In perek 14 of this week's parsha the Torah tells the story of the Tower of Bavel. The Ramban has a very deep explanation of these events. He writes (14:2) "... And look because in the entire story of the Mabul it uses Elokim and in the entire story of the flaga it uses the special name, because the Mabul was because they corrupted the land, and the flaga was because they cut the small plants, and they were punished with the big name and this was the reason for their destruction and also the midat Sodom." Let us try to break down this Ramban and hopefully it will be very enlightening. The pasuk says (6:11) "And the land was corrupt before Elokim and the land was filled with Chamas." Rashi explains that the reason why the world was destoryed was because the people did Ervah and Avodah Zara as it says in the pasuk (Devorim 4:16) "So that you do not act corruptly and make for yourselves carved images..." So when it says in the Ramban that the people of the mabul corrupted the world it means that they did avodah zara. It says in last week's parsha (6:6) "And Hashem was Nachem because of what man did in the land, and He was sad in His heart." The Ramban quotes a Midrash Rabbah on this pasuk (27:6/7) There is an argument about what the word Nachem means. According to one view Hashem was upset that He created man in the lower world were He is hidden because had they been in the upper world were He was revealed they would not have sinned. Another view was that Hashem was happy that He created man in the lower world because had man been created in higher world and he had sinned then Hashem would have to have destroyed the whole world... Then the midrash brings a Mashal. If a king hires an architect to design a building and the king does not like the building he does not blame the architect[, because the king was the one who designed it, the architect just made it a reality]. If a king makes a deal with a lowlife and the deal doesn't work out the king can only blame himself. This is what happened when man sinned, Hashem blamed Himself for their failure. Why? There is a midrash that says that when Hashem wanted to create man He first created a group of angels and asked them if it was a good idea. They said not to create man because his desires would get the best of him and he would sin, so Hashem destroyed them. He then created a second group of angels and the same thing happened. The He created a third group and they said that it was a bad idea to create man but Hashem could do whatever He wants. So Hashem created man and said that any time a person does a mitzvah this group of angels must come and have testimony in front of Hashem that the world was worth being created just for this man. That is the end of the midrash, but what happens every time man does something bad? Hashem would have to admit to the angels that they were right. This is why Hashem blames Himself for man's failure. The Ramban also notes that this one of the very few times in the story of the mabul that Hashem is used and not Elokim. Why change the name here? There is a midrash that says that Adam named all of the animals and then Hashem asked him to name himself and Hashem asked Adam to name him and Adam called God "Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei." Rav Chaim Volozhin explains that Hashem gave the power to man to affect the upper worlds. This is what it means to be a tzelem Elokim. The very fact the man could name Hashem showed how much power Hashem gave man in the upper worlds. This might be why the Torah uses this name here to show that even though they could have used their power for good it just led them to Avodah Zara. The name Hashem comes up again the story of the Mabul in 7:1. The Ramban there says that the reason for this is because "Hashem was using His midah of mercy to save Noach and his family... and it was a hint to him that in the future Hashem would have mercy on the korbon that Noach would bring and because of that korbon the world would be established. (Taanit 27b)" Hashem's name is used here to show that for Noach the whole world was worth being created, that Noach fought against his nature and the nature of everyone else in the world and he did not sin and for this the world was worth being created. "And Noach found favor in Hashem's eyes... Noach was a pure tzaddik in his generation" (6:8-9) He was a tzaddik even his generation filled with evil people, for this the world was worth being created. We also see why the name of Hashem is used in the flaga, because people their took their ability to affect the upper worlds and used it to rebel. The Ramban said that their sin was different from the earlier generation because they cut the small plants. In Chagigah 14b it says that four people entered the Pardes... Acher came in and cut the small plants." Later in the gemara it says that a Bat Kol came out and said "Everyone has the power to do teshuva except Acher." What is the meaning of this gemara and the ramban? Chazal explain that when one does a sin that is liable for Karet a person is cut off from Hashem. But the person should know that even though part of their soul (their ruach) is separated from Hashem their neshama is still connect to the Kisei Hakavod. As long as your neshama is still connected you can still survive. But as we said there is something worse, to use the power that Hashem gave us, to influence the upper worlds, to try to fight against Hashem. This is exactly what the dor Haflaga did and what Acher did. He used the great Torah knowledge he had to enter the Pardes and then once he got there he cut the small plants meaning he cut even his neshama from the Upper Worlds. The midrash says about the Dor Haflaga that they built the tower in order that they can place an idol there so that it can fight Hashem. They wanted to use their powers to influence the upper worlds to rebel against Hashem and this was the exact reason why the angels told Hashem not to create man, and this is the thing that gets Hashem the most angry. So now it would not be enough to destroy them with Elokim like He did to the Dor Hamabul He would need to use His "Big Name" (Ramban). Also the midrash explains that the people of Sodom would punish any person who would try to do nice things. They would take what Hashem gave them and use it for the opposite of what He wanted them to use them for.
Now when it came to Noach Hashem wanted him to have protection from the Mabul so He told Noach to build a tevah. The Zohar compares the Tevah to the Aron. Just like the Aron protected the Jews from the mountains and valleys, the tevah protected Noach, It was worth saving the world just for him. In fact rashi says several times that his children were only saved because of him. Now once Noach had gotten off the tevah he saw a whole new world. He was hoping that it would be possible to return to the time before the original sin. So Noach planted vines, the exact opposite of cutting down plants.
There are still one part that I do not understand. 1) What is going on after Noach plants the vineyard? (fitting into the Ramban) Any suggestions?
Good Chodesh and Good Shabbat!
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