STAM TORAH
PARSHAS NOACH 5778
“ALL THE WAY TO THE
TOP”[1]
“Most people live the life that happens, instead
of the life that they truly want.”[2]
Noach is described by the Torah as being, צדיק תמים - perfectly righteous. Yet, he is
always held up to the standard of Avrohom Avinu. Therefore, as great as he was,
on some level he is viewed as having not fulfilled his complete potential; he
wasn’t as great as he could have been.
Rashi writes that there is an
opinion that Noach was only considered righteous in his generation. However,
had he lived in the generation of Avrohom, he would not have achieved any level
of greatness. "יש דורשין לגנאי – אילו היה בדורו של
אברהם לא היה כלום"
Although he was personally
righteous, Noach did not save his generation. In fact, he didn’t save anyone
outside of his immediate family. Avrohom, on the other hand, created a
tremendous movement consisting of multitudes of people to whom he and Sarah taught
about Hashem.
Parshas Noach is therefore a
parsha which contains the story of a hero who achieved greatness, and yet did
not fulfill his potential. It is intriguing that the parsha seems to end with
another such story of an individual who sought greatness and yet came up short:
After the Torah introduces Terach
and Avrom, it tells us about Terach’s journey at the end of his life. “Terach
took Avrom his son… and he went out with them from Ur Kadim to go to the Land
of Canaan. And they came to Charan and they dwelled there.[3]”
Then the final words of the parsha read, “Terach died in Charan”.[4]
In his old age, Terach left
with his family to go to Canaan. Seforno explains that Eretz Yisroel is a
propitious place, where the very air is conducive to achieving holiness and
developing greater closeness with G-d. It seems that Terach set out for Eretz
Yisroel because he wanted to bask in the sanctity of the Land.
So, what happened?
New Yok Times Bestselling author, John Maxwell,
relates:
Many tourists in Switzerland enjoy mountain
climbing. They are not professional climbers who scale the world’s highest
peaks, but amateurs who enjoy overcoming a significant challenge.
On the day of a climb, the group departs from a
“base camp” at the foot of the mountain early in the morning. The goal is to
make it to the summit by mid-afternoon, so they could set up camp well before
dark.
About halfway up the mountain there is a rest area
– a “half-way house”. The climbers all enter to find a cozy room with couches
and a fire. A hot and fresh lunch is already cooking and the smell fills the
hut. Everyone removes their gear and settles around the table jovially as they
enjoy their lunch.
After about an hour and a half, the guide
announces that they must move on if they want to reach the summit on time.
Invariably about half of the climbers reply that they decided to remain in the
half-way house, and they will rejoin the group the following day when they stop
in on their way down.
Those who decided to go on put on all their gear
and make their way out into the cold. The rest of the group who stayed joke
around, play on the piano, sing songs, and tell stories, and have a wonderful
time for a couple of hours.
Somewhat suddenly, around four in the afternoon,
without anyone saying anything, one by one they start walking over towards the
big window, and looking towards the summit where they can see the small figures
of their group setting up camp. The mood in the hut becomes melancholic and
quiet. For the rest of the night and the following morning there is not much
conversing going on, and they mostly stand by the window and watch.
Then, around midday, the door swings open and the
rest of the group who made it to the top enter. They are laughing, whopping,
and high-fiving each other. They animatedly talk about what it was like at the
top, the view, the group picture they took, the selfies they took, hoisting the
flag at the summit, and what it was like sleeping out there. Those who remained
in the hut smile sadly but politely and nod their heads without saying much.
After lunch, the entire group puts on their gear
and heads down the mountain. When they reach the bottom, they are greeted by family
members and friends who ask them about their trip. Those who went all the way
to the top excitedly relate about their experience. But those who chose to
remain in the hut quietly slip away into their cars, and drive home in silence.
Why? Because they know that they made a big
mistake. They gave up a dream and goal for a little bit of comfort.
Chazal say that at the end of his life
Terach did teshuva. His desire to go to Eretz Yisroel would seem to be part of his
efforts at repentance and growth towards the end of his life. So, he left Ur
Kasdim and, together with his family, they undertook the arduous journey to
Charan.[5]
When they finally arrived in Charan, perhaps
Terach announced that they would spend a week in Charan to rest and reenergize themselves
for the remainder of the journey south to Eretz Yisroel. But then - as so often
happens - life set in with its issues and complications. One week became two
weeks, then a month, two months, a year, etc.
The most painful words of all are the final words
of the parsha: “Terach died in Charan”. He never fulfilled his dream! He made
it to the halfway house, but never got passed it.
What a tragedy!
In Parshas Lech Lecha, the Torah states about
Avrohom Avinu: "ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען ויבואו ארצה
כנען" - He left to go to the land of Canaan, and he arrived in the
land of Canaan.” This pasuk, which seems to just be telling us dry facts, is in
fact relating something very profound. Unlike his father who never completed
his journey, and was never able to fulfill his dream, Avrohom left on his
journey and indeed completed the journey. There were so many challenges that he
had to overcome in order to arrive, but he persevered.
Unlike Noach who did not completely become and
achieve as much as he could have, and unlike Terach who never fulfilled his
dream, Avrohom makes it all the way to the summit. And that is why he is
Avrohom Avinu, the first of the patriarchs.
John Maxwell concludes: In life, so many of us
make the same mistake as those mountain climbers who remained in the half-way
house.
If we want to achieve personal greatness, we have
to hold onto our goals and dreams, and be relentless in our pursuit of them. We
cannot allow momentary laziness or comfort to impede our success. Every day is
another step towards our personal summit.
“Terach died in Charan”
“And he arrived in the land of Canaan”
Rabbi Dani Staum,
LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New
Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance
Counselor – Heichal HaTorah
Principal – Ohr
Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] Based on the
speech delivered at Kehillat New Hempstead, Shabbos morning, Parshas Noach 5777
[2] Rabbi Dovid
Orlofsky
[5] Although Ur
Kasdim is in Mesopotamia and Charan is in Turkey, which means Eretz Yisroel is
to the west of Ur Kasdim (and south of Charan), they had to follow the trade
routes, which seemingly ran through Charan.
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