The Zohar Hakadosh writes that נח personified the Shabbos. The day of Shabbos is called the day of החונמ and the letters of נח also means the same. How can we relate to this interpretation on our levels?
The Zera Baraich in the name of the Paneiach Raza (Tosfos) writes that after the sin of Adam Harishon until Noach man was born with webbed fingers connected one to another. Only with the birth of Noach, this physical phenomenon was changed and Noach was born with separated fingers. Why did this human feature suddenly change with his birth?
The Zera Baraich brings Babbeinu Bachya in parshas Tzav that explains the functions of each individual finger. The Chazal describe their purpose by correlating each finger to various mitzvos. However, they function also as physical facilitators for the five senses. The pinky, the smallest one, relates to the ear. When one desires to clean his ear automatically he will use his pinky. The adjacent finger serves to clean one's eyes. The longest finger in the middle serves to touch and feel parts of the body aided by its length. The adjacent finger's mission is to clean the nostrils connected to the sense of smell, and the thumb's task is to clean the mouth the sense of taste. All fingers gravitate to serve their particular assigned sense naturally without prior thought because this is the way that Hashem created them and their functions a"k.
We know that the senses are our windows to the outside world as they communicate to us through experiencing them. This automatically relates to our overall mission of bechirah. One must ensure that his senses are directed to experience only what is permitted by the Torah. When the Torah describes that Avraham used his vision it writes ויניע תא םהרבא אשיו he lifted up his eyes. By Avraham, seeing was a conscious and deliberate decision to allow the outside world to become embedded in his life's experience forever.
This is what is hinted in the passuk .שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך Judges must be placed by all one's gates. This passuk in the deeper understanding, is telling us that our five senses which are out "gateways" to the world must have watchdogs in order that they shouldn't become abused and dysfunctional. The ultimate Tzelem Elokim doesn't make a physical movement without first considering what does Hashem say about this.
Now we can understand why after Adam's chait he human fingers became attached to each other as a web. As we explained each finger is a manifestation of servants to the five senses. Adam and Chavah ate from the Aitz Hadaas because they did not place שופטים ושוטרים prior to their rebellious action. All five sense were affected and compromised by their transgression. The Torah describes Chava's initial temptation to eat from the Aitz Hadaas with the word ותרא she saw the fruit which enticed her to eat. Then the passuk says ותקח she took the fruit participating the sense of touch. The passuk says that she listened to the false advice of the Nachash to eat from the fruit. Also Adam is blamed for listening to his wife. ותאכל she ate from the fruit involving the sense of taste (and smell).
Because of the chait, all of the five sense became downgraded and compromised. By eating from the fruit of טוב ורע mixed together, Man himself also became a mumble jumble without clarity to decipher what is correct and incorrect, truth and falsehood. Just as the five senses became mixed together so too their service aids the fingers, also became mixed together and joined.
When Noach was born there was a measured tikkun in the Chait of Aitz Hadaas. Before we delve into this point let us first elaborate on the pinky finger. At first glance and impression, the greatness of size manifests its significance. A little house vs a mansion, a subcompact car vs a limousine. But in reality, size does not declare its importance. A small rare diamond can purchase fifty mansions. Rav Moshe Feinstein, ztl was 4 feet 8 inches. So too, the pinky although the smallest of fingers called a זרת possesses a greater significance than the other four.
The sefarim write that the ten fingers of man correlate to the Ten Sayings in which the world was created. The Tenth Saying is םדא השענ Let us make Man which corresponds to the smallest finger. Chazal relate that when the malachim were told about Man's creation they were opposed. Hashem stretched out His Pinky and these opposing malachim were burnt. What comes out of this episode is that the creation of Man came about only because of Hashem's זרת. The deeper meaning of this is when Rebbe Yehudah Hanasi departed from this world he raised his smallest finger heavenwards and declared I haven't taken an iotas worth from this physical world for selfish reasons. Why the pinky? This was to show that the true םיקלא םלצ a product of נעשה אדם, which is symbolized by my little finger, was fulfilled and actualized by me.
As we mentioned above the זרת correlates and serves the sense of hearing. This sense rises above the other four senses concerning payment for damages. If one blinds someone he must pay the worth for the individual's loss of sight. However if one causes deafness to an individual, he must pay the worth of the total person. The sense of hearing is Man's essence as a subject to serve his creator.
Avraham Avinu is introduced by the Medrash bringing the passuk שמעי בת וראי הטי אזנך Avraham discovered Hashem at the age of 48 by listening to the creation, following seeing the creation, and ending with once again by focusing his ear to hear. With this process of hearing he understood האר הריבה לעב ימ תקלוד הריב that after seeing a world on fire and asking who is the owner and creator of this world, he received his answer from Hashem himself. The world was created with Ten Sayings. The term "thing" רבד means a creation. The reason being, because everything of existence is derived from the Ten Sayings, from the term דיבור. Avraham connected to the words of Hashem by hearing what they were saying while other people heard noises and sounds or what they wanted to hear. שיא ירשאשישמע ךיתווצמל one must place his ear by the mitzvos themselves and to hear theirו inner calling, to hear their implications not just their external surface statements. והיה אם שמוע תשמעו not just one hearing but a deeper hearing of what you are hearing, like Avraham שמעי הטי אזנך.
After ten generations from Adam, חנ was born. The gematriah of נח is אזן the organ of the ear. The passuk says about Noach כי אותך ראיתי צדיק לפני בדור הזה you alone I see you as a tzaddik before me. The gematriah of צדיק לפני בדור הזה including the four words is equal to זרת. Noach personified the small finger of םדא השענ. The passuk says )מיכה ו ח( הגיד לך אדם מה טוב ומה ה' אלקיך דורש מעמך the culture and society all define for you a perverted ideal to what is righteous, moral, and worthy of a life's pursuit. However, what does Hashem who is emes seek from you? He wrote in his Torah Man's mission on earth and the sole purpose of why he was created which is to reach זרת. The word זר means a crown and the letter ת symbolizes the תורה. For the letter ת, the end of the Alleph Beis, represents the end, Olam Habah and Shabbos (Pri Tzadik Terumah 12). That is why the gematria of זרת (including its three letters and the word) equals תורה. Hashem is telling us how to use our Five Senses correctly though the Torah and merit Olam Habah. Chazal say that Noach learned the Torah for he knew the difference between טהור וטמא animals (Bereishis 7,2 Rashi). He epitomized the נעשה אדם since the creation of Adam Harishon.
Chazal tell us that Noach invented the plow מחרישה. He did this in order to make his generation aware of their deafness to the word of Hashem found in creation. The word מחרישה has in it the root word חרש which means to plow and deafness. It was like the Chazal who call such an פועל דמיוני a model symbolic episode that inspires the goal to be actualized. If they would have heard those words in nature they would have merited to receive the Torah through משה as hinted in the gematriah םגשב הוא בשר which equals משה (Chullin 139). Noach was trying to awaken them from their slumber of deafness but it was to no avail. The מחרישה – plow has in its letters ה חשים five senses and the letter ר which symbolizes the head and המכח. One must control and discipline his senses with his head מח and intellect which represent the Tzelem Elokim. Man became too earthly and materialistic stripping him from any feeling of spirituality. To deal with this deafness, Noach hoped that one would use the plow which has various definitions and subliminal messages. One, it is a tool with which to dig into the earth and remove it preparing it for planting. Secondly it means to vanish such as the term plow under. It also connotes an uncontrolled crash into something. The way to fix this "uncontrolled" deafness is to "remove" one's anchor in earthliness that comes from the perverted buildup of the five undisciplined senses.
Now we can understand why the Zohar calls Noach שבת because Noach in the arena of nefesh corresponds to Shabbos in the arena of time. Chazal tell us that the word זרת, the pinky, was used to measure the ןשח the breast plate of the Kohen Gadol. It was through the letters of the חשן that Hashem spoke to the Kohen Gadol. In contrast to the שחנ which gave his advice to Man which caused cataclysmic consequences, the ןשח which share the same letters gave Hashem's and the Torah knowledge. The םדא תרז has an inner choshen where he hears the word of Hashem communicating with him. So too when a Yid receives his neshama yesairah he hears what Hashem is seeking from him. The gematriah of מה ה' דורש מעמך equals השבת. Shabbos symbolizes the ability of a Yid to become זרת - נעשה אדם בצלמינו which is gematria (including the three words) שבת. For the letters of זרת is zayin which symbolizes Shabbos the seventh day and the letters of תר spying which are the five senses which spy out the outside world and report back to us. The spiritual זרת is the Shabbos when all five are under control and auspices of the neshama yesairah. This is hinted in the acronym of the five senses חושי ריח שמיעה ראייה מישוש ט עם עולה עה"כ יום שבת.. On Shabbos we have greater accessibility to שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך whi ch is gematriah שבת.
On Shabbos a Yid can experience the זרת in a big way like Avraham Avinu who discovered Hashem as the בעל הבירה the owner of world ןזא יטה יאר יעמש which is gematriah בשבת. On Shabbos the הריב דולקת reveals its creator. Note בירה דולקת with the kollel is gematriah יום שבת.
When Noach was born it was said זה ינחמנו ממעשנו ומעצבון ידנו Noach will comfort us from our deeds and the sadness of our hands. The gematriah of ממעשנו מעצבון equals יום השבת עה"כ. Had people from the generation of the Flood connected to the Shabbos and all its segulos mentioned above, the tragedy of the their decadant state of נשחתה (Bereishis 6,12) would have never occurred the same gematria of םוי השבת.
Baruch Hashem we have the Shabbos with all its segulos every week. Outside in the world, the Mabul tsunami has occurred where self control over our senses are totally at below zero level. We need to increase our Shabbos observance in order not to be swept along by this flood of total wreck less ness and insanity. If one fails to think one plans to sink in the מים הזידונים.
Rav Brazil,
Gut Shabbos
