בְּדֹרֹתָיו: יֵשׁ מֵרַבּוֹתֵינוּ דּוֹרְשִׁים אוֹתוֹ לִשְׁבָח, כָּל שֶׁכֵּן אִלּוּ הָיָה בְדוֹר צַדִּיקִים הָיָה צַדִּיק יוֹתֵר. וְיֵשׁ שֶׁדּוֹרְשִׁים אוֹתוֹ לִגְנַאי, לְפִי דוֹרוֹ הָיָה צַדִּיק, וְאִלּוּ הָיָה בְדוֹרוֹ שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם לֹא הָיָה נֶחֱשָׁב לִכְלוּם (רש"י, בראשית ו, ט).
We are all familiar with this famous Rashi, which is based on a machloket in the Gemara (Sanhedrin108a) between R' Yochanan (לִגְנַאי) and Reish Lakish (לִשְׁבָח). The interesting thing is that in the Gemara, no reference is made to Avraham Avinu. Rashi decided to specifically compare Noach to Avraham and not, say, to Yitzchak, Yaakov, Yehuda, Yosef, Moshe, etc.
In this shiur we will be exploring why Rashi davka chose to compare Noach to Avraham and not to Yosef or to Moshe, like the Zohar and the Ari z"l do (זוהר חדש כרך א', פרשת נח; אריז"ל, שער הגלגולים, הקדמה לט). In doing so, we will obtain a profound insight into what constitutes a true leader.
In a previous shiur (Noach 2021) we described the generation of the Flood. It was a generation of unimaginable שֶׁפַע, perfect weather, miraculously abundant parnasa, superhuman strength, no illness or disease, longevity, etc. HKB"H gave them all this incredible abundance because He intended for this generation to receive the Torah.
Instead, this gifted generation rebelled against HKB"H and became perhaps the most perverted and corrupt generation ever to exist in history. This teaches us that the dividing line between greatness and depravity is very fine. The greater a generation, the more potential they have for destruction.
HKB"H does not summarily destroy reshaim, He first gives them a chance to do teshuva. HKB"H gave the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל 120 years to do teshuva. HKB"H appointed Noach as the "trigger" to cause them to do teshuva. He commanded Noach to build the תֵּיבָה, a huge building project to be sure, but not one that takes 120 years.
Sefer Zera Barech (נֹחַ) says that the actual building took around five years, but in order to build the תֵּיבָה, Noach had to first grow the cedar trees himself, from scratch, because all the existing trees were being used for עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה and it is not permissible to use such wood to build the תֵּיבָה, which is actually a בֵּית ה' (switching around the letters of תֵּיבָה), a structure to house HKB"H's Shechina.
Picture the scene. Noach and his family had a huge "estate", the building site, ringed by a forest of cedar trees and in the clearing in the center, the actual תֵּיבָה construction. The תֵּיבָה was a tremendous structure for that period, 30 amot high (approx. 15m, equivalent to a six-story building) and could be seen for miles around.
Obviously, such a spectacle aroused curiosity and soon became a "tourist attraction", drawing untold visitors from all over.
Noach and his family would give guided tours. "This is the level for the animals. This is the level for the food. Here is the porthole …" After they received a description of what the תֵּיבָה was, came the inevitable question – "Why are you building it?" Noach would then explain "Because of your evil ways, HKB"H is going to destroy the world in a flood. If you repent, you will be saved, if not, this תֵּיבָה is to save just my family and me!”
How effective was this strategy? Chazal (מדרש תנחומא, נח, סימן יח) say that everyone mocked him and did not repent. To them, Noach was just the "crazy man on the hill".
I have a simple question. If it only took 5 years to actually construct the תֵּיבָה, then what was Noach doing for the first 115 years of the 120?
In the first year he obviously planted seeds for the cedar trees (seeds of an עֵץ אֶרֶז, the עֵץ הַחַיִּים from Gan Eden, מאיר פנים, פרק טו, קסב). Noach then waited 115 years for them to grow to their full height before chopping them down and cutting them into beams to build the תֵּיבָה.
We know that the beams were very long, from the Midrash on Megilat Esther. The Midrash asks where did Haman get a single beam 50 amot long to hang Mordechai on? The Midrash says that Haman sent one of his sons, פַּרְשַׁנְדָּתָא, to Mt. Ararat to retrieve a beam from the remnants of the תֵּיבָה (ילקוט שמעוני, מגילת אסתר, רמז תתרנו).
Undoubtedly in these 115 years people were asking Noach why he was growing his own cedar trees, if all around him there were millions and millions of cedar trees. Undoubtedly, he told them the same story as above. However, unlike the final 5 years of the intense construction in which he never had a second to spare, in these first 115 years, what was Noach doing aside from watering the trees (once a day)? The answer is that he was sitting around waiting for people to come ask him what he was doing!
Eventually the 120 years were up. The generation did not repent. When HKB"H punishes someone, He punishes them first with their possessions and only at the end, if they do not repent, does He punish them with their bodies (re: פרשיות תזריע/מצורע).
Why did HKB"H not do the same here with דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל? First punish them with their possessions? The answer is that the fate of the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל was sealed because of חָמָס, theft. HKB"H could not punish them with their possessions because nobody had their own possessions … they were all stolen! (ספר ברוך יאמרו, נח).
HKB"H commands Noach to enter the תֵּיבָה after all the animals are on board and then HKB"H closes the door of the תֵּיבָה, as it says וַיִּסְגֹּר ה' בַּעֲדוֹ (בראשית ז, טז). Noach did not close the door, HKB"H locked him in. Noach and all the animals were safe in the תֵּיבָה, while all around them the world was being destroyed.
There were no windows in the תֵּיבָה so that they could see what was going on around them. Yes, there was a צֹהַר, which some say (בראשית רבה, לא, יא) was a window, others say a precious gem, but this was in the roof of the תֵּיבָה for the purpose of providing light, not to look out to see what was going on outside. The proof of this is that Noach had to send a raven and then a dove to determine whether the water had subsided or not. If Noach could see outside the תֵּיבָה he would not have needed to send the birds.
By all counts, the תֵּיבָה was a strange kind of ship. First of all - its shape. It is what is known as a "punt", a flat-bottomed vessel. Such crafts are not seaworthy, they are more adapted for "punting", gently paddling on a calm pond or lake. Normally, the hulls of sea going vessels are designed with a curved configuration, narrow at the bottom, widening as you ascend above the water level. This provides greater stability in choppy waters.
Obviously the תֵּיבָה was not intended to be a "regular" sea going vessel, it was intended to be a floating platform, closed in from the sides and above, to maximize storage space, a kind of a floating box. The תֵּיבָה had no bridge to navigate from, no rudder to steer. If Noach was "captain" of this vessel, he was a very strange kind of captain, with no ability to guide it in any way.
You may say "HKB"H did the navigating, the steering and made sure everything ran smoothly". If you think that the voyage in the תֵּיבָה was a pleasant "sea cruise", however, think again.
First of all, the stench must have been indescribable. Has anyone ever visited a kibbutz with cows? The "aroma" assaults the senses. That's just cows. Now imagine, not just cows, but thousands upon thousands of different creatures - cows, elephants, pigs, gorillas, etc. all in close quarters! It is unfathomable how anyone was able to breathe at all.
Secondly, if you think that Noach and his family were on the upper deck getting a suntan and playing mini golf, think again. The Midrash (תהלים [בובר], מזמור לז) relays Noach's son Shem's account of life on the תֵּיבָה. "We never slept at all. Every second one or more of the animals were demanding food". One time Noach was late in feeding the lion and it maimed him in his leg.
The Midrash (ספר הישר, ספר בראשית, נח, ה) describes what it was like "sailing" in the תֵּיבָה -
וַתֵלֵךְ הַתֵּבָה עַל פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם וַתֵהָפֵךְ עַל פְּנֵי הַמַּיִם הָלוֹךְ וְהָפוֹךְ הֵנָּה וָהֵנָּה, וַיִתְהַפֵּךְ כָּל הַחַי אֲשֶׁר בָּהּ כְּהָפוֹךְ אֶת הַנָּזִיד בְּסִיר. וַיְהִי צַעַר גָּדוֹל לְכָל הַיְּקוּם אֲשֶׁר בַּתֵּבָה, וְהַתֵּבָה חָשְׁבָה לְהִשָּׁבֵר. וַיִתְבַּהֵל כָּל הַחַי אֲשֶׁר בַּתֵּבָה, וַיִנְהֲמוּ הָאֲרָיוֹת וַיִגְּעוּ הַשְּׁוָרִים וַיִּצְעֲקוּ הַזְּאֵבִים. וְכָל הַיְּקוּם אֲשֶׁר בַּתֵּבָה מְדַבֵּר וְצוֹעֵק בִּלְשׁוֹנוֹ, וַיִּשַׁמַע קוֹלָם לְמֵרָחוֹק. וְגַם נֹחַ וּבָנָיו צוֹעֲקִים וּבוֹכִים בְּצָרָתָם וַיִירָאוּ יִרְאָה גְּדוֹלָה מְאוֹד, וַיַּגִּיעוּ עַד שַׁעֲרֵי מָוֶת. וַיִתְפַּלֵּל נֹחַ אֶל ה', וְיִצְעַק עַל הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה לָהּ' וַיֹאמַר: אָנָּא ה', הוֹשִׁיעָה לָנוּ, כִּי אֵין כֹּחַ בָּנוּ לִסְבֹּל אֶת הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר סְבַבְתָּנוּ, כִּי אֲפָפוּנוּ מִשְׁבְּרֵי מַיִם וְנַחֲלֵי בְּלִיַּעַל בַּעֲתוּנוּ, קָדְמוּ אוֹתָנוּ מוֹקְשֵׁי מָוֶת. עֲנֵנוּ ה', עֲנֵנוּ! פְּדֶנּוּ, פְּנֵה אֵלֵינוּ וְחָנֵּנוּ, פְּדֶנּוּ וְהַצִּילֵנוּ. וַיִּשְׁמַע ה' בְּקוֹל נֹחַ וַיִזְכְּרֵהוּ ה' וַיַּעֲבֵר רוּחַ עַל פְּנֵי הָאָרֶץ, וַיָּשֻׁבוּ הַמַּיִם וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה.
HKB"H didn't "steer" the תֵּיבָה in a way that was comfortable for its passengers. The Midrash says that the waters were so tumultuous that the תֵּיבָה did somersaults, tossing the inhabitants, animals and humans, like stew boiling in a pot. Their screams were so loud, they could be heard from afar. To such an extent … that they were on the verge of death, until Noach cried out to HKB"H and begged Him to save them. It appears that the תֵּיבָה was not exactly a luxury cruise ship, it was more like a floating prison!
This is our first "captain", Noach.
The Torah categorically attests to Noach's character - אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו אֶת הָאֱ-לֹקִים הִתְהַלֶּךְ נֹחַ. No other human in the Torah merited such a description, not Avraham, not Moshe.
Only twice in the Torah is "someone" called a צַדִּיק, the first is Noach (in our parsha) and the second is HKB"H Himself, when Pharaoh said ה' הַצַּדִּיק וַאֲנִי וְעַמִּי הָרְשָׁעִים (שמות ט, כז). Did Noach veer from anything HKB"H told him to do? Not one inch! The passuk says it categorically - וַיַּעַשׂ נֹחַ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּהוּ ה’.
Yes, Noach and his family were the only ones spared from the entire generation, but if Noach was such a צַדִּיק, then why was he subjected to such punishment in his own תֵּיבָה, for which he is famous?
We will now skip ten generations ahead to Avraham (there is something about the number ten – it was ten generations between Adam and Noach, ten generations between Noach and Avraham – but that is the subject of another shiur bli neder).
Like Noach, Avraham distinguishes himself from the rest of his generation. That is why he is called אַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי – because כָּל הָעוֹלָם מֵעֵבֶר אֶחָד, וְהוּא מֵעֵבֶר אֶחָד (בראשית רבה מב, ח).
Like Noach, the people of his generation are evil idol worshippers – think of Nimrod, Sdom.
Like Noach, Avraham experiences overt miracles. When Pharaoh kidnaps Sarah, HKB"H sends a plague and renders all his wives barren. Avraham is saved from the fiery furnace of Nimrod. When he goes to battle with the four kings, Avraham triumphs, despite being outnumbered two thousand to one.
Unlike Noach, who stays put in one place for 120 years, Avraham has "ants in his pants", he cannot sit still for a moment. Avraham is constantly in motion, travelling.
It begins with לֶךְ לְךָ, leaving the land of his birth. When he arrives in Eretz Yisrael, he is not there for long when he has to up and move again, to Egypt because of a famine.
Avraham returns laden with wealth, but before he can settle down, HKB"H tells him קוּם הִתְהַלֵּךְ בָּאָרֶץ לְאָרְכָּהּ וּלְרָחְבָּהּ, start travelling all over – Eilat, Metula … and everywhere in between! Avraham packs up his "food truck", replete with portable tree (אֶשֶׁל) for shade and starts doing the rounds.
Everywhere he stops on the way, he pitches his tent and starts cooking up a storm for anyone who wants to come partake of a free meal. And not just schnitzel and chips, but delicacies that nobody has ever eaten before, like calf tongue in mustard sauce, served, not with water, but with Emerald Riesling vintage 2048 (it was a good year), chilled to 12 degrees Celsius.
All Avraham asks in return is that the diner thank HKB"H for the food. When the weather is so hot that no guests arrive, Avraham goes out looking for guests. He then chases after a calf all the way from Beer Sheva to Hevron, because he is short of one calf to make three calf tongues in mustard sauce.
When Avraham is not cooking and serving guests, he is drilling boreholes, providing free water for anyone who wishes, handing out flyers and parshat hashavua sheets to read while they wash their feet and drink. When his nephew Lot is kidnapped, Avraham gathers an army and goes to save him.
One day, out of the blue, HKB"H says "Pack your bags (again) and take Yitzchak to an unknown destination to sacrifice as an olah”.
Does Avraham do everything HKB"H told him to do? Unlike Noach, the answer is "No!" Avraham does not suffice with everything HKB"H tells him to do, he goes one step further and does MORE than HKB"H tells him.
Avraham does not wait for people to come to him, like Noach did, he travels all over and takes the show to the people. Avraham goes beyond the call of duty and does CHESSED, not just ticking things off on a list, but going the extra mile to cook special delicacies, to actively go out looking for guests when nobody shows up.
When Noach gives tours of the תֵּיבָה building site, does he give the visitors a free meal and beverages? Does he waste his time cooking calf tongues in mustard sauce? Or does he simply sell jelly beans and Bamba in the gift shop? When no tourists arrive, does Noach rush out looking for them, or does he simply sit in his "estate", waiting, perhaps they will come tomorrow … for 115 years.
When HKB"H tells Noach that his generation is evil and is going to be destroyed, Noach asks "What should I do?" HKB"H replies "Build a תֵּיבָה, 300 amot long, 50 amot wide and 30 amot high, but first plant your own cedar trees for the lumber. When people ask what you are doing, tell them there is going to be a flood and they must repent or perish!" Noach does exactly what HKB"H tells him, not one millimeter less … and not one millimeter more.
When HKB"H tells Avraham קוּם הִתְהַלֵּךְ בָּאָרֶץ, Avraham asks "Where exactly?" HKB"H says "The length and breadth of the land, from Elon Moreh, to Schem, to Bet El, to Beer Sheva in the Negev, etc". Does HKB"H tell Avraham to open an אֶשֶׁל, a roadside inn everywhere he goes? Does HKB"H tell Avraham to give everyone free meals and beverages? Does HKB"H tell Avraham to cook French cuisine? Does HKB"H tell Avraham to drill boreholes and hand out leaflets? All these are Avraham's own initiative.
When HKB"H tells Avraham that He is going to destroy Sdom (evil, evil people, no less than the generation of Noach), Avraham begins to negotiate. "Perhaps there are 50 good people in Sdom, perhaps 45 …" When HKB"H tells Noach that He is going to destroy the world, does Noach negotiate? "Perhaps 50, perhaps 45 …"?
Noach does what HKB"H tells him, he plants the trees, waits until they grow and then builds the תֵּיבָה - exactly as HKB"H told him. In the 115 years waiting for the trees to grow, did Noach ever go out to the people, pleading with them to do teshuva? In all the 115 years waiting for the trees to grow, did Noach ever go out and pull some random person off the street "Kum arayn, take a load off, enjoy a free meal, a cool glass of Emerald Riesling"?
In all the 120 years did Noach ever say an extra kapitel Tehillim, praying for his generation, for HKB"H to save them, even though they did not do teshuva?
This is the essence of the difference between Noach and Avraham. Avraham had chessed, he had initiative, Noach did not.
If you have an evil person who you want to convince to change their ways, what is a more effective way to achieve it?
Do you build an extravagant tourist attraction on a hill with an impressive building project to attract attention and when they visit – all they see are placards plastered all over saying "Repent … or Die!”
Or do you take your food truck on the road and offer weary travelers a gourmet meal or a cool drink of water, wait on them, pampering their every whim … and not ask a cent for it? And when they thank you, you reply "Don't thank me, it is not my food, thank HKB"H – He provided the food". "HKB"H? Who is HKB"H?", they ask.
When HKB"H told Noach that his generation was going to be destroyed, did it hurt Noach? Did it affect him to the core? It did not. He did not care enough for the people of his generation, evil, corrupt, immoral, thieving people who constantly mocked him. All he was interested in was "What is going to happen to me and my family?" "Don't worry", HKB"H told him, "You will be saved on the תֵּיבָה”.
When HKB"H told Avraham that He was going to destroy Sdom, an unbelievably evil place, how did Avraham react? The depraved people of Sdom recently murdered Avraham's nephew Lot's daughter Plotit, by stripping her of her clothes, smearing her body with honey and tying her to a post on the roof of Lot's house, to be stung by thousands and thousands of bees until she died … screaming.
When Avraham heard that Sdom was going to be destroyed, he didn't say "Good riddance", Avraham began to plead and negotiate with HKB"H to save them. Avraham's negotiation didn't bear fruit in the end, Sdom was destroyed, but the very fact that Avraham davened for them, resulted in one small part of the region being spared, the area of מִצְעָר to which Lot and his daughters fled.
The Zohar HaKadosh (זוהר חדש כרך א', פרשת נח) says that when Noach exited the תֵּיבָה and saw the Armageddon that had taken place, he was crestfallen and said "HKB"H, You are merciful, why did You not have mercy on Your creations?" HKB"H replied – "רָעֲיָא שָׁטְיָא ('false shepherd'), now you ask Me this?
I gave you 120 years to plead for mercy for the world, but when I told you that you will be saved on the Ark, you did not think about the rest of the world. Now that the world is destroyed you open your mouth to ask Me for mercy?”
HKB"H is in fact saying to Noach - What kind of ship's captain are you? A true captain is one who charts a course, who navigates from the bridge and steers his ship and its passengers through perilous waters to their safe destination. Instead, you closed yourself in your own daled amot and the world be damned!
It is true that you are not like the people of your generation, you are not afflicted with their immorality and חָמָס, and for this you will not perish. However, you failed your life's mission. I wanted you to be a Moshe Rabbeinu and give this generation the Torah. If you would have been the leader you should have been, you could have saved your generation.
When Am Yisrael sinned at with the egel and I said to Moshe – "I will eradicate all of them and start Am Yisrael again from your seed", instead of behaving like you did, Moshe pleaded for Am Yisrael and said – "If you destroy Am Yisrael, then erase my name from the Torah!". This was the kind of leader you should have been!
A "captain" like you does not merit guiding his ship. A captain like you is boarded up in a floating prison, just like you shut yourself up for 120 years instead of going out to see what was happening around you. You will not see what is going around you during the flood.
You will be powerless to affect it. You did not show chessed like Avraham and offer gourmet food to the people of your generation to try be mekarev them, so you will be tossed and turned like stew in a pot (the first time the word נְזִיד is mentioned in the Torah is after Avraham's funeral, with Yaakov preparing a stew). You are no longer fit to be a leader, a Kohen Gadol and offer korbanot.
I will send the lion to make you a בַּעַל מוּם and disqualify you from bringing sacrifices. When you exit the תֵּיבָה it will be your son Shem (Malkitzedek Melech Shalem), who will offer the sacrifices. Shem will later transfer his role of Kohen Gadol to the true leader, the true captain – Avraham, after his battle with the four kings.
Noach is the "captain" of the תֵּיבָה, he is the רַב חוֹבֵל. The origin of the Hebrew term for captain, רַב חוֹבֵל, a "rope master" (referring to the many ropes and riggings on a ship) is from sefer Yonah (1, 6). However, the word חוֹבֵל may also be derived from a different root – חַבָּלָה, a "master of destruction", for failing to save his generation.
Avraham is not the captain of a תֵּיבָה, he is the captain of a different kind of vessel – called a סְפִינָה. A סְפִינָה is not a flat, floating, "box-like" prison, it is a sea going vessel, curved below, to dance in the waves and prevent being flipped over. Such a vessel can be guided and navigated, even through stormy seas and emerge safely. Avraham is not a רַב חוֹבֵל, he is a different kind of captain called a קְבַרְנִיט, derived from the Greek word "Kybernetes", meaning to lead, navigate.
When Avraham Avinu died, the leaders of the world gave a hesped at his funeral and said אוֹי לָהּ לַסְּפִינָה שֶׁאָבַד קַבְרִינְטָא (בבא בתרא צא, ע"ב), "Woe to the ship that has lost its (true) captain”.
Prophetic words. Although Avraham managed to convert many in his generation and be mekarev them to HKB"H, a task that was continued by his son Yitzchak, all these converts never prevailed. By the time of Yaakov Avinu, they had all returned to their previous idolatrous ways.
Despite this, Avraham Avinu did merit seeing a new "ship" from his rightful heirs Yitzchak and Yaakov, a "ship" founded in chessed, the "ship" that became the Twelve Tribes of Am Yisrael led by Moshe Rabbeinu, that successfully crossed over the sea (Yam Suf) and finally achieved what Noach did not in his generation – receiving the Torah. Moshe Rabbeinu, a gilgul of Noach (אריז"ל), did a tikkun for the failure of his predecessor.
To end this shiur, here is an amazing chiddush.
We began the shiur with the machloket in the Gemara (Sanhedrin108a) whether we should judge Noach לִשְׁבָח or לִגְנַאי. R' Yochanan says לִגְנַאי and Reish Lakish says לִשְׁבָח.
The Gemara then continues – אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא מָשָׁל דְּרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן לְמָה הַדָּבָר דּוֹמֶה? לְחָבִית שֶׁל יַיִן שֶׁהָיְתָה מֻנַּחַת בְּמַרְתֵּף שֶׁל חֹמֶץ. בִּמְקוֹמָהּ רֵיחָהּ נוֹדֵף שֶׁלֹּא בִּמְקוֹמָהּ אֵין רֵיחָהּ נוֹדֵף.
R' Chanina brings a mashal to explain R' Yochanan's opinion that we should judge Noach לִגְנַאי. R' Chanina says it is like one barrel of wine placed in a cellar together with other barrels of vinegar. If you are in the cellar, the barrel of wine stands out for the good aroma it exudes (compared to the vinegar), but if you take that barrel of wine out of the cellar, the smell does not stand out as something special (compared to other barrels of wine).
In other words, Noach is like that barrel of wine that stands out in the context of his evil generation, but if you take Noach and place him in a better generation (amongst other barrels of wine), he will not stand out.
There are two incredible things about this excerpt of Gemara.
The first relates to the Rabbanim in question, R' Yochanan and R' Chanina. R' Chanina was a תַּנָּא. R' Yochanan was an אָמוֹרָא. In other words, R' Chanina was senior to R' Yochanan. R' Yochanan was in fact a pupil of R' Chanina in אַגַּדְתָּא (but not in halacha). In this Gemara – we find the teacher coming to elaborate the opinion of his pupil, the reverse of what it should be.
The second incredible thing about this part of the Gemara is that it relates to the comparison between Noach and … Avraham Avinu (the Gemara does not specifically say Avraham, Rashi adds that). The individuals involved in espousing and elaborating this opinion are R' Yochanan and R' Chanina.
There is a very famous machloket (Menachot 94b) between R' Chanina and R' Yochanan (R' Yochanan could debate with R' Chanina, who was senior to him, because he was not a pupil of R' Chanina in halacha, only in אַגַּדְתָּא). Do you know what this machloket is about? It is all about the shape of the Lechem HaPanim. What shape was the Lechem HaPanim?
R' Chanina says it was shaped like a תֵּיבָה פְּרוּצָה.
R' Yochanan says it was shaped like a סְפִינָה רוֹקֶדֶת.
Above we said that the תֵּיבָה refers to Noach and the סְפִינָה to Avraham. Same two Rabbanim, same inyan.
R' Chanina is saying that the shape of the Lechem HaPanim is derived from Noach, the תֵּיבָה. Noach failed his mission, but it was fixed later by Moshe Rabbeinu, who also was placed in a תֵּיבָה. The shape is not called simply a תֵּיבָה, a floating prison, R' Chanina calls it a תֵּיבָה פְּרוּצָה, referring to Moshe who managed to break free of the "prison" of Noach. Unlike Noach, who thought only about himself, Moshe was prepared to sacrifice himself to save Am Yisrael. Another name for that is … chessed.
R' Yochanan is saying that the shape of the Lechem HaPanim is derived from Avraham, the סְפִינָה. According to R' Yochanan, same as R' Chanina, the message of the Lechem HaPanim is chessed. However, unlike R' Chanina, R' Yochanan says that chessed did not begin with Moshe Rabbeinu, if you want to go to the source of chessed – then go to the original source, Avraham Avinu.
So, in fact there is no difference of opinion between them, it is just explaining the spiritual essence behind the shape from a different direction. Some say that R' Yochanan's shape is not fundamentally different from R' Chanina's, it is just an elaboration, a clarification of R' Chanina's shape. In other words, a reversal of the situation in the Gemara in Sanhedrin above, here R' Yochanan comes to elaborate R' Chanina!
Either way, we see from this that the derivation of the Lechem HaPanim is from Noach and Avraham and it is all based on chessed. The Lechem HaPanim is the conduit of all the שֶׁפַע in this world and it all comes from a source of chessed.
The generation of Noach, which was typified by incredible שֶׁפַע, was destroyed because of the absence of chessed, from Noach to his generation and from one member of the generation to the other. Avraham, who typifies chessed managed to save his generation and the world from oblivion.
The difference of approach between Noach and Avraham was one of rebuke (with no chessed) vs. chessed (followed by rebuke), "Repent or Die" vs. "Taste this delicious calf tongue in mustard sauce and thank Hashem". The second is effective, the first - doomed to failure.
It is a profound lesson with immediate ramifications in our generation. How should we approach being mekarev all those lost souls, even those evildoers amongst us, most effectively.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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