Parsha Noach: Judaism & Jewish Teachings - Humanity Can Still Be Evil, So Why No More Floods?

0:00 A young Jewish man tells his mother that he's finally decided to get married. Mum, I found the woman of my dreams. His mother is delighted. That's wonderful, darling. Who is she? He says I'm not telling you yet. In fact, I've got a little game for you. What game? she asks. I'm bringing three women to Shabbas lunch. One of them is the woman I'm going to marry. I want you to guess which one. His mother agrees. Shabbas arrives. Three beautiful young women come for lunch. They sit together for hours.

0:38 They talk about their families, their careers, their interests and their lives. After they leave, the son turns to his mother. Well, mum, which one am I going to marry? His mother immediately says the one in the middle. He's astonished. Mum, that's incredible. You're absolutely right. How did you know? His mother shrugs. She's the one I didn't like This seems to be the most extraordinary contradiction in the Torah. Right at the end of last week's Pasha it says Hashem saw that the wickedness of mankind was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

1:26 Hashem then says, I will wipe out mankind who I have created from the face of the earth, from man to beast to creeping creatures and to the birds of the heavens, for I regret having made them. What follows is the flood in this week's Pasha. After the flood Nach leaves the Ark, builds a Mizbaak, and offers Corbanot to Hashem. In response Hashem says, I will never again curse the crown because of mankind, for the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth, nor will I ever again strike down every link every living creature as I have done.

2:05 So before the Muble it is mankind's inclination towards evil that Hashem uses to justify destroying the world, and after the Muble it is mankind's inclination towards evil, which is the reason Hashem says that he will not strike down every living creature again. How can that make sense? After the flood, Hashem seems to acknowledge that the human inclination towards evil remains as it was before the flood. So what has changed? Why no more floods? In Nefeshaim, Ravhimavin explains that before the sin of the Yatzadat, the Yetzahara existed outside of Adam and Chavah, that internally they were completely holy.

2:56 They still had Bahira Hovshis free will, which of course is how they ended up sinning, because they had the free will to choose. However, the Yetsahara, the evil inclination, did not come from within Adam and Chava, but was external to them. Therefore the Yetsahara represented by the Nachash, the snake, had to come from outside of Adam and Chavah. They had no desire to sin within themselves. However, their free were meant that they could be persuaded by an external force, the Nachash. Once Adam and Chava had eaten from the Yetzadat, humanity changed.

3:38 The Nefesh Hahaim writes after the sin, the powers of impurity and evil were also integrated and mixed into him. This is the knowledge of good and evil. The Nefesh Hahaim writes that today the urge that seduces the person is within the person himself, and makes it appear to the person as if he himself, he is the one who desires and lusts to do the iniquity, and not that another outside himself seduces him. This is a fundamental distinction. Before eating from the Yats, mankind could choose evil, but the desire did not come from within.

4:21 The Yet Sahara had to convince man to do wrong. After the sin, the desire to do evil was within mankind himself. In other words, the very nature of temptation changed. After the sin, evil became intertwined with human desire. Therefore we can say that eating from the eight Sada changed what it meant to be human. The Ramban also explains how eating from the Ait Sadaat changed the nature of human desire. The Rumban says that originally Adam and Hava acted according to their nature, carrying out their functions, just like all other aspects of creation.

5:04 It was eating from the Eight Sadaat that produced will and desire within humanity, which could be used for both good and evil. For example, procreation was a functional necessity and no more. Therefore there was no shame in being naked, because all parts of the body were the same. Whether it was a face or hands or legs or arms, etc., they performed the functions for which they were required. After eating from the tree, desire entered mankind's nature. That is, of course, why Adam and Hatha felt the need to cover themselves.

5:40 Desire meant that all not all body parts were now purely functional. Like the Nefeshahaim, Ramban is explaining that the very nature of humanity changed after eating from the Eight Sadat. Eating from the tree gave human beings a new capacity to be driven by competing desires and inclinations. The Nefeshahaim describes evil itself becoming part of humanity. The Ramban, on the other hand, suggests a new form of choosing because of the introduction of desire. Of course, they're not mutually exclusive.

6:17 Both could be true. Both agree that the nature of humanity was fundamentally changed. What that means is that every generation after Adam and Haveh, including us, inherited this new altered human condition. So today, we may see food that we don't need and want it anyway. We may see something that we can't have and be drawn towards it. We may have a task that needs doing, but instead get distracted by an activity that is more immediately gratifying. Those desires are within us. And as the Nefeshaim explains, it feels like something we want even when it's no good for us, because the Yet Sahara is part of us.

7:01 However, the existence of temptation is not the same as surrendering to temptation. Adam and Chava possess free will before their sin, and we possess free will after it. The nature of the struggle has changed, but the responsibility to choose remains. So, if the nature of humanity itself changed after the sin of Adam and Chavah, what happened when Hashem decided to destroy the world with the marble and recreate it? Hashem decided to destroy and recreate the world because of the evil of mankind. In many ways the marble was a new beginning.

7:43 The world had become corrupt. Hashem destroyed that civilization. Noah and his family were saved, and humanity began again. But although this was a new beginning, Hashem didn't entirely destroy creation. Noah was instructed to bring all the different species into the Teva so that they could continue after the flood. Noah and his family were also saved. Therefore, humanity was not restored to its condition before Adam and Hava ate from the Yetzadaat. The Yetsahara remains within us. In fact, the Sforno says that after the flood, the natural constitutions of human beings were inferior to what they were before the flood.

8:30 Human beings had even less intellectual capacity to resist desire than they did before the flood. In other words, the Sforno says that after the flood, the very constitution of humanity changed. Human beings would no longer possess the same intellectual capacity to overcome their inclinations from an early age. The marble did not simply change the world around humanity, it changed humanity itself. Before the marble, human beings possessed a stronger capacity to resist their desires. After the marble, the balance between intellect and appetite had deteriorated.

9:11 This is extraordinary. We might have expected the marble to produce a morally improved humanity. Instead, the Sforno tells us that the human constitution became weaker. And precisely at this moment, Hashem makes his remarkable declaration I will never again curse the ground because of mankind, for the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth, nor will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. Hashem had not removed the inclination towards evil. He had not restored humanity to its original condition before the eight Sedat.

9:49 According to the Sforno, humanity is now even less capable of resisting its desires than before. And it's precisely this humanity that Hashem promises to preserve. According to Sforno, the marble left humanity less capable of resisting its desires. This gives us one way of understanding Hashem's promise. Human beings are now more vulnerable to the Yet Sahara, and that vulnerability becomes part of the explanation for why Hashem will not destroy the world again in this way. The Kliyaka specifically explains the change between Hashem saying he will destroy the world because of man's evil before the flood, and Hashem saying that he will never again strike down every living creature because the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth after the flood.

10:43 The Kliyaka argues that this difference in wording is deliberate and reflects a fundamental change in the human condition. Before the Mubble, the Pasuk says, Hashem saw that the wickedness of mankind was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Kliyaka says that the physical constitution of the earth itself contributed to human corruption. That corruption persisted throughout life, even as a person grew older. After the Mubble, the Pasak says, For the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

11:23 The Kliyaka explains that the earth itself had experienced the purification due to the flood. Consequently, the principal cause of sin was no longer the material constitution derived from the earth, but the Yatsahara, which is particularly powerful during youth. However, as a person matures, the Yetzitov develops, and the intellect becomes capable of restraining the Yatzsahara. The Svorno argues that the human constitution became weaker after the flood, and that the human intellect would no longer restrain desire as effectively from an early age as it had previously.

12:05 The Kliyaka argues that the physical constitution of the earth became purified after the flood. Consequently, human beings were no longer subject to the same lifelong corruption and can increasingly overcome their evil inclination as they matured. Notice how differently Sforno and Kliyaka approached the same question. According to the Sforno, humanity emerged from the marble weaker. Human beings now possess less intellectual capacity to overcome their desires, particularly during their youth. According to the Kliyaka, however, the world emerged from the marble in an important sense improved.

12:44 The earth had been purified. Human beings were no longer subject to the same corruption throughout their lives. As they matured, they could increasingly overcome their Yat Sahara. So the Svono focuses on humanity's weakness. The Kliyaka focuses on humanity's capacity for growth. And both help us understand Hashem's extraordinary promise. According to the Svono, Hashem recognizes that human beings are now more vulnerable to their Yet Sahara. According to the Kliyaka, Hashem recognizes that although human beings still possess a Yet Sahara, they're no longer condemned to remain under its influence throughout their lives.

13:27 One emphasizes human vulnerability. The other emphasizes human potential. And this gives us two very different ways of understanding why the continued existence of the Yat Sahara no longer leads to the destruction of the world. But there is something else here which I think is even more profound. We have seen that Adam and Hava fundamentally changed human nature when they ate from the Yat Sad'at. We have also seen that the marble changed the conditions of human existence. But neither Sforno nor the Kliyaka suggests that the marble eliminated the Yet Sahara.

14:04 Humanity remained imperfect. And yet, Hashem promises that he will never again destroy the world in this way. I want to suggest that this teaches us something extraordinary, not only about the nature of humanity, but about the relationship between Hashem and the human beings he created. Before the Mubble, Hashem sees humanity's inclination towards evil and destroys the world. After the Muble, Hashem acknowledges humanity's inclination towards evil and promises never again to destroy the world in this way.

14:44 We have seen how the Sforno and Kliyak are often different explanations of what changed after the Mubble. But I want to suggest that there is another dimension to this extraordinary promise. It is not simply a question of what changed in humanity, it is also a question of what Hashem is teaching us about his relationship with humanity. And to understand that, we need to return to Adam and Hava. Originally Hashem created Adam without evil being internalized within his nature. Adam possessed free will.

15:20 He could choose evil, but that evil was external to him. Then Adam and Hava ate from the eight Sadat, and human nature changed. Evil became internalized. Human beings now experienced desires that could lead them towards wrongdoing. Generations passed. Humanity became increasingly corrupt. Eventually Hashem brought the marble. But here is the extraordinary point. The evil condition which humanity had reached was a consequence of mankind's own action. Hashem had not created humanity with the Yetsahara within.

15:58 Adam and Chavad caused that themselves by eating from the Yetzadat. In other words, humanity had brought its downfall upon itself. But when Hashem brought the marble, he could have destroyed humanity completely. He could have started again. He could have created human beings as he had originally created Adam and Chavah without an internal Yetsahara. But he didn't. Instead he saved Noah and his family. And this is the extraordinary point. Hashem chose to continue creation with humanity as it had become.

16:37 A humanity that possessed an internal Yetzhahara. A humanity in which desire and temptation were part of the human condition. And according to the Svana, human humanity's capacity to resist those desires had become weaker still. But consider what this means. Before the Muble, humanity was living with the consequences of a condition it had brought upon itself. After the Mubble, humanity was living with a condition Hashem had deliberately chosen to preserve. That is the change. Not that humanity had become good, not that the Yetsahara had disappeared, but that Hashem had chosen to preserve humanity in the very condition that mankind had originally brought upon itself.

17:30 Now I want to suggest that this distinction helps explain Hashem's extraordinary promise after the marble. Having deliberately chosen to continue creation with human beings who possess an internal Yet Sahara, Hashem now promises that he will never again destroy the world in this way. And perhaps we can understand the significance of that promise as follows. Hashem had chosen to continue creation with human beings who possess an internal Yait Sahara. Therefore, the existence of that Yet Sahara cannot in itself be grounds for destroying creation.

18:13 That does not mean that evil has become acceptable. It does not mean that human beings are no longer responsible for their actions. And it certainly does not mean that Hashem has abandoned divine judgment. But it does mean that Hashem has committed himself to sustaining a world in which human beings will continue to experience temptation, desire, and the possibility of moral failure. Think about the significance of that. Hashem has chosen to preserve humanity as it is, rather than recreate humanity as it was.

18:49 And having made that choice, he establishes a promise that the world will not again be destroyed in this way. Before the Mubble, humanity's corruption contributed to the destruction of the world. After the Mubble, Hashem had committed himself to the continued existence of a world populated by human beings who possess an internal Yat Sahara. Not because human beings are now perfect, but because Hashem has chosen to make the continuation of creation possible without requiring humanity to return to its original condition.

19:26 And that raises a fascinating question. If Hashem has deliberately chosen to preserve humanity with an internal Yat Sahara, what exactly does he expect us to do with it? To answer that, let's look at what happens when Hashem creates man. Hashem creates mankind on the sixth day of creation. At the end of that day, the Pasak says, And Hashem saw all that he created, and it was very good. This is the only day when the Torah says, Tov ma'od, it was very good. Instead of just Tov it was good. The Midrash in Barashit Rabba explains, when the Torah says, Behold it was good, that's the Yetzah Tov, the good inclination.

20:13 But when the Torah says, Behold it was very good, that is the Yetsahara, the evil inclination. The Midrash immediately challenges this extraordinary assertion. But is the Yatsahara really very good? It answers. Were it not for the Yatsahara, a person would not build a house, would not marry a wife, would not have children, and would not engage in commerce. Remember, according to Nefesh Hahaim, the Yat Sahara existed at creation, but it not become internalized within Adam. The midrash is teaching us something about the Yatsahara itself, not necessarily where it resided within human nature at that moment.

20:59 The Yatsahara is not simply a destructive force that should be eliminated. It is also connected to the drives that make human civilization possible. Ambition, desire, competition, the pursuit of achievement, the wish to acquire things, the desire to build, create, and accomplish. These drives can produce extraordinary good. They can also produce terrible evil. Consider ambition. Ambition can motivate someone to build a successful business that employs hundreds of people. But the same ambition can motivate someone to exploit employees, deceive customers, or destroy competitors.

21:40 The drive itself is not necessarily the problem. The moral question is what governs that drive and where is it directed? And this gets to the very heart of Judaism. Judaism does not generally demand that we withdraw from ordinary human life. We eat, we drink, we marry. We work, we build businesses, we raise families, we participate in the world. But we are commanded to bring kaducia, holiness into these activities. The challenge is not to eliminate human desire, it's to elevate human desire. A person can use ambition to exploit others, or to build something that benefits thousands of people.

22:25 A person can use wealth purely for self-gratification, or to support their family, help others, and give sadaka. A person can use their desire for recognition to dominate others, or they can use it to motivate themselves towards genuine achievement and service. The same human drives, different moral choices. The Gomorrah in Kadushin, 30 Ahmed Bet has Hashem saying to Klali Ishrael, I created a Yait Sahara, an evil inclination, and I created Torah as its tavlin. This is often translated into English as I created an evil inclination and I created Torah as its antidote.

23:08 But the Gomorrah doesn't use the word antidote. It uses the word tavlin. And that choice of word is extraordinarily significant. Tavlin means spice. An antidote counteracts something harmful, but a spice does something different. It takes the ingredients that are already there and transforms what we can make from them. And that fits beautifully with the midras we have just learned. The Yetsahara is not simply something humanity needs to eliminate, it is also associated with the very drives that allow us to build, create, achieve, and accomplish.

23:48 The Gomorrah is teaching us something profound. Hashem gave us Torah, not simply to protect us from the destructive possibilities of our desires, but also to teach us how to channel those desires towards good. We can take emotions like desire, ambition, and drive, and with Torah direct those emotions to enhance them, make them better, and bring out the good that can come from those feelings instead of the bad which they can also produce. If Hashem deliberately chose to preserve humanity with an internal Yat Sahara, then possessing that Yet Sahara cannot itself constitute a moral failure.

24:30 The challenge is what we do with it. Indeed, the Gomorrah continues, a person's Yet Sahara renews itself against him every day. This is a remarkable observation about human nature. We do not overcome temptation once and are permanently immune to it. The struggle is ongoing. A person can demonstrate tremendous self-control yesterday and still face a serious challenge today. That is not necessarily evidence that yesterday's achievement was meaningless. It reflects the continuing nature of the human struggle.

25:06 We often imagine personal development as a journey in which every achievement permanently eliminates a weakness. But human beings do not necessarily develop in that way. Someone may overcome a particular temptation repeatedly and still struggle with it. Someone may be more patient but occasionally lose their temper. Someone may become more generous while continuing to experience selfish impulses. The Gomorrah suggests that the persistence of the struggle is not surprising. It's part of the human condition.

25:40 Spiritual greatness is not necessarily demonstrated by never experiencing temptation. It's demonstrated by how we respond to temptation. Imagine Nach emerging from the Teva. The world in you has disappeared. An entire civilization has been destroyed. And Hashem makes an extraordinary promise. Never again will he destroy the world in this way. Not because humanity has become perfect, not because the Yate Sahara has disappeared, but because Hashem has chosen to continue creation with humanity as it now exists.

26:19 And that is the extraordinary kizk of the Mubble. Hashem knows exactly what kind of human beings we are. He knows our weaknesses, our desires, and our temptations. He knows that we will struggle and sometimes we will fail. But he has given us Torah, the Tavlin, to help us take those very human drives and direct them towards Kaducia. Think about what that means for each of us. We sometimes imagine that genuine spiritual growth means reaching a point where we no longer struggle, where temptation disappears, where we never make another mistake.

27:00 And when we inevitably fall short, we can feel that everything we have achieved has been lost. But that is not what Hashem expects of us. Hashem does not ask us to become the human beings Adam and Hava were before the eighth hadat. He asks us to become the best human beings that we can in the world we actually inhabit. And that means recognizing something fundamental. Our weaknesses do not define us. Our mistakes do not erase our achievements, and our failures do not determine our future. The marble did not eliminate the possibility of human failure.

27:39 It established that human failure would not eliminate the possibility of a future.