Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Noach

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 7:23 the Torah states "וַיִּשָּׁ֧אֶר אַךְ־נֹ֛חַ" - which literally translated means that only Noach (and his family) survived. Rashi offers multiple interpretations of this statement, including that Noach was bitten by a lion because he was late bringing its food.

R' Frand then asked - what is the purpose of this statement? Was it a lesson that if you are late feeding the lion it will get angry?

R' Frand answered by quoting a vort from the Ostrovser Rebbi [Ed note - I am probably off on that name, if you have the correct spelling, please post it in the comments below]. He first cited a Gemara in Yoma which states that the smoke of the burning wood of the Ma'aracha in the first Beis Hamikdash went up in the image of a lion and the second Beis Hamikdash like a dog. 

The Ari explains that the smoke was a protectant for the Jewish people and dissuaded them from sinning. In the days of the first Beis Hamikdash the protector was a lion and the second was a dog. There is a difference between being guarded by a lion and a dog, as a lion will attack an intruder, while a dog is more of a burglar alarm which alerts you that an intruder is present.

This was the difference between the two Batei Mikdash- in the first, the lion was strong and protected from sin, whereas the dog was nowhere near as strong of a protection. When the lion was present, there was no potential thought of sin. The dog could not offer such protection, it just barked to try to dissuade from sin.

The Ostrover Rebbi tied this into Noach. He was not interested in going out to convince others not to sin and just worked on his ark. Yes, when people came and asked him, he told them that the flood was coming, but he was not actively trying to prevent people from sinning. Thus he was bitten by a lion as a mussar to him that he should have been more actively involved in preventing sin.

R' Frand then connected this to the sign of the rainbow which was a promise  that there would not be another flood. Why did Hashem choose this sign? He quoted R' Yosher Ber Soloviechik who explained that the rainbow is a sign that even though there are clouds and darkness, there is light behind it. The message to Noach was, there is no generation without hope as there is always a possibility that they can be brought back. 

R' Frand then linked this to a Gemara in Berachos which provides the history of the admissions to the yeshiva as R' Gamliel only permitted those who who were the same on the inside and out, whereas R' Yehoshua allowed everyone to come and learn. The Gemara states that when R' Gamliel saw all the extra benches which were added after R' Yehoshua's open door policy began, he wept. To this he was shown an earthenware vessel filled with ash. He had solace as it appeared to him that the new students were empty on the inside. But the Gemara teaches that was not the case.

R' Soloviechik explained that the ash was not without potential as smoldering ash can reignite if there is oxygen blown back in. Similarly, the people who appeared empty and burned out on the inside could be motivated and their true souls reignited by Torah.

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