Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Avraham Moeinzadeh
The following question is asked by the commentators on this week’s Parasha. On one hand, the Torah tells us that the world at that time was full of adultery. On the other hand, from the Torah it is clear that the reason for the flood was because of stealing. If the Dor Hamaboul was guilty of much greater sins such as adultery or idolatry why was their verdict signed only because of robbery?
The Shem Mishemuel wants to answer this question with the following analogy: Having pain in the body, as uncomfortable as it might be, is a great phenomenon that indicates the cause of illness and treatment to cure it, or to at least prevent it from getting worse. If a person has an illness but is numb and can’t sense the pain, although he is not bothered by it, the disease spreads in the body without him even realizing it. The same thing applies to the spiritual life of the person says Shem Mishemuel. Hashem has set a system for the person to identify his shortcomings before is too late. Chachamim teach us that when punishing the person, Hashem starts by taking away money. That is a wake up call for the person to start doing Teshuva. But that is only if his wealth was acquired appropriately. If the money is not really his, then that won’t be subjected to the Yisurim, rather the punishment would be decreed straight on the person. Although the main cause of the flood was the adultery and idolatry that was common in Dor Hamaboul, if their money was gathered in an appropriate way, their verdict wouldn’t be signed so suddenly.
Shabbat Shalom.