[Avodah] Yom Geulah

Micha Berger via Avodah avodah at lists.aishdas.org
Thu Mar 30 14:09:46 PDT 2017


On Thu, Mar 30, 2017 at 10:55:06AM -0400, Cantor Wolberg via Avodah wrote:
: With Pesach around the corner I am reminded of something
: I learned years ago in the name of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
: There is a distinction between geulah and yeshua. The term
: geulah is applicable to occurrences brought forth by Hashem only;
: a yeshua may come through the media of a sh'liach or sh'lichim
: whom God has inspired to leadership in time of distress.
...
: Another distinction: for geulah we give thanks to the Almighty only;
: for a yeshuah we may add also our gratitude to those who were the
: sh'luchei haShem.

I'm confused. The first distinction means that for a ge'ulah there is
no one else to thank. What meaning does the second distinction have that
isn't a logical necessity of the first one?

Here's a third distinction I noticed.

Hashem had us do the qorban Pesach to prove we were redeemable. Ge'ulah
is only for those who show worth. (If not actually fully earned.)

Yeshu'os can be for the sake of a third party -- like Hashem saving
Lot from Sodom in Avraham's zekhus. And what's notable about such
yeshu'os, is that those who are saved are warned against looking down
at those who weren't. Ask Lot's wife.

And while yetzi'as Mitzrayim was a ge'uklah, qeri'as Yam Suf was
"Vayosha Hashem bayom hahu".

I used that idea to unify two ways of looking at Noach. There are two
Rashis with a pair of opinions in them near the start of the parashah:

1- Tamim hayah bedorosav -- is this to add to the complement, or to
   diminish it?

2- Was the tzohar a window, or a gem?

If the tzohar was a window, then Noach could see the others drown. So,
this is the view of Noach which takes "tamim" to be leshevach.

If it was a gem, he couldn't. Noach who was only a tzadiq "bedorosav"
couldn't watch the destruction for the same reason Lot couldn't.

And if we really want to stretch it, this can carry through to chazal's
ambivalence about rainbows. The tzohar-as-gem would imply a teiva that
had rainbows all over the walls. The rainbow as os beris would be tied
to being saved despite not earning it.

Noach who was tamim and deserved being saved had a window, and the
first rainbow was unrelated to memories the destruction.

Idea is explained at more length here
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/of-arks-and-rainbows

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Feeling grateful  to or appreciative of  someone
micha at aishdas.org        or something in your life actually attracts more
http://www.aishdas.org   of the things that you appreciate and value into
Fax: (270) 514-1507      your life.         - Christiane Northrup, M.D.



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