Parashat Noach: When the World Fell Apart — and Why

This page features an adapted version of the shiur on Parashat Noach (5786–2025). To read the full transcript from the original recording, please click on the PDF below.

Parashat Noach_ When the World Fell Apart — and Why (5786-2025).pdf

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Chodesh Tov to each one of you — may this new month bring us only good news, yeshuot and nechamot.

You could ask: What is in the name of a month? What does a name represent?After all, we know that the names of the months of the year were given in Bavel — Nissan, Iyar, Sivan — names adopted after Am Yisrael returned from the exile of Bavel to Yerushalayim, to remember the tremendous chessed that Hashem had done with them.

Of course, I’m sending you this message l’ilui nishmat Rav Shlomo ben Rav Yitzchak.

The Meaning of the Month of Cheshvan

So you’ll ask: what does each month come to teach us?

Each month teaches us something very special. Chazal teach that Cheshvan is also called Mar-Cheshvan. Mar comes from the word “bitter,” because this is the month when the Mabul (Flood) began and destroyed the world.

But Chazal add that within the word Mar-Cheshvan we find Merachashin, meaning “to whisper.”

They explain: throughout the month of Tishrei, we spoke so many words of prayer — davening, begging, and pleading with Hashem — until Hoshana Rabbah. Then came Shemini Atzeret, that one precious day alone with Hashem.We tell Hashem: we want to continue those whispers of prayer even now, into Mar-Cheshvan.

The Hidden Strength of a “Quiet” Month

In the word Cheshvan we have the letters Ches and Shin — forming chush (sense) — and also a Nun.

Cheshvan is one of the few months without a single festival. There’s no chag, no special occasion to anticipate. It feels quiet — routine.

The winter begins; in Eretz Yisrael we hope for rain. After the spiritual heights of Tishrei — Rosh Hashanah, Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and finally the intimate Shemini Atzeret — we now enter stillness.

But Hashem reminds us through the Nun: it symbolizes nefilah — falling.That’s why in Ashrei (Tehillah LeDavid), the Nun is missing. David HaMelech said, “I didn’t want to even allude to falling.”

Hashem says to us: you may fall, you might forget your kabbalot — but remember the Nun. Pick yourself up and keep going.

The Power of the Senses

Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch teaches about the sense of smell.

When Noach came out of the Teivah, he built a mizbeach and brought a korban.For the first time, the Torah says: “Vayarach Hashem et re’ach hanichoach” — Hashem smelled the pleasant aroma.

Rav Hirsch asks: burning meat — a pleasant aroma?

He explains: when you smell something behind a closed door, you sense what’s being prepared. The aroma reveals what’s happening within.

So too, Hashem says: let the good aroma of your deeds continue; let it fill your life.Even when the world is quiet, routine — that’s when you must show that your re’ach tov, your spiritual fragrance, endures.

Noach — A Tzaddik in His Generation

This week’s parasha tells us: “Noach matza chen be’einei Hashem.”

The Midrash in Tehillim says: “Ashrei ha’ish” — happy is the person — refers to Noach.

He didn’t follow the wicked (atzat resha’im), didn’t stand with sinners (derech chata’im), and didn’t sit with mockers (moshav leitzim).

He resisted every corrupt influence — idolatry, theft, arrogance — and remained honest and pure.Chazal say: it’s harder to be tamim when surrounded by corruption. Yet Noach stayed strong.

The Building of the Teivah

Hashem commanded Noach to build a Teivah — not a boat, but a box-shaped vessel — out of wood.

Why did it take 120 years?The Midrash says Noach planted and grew the cedar trees himself to prove that idols have no power.He said: “You worship these trees, but I’ll build from them the Teivah that will save the world.”

Why Was Gezel (Stealing) the Final Straw?

Why was theft the sin that sealed their fate?

Even though they worshiped idols and were immoral, Hashem waited. But when they began stealing, Hashem said: now there is no more unity.

In David HaMelech’s time, people spoke lashon hara, and soldiers fell. But in the wicked reign of Achav, where people were united, they won every battle.That’s the power of unity.

So Hashem said: the world cannot survive when unity and respect are gone.

Even small acts of theft — things of no real value — reflected a complete moral collapse.The foundation of creation is “Olam chesed yibaneh” — the world is built upon kindness.

The Dimensions and Purpose of the Teivah

Hashem gave Noach precise measurements — 300 amot long, 50 wide, 30 high.

Why such detail? Because the Teivah symbolized the world in miniature — and it held miraculously all living creatures.Noach distinguished between kosher and non-kosher — already knowing Hashem’s laws.

Why Did Noach Build It Alone?

Hashem could have sent workers — yet He told Noach to build it himself.

The Midrash explains: Hashem delayed Noach’s children until age 500 — to spare him pain if they were wicked, and to focus his energy on one holy Teivah.

The Teivah wasn’t just a refuge — it was a dwelling for the Shechinah.It had to be built with mesirut nefesh, devotion, and holiness — like the Mishkan later in the desert.Hashem wanted one Teivah built with love and purity, not many built quickly and empty of spirit.

💞 Noach’s Year of Chesed

During that year in the Teivah, Noach and his family hardly slept.They fed every creature with love and compassion — and Noach was even bitten by a lion for being late to feed it.

Hashem wanted Noach to learn the world’s essence:“Olam chesed yibaneh.”

Noach’s avodah was to give selflessly, even without thanks.When he offered his korban, Hashem “smelled” the pleasant aroma — the aroma of renewed humanity and unity.

🏗️ The Generation of the Tower of Bavel

Later, Nimrod united his generation in rebellion against Hashem.He said: “Look what happens when we are not united. Let’s live as one — and defy Heaven.”

They built the Tower of Bavel, using technology and arrogance.

Hashem did not destroy them, but confused their language, scattering them — and the Dor HaPalagah ended.From that moment, the stage was set for Avraham Avinu, through whom the true spiritual creation of the world began.

A Modern-Day Story of Hashgacha

A soldier searching through the ruins of a kibbutz in Gaza after Simchat Torah discovered a metal cabinet untouched by fire. Inside was a bag of tefillin with a Tel Aviv address.

He called the number. A young man answered.The soldier said, “I found your tefillin in Nir Oz.”

The man began to cry:

“I was supposed to be there on Simchat Torah, but I switched shifts with a friend who was later killed. I left my tefillin there, thinking I’d return Sunday morning.”

He continued:

“After October 7th, I felt life wasn’t worth living. But now that my tefillin were returned, I know Hashem is speaking to me. I’ll put them on again — in memory of my friends — and sanctify His Name.”

✨ May We All...

...have a wonderful Shabbos.May we share only good news.

With all my love from New York.