Musar zu Bereschit 8:26

... And on this the Torah says (Exodus 13:7) "there will not be seen and there will not be found" - it will not be seen b'maaseh (in action) and will not be found b'machshava (in thought), rather one should anul it in his heart. The mitzvot have 3 categories: mitzvot of speech, of the heart and of action, as it is written (Deuteronomy 30:14) "in your mouth and in your heart to do it". Comes the Torah (instructing us) to anul it in the heart, corresponding to the mitzvot which are dependent on the heart. Comes the 'kabbalah' (instructing us) to eradicate it from the house or to burn it, corresponding to the mitzvot of action. And to say 'kol chamira', corresponding to mitzvot of speech. In this way the 3 categories of mitzvot are fulfilled through the prohibition of chametz, teaching you that the prohibition of chametz incorporates all the mitzvot... Just as the 'kabbalah' comes (instructing us) to eradicate chametz and (livdok) to check the house in nooks and in cracks, so too we are obligated to search and check the chambers of our inner being for bad (machshavas) intentions and bad (hirhurim) thoughts. Just as bedikat chametz (checking for chametz) is not valid by sunlight, nor by moonlight, nor by the light of a torch, but only by the light of a candle, so too the bedikah (checking) of the yetzer hara must be by the light of the neshama (soul) which is called 'ner' (candle), this is what is written (Proverbs 20:27) "the candle of Hashem is the soul of man, which searches the chambers of one's inner being.

A person should be especially careful not to utter words of mockery or tale-bearing in the synagogue, for the dwelling place of the Shechinah is in the synagogues and study halls. When people are not careful to refrain from jocularity, lightheadedness, tale-bearing and derogatory speech in the synagogue it causes the Shechinah to depart from Israel. In this connection the Zohar (Tikkun 6, 22b) ascribes to the Shechinah the verse, “And the dove found no resting place” (Bereishis 8:9). As a result of this sin numerous synagogues have been destroyed, to our chagrin, because people allowed the Side of Evil to mix into the camp of the Shechinah, which was to have been entirely holy. It is not good to bring foreign matters into places of holiness. Therefore a person should be careful whenever he engages in holy matters not to cause malignant spirits to mix in, Heaven forbid.

Chapter 4 - How a person can accustom himself with the trait of understanding (binah): Understanding is repentance. And this is that one [should] repent - as there is nothing as important as it, since it repairs every defect. And like it is the way of Understanding to sweeten all of the judgments and to nullify their bitterness, so [should] a person repent and fix every defect. And one who ponders repentance all of his days causes Understanding to shine upon him all of his days. 'And it comes out that all of his days are in repentance' - which is [to say that he] is including himself in Understanding, which is Repentance. And [so] the days of his life are crowned with the secret of the Highest Repentance. And see, that [just] like Repentance has the root of all that is in existence in it through the secret of the Jubilee, and behold the root of the external forces - [which] is the secret of the River Dinur which is included in the holiness of the secret of the severities - is [also] rooted There and extends from There and this extension is called the extension of the burning fury, but the extension returns to its Source in the secret of "And the Lord smelled the pleasant smell" (Genesis 8:21), and the judgments are sweetened and the fury is stilled, 'and the Lord relents of the evil'; so [too] does a person do this secret with the secret of his repentance.

Moses had not been careful in this respect, had said "please kill me." The previous occasion had not been so serious, since Moses asked to die if G–d would not forgive the Jewish people for their involvement in the golden calf. It was part of his prayer for someone else. This is why his punishment at that time consisted only of his name not being mentioned when the work of the Tabernacle was carried out. This time, however, there were no such extenuating circumstances. The reason that caused Joshua to report to Moses what Eldad and Meydad had said, was that they did so within the camp. He asked Moses to prevent them from prophesying. The word כלאם is the same as in Genesis 8,2, or in Exodus 36,6. In either case it means that something was prevented from happening. Moses did not want to prevent them from saying what was on their minds, and said to Joshua: "why are you jealous on my behalf?"

According to this, the homiletical meaning Rashi speaks about, namely the comparison of someone who fails to carry out that commandment to a murderer as stated by Rabbi Eliezer in Yevamot 63, is based on the verse immediately prior to that in which the Torah proclaims: שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed." He apparently holds that only males are commanded to fulfil this commandment, and disagrees with Rabbi Yochanan ben Broka. The latter holds that the line "He blessed them," applied to both man and woman. The reason that the other scholar disagrees is that he holds that just as only males are in the habit of conquering, a condition in Genesis 1,28, so only males have to fulfil the condition of being fruitful. Clearly then he must hold that the words "He said to them, etc." must be understood as a commandment. The same reasoning applies to the first time the words פרו ורבו appear in Genesis 9,1. Rabbi Yochanan would then be in disagreement with Bar Kappara and the Talmud Sanhedrin 59, who both hold that the commandment is only found in Genesis 9,7, i.e. ואתם פרו ורבו. Nonetheless he interprets these verses homiletically on the basis of Rabbi Eliezer who believes that a homiletical explanation based on matters which appear side by side in the Torah is almost a commandment in itself [words are mine. Ed.]. Rabbi Eliezer bases his approach to exegesis on Psalms 111,8: סמוכים לעד לעולם, that words next to one another always, i.e. under all conditions, have an exegetical significance. Rabbi Eliezer applies that principle even when the verses in question are not "free" for homiletics but have already been explained as necessary in a different context.

When we look at certain individuals who lived prior to the time the Tabernacle was erected, we find that נח, אדם and אברהם respectively personified the concept of עשן, i.e. שנה,עולם , and נפש. Adam represented עולם, seeing he was the product for whose sake G–d had undertaken to create the universe. Noach personified the concept of שנה, seeing that during his lifetime the world underwent cataclysmic changes. He witnessed a world which functioned; he then witnessed a world that was destroyed; finally he witnessed a world rebuilt. Our patriarch Abraham, inasmuch as he personified absolute faith in G–d, comprised within himself all the spiritual powers connected with the soul. The Torah testifies that while still in Charan he and Sarah "made" souls, created people who possessed spiritual values, i.e. a soul (Genesis 12,5). Vayikra Rabbah 1,9 comments on Leviticus 1,1 ויקרא אל משה, "He called upon Moses," that whereas G–d called upon Moses, He did not call upon Adam. This seems peculiar in view of ויקרא ה' אלוקים אל האדם, in Genesis 3, 9! Obviously G–d did call upon Adam! We must answer by stating that it is not a disgrace for the king to speak to his tenant. The Midrash goes on: G–d spoke to Moses, i.e. וידבר ה' אליו, whereas he did not speak to Noach. How are we to understand this in view of Genesis 8,15: וידבר אלוקים אל נח! We must answer that it is no disgrace for a king to speak to his herder.

And, in truth, this is a great error. For if so, why did the Torah command this [(abstention from lashon hara)] by a negative commandment? Is it not known that "the Holy One Blessed be He does not deal despotically with His creatures"? The Torah, then, should have included this only in the class of middoth [desirable character traits], like other holy middoth, that are addressed only to unique individuals, [and not as a mitzvah]. But certainly the Creator of man put it in the power of each and every Jew that if he only puts his eyes and his heart to his ways he can avoid this [(speaking lashon hara)]. As we find in Sifrei, Parshath Ha'azinu (Devarim 32:4): "He is a G-d of trust, without wrong." That is, He did not create men to be reshaim, but to be tzaddikim. (For if not so, there is wrong, G-d forbid, in the ordinance of the Blessed One in the punishment that He metes out to them afterwards.) And thus is it written (Koheleth 7:29): "G-d made man just and they sought out many [devious] accountings." And thus is it stated in Tanchuma, Parshath Bereshith 7: "G-d made man just" — The Holy One Blessed be He, who is called "tzaddik and yashar [just]," created man in His image only to be tzaddik and yashar, as He is. And if you ask: "Why, then, did He create an evil inclination, of which it is written (Bereshith 8:21): 'For the inclination of a man's heart is evil from his youth'? You say: 'It is evil. Who can make it good?' The Holy One Blessed be He answers: "You made it evil. You were a child and did not sin. You grew up and you sinned. [That is, a man draws it (the yetzer) upon himself by his acts and by his affairs. For the Holy One Blessed be He gave man the power to withstand it and to make it his servant in many areas for the ultimate end, as it is written (Bereshith 4:17): "And you shall overcome it." And it is written (Mishlei 29:21): "One who indulges his servant from youth, etc." The words lend themselves to much elaboration.] And how many things there are in this world tougher than the yetzer hara and more bitter than it, yet you 'sweeten' them. There is nothing more bitter than lupine, yet you exert yourself to soak it and to season it in water seven times until it is sweet, and so with mustard and caper. Now, if the bitter things which I have created, you season to your needs, the yetzer hara, which is given into your hands, how much more so!"

Concerning the second term of endearment, we must understand what additional proof of endearment Moses experienced here when G–d said to him after the Tabernacle became functional: וידבר לאמור? Do we not have a similar expression even when G–d spoke to Noach where there was no reason for G–d to employ a special term of endearment? The Midrash therefore had to answer that there was no shame attached when a king spoke to his herder.

The Zohar continues: Rabbi Aba and the rest of the company responded, “If we did not set out upon a journey for any reason other than to hear this, it would have been sufficient for us.” While they were walking, a lone dove came to Rabbi Elazar and began chirping to him. Rabbi Elazar said to the dove, “You have always conducted yourself properly in all your missions, as it is written, ‘And Noach sent out the dove’ (Bereishis 8:8). Go tell Rabbi Yose, ‘Look, the companions are coming to see you, myself included. Do not be afraid, for in another three days a miracle will occur. Therefore let him not be overcome with anxiety, for we are coming to him in joy.’” So the dove went on ahead to Rabbi Yose ben Lakonya, Rabbi Elazar’s father-in-law, to fulfill its mission. Then it returned to Rabbi Elazar with the message that Rabbi Yose ben Lakonya was grief-stricken on account of Rabbi Yose ben Peki’in who was on his deathbed. (For at first Rabbi Yose ben Lakonya was ill but afterwards he recovered and Rabbi Yose ben Peki’in became ill in his stead.)