This week is the first week of Cheshvan, historically the time when Hashem brings destructive floods on the world. But Hashem promised never to destroy the world again, and gave us His rainbow as a sign. In Parshat Noach we learn that Hashem destroyed the world because it had become corrupted and filled with Hamas (Bereishit 6:11, 13). What does this mean?
Rashi explains that corruption (“Vatishachet ha’aretz”) refers to fornication and idolatry, while Hamas means rampant theft. R’ Eliyahu Mizrachi takes issue with the identification of Hamas with theft because we learn in the Gemara (Bava Kama 62a) and in the Midrash (Bereishit Raba) that these are actually two different things. Maharal resolves Mizrachi’s objection with a profound reflection on the nature of communal evil. He explains that everybody in Noach’s generation was so morally unrestrained that they freely stole from one another. These petty thefts became so common, and society so lawless, that a state of wanton disregard for the property and well-being of others became endemic. In this way, all of the theft became Hamas, even if the individual acts on their own terms didn’t fit this description.
As Hashem explains to Noach why He must destroy the world, He repeats these characterizations in reverse order: The world is filled with Hamas and now I must destroy the land. The word for destroy here is the same as the one used for corruption above, which Rashi interpreted as fornication and idolatry. Rashi, however, associates the beginning of the pasuk with these crimes. “The end of all flesh has come” (ibid. 13). He explains that when fornication in particular is rampant, then destruction comes to the world, and there is no longer a distinction made between the good and the wicked.
Maharal in Gur Arye explains that once the morality of human society is compromised to such an extent, then Hashem unleashes the attribute of judgment in the world, and nobody is safe anymore based on their own personal morality. The only way a righteous individual can be safe in such an instance is to become completely separate from the decadent society. This is why Noach was told to build a teiva and go inside of it. Once closed inside of the teiva, Noach was no longer a part of the doomed civilization and could be spared from the destruction unleashed.
Maharal further explains that although idolatry warranted the death of individuals and fornication erased the distinction between the innocent and the guilty, it was only once society became guilty of Hamas that their decree was sealed. For any transgression it is possible to repent and thereby to avert catastrophe. However, once society became filled with small and pervasive acts of immorality, it was no longer possible to return all that was stolen or to make recompense for offenses committed. In such a state, eventual destruction was the inevitable outcome.
Ramban points out that throughout the account of the flood, the Torah speaks of the decrees of Elo-him, suggesting that, as noted above, the divine attribute of judgment has been unleashed on the world. The widespread Hamas has become so reprehensible that the very world itself, by the laws of nature, must purge it. By contrast, he later notes with the Tower of Babel (Bereishit 11:2) that the score is settled by the four-letter name of Hashem, usually referring to His mercy but here associated with stern punishment. Ramban explains that the people of this generation weren’t merely corrupt and immoral, but had declared open war on Hashem – so He needed to resolve things personally, for His name’s sake.
Nevertheless, this is an interesting state of affairs wherein the wicked are destroyed by divine mercy. There are two other notable examples of Hashem destroying depraved civilizations by means of His virtue: when Sodom and Amora are overturned, and when Mitzrayim is drowned after the splitting of the Red Sea. In each of these cases, following Ramban on Noach, we would expect to see divine justice enacted against the evildoers expressed by the name Elo-him. However, in Sodom the Hamas was so pervasive and in Mitzrayim the grip of slavery so unbreakable to the extent that nobody who lived in these societies had any hope for a better future. A slave in Mitzrayim was a slave for all time; if he were to have children, then his children and their children could hope for nothing but continued slavery. In Sodom, even the wicked inhabitants themselves lived with such a pervasive sense of licentiousness that nobody could believe that there was a higher authority to lend meaning to anyone’s life. Everybody just took what they wanted and tortured and killed whom they pleased.
When Hashem came wielding His attribute of mercy to bring destruction upon these populations, He was liberating them from their utter hopelessness by demonstrating the power of His hand to assert justice and kindness in every place at all times.
There are times in human history when a society becomes so depraved and debased that the utter destruction of the social and moral order of that society is the kindest act that can be performed.
