Sent by my beloved friend Reb Shlomo Gaisin
Moshe And Noach
You know friends, when it comes to Noach, the Torah is a bit angry with him. The Zohar Hakadosh (Zohar Noach 67b) says that the prophet calls the flood 'Mei Noach' (Yeshaya 54:9), the waters of Noach.
You know what the prophet is saying? Noach, why didn’t you talk to your generation? So you think they were crazy, hopeless, perverted and sinful. Why don’t you think that you couldn't have gotten through to your generation?
And here I want to tell you something very, very deep friends.
Everybody knows that the Seer of Lublin was a pupil of the Heilige Reb Elimelech. One time the Reb Elimelech says to the Seer of Lublin 'I taught you as much as I could but there is one thing you have to learn from my holy Brother, the Heilige Reb Zusha'. So the Seer of Lublin, the Heilige Chozeh of Lublin –his light should shine into our hearts, into our souls, into the hearts of our children forever. He comes to the Rebbe Reb Zusha and the Heilige Rebbe Reb Zusha, the holy of holies Reb Zusha, it gives me shivers just to mention his holy name. Gevalt, Gevalt what a Yid, what a Rebbe. The Rebbe Reb Zusha says to the Seer Of Lublin 'when you want people to become better, when you want people to do tshuvah, what are you telling them?'
'Ah', the Seer of Lublin says, 'it’s very simple. I show them what they did wrong. I tell them whatever they did is bad, is forbidden and I explain to them they have to do tshuvah'.
'Oy', the Rebbe Reb Zusha says, 'it's not the way, why do you think they do so much wrong? Because they don’t have enough strength. They don’t have enough energy from heaven to do right. They did so much bad that they are completely cut off from heaven. They are completely cut off from this holy flow, from this high energy which gives us strength to do right. And besides, they are drowning in mud. Why do you push them deeper?'.
So the Seer of Lublin asks the Heilige Reb Zusha 'Heilige Reb Zusha, Well how do you do it?'
'Ahh', the Rebbe Reb Zusha says 'when I see somebody doing wrong I cry over them. I mamshich chasadim, I bring down kindness upon them. I am bringing down so much light and love from heaven. Do you know what happens then? There is such a deep awakening, such a deep awakening inside of them that it’s not even hard for them. They want to be good, they want to be holy. They want to be beautiful, they want to be Yidden'.
Friends, do you know the way Noach was trying to make Ba'alei Tshuvas? He walks up to them and says 'hey folks, you are disgusting, you are sinners. You are perverted, you are no good. Thank G-d he is planning to wipe you out'. My beautiful friends, this doesn’t help. It doesn’t help, gevalt it doesn’t help. Throwing stones doesn’t help, preaching doesn’t help
So the mabul is called Mei Noach, the waters of Noach. Noach, why didn’t you connect your generation to their souls above? Do you know how our holy father Avraham made Ba'alei Tshuvahs? He never said a bad word to them. He mamesh invited them, he had a chassidishe farbrengen. He sat with them on Friday night, and he sat with them by a melaveh malka. Can you imagine the lowest creep, the lowest sinner sitting and listening to Heilige Zeide Avraham Avinu? You swear to yourself, gevalt this is holy, this is beautiful. I want to be like him. I want to be so holy, I want to be so exalted. I want to love people like Avraham does, I want to love G-d like Avraham does.
There’s a Torah from the Heilige Dzhikover (Imrei Noam Noach 'Yesh Lirmoz'). Everybody knows that Moshe Rabbeinu was a little bit the neshama of Noach. After the golden calf, G-d says to Moshe 'go down and tell the Yidden I’m going to wipe them out' (Shmos 32:10). Moshe Rabbeinu says to G-d 'M’cheyni Na Misfrecha' (ibid 32:32). I refuse, don’t wipe them out. If you want to wipe somebody out, wipe me out'.
So the Dzhikover says 'M’cheyni' is the same letters as 'Mei Noach'. Mei Noach is the waters of Noach. The flood is called the waters of Noach because he didn’t pray for his generation. So by saying I’m ready to be wiped out for my generation, Moshe Rabbeinu fixed what Noach didn’t do for his generation. So here I just want to add those few words.
G-d says to Moshe ( ibid 32:10) 'go down and tell the Yidden they will be wiped out'. Moshe Rabbeinu says 'I refuse. I’m not making Ba'alei Tshuvahs by telling Yidden they will be wiped out. Master of the world, if you want to wipe somebody out, wipe me out. I only want to tell Yidden good things'.
You know what Moshe Rabbeinu does? He goes down and he breaks the tablets (ibid 32:19). Do you know what he did?
You know my beautiful friends, when Moshe Rabbeinu broke the tablets he showed Yidden 'look at what you are doing, look at how you are breaking the world. Look at how you are breaking your hearts and the hearts of your children’s lives. If you’re not doing what G-d wants for you, if you are not doing what G-d needs of you, you are mamesh breaking apart everything holy and beautiful in the world'.
Friends, we mamesh need people to talk to the generation. We need people to talk to Israel, but we don’t need someone to tell them 'I’ll wipe you out'. We don’t need people to tell them 'Gevalt, you’re terrible. You don't keep kosher, you don’t keep Shabbos'.
Friends, if I could have my way….
