(From Mikhtav Mei’Eliahu)
[Rav Eliahu Dessler zt”l (1892-1953) was one of the great contemporary thinkers and spiritual leaders of the Mussar Movement. He served as mashgiach ruchani in the Gateshead and Ponevitch Yeshivas and his subtle thinking and moral guidance had far-reaching effects through the publication of his mussar talks in Michtav Mei’Eliahu.]
The Ark of Chesed
Noach was a tremendous man of chesed (lovingkindness). If we think vividly about the inside of the ark — it was Noach, his family, and tens of thousands of animals that all had to be fed on time. And Noach did it. [The midrash’s comment on “vayishaer ach Noach,” that the lion was once fed late and attacked Noach, causing him to scream “Ach!” only shows that the rest of the time he fed them on time.] Noach’s chesed to the animals was the spiritual dimension of the ark, the “precious stone that illuminated it.” This chesed is what really protected Noach during the flood, keeping the ark from being torn to bits by the dangerous churning waters.
There were two different types of salvation from the flood, though:
1. One was to be inside the ark. Outside the ark Noach would not have lasted; inside he was safe. Danger exists, but Noach is saved from it.
2. Another was to be in the Land of Israel. The sages tell us (Zevachim 113a) that the flood waters did not fall on the Land of Israel. The danger did not affect Israel at all. Noach did not merit this type of salvation.
There are also two types of chesed:
1. One was Noach’s, doing chesed because it had to be done. There is an obligation to act with kindness; it is the just thing to do, and Noach was a “tzaddik tamim,” a perfectly righteous man. This type of chesed (Chesed sheb’Yesod) saved him from the dangerous floodwaters.
2. There is another level of chesed, where the whole person is motivated by kindness, and feels pain if not able to do it. This was Avraham’s character. If Noach did not do chesed, he did not feel pain — he did what had to be done, what was just. Avraham felt pain if he could not do chesed. On a hot day, when there were no guests, Avraham went out looking for them; he could not tolerate the inability to do chesed.
This constant inner chesed, pure altruism, merited Avraham with the Land of Israel. G-d’s attention is constantly focused on the Land of Israel, shining His Chesed on it at all time. He protects even from the source of danger (the flood waters did not fall in Israel) and not only from its affects (an ark within which one is safe). [Perhaps this is why Hashem calls Himself “Magen Avraham,” the shield of Avraham.]
[prepared by Eliezer Kwass]
