B"H

THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH OF CHESHVAN

Dear Friends:

We have arrived at the month of Cheshvan, in which the Bais Hamikdosh was completed.  Yet Cheshvan contains no festival.  In fact, it is called "Mar" Cheshvan, the bitter month. 

Why?

One reason stands out: the terrible Flood, which inundated the world, began during this month.  The Hebrew name for Cheshvan is "Bul," which some commentators relate to the term "Mabul" (flood).  And this week we read in Parshas Noach: "In the six hundredth year of Noach's life... all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.  And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights." [1]

The world was in a state of depression after the Flood.  As it says, "Noach, the man of the earth, debased himself...." [2]  Mankind in general apparently seems to have felt that it could not escape the clutches of its own evil inclination, which had caused the world to be destroyed. 

What finally saved the world after the terrible Flood? The building of the Bais ha Mikdosh some thirteen hundred years later!  As the Book of Our Heritage states, "During all the years that elapsed from the time of the Flood until the Bais ha Mikdosh was completed, the entire world was filled with trepidation during the period from the seventeenth of Cheshvan until the twenty seventh of Kislev, the forty days of the Flood.  But when the Beis ha Mikdosh was completed..., those forty days ceased to cast their fear upon mankind." [3]

 

We have a tendency to regard the accounts of events in Tanach as fables.  We sit at the Pesach Seder and we could believe that the Ten Plagues and Exodus are stories of ancient times. So also with the Flood.  Our children draw pictures of the Ark, but what does it have to do with our lives?

It has been 4100 years since the Flood, and the world is once again "filled with trepidation." I understand that there is currently a "flood" of literature and movies concerning the end of the world.  I have heard that the Mayan Indians' ancient calendar has set the date for December, 2012.  I happen to receive the Annual Record from Balliol College, Oxford University. [4] This year's journal reported that a recent speaker asked "if we should worry about the possibility of extinction," and "the discussion afterwards was one of the most lively ... in recent memory."

We could laugh about these things if it weren't that our perception tells us that the world is indeed inundated with danger on every level, spiritual and physical.  Gadolim state publicly that we are in the days of Chevlei Moshiach, after which time the world as we know it will undergo profound change.  We just read the Prophet's words, "Behold G-d's appointed day is coming...." [5]  Do they not seem to apply to our times?

 

What does the Biblical account of the Flood teach us about coping with an upheaval that threatens the very survival of all creation? 

First and foremost is a very plain and clear fact: Noach survived because he connected with the Ribono shel Olam, the Ruler of the Universe.  This is the clear principle.  There is no survival unless one builds an unbreakable bond with Our Father in Heaven.  Even when the entire world is destroyed, one who bonds with Hashem survives!  As we say from Rosh Chodesh Elul until Shemini Atzeres, "On the day of evil ... He will lift me upon a rock." [6]

 

But Noach "debased himself." Even the mighty Noach could not escape the power of his evil inclination.  And mankind degenerated into a depression. Only the construction of the Bais ha Mikdosh by the Children of Israel was able to lift us from the abyss on a permanent basis!

My friends, as we begin this new year, let us realize that the entire fate of the world is in our hands!  It is not just for ourselves that we carry on a holy existence, learning and living the Holy Torah.  The fate of the entire Creation rests upon our shoulders! 

It is clear that mankind is in state of depression.  The irrational behavior that is epidemic in the world is a symptom of worldwide panic.  The world knows that "G-d's appointed day" is not far off.  Do you hear the raucous laughter on the street corners?  Please listen to the words of Rav Shimshon Pincus ZT"L: "I went downtown with [my child] to buy shoes, and there were some people hanging around there doing nothing, laughing very loudly.  ‘Daddy, why do they laugh so much?' he asked me. I said to him, ‘Because they are so sad... All day long they look for something to make them happy, but they don't find it."' [7]

As our sages tell us, "It is forbidden for a person to fill his mouth with laughter in this world, for it is stated "then" will our mouths be filled with laughter...." [8]

When is "then"? 

"Then" is the day that the Temple will be rebuilt and the world will finally be lifted forever from its depression.  That is our job, my friends, as we enter the year 5770.  Only we, the Children of Israel, through our dedication to a life of Torah and mitzvos, can bring about "the day which is completely good"! In the words of Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch ZT"L, "the rainbow in the clouds," the sign of the Covenant which appeared after the Flood, "is to remind us that ... G-d has given mankind His covenant and even through such times [as these] His management will lead mankind to its ultimate goal." [9]

May we all witness the rebuilding of the Bais ha Mikdosh soon in our days and bask in the healing light of the Shechina, the closeness of G-d! 

Roy S. Neuberger

 

© Copyright 2009 by Roy S. Neuberger