Bridging Two Worlds: Noach's Bracha to Yefes
After the Mabul, Noach blessed his youngest son Yefes: “May Hashem expand Yefes, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem.” (Gen. 9:27)¹. How are we to understand this brocha in a way we can apply it into our everyday lives? Also, why should Yefes live in Shem’s tents? Moreover we know that the Tents of Shem is a reference to Shem’s Yeshiva, a place of Torah learning, how is this relevant to Yefes?
The Gemara in Migilah² notes that Yefes was the ancestor of ancient Greece, a primary source of Western culture. As such, the blessing Yefes received can be understood to relate to the unique accomplishments of the Greeks and its cultural inheritance, up until today. After the world was destroyed, and in the midst of its renewal, Noach was recognizing the future accomplishments of the descendants of Yefes and what they will do in later generations to further advance the world. Simultaneously, when Noach was wishing them success; he was also giving them advice on how to succeed. Noach was telling them: your accomplishments will make this renewed world beautiful (the name Yefes is related to the Hebrew word yofi, meaning ‘beauty'), as long as they are rooted in the tents of Shem, a euphemism for Torah. Noach was not mitigating the advances the descendants of Yefes had to offer this world, but he was teaching them these are not ends unto themselves, rather means to showcase Hashem’s glory and teachings in this world, the ones that are learned in the tents of Shem.
There is a Zohar³ which predicted that prior to Moshiach’s arrival, beginning in the Jewish calendar year 600 of the Sixth millennium, (5,600 or approximately 1840 C.E.), an information age will begin with a tremendous amount of new knowledge spreading around the world. Many of the commentators understand that it is not only referring to spiritual knowledge, but advancement and dissemination of science, civics, engineering, and the like. (Many saw the industrial revolution, the spread of democracies, the transitions of the alchemist to chemists, and the advancements of physics, all circa that time period, as a fulfillment of this Zohar.) The Zohar’s says this idea is a remez (hidden message) of the posuk related to Noach. “in the six-hundredth year of Noah's life [...] all the springs of the great deep were split, and the windows of the heavens opened up. (Gen. 7:11)”
This is essential to who Noach is, to advance the human condition, all the while bringing out the glory of Hashem. In last week’s parsha⁴ the Trah explained, that Noach got his name because: "this one (i.e. Noach) will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands from the ground. Rashi and other commentators point out it was in Noach’s lifetime where there were advancements made in agriculture and farming crops became easier⁵. Noach was all for technological advancements, but understood its true purpose, it is a method of spreading Godliness in this world.
Doctors, researchers, and scientists recognize the benefits of modern knowledge and appreciate new discoveries. Inevitably, colleagues or others will ask how religious Jews reconcile Torah and Science. While it is beyond the scope of this article to address those specific questions, and there are good sources that do address them, it is important to keep in mind that Torah and Science are not parallel roads and "never the twain shall meet". Rather, it is imperative to comprehend that the advancements of medicine and the sciences are tremendous tools to understanding the complexities of Hashem’s creation and we have the opportunity to use them to highlight His teachings and His greatness.
1 יפת אלקים ליפת וישכן באהלי שם (בראשית ט כז)
2 מגילה ט׳ ב
3 איתא בזהר (ח״א קי"ז,א'): ״ובשית מאה שנין לשתיתאה, יתפתחון תרעי דחכמתא לעילא, ומבועי דחכמתא לתתא, ויתת. קן. עלמא לאעלא בשביעאה, כבר נש דמתתקן ביומא שתיתאה מכי ערב שמשא לאעלא בשבתא.
תרגום הקטע ללשון הקודש: ״ובשש מאות שנה לאלף השישי יפתחו שערי החכמה למעלה ומעיני החכמה למטה ויכין עצמו העולם להכנס באלף השביעי, כאדם המכין עצמו ביום שישי בצהריים לכניסת שבת, כן גם בזה. וסימנך: בשנת שש־מאות שנה לחיי נח וגו' נבקעו כל מעיינות תהום רבה״
4 ויקרא את שמו נח לאמר זה ינחמנו ממעשנו ומעצבון ידינו מן האדמה אשר אררה ה' (בראשית ה' כ"ט)
5 רש"י על בראשית ה׳:כ״ט זה ינחמנו. ינח ממנו את עצבון ידינו. עד שלא בא נח לא היה להם כלי מחרשה והוא הכין להם והיתה הארץ מוציאה קוצים ודרדרים כשזורעים חטים, מקללתו של אדם הראשון, ובימי נח נחה, וזהו ינחמנו…