does this mean {that the state of affairs was improved post-flood}?

It is alluded to in the very wording of the verse, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife...," which indicates (as above) that "He permitted them..." And likewise with the animals — "bring out with you, and they shall swarm on the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth."

From the fact that this is the first thing Noach was told in connection with leaving the ark, it is understood that it is not some incidental matter (as though, since earlier in the ark they had been "forbidden...," one therefore had, upon leaving the ark, to permit it anew27). Rather, this is the very purpose and goal of "Go out of the ark." In this lies the achievement of "Go out of the ark."

Simply put: what was lacking in the life inside the ark? That in the confined space of the ark, the matter of "be fruitful and multiply" (and of "subduing" the earth) could not take place — and certainly not in a way that would lead to "fill[ing] the earth."28

This is the intent of "Go out of the ark": after the flood, when "He blotted out all existence,"29 Noach's mission was to rebuild that existence anew — through being fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth. As the parsha states immediately afterward, G-d told Noach — both as a blessing and as a command — "be fruitful and multiply (and fill the earth)."30

5. Revealing the Infinite Below

Every concept in the physical world derives from its spiritual counterpart. So too here: this that, in physical terms, leaving the ark was for the sake of "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" — itself derives from the spiritual dimension of these matters.

The achievement of "be fruitful and multiply" is that through it the power of the Ein Sof {G-d's Infinity} is revealed here below.31 For in the matter of procreation there is no limitation; it is without end, generation after generation.

6. Beyond the Sheltered Word

This, then, is the difference between the state within the ark and the state upon leaving it:

Within the ark — for all the lofty revelations that shone there (to the point that they brought about32 a change of nature resembling the time to come, as above) — it was still only a matter of the elevation and delight of the created being, and so it remained limited.

However, that which is accomplished through one's service in the world, outside the ark — the world precisely as it is by its own nature,33 this lowest world, below which there is none34 — for here, in the lower realms specifically, is made the dwelling for Him, a dwelling for His very Essence.35

And therefore it is specifically in this type service that the infinite is revealed — an unlimited inheritance (nachalah beli meitzarim).36

The lesson from this in serving G-d:

There are those who imagine that one may shut oneself away within one's own four cubits and be occupied all day with Torah, and that what goes on in the world around him need not concern him in the least.

How much more so, they think, if he devotes himself all day to Pnimiyus HaTorah {the inner dimension of Torah} — "know the G-d of your father"37 — for then he is surely in a state resembling the days of Mashiach, of which the Rambam rules, at the close of his work:38 "In that era there will be neither [famine nor war, envy nor strife]... and the occupation of the entire world will be only to know G-d alone."

Such a person might argue: Why must he leave his four cubits to involve himself in disseminating Torah and Yiddishkeit — to the point of "spreading the wellsprings outward" — in order to bring about "the coming of the Master, King Mashiach," through which one merits (as does the whole world) to be occupied with "knowing G-d alone" [and, as Rashi explains, the Torah of Mashiach is "the secret of its reasons and the mystery of its hidden depths"39 — Pnimiyus HaTorah40]? He already has "you shall see your world in your lifetime";41 he is already now occupied with "knowing G-d alone"!

It is to this that the lesson of "Go out of the ark" speaks: one must leave the ark and accomplish something in the world around him. True, there is indeed the order of "Come... into the ark"42 — that when a flood rages outside, and there is a danger of being engulfed in the "raging waters" of the flood, one must shield oneself from them through "Come... into the ark," as the Baal Shem Tov explains:43 entering into the letters and words {teivos, the very word that also means "ark"} of Torah and prayer. But one must know that in the end a time of "Go out of the ark" must come, for the purpose and goal is to accomplish something in the world that lies outside your ark.

And one should not think that this must be done only because one has to forgo one's own good for the good of another. Rather, it affects one's own perfection and good. For all the lofty heights one can reach through the "service within the ark," it remains, all of it, in a manner of measure and limitation.

Through "Go out of the ark," the "be fruitful and multiply" comes about — the increase without end — reaching the manner of "and these are the offspring of Peretz,"44 where toldos is written in its full spelling45 — the "and you shall spread out westward, eastward, northward and southward,"46 an unlimited inheritance,47 which will be fully revealed by the coming of our righteous Mashiach: "the breacher has gone up before them."48

7. A Lesson for Our Generation

A further lesson to be drawn from this concerns "be fruitful and multiply" in its literal sense:

The first duty of a person after a flood — a state of "He blotted out all existence" — is "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth," to build the world anew.49

And this is the particular lesson for our generation, which passed through a flood, G-d forbid, in which a very, very considerable and precious portion of the Jewish people was — G-d save us — wiped out physically. One must know that, first and foremost, the responsibility (and privilege50) rests upon those who, by G-d's kindness, were saved from the flood — and upon their descendants as well — to rebuild the Jewish people physically. Only then is there anyone with whom to accomplish spiritual work: "Command the children of Israel" first requires that Jews exist (for the Jews, after all, "came first"51 {before the Torah}).

8. The Weight of Calculations

There are those who make calculations:

Having children is a tremendous responsibility. One must provide for them both materially and spiritually — educating them in the path of Torah and mitzvos. And who knows whether he has it in him to raise children properly, so that they grow up healthy — healthy in body and healthy in spirit?

Therefore: first one must be properly secure in one's own situation, materially and spiritually, and only then will one think about — and then fulfill — "be fruitful and multiply"!

On this, too, there is a lesson from Noach, as follows.

9. The Lesson of Chizkiyahu

Although G-d told Noach "Go out of the ark, you and your wife" — "a man and his wife: here He permitted them [marital relations]" (as above) — the Torah nonetheless relates that, in practice, "Noach went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives"52 (not "a man with his wife").

As the commentators explain53 (on the basis of Rashi54), this is because "Noach was apprehensive about engaging in procreation."55 The explanation is this: Noach made a calculation — what would be gained by having children? The same situation could easily recur, in which they would sin and "the floodwaters would come and sweep them away"56; therefore, G-d first committed to him "to not destroy the world again," and only then instructed, "be fruitful and multiply."

And even though G-d had indeed said "Go out of the ark, you and your wife," how could it be that Noach — who was "a righteous, perfect man"57 — would, out of his own calculations, want to act, G-d forbid, contrary to G-d's command?58

This is not a difficulty. Noach reasoned that G-d's statement "Go out of the ark, you and your wife" (a man and his wife) was merely permission59 — exactly as Rashi's precise wording indicates, "here He permitted them etc." — and not a command.60 G-d therefore added, afterward, that the intent of the statement was not merely a permission but a command: they must "be fruitful and multiply."

Yet there is still a lack of clarity. G-d assured him that He would bring no further flood — but for Noach, surely the main concern was the spiritual state of his children. So if there is the concern "lest they continue to sin,"61 it is by no means enough that they go unpunished — for they remain in the very same (spiritual) state as the generation of the flood!

From this, then, the lesson is clear: "With the hidden affairs of the Merciful One, why concern yourself?"62 A Jew must do all that is within his power63 — to fulfill the mitzvah of "be fruitful and multiply," and thereafter to educate his sons and daughters in accordance with the Torah's directives — and not hold himself back from fulfilling G-d's command on account of his own calculations.

Our Sages relate64 concerning King Chizkiyahu that he foresaw by divine inspiration that unworthy children would issue from him, and he therefore did not engage in procreation. For this, G-d punished him, G-d forbid, because "with the hidden things of the Merciful One, why concern yourself? That which you are commanded, you must do!"

We see from this that even when one knows with certainty what will come to be, one may not refrain from fulfilling G-d's command;65 how much more so when it is merely a concern arising from one's own calculation.

To add: even in Chizkiyahu's case, there were later born Yoshiyahu — of whom it is said,66 "and like him there was no king before him who returned to G-d with all his heart... in accordance with all the Torah of Moshe; and after him none arose like him" — and other righteous kings, such as Yehoachaz67 and Tzidkiyahu.68

On the contrary: fulfill G-d's command that is incumbent upon you, with joy and with complete trust that G-d will surely69 help, and will grant success in your efforts to educate your children70 — especially in the merit of this very thing: that one fulfills G-d's command of "be fruitful and multiply" without any calculations at all.

10. A New Channel of Blessing

All of the above concerns worries about the spiritual state of one's children, which depends chiefly on the parents — to whom G-d gave the mitzvah (and privilege) of educating their sons and daughters in the way of Torah and mitzvos, and whom He endowed with free choice to carry out that command.

When it comes to worries about material livelihood — one makes calculations that one's financial situation does not allow one to engage in being fruitful and multiplying — this shows that one is of little faith,71 and lower even than that.

Livelihood does not depend on one's own choice. A Jew was indeed told "(G-d will bless you) in all that you do,"72 but his "you shall do" is only73 to fashion a vessel for G-d's blessing; the flow of food and livelihood comes from Above, as everyone says in Grace after Meals: "He who nourishes the entire world in His goodness, with grace, kindness, and mercy."

And since G-d has instructed a Jew "be fruitful and multiply," it is certain that together with each child74 that is born, a new channel is opened for G-d's blessing — for the flow of food and livelihood, (also) for the newborn child — and in the manner of "in His goodness, with grace, with kindness, and with mercy," from His full, open, holy, and generous hand.

11. The Strength to Raise Them

The same applies with regard to the powers of the soul: others argue that they do not have the strength — whether strength of the body or the soul — to raise more sons and daughters, which demands great toil, physically and emotionally.

One must know that, since G-d instructs this, and "He asks only according to their capacity,"75 it is clear that He grants the strength needed to carry out His command.

Accordingly, one must not inject one's own calculations into the matter, but rather rely — and with joy (as in all service of G-d) — upon G-d.76

And if the reality is that one does not have the strength for it, G-d will provide for that.77

For children to be born, there must be78 a special blessing from G-d — "And G-d blessed them... be fruitful and multiply."79 This is why "there are some people who do not beget children even though the procreative power is present in them in its entirety."80

The truth — the revealed truth — is that such conduct, grounded in trust in G-d, not only does not detract from a person's health; on the contrary: the way to attain true peace of mind is precisely by conducting oneself according to the orders of nature that G-d has established. When one disrupts the normal order that G-d established in family life, one sees tangibly that it gives rise to problems with the "nerves," and so on — over and above the main point, that it disturbs the relationship between husband and wife.

The practice of making calculations as to when it is "the right time" to have children has been given a name: "family planning." The reality, however, is that it brings about the very opposite: the opposite of order in family life, the opposite of the building of family life. And as has already become evident (to those who do not wish to deceive themselves), there has never yet been anything that introduces such disorder — the opposite of the grounding, strengthening, and building of family life — as this matter of "family planning."81

12. Hastening the Redemption

There is a special connection between the mitzvah of "be fruitful and multiply" and our generation in particular:

The Gemara states82 that the son of David {Mashiach} will not come until all the souls in the treasury named "Guf" have been depleted. That is to say: the birth of one more Jewish child brings closer the complete redemption of the entire Jewish people through David, King Mashiach.

And since we find ourselves in the generation of the "footsteps of Mashiach" (as has been spoken of many times), and we hope and pray, "the offshoot of David Your servant — may You cause to flourish speedily," "now," literally — it is understood that one must do what depends on oneself in this "[until] all the souls in the Guf have been depleted,"

which will hasten the coming of "the son of David," in the true and complete redemption through our righteous Mashiach.

From talks delivered on Shabbos Parshas Noach 5741 and 5743, and Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah 5743.