A Hug to Help Us Move On.
בראשית ט:כ-כא
וַיָּ֥חֶל נֹ֖חַ אִ֣ישׁ הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וַיִּטַּ֖ע כָּֽרֶם׃ וַיֵּ֥שְׁתְּ מִן־הַיַּ֖יִן וַיִּשְׁכָּ֑ר וַיִּתְגַּ֖ל בְּת֥וֹךְ אׇהֳלֹֽה:
“Noach, the man of the earth, debased himself and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and he uncovered himself within his tent”
Rashi, citing the Medrash, says that Noach made himself profane by choosing a vineyard as the first thing he planted. He should have involved himself with some other crop which did not have the potential to cause so much harm. This mistake brought about his humiliating degradation, as the Torah relates.
The Medrash goes on to point out a strange fact about this episode. “On the day Noach planted the vineyard he squeezed the grapes and drank the wine and became drunk. All on the same day.”
The Dubno Maggid notes that this was obviously an astonishing miracle. How are we to understand Hashem’s choice to have the grapes and wine be produced so incredibly quickly? What was the point, and what does it tell us?
The Maggid explains that Hashem’s kindness makes it that every incident of trauma is followed by warmth. After the tremendous destruction of the Mabul there was a spirit of consolation that passed before Hashem which brought along with it an outpouring of chessed and rachamim, as well as Siyata Dishimaya to rebuild the world anew very quickly. Whatever Noach would have involved himself with would have been blessed with tremendous success. Noach could have seized the moment and chosen something of great significance and importance to world development. Instead he squandered the opportunity and is therefore referred to as אִ֣ישׁ הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה, a “man of the earth”.
Rav Pam zt”l quotes the Dubno Maggid as articulating that this is Hashem’s practice for all time. Every application of Middas Hadin is followed by a shower of HAshem’s abundant mercy which has the potential to bring tremendous beracha and hatzlocha. This is alluded to, as well, in this week’s haftarah (Yeshaya 54:7):
בְּרֶ֥גַע קָטֹ֖ן עֲזַבְתִּ֑יךְ וּבְרַחֲמִ֥ים גְּדֹלִ֖ים אֲקַבְּצֵֽךְ
“For a brief moment have I forsaken and with abundant mercy shall I gather you in.”
A contemporary example of this, says Rav Pam, is the post-Holocaust period. After a tragedy which was in certain ways unparalleled in our turbulent history, Klal Yisroel, through the rachmei HaShem, has been rebuilt in a manner which is certainly unparalleled. The Jewish People, our Torah and our communities, flourish miraculously around the world, a mere 75 years later.
Rav Pam concludes that it is not only our nation that Hashem treats this way. Hashem, in His love for His people, always follows an expression of din with an outpouring of affection, much as a parent might do for a child. In other words, every individual has access to this phenomenon. When one goes through a period of challenge and perhaps personally feels the sting of the Middas Hadin he can take some comfort in the fact that he will certainly soon feel the warmth of a “hug” from our loving Father. Furthermore, one should take care to harness these opportunities to accomplish great things for himself and Klal Yisroel.
