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October 11, 2002/Cheshvan 5 5763, Vol. 55, No. 7
A lesson of vines and fig trees
Torah study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Noach/Genesis 6:9-11:32
A seminal act of Noah after he leaves the ark once the deluge has abated provides a startling insight into how we must relate and react to the tides of war which have engulfed us for the past two years and which are now threatening to engulf the entire Middle East.
"Noah, the tiller of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard." (Genesis 9:20) Rashi explains that "when Noah entered the ark, he brought with him branches (of the vine) and shoots of fig trees."
Apparently, Rashi is perplexed as to the genesis of the grape-seeds; after all, all of animal and plant life had been destroyed in the flood. Rashi is therefore telling us that Noah brought branches of the vine into the ark. But why must he add "shoots of fig trees" which seems superfluous to our question at hand? Why does Rashi select these two fruits for inclusion in the ark?
An analysis of the personality of Noah will provide the key to understanding - not only with regard to Noah's preserving what he preserved but also with regard to our difficult situation today.
The story of Noah opens with what appears to be a rather complimentary character description: "Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God." (Genesis 6:9) Nevertheless, Rashi immediately notifies us: "there are among our Sages those who expound these words as giving praise (to Noah) ... and there are those who expound these words as denigrating (to Noah)."
The Maharal explains that, whereas Abraham argued with God to preserve Sodom and Gomorrah, Noah appears to remain silent when informed that the entire world is about to be destroyed.
There is however a second way of interpreting Noah's character, insisting that had he been a contemporary of Abraham's, he would have been even more righteous. According to this view, Noah took 120 years to construct his ark, spending all the extra time in convincing the citizens of the world to forsake their violence, to accept the basic laws of morality expressed by ethical monotheism, to establish democratic, freedom-loving anti-terror governments.
The deluge recedes, and Noah leaves the ark. He plants a vineyard. Where did he get the grape seeds? Here again there are two disparate views in the Midrash, each reflecting another view as to Noah's basic personality.
One midrashic opinion has it that as a pact he made with Satan, Noah receives the requisite seed to plant his vines and ultimately produce wine. This is Noah the isolationist, who turns a blind eye to the Satanic totalitarian governments who use terror tactics to control their citizens.
The second midrashic opinion sees Noah as a righteous proselytizer, who never gives up on humanity, even after 120 years of fruitless preaching about the importance of the seven Noahide laws of morality. Noah feels the necessity to take with him the seeds of two fruits, the grape and the fig, wine being a symbol of freedom (remember the Passover cups of wine as the sign of redemption).
Noah brings the seeds of these two fruits to remind future generations never to stop fighting against injustice and violence, never to give up the battle for a humanity accepting of a God of justice and peace
And why does Rashi insist on specifically these two fruits, the vine and the fig? Micah prophesies that, at the end of the days, when the world will accept God's morality emanating from Zion and Jerusalem, then "every man shall sit under his grapevine or fig tree with no one to disturb him."(Micah 4:4)
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of Efrat, Israel.
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