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A candle in memory of my father-in-law and mentor

Rabbi Doctor Yisrael Weinstock, who passed away 20 years ago,

Cheshvan 5741

The moral corruption of the generation of the Deluge led to God's decision: "I will blot out humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth." His intent is reflected in His words to Noach: "And I will blot out all existing-things that I have made, from the face of the earth.". He carried out his intention: "He blotted out all existing-things that were on the face of the soil."

Thrice the idea is expressed: Man, created from earth but possessing a soul of life and the image of God, cannot exist on the face of the earth once he loses his spirituality and his character is debased.

After the deluge, the world is granted a new beginning, one holding greater promise. Noah, the righteous, wholehearted man saved by God from the flood, is the first man to erect an altar. In other words, it was he who insitutionalized the sacrificial rite. The pleasant odors issuing from the sacrifices led God to decide that "I will never curse the soil again on humankind's account." Mankind begins to develop anew from the descendants of Noah. "These three were Noah's sons, and from these were scattered abroad all the earth-folks."

But this new and promising beginning is immediately followed by another fall, this time by the father of the new mankind: "Now Noah was the first man of the soil; he planted a vineyard. When he drank from the wine, he became drunk and exposed himself in the middle of his tent."

The imbibing of wine leads Noah to drunkenness, which results in the loss of human dignity, in brutishness. This situation is exploited by his son, Ham, in order to witness his father's nakedness, expressing further degradation. The results of this event are far-reaching. A third of humanity, all the descendents of Ham, are cursed – " . . . servant of servant shall he be to his brothers!" He who would exploit the momentary weakness of another in order to harm him is sentenced to servitude, the apex of man's maleficent rule over man.

The verse describing the chain of events which eventually lead to Ham's being cursed calls Noah "man of the soil". We are immediately reminded of Noah's birth and of the hope of his father, Lemech:

It is conceivable that the verse which terms Noah "man of the soil" wishes to whisper something additional into our ear. Our Sages said in Midrash Rabba:

A feasible exegesis may be that Kayin's nature became that of a worker of the soil, perhaps even a slave of the soil. Soil represents man's material aspect, that component which leads to avarice, ownership, coerciveness, materialism, hedonism. Man was placed in the Garden of Eden "to work it and watch over it", over that very soil from which he was formed. But Man must be on guard, lest the soil rule over him, becoming the focus of his life. The danger is, as expressed by in midrash, that Man be eager for the soil.

Kayin, who became a worker of the soil, degenerated to point of fratricide. According a midrash quoted in Midrash Rabba it was the lust for land which led the brothers to quarrel: "And Kayain said to his brother Hevel" -- What were they discussing? They said, Come, let us divide up the world. One took the land and the other took the movables. This one said, The land upon which you sand is mine. And the other said, that which you are wearing, is mine. This one says, Fly away, and the other says, Undress." In other words, the first murder in history is the tragic finale to a argument which, from Kayin's point of view, is focused upon rule over land.

Kayin's punishment is the negation of his essence as a worker of the soil. The earth no longer belongs to Kayin. He who became a slave to the earth must be exiled from his land. His sentence is sealed – he must be a wavering wanderer.

After the expulsion from the Eden, God told man "Damned be the soil on your account." The earth, too, is cursed by God's fury. In the case of Kayin, the curse recedes somewhat from the earth. The curse is placed upon murderer, even though the curse is expressed through the earth. Only in God's positive words after the deluge, quoted at the beginning of our study, does God promise never to curse the soil again. In any case, even during the period when earth is accursed -- from the expulsion from Eden until Noah's sacrifices -- the earth is cursed for Man; earth itself is not accursed.

The third image mentioned in the midrash as craving for land is Uzziya, one of most successful kings from the lineage of King David. The Book of Chronicles tells of his military and political successes, including the establishment of a professional army numbering over 300,000 warriors.

"And his name spread to the boundary of Egypt" – with the exception of Egypt, his kingdom was one of the mightiest in the ancient East.

The Tanakh relates his agricultural projects: "And he hewed many wells, for he had many cattle in the loand on the plains, farmers and vintners in the mountains and on the Carmel, for he loved the soil."

According to our midrash, the end of the previous verse described Uzziya's exaggerated love of soil, a love which led to his bitter end: "When he was strong, he grew so arrogant he acted corruptly; he trespassed against his God by entering the Temple of the Lord to offer incense on the incense alter" -- which eventually resulted in " . . leprosy broke out on his forehead."

It could be that the placement of soil at the top of his order of values was what brought about Uzziya's haughtiness. Haughtiness can disorient even man's spiritual component, that which leads him to offer sacrifices in the service of God. Pride can bring Man to attempt forceful dominion even over the most spiritual -- the offering of incense.

We return to Noah. It is possible that the beginning of his decline lay in his transformation from an "Ish tsaddik" – a righteous man – as described before the Flood, into an "Ish adama" - a man of the soil – after the inundation. (Rabbi Berechiya, in Midrash Rabba, censures Noah's decline, especially through comparison with the spiritual development of Moshe, who began as an "Ish Mitzri" – an Egyptian man – but finished his life as an "Ish Ha-Elokim" - a man of God.) When Noah's central being becomes the soil, and his earlier righteousness pales, restraints are loosed, and creeping intoxication finally brings on disgrace.

Thus, according to the midrash, a threefold thread binds Kayin, Noah, and Uzzia. All three are overwhelmed by passion for land – the means becomes an end. In the three instances, to quote the admirable phrasing of the midrash, " . . . but their efforts were in vain." Is this not always the case? When the means becomes the goal, in the end the goal is not achieved and the means are also lost.

The Return to Zion in our day is the exodus of the Jewish people from an existence marked by detachment from the soil. We have returned to the earth to work it and to watch over it – not to become enslaved by it.