The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha last evening. [Due to the beautiful wedding of the young talmudical scholar's sister last evening and construction on the Throggs Neck Bridge and the Southern State Parkway, we only got home on the wrong side of midnight]. 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 8:11, the Torah states וַתָּבֹ֨א אֵלָ֤יו הַיּוֹנָה֙ לְעֵ֣ת עֶ֔רֶב וְהִנֵּ֥ה עֲלֵה־זַ֖יִת טָרָ֣ף בְּפִ֑יהָ - when the dove returned there was an olive leaf in its mouth. R' Frand quoted the Medrash Tanchuma in Tezaveh which states - just as the dove brought light to the world, so should the Jews bring light to the world by lighting the Menorah with olive oil.
But why does the Medrash describe what the dove did as "bringing light to the world?" It might have been hope, or a sign of life, but why light?
R' Frand answered by quoting the Maharal Diskin who cites a Gemara in Menachos which writes that the olive leaf has a special quality - it is extraordinarily strong - its leaves don't fall off in wind or rain. Additionally, olive leaves don't sink - they float on the water and don't disintegrate. The Maharal Diskin explains that when the dove brought the leaf back, he was teaching a lesson - Hashem created the olive leaves this way so that when Noach sent the dove out after the flood there would be something for the dove to eat. The leaf was created this way in Bereishis so that the dove would have food. This is the light - Hashem created the olive leaf this way so that the dove could teach Noach that Hashem prepared the world so that it could give every living creature what it needs.
R' Frand quoted R' Melech Biderman who recounted a story about a boy in Williamsburg on a fire escape who was building a sukkah when the ladder started to shake and he grabbed a pole from the fire escape, but it cracked and he fell six stories to the ground. The boy's mother immediately called Hatzalah, but when they came to the yard, the boy got up and walked on his own. It turned out that the building's committee had hired someone to trim the shrubs and trees earlier. They had been adamant that the worker clean up the debris and that they would not pay him until he finished the job.
He never cleared away the debris...and that was what the boy fell on. Hashem prepares what we need, even before we know it!
R' Frand then said another vort based on the word טָרָ֣ף which Rashi translates as the dove grabbed it. R' Frand quoted the Modjitzer Rebbi who asks - why not translate it as food, as טָרָ֣ף also means this? He answers this that although the dove taught Noach a lesson that Hashem prepares in advance, the dove did not get it. Why did she grab bitter olive leaves, instead of looking for something good to eat? She looked around for something to eat and grabbed this, but she could have just eaten something better!
R' Frand quoted the Kotzsker Rebbi who cites a gemara in Bava Metzia about two people who find an object - one jumps and falls on it and the other picks it up afterwards. We learn that halachically it belongs to the other. The Kotzsker explains the reason why in a drush - if you find something, you should believe that Hashem gave it to you for a purpose and take the time to pick it up. By falling on it, you show that you are worried that you are not going to get it, therefore the person who does pick it up in the normal fashion becomes the owner.
R' Frand tied this into a set of pesukim in the end of Bereishis wherein it states that Noach lived 500 years before he had children. All the others who came before him had children when they were "young", but Noach who was a tzaddik did not have children for many years. Why? Because if they were born many years before, Noach would not have been able to protect them from becoming like all the other people who died in the flood. Because they were born when Noach was already 500, he was able to prevent that from taking place.
R' Frand closed by saying that Hashem prepares everything for people in advance and even if it may seem bitter at the time, it is what we need.
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