The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
In Bereishis 7:11 the Torah writes - בַּיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֗ה נִבְקְעוּ֙ כָּל־מַעְיְנוֹת֙ תְּה֣וֹם רַבָּ֔ה וַֽאֲרֻבֹּ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם נִפְתָּֽחוּ. Rashi analyzes the word רַבָּ֔ה and explains that the punishment was Middah K'Neged Middah - since the people of the generation sinned with רַבָּ֔ה, they were punished with רַבָּ֔ה.
R' Frand then asked - it is known that the generation of the flood was punished either because they were involved in immorality or because they stole. What is the רַבָּ֔ה referring to?
R' Frand answered by quoting a Sefer by an unidentified Vilna Dayan who explains that the people were involved in in the pursuit of uncontrolled pleasure - this is what is referred to.
R' Frand then tied this to the Yonah bringing the olive branch back to the Ark. R' Frand quoted a Medrash which states that the olive branch was actually from Gan Eden as Hashem opened Gan Eden to allow the Yonah to retrieve it.
But why did the Yonah need to bring an olive branch from Gan Eden? Wouldn't any olive branch suffice?
R' Frand answered that if a person wants to prevent his pursuit of pleasure from getting out of control, he should connect it with something spiritual. This was the reason that the olive branch was brought from Gan Eden - to show that the spiritual can connected with earthly pursuits.
R' Frand closed this part of the vort by repeating a story from a R' Mattisyahu Solomon ZTL sefer about a Rosh Yeshiva who was a Ba'al Teshuva. In his youth, he had been visiting the seedy sections of Haifa when he saw a Yeshiva Bochur who when he passed an inappropriate venue, had shielded his eyes so as to not see it. This was intriguing to him and he wondered what pleasure the Yeshiva Bochur found superior to this? He came to follow the boy and saw the Yeshiva lifestyle and eventually became a Rosh Yeshiva.
R' Frand told a second vort about the animals which came to the Ark - specifically noting that the non-Kosher animanls came to the Ark on their own and that Noach had to go out and locate the kosher animals.
R' Frand quoted R' Ya'akov Kaminetsky who explained that that the kosher animals were destined to be sacrifices and that someone involved in a Mitzva needs to make an investment in order for the Mitzva to be complete. This is similarly why a person pays for a Mi Sheberach after getting an Aliyah - because getting a Mitzva for free creates a blemished Mitzva - only by paying for the Mi Sheberach is the Mitzva complete.
R' Frand closed the vort by quoting R' Simcha Zissel Brody who noted that Sefer Bereishis is called Sefer HaYashar because the Avos were straight and always comported themselves with the nations in a way that they were beyond reproach.
This trickled down to the animals as well. As the Kosher animals were destined to be sacrifices, it would not be appropriate for them to instinctively go to the Ark from which they would be later sacrificed. Only the non-Kosher animals which were not destined for slaughter had the instinct to travel to the Ark on their own.
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