The Torah is a work book. the word "Torah" means "teaching" because every story, idea, word and even letter contains hidden treasures of practical wisdom.
But it's not clear what exactly this week's story about how G-d drowned all the animals in the world, is teaching us (7:21).
It can't be teaching us that G-d punishes those who disobey Him. Because animals don't have free will or prohibitions. There must be some other lesson here for us.
To understand this, here are three short stories about animals.
1. The first is about lions. (Daniel chapt. 6)
Some 2,500 years ago among the Jews that were exiled from Israel to Babylon was a very holy and talented one by the name of Daniel who rose in importance and became one of the king’s advisors.
But his appointment so aroused the jealousy of many men in high places that they slandered until the King was forced to throw him into a pit of starve-crazed lions. But a miracle happened: in the morning when the pit was opened Daniel emerged untouched.
Then, when Daniel’s enemies suggested that perhaps the lions simply were not hungry, the king disproved their theory by throwing them into the pit instead, whereupon they were devoured in midair by the ravished beasts thus verifying the miracle.
But Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi in the 24th chapter of his masterpiece "The Tanya", says that his survival really wasn’t a miracle!
Animals NATURALLY fear any human who bears the image of "G-d" i.e. Tzadikim. (See Rashi on Gen. 9:2; animals fear man). So Holy Daniel was saved. But his enemies, who lacked this ‘image’, were devoured.
2. The second story is about an ox. (Psikta Rabasi 56b-57a)
Some 1,800 years ago in Israel lived a Jew who, early one Friday afternoon, sold his ox to his gentile neighbor.
The ox was young, strong and healthy, so the Jew was surprised when early the next day as he was sitting with his family enjoying his Shabbat afternoon meal, his neighbor stormed into his house and angrily demanded his money back.
"What happened?" asked the Jew.
"What happened!?" replied his fuming neighbor, "NOTHING HAPPENED! That's what happened! The ox refuses to work! He just sits in the barn and won't budge. I tried coaxing, prodding, yelling, beating, kicking ... take him back!! You cheated me!!"
The Jew smiled, told the gentile he’d take care of it, excused himself from his family, accompanied his neighbor to the neighbor’s barn where the ox was laying and when he saw that the beast really wouldn't move, bent down and said into its ear:
"Ox! Ox! Listen! You are no longer my property. True, all the time you were mine it was forbidden for you to work on Shabbat, but I sold you! Now you aren't mine any more, you belong to this non-Jew, and you must do what he says."
Before their eyes the ox dutifully rose and plodded over to the plow indicating he was ready to be harnessed.
When the neighbor saw this, he began to think. "This ox does what it says in the Torah and I don't?! An ox that has no power of speech or mind of its own.... recognizes its creator and I, who was created in G-d's image, don't recognize my own Creator?!"
It wasn't long before he converted to Judaism and devoted his life to learning Torah. His name became Rabbi Yochanan ben Torta ("Tor" means "ox")
3. The final story is about a donkey. (Talmud Chulin 7a)
Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, a son-in-law of Rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai (The author of the Zohar), was a very holy man devoted totally to the service of G-d (also about 1,800 years ago).
The Talmud tells us that once his donkey was stolen. This pained him as it was one of his few possessions. To his great happiness several days later the thieves themselves shamefacedly returned the animal to Rabbi Pinchas in person; emaciated but alive.
It seems that the entire time the donkey was with them it refused to eat. They gave it the best grains possible, but he would just not open his mouth. Finally, when the poor thing got so thin and weak that they were afraid that it would die and smell up their hiding place - they had no choice but to return it. But being very curious as to why the animal refused to eat, and knowing the Rabbi was a forgiving man, they decided to ask the Rabbi in person.
"All of you are Jewish, right?" Rabbi Pinchas asked the thieves.
"Yes" they replied" In fact, not only are we Jewish... we once learned in your school when we were children."
"Then that explains it," he continued. "So you know the laws of Truma, correct? (Produce cannot be eaten without first separating off small percentages of it called "Truma and Maaser| for the Priests and Levites). "
“You probably fed him grain that had not been tithed according to Torah law. Right? And being that you are Jewish, you had an obligation from the Torah to tithe it. That's why he didn't eat!
"Yes, Rabbi" they replied. "We know that! But you taught us it's permissible to give untithed grains to one's animals; that only people are forbidden to eat it."
"Yes" answered the Rabbi "That is true. But my donkey is very strict on himself."
From this comes the saying of the Talmud: "If the earlier generations were like angels, then we are men. But if they were men, then we are like donkeys, but not the wise donkey of Rav Pinchas ben Yair."
That answers our question about why G-d drowned all animals in the flood. The above lion, cow and donkey stories show that animals can be affected by people.
And that is the reason G-d drowned the animals. True, animals cannot sin, but because the world was put into the hands of man and mankind became so perverted that G-d declared "All flesh has perverted their ways." (6:12) Therefore man and animal alike were destroyed!
What is especially relevant to us is that all this is preparation for Moshiach. Moshiach will be a man who will teach and inspire all mankind to not live selfishly as did the generation of the flood. (We pray for this thrice daily in the second paragraph of the Alenu prayer; "All the evil people will turn to G-d" etc.)
And so the prophet Isaiah (11:6) says that at the time of Moshiach the "Wolf will lie with the lamb" etc. because when Moshiach will fill the world awareness of G-d “As water fills the ocean (ibid 11:9) even the animals of prey will desire peace!
And we get a preview of this in Noah's ark. The animals lived in total harmony for one full year because the 'holiness' there was akin to that of the 'Holy Temple" that Moshiach will build and which will bring peace and harmony to the world.
So we see that it is not bombs or philosophies or even religions that will transform the evil to good (as the Rambam points out in Laws of Kings Chapt. 12 that the wolves referred to in Isiah 11:6 also refers to the enemies of the Jewish people). But rather OUR Torah deeds, words, and even thoughts that we do now according to the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe will erase evil from the world.
And as the Rebbe said repeatedly; this should happen at any moment. We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish service, hopes, prayers and suffering. Now it could be that just one more good deed, word or even thought if done with JOY can bring .....
Moshiach NOW!!
Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel
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