Parsha Pearls
עֲשֵׂה לְךָ תֵׂבַת עֲצֵׂי גֹפֶר וגו .‘-- בראשית ו:יד
Make for yourself a teiva of gopher wood... -- Bereishis 6:14
Midrash Yalkut teaches that the 50-ama wooden beam used for hanging Haman came from Noah’s teiva. What’s the significance of that beam (besides the fascinating fact that the beam remained intact after thousands of years)? Rav Chaim Shmulevitz zt”l explains that through intense toil for 120 years in building the teiva for the sake saving the people from the flood* Noach changed the actual material of the teiva**.
It became a material infused with the incredible strength to save. Hence, a part of the teiva was used to save Klal Yisroel in the generation when Haman arose against Klal Yisroel.
Rav Shmulevitz points out that if an object changes its nature when a person toils over it for the sake of doing good, all the more so, the inner nature of children changes when parents toil in raising them in derech Hashem.
* As Rashi explains, although Hashem could have saved Noach through other means, He wanted him to be involved in building the teiva for 120 years so that the people will observe it, understand the potential threat and do teshuva.
** Sichos Musar, Shaar HaChaim 5731-5733, ma’amar 3
