By Rabbi Yosef Shemtov:
In this week’s Torah portion, parshat Noach, Hashem destroyed the entire world by bringing a flood. Not only human beings perished; all the animals and plants also died. The midrash says even the order of the planets and the sun changed in their orbit because there was so much corruption in the world. People were cruel to each other; they would do anything to enjoy life and did not care about others. They would even marry another man’s wife, steal another’s position and so on…
It is interesting to note that the midrash says the reason that G-od brought the flood was because people used to marry two wives: one for having children and the other for pleasure.
This is very strange. Why should this be the cause of the destruction of the entire world? At least they were married!!!
The midrash is telling us that people were so obsessed with enjoyment that nothing mattered to them. And, of course, one is never satisfied because he always wants more and more…
Yes, they did all the corrupt actions imaginable, but it all started by not controlling themselves and going after their temptations.
How important it is that we get our joy from Torah and mitsvot and not go after temptations.