This week’s Parsha presents the very stirring and perplexing story of the great flood which was a most seemingly incomprehensible thing for G-d to do after finishing His intensive and intricate creation of the world in Parhat Bereishit. How is it that G-d saw fit to destroy the entire world, except for Noah, his family and the animals that He instructed him to save. This destruction is obviously a very telling one because it is impossible to relate to the destruction of one’s own sweat, blood and tears only because there has been a deviation from the goal.
I think there is very profound lesson one can learn from this which is that at the very root of Hashem’s goal for this world lies the noble pursuit of truth and when the world starts to deviate from that, then G-d in His infinite wisdom, says this entire creation is so infected that it is now irredeemable, and cannot be salvaged. How impactful this idea is on our lives?! We live in a world where truth is constantly being distorted and as AI becomes more pervasive and part and parcel of our daily lives, truth is becoming increasingly compromised. However, we must note that Hashem is teaching us a fundamental lesson through the Great Flood which is that if the world is not going to rotate on the axis of truth, then it is of no use at all, so much so, that it must be destroyed.
Reb Mendel of Kotzk was famous for his piercingly uncompromising commitment to upholding the truth and taught a profound insight, “search for the truth requires the stripping away of self-idolatry, personal vanity and the desire to impress others.” This is of particular relevance when endeavouring to understand what drove the generation of the flood to sin. Rashi comments that the sin that caused the disintegration of humanity was “gezel – stealing”. The overwhelming character flaw that drives stealing is self-idolotary and a lack of boundaries and respect for the way in which G-d has measured our each mans bounty as well as jealousy and one could most certainly attribute those character flaws to a lack of ability to live truthfully, committed to G-ds masterplan.
It is therefore imperative to note that when one does not commit oneself to a life of piercing commitment to the truth, one can unravel into a world of deep moral decay, resulting in a complete destruction of the self.
Let us commit ourselves to a life of truth and in doing so, align ourselves with G-ds vision for humanity
Shira Druion
