The Weekly Sedra – Noach – A Tale of Two Souls

Two nations are in your womb. Two governments will separate from inside you; the upper hand will go from one government to the other.

The Holy One, blessed be He, created two impulses, one good and the other evil.

Like it or not, we are each engaged in a battle against our own set of mean genes. They are wily opponents too. Masters of the visceral, they control through satisfaction, pain, and pleasure.

Destroy man’s desire to sin, our sages tell us, and you would destroy the world.
Not that anyone needs to sin. But one who lacks the desire to sin is not a citizen of this world. And without citizens, who will effect lasting change?

As a child, Reb Herschel of Krakow was once scolded by his father for not arising early for prayer service. “I can’t help it,” complained the boy. “It’s that yetzer hara of mine. He keeps telling me it’s too early to awake – that I should turn over and sleep a little more.”

“But Heschele,” countered the father, “don’t you see? The yetzer hara is just doing his job. The yetzer hara is an angel created by G-d with the assignment to divert people from observing His will. You ought to be smart enough to do as he does, not as he says. Next time the yetzer hara entices you to stay in bed, tell yourself: ‘Aha! He’s at it again – he’s up bright and early fulfilling his task. I too have a mission; I must get out of bed quickly to get on with it as well.’”

“Oh father,” retorted the child with a twinkle in his eye, “you make it sound so simple. But since when does the yetzer hara have to contend with a yetzer hara that tries to stop him of his assignment? Perhaps that’s why he is so efficient. I, on the other hand . . .”

In last week’s Sedra – Bereishis; the first of the five books, we are apprised of our spiritual essence – the G-dly image in which we were formed. The aforesaid Divine image, as was pointed-out, is derived from the very breath of G-d and comprises our essential human identity – our higher spiritual potential and core.

Yet, all those flattering words notwithstanding, this lofty description of man does not seem to hold-up very well in real life. While it is very touching to know that man (despite the recent disappointing results of the Genome Project) is exponentially superior to all the other creatures with whom he shares planet earth – while it is heartwarming to learn about our spiritual potential and G-dly essence – a casual peek at man’s true temperament, tells a whole different story. The legacy of man is not always a glorious tale of high spiritual or even moral achievement.

We need only examine the history of man from the earliest moments of his inception, as depicted by the Torah itself. First Adam and Eve sin by disobeying the only commandment they were given. Next, Cain kills his brother Able in a fit of jealously. The guy can not share the entire universe with one other person, so he goes ahead and gets rid of his only competition. From there on things seem only to deteriorate.

After describing, how man’s thoughts were “only for evil” and hence G-d’s desire to obliterate humanity from the face of the earth, our portion – Noach, recounts the well-known episode of the flood. The portion opens with G-d’s declaration: “The end of all flesh has come before me; the world is filled with crime; I will therefore destroy the earth.” G-d proceeds to instruct Noach to build himself an ark, for he alone has found favor in G-d’s eyes.

How are we to understand this? How does a lofty entity like man – created in G-d’s own image – wind up sinking to the depth of depravity? The answer to this deserving question lies within our human psyche, of which our Parsha holds some revealing insights.

Following the great flood that lasted forty days – in which all who walked the earth perished – G-d finally urges Noach to leave the ark, our portion proceeds with the following intriguing narrative:

“Noach built an altar to G-d. He took a few of all the clean livestock and the clean birds, and sacrificed offerings on the altar. G-d smelled the appeasing fragrance, and G-d said to Himself, ‘Never again will I curse the soil because of man, for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.’” (Genesis 8:20-21)

The above declaration, from the mouth of G-d, speaks volumes as regards man’s raw nature. The Creator himself attests to the fact that man – the crown jewel of his handiwork – is desperately lacking in his natural and unrefined state. He is in critical need of cultivation.

But why so? If man was created in G-d’s image and likeness, why should his raw character be less than pristine? The notion of it being evil is unthinkable.

The answer according to Judaism is that man is not just comprised of the aforementioned “Image of G-d,” but of an animal spirit as well. Much the way the human mind is perpetually engaged in thought, human life is invariably expressed through one of these two souls. Man thus has the capacity and choice to live, at any given time, on either the spiritual or the animal plane. (There is no third possibility because there is no third soul).

Everything about these two systems of human expression is diametrical, from motivation to their means of achievement. The animal spirit, on the one hand, is passionate and hedonistic. It continuously gravitates towards physical pleasure and gratification. Indeed, its very essence and temperament is one of wanting, desiring, and coveting. It can be compared to a machine that constantly craves. This life force hence epitomizes the ultimate of selfishness/evil.

The divine soul, on the other hand, is of a G-d-like quality. It is the inexplicable consciousness within man that distinguishes him from beast. This spirit impels man towards goodness and sanctity. As opposed to the animal spirit, it is the epitome of selflessness and virtue.

There is, however, another fundamental difference between the animal and divine souls that is of paramount importance. Whereas the animal spirit needs no prelude or introduction in order to function as a viable force within the human arena, the divine spirit clearly does. This is to say that the impulse and ambition of the animal spirit is spontaneous and automatic – its aggressive and emotional temperament is felt naturally, regardless of whether or not one is aware of its existence, let alone whether one makes any overtures towards it.

The latter is not the case with regards to the divine spirit. Unlike its counterpart, the divine spirit is intellective by nature. It is hence stimulated and nurtured through a meticulous process of development and cultivation. To use an analogy: What grows in a garden is the result of careful effort in cultivating and maintaining a piece of land. The land thus yields beautiful flowers and vegetation. Remarkably though, there are things that will grow on the same piece of land that require no effort whatsoever. Weeds, for example, need no cultivation or care; they need no watering or pruning. These organisms appear whether they are planted or not; whether they are wanted or not.

In fact, if one desires a weed-free garden, one must take special measures to rid the garden of the infiltration of such undesirables. Yet, roses must be cultivated. They must be intentionally planted and cared for. In absence of such deliberate effort, there will not be any roses at all.

The above is true with regards to the divine and animal souls as well. The divine spirit, like the rose, requires meticulous care and cultivation. The animal soul, on the other hand, needs no cultivation. The impulse and ambition of this wild spirit is entirely spontaneous. Its aggressive and emotional temperament is felt regardless of whether or not one makes any overtures towards it. Whether one is interested or not.

This should sufficiently explain our earlier quandary, how the loftiest of creatures can fall to the depth of immorality. Since the animal soul is the default human operating system, it is only natural that in absence of higher spiritual definition and purpose, we find ourselves in the grasp of the animal order.

In light of the above, it is no wonder that Rabbi Aryeh Leib of Shpola would plaint to the Almighty in the following manner: Master of the universe, what do you want from your children? You have after all, placed them in a benighted world. A world where Satan himself prances amongst them, fanning their evil inclination; where all the things that provoke fleshly desires are ranged before their very eyes, while the warnings of retribution lie hidden between the covers of some moralistic tome. You can be certain that if you had arranged things the other way around – with the place of retribution right in front of their eyes, and all the fleshly desires hidden away in some learned old book, not a single person would ever do anything wrong!

The human entity must, indeed, engage in a higher purpose and value. Without proactive higher spiritual affiliation the default/animal-self will no doubt reign supreme. But why did the Almighty create us this way? Why should we have to contend with a dark and evil side? Is this a blessing or a curse?

Chassidic philosophy maintains that it is in fact a great blessing. In response to the question: “How can G-d call the sixth day of creation ‘Very Good.’ after all, isn’t that the day that Adam and Eve sinned and were expelled from the Garden of Eden?” The Lubavitcher Rebbe asserts that this too had to have been a good thing; otherwise G-d would not have referred to that whole day as being “very good.” But how could a sin be good?

Chassidus explains that our sins – when properly repented for – enable us to reach levels of spirituality and self-refinement that we could never have achieved otherwise. Our evil inclination, even our sins themselves, can essentially be very beneficial. The following story should help bring this notion in to sharper focus:

The Maggid of Jerusalem, Reb Shalom Schwadron, once noticed that a student at the Yeshiva was absent for a few days. Upon the boy’s return, the Rabbi inquired as to the reason of his absence: “I know you for two years and you have never missed a day.” Yet the boy was extremely evasive. After a good amount of prodding, however, the youngster finally relented – though he was resigned to the fact that the Rebbe would really never understand.

“You see,” said the boy, “I missed Yeshiva so I could attend the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer finals. I will probably not be in Yeshiva tomorrow either, since it’s the final day of the championship.”

Rav Schwadron did not seem fazed. “Tell me,” said Reb Shalom, furrowing his brow, “how does this game of soccer work? ”Well,“ began the student, a bit surprised, ”there are 11 players; their aim is to kick the ball into a large netted goal.“ ”What’s the big deal?“ said the Rebbe, ”That seems rather easy.“ The boy laughed, ”Rebbe, there is an opposing team whose job is to stop our team from getting the ball into goal!“ ”Oh, now I understand,“ whispered the Rebbe.

”I’m curious, though,“ continued Rav Schwadron, ”do the teams sleep there at night?“ ”Of course not“ said the pupil, ”why do you ask?“ ”You see, I’m wondering what’s to stop your team from going there at night, when the other team is at home sleeping and kicking the ball into the goal and declaring victory.“

”Oy Rebbe! You really don’t get it! Anyone can kick a ball into an empty net. You can’t score points unless the other team is there to try and stop you!“ ”Ah!“ cried Reb Shalom, ”listen to what you just said. It is no big deal to come to Yeshiva when the yetzer hara is not trying to stop you. It is only when there is strong resistance from the yetzer hara that you can score points.