Noach - Davening People Into Greatness

2:08 What's the pshat that he didn't daven for them? And not only that It seems that Noah himself understood this, because after Noah got out of the tab, what does the Torah tell us? What's the first thing that Noach does when he comes out of the teva? He builds an altar. And what is that mizbeach? Where's the location of that mizbeach? Chazal say? It's the same exact location as Harabayas. It's exactly where the base of Mikdash stood. And we know that a carbon is really a form of tefillah, right? After we lost carbonos, what do we do? We daven. So it seems that Noach himself was aware of this. That his failure to daven His failure, like I said, I'm a 10% guy. His failure to daven He understood that was his failure, and that's why after he gets out of the table, what does he do? He goes to the future makom of the Beis Hamikdash, the same place where other Marisham brought his carbon, the same place where Avram Avinu brought Yitzchak for Hakadosh Yitzchak, and in that place he daven's, he brings a carbon to Hashem. So what exactly is the idea? What does it mean that Noah didn't daven a question mark on behalf of his generation, and as a result, it was such an epic failure? How could he not have davened?

3:21 So the Zohar Kadosh quotes a machlokas. I never saw this machlokas before. Beautiful machlokas. Rav Yehuda says that Noah failed to daven. Girls who did daven to save their generation and were successful? Moshe Rabenu Avraham Rabenu davened for a stone. But was unsuccessful. We're going to discuss. Very good point. Avraham Avinu davened for a stone, but was unsuccessful. Moshe Rabbeinu famously said, after we were all going to be wiped out after the Chai Teigel, when Moshe Rabbeinu said, "Mechini na misifricha," he told Hashem. He davened to Hashem, if you're going to wipe out Klal Yisrael, wipe me out also, and he saves Klal Yisrael through his tefila. Noach didn't daven at all. So the Zohar Hakadosh quotes Rav Yehuda, and Rav Yehuda says. It seems that he didn't daven for any. It could be that he davened to Hashem, but he certainly didn't daven for the people of his generation.

4:14 So the Zohar suggests that according to R' Yehuda Noach didn't daven and Moshe Rabbeinu did. Why? Because Moshe Rabbeinu had a tool in his arsenal that Noach didn't have. What was that tool? The tool was schus avos. Schus avos means that you can daven for somebody. And you can daven, and you say, even if they're not worthy I'm davening on behalf of the sluch that they have. Because they're the children of Avram Yitzchok and Yaakov. How come Noach couldn't say, "I'm going to get you one second." How come Noach couldn't daven on behalf of Avram Yitzchok and Yaakov? Because he's before them. So Moshe Rabbeinu was able to daven for Klal Yisrael. Why? Because Moshe Rabbeinu says, 'Look. Even if they're unworthy, but lemaisa they're the children of Avram Yitzchok and Yaakov.' Noach couldn't do that, so Noach couldn't daven for them. That's what Rav Yehuda says. You have that information. You got it clear.

5:15 You got it. Rav Yitzchok disagrees, and Rav Yitzchok says nevertheless Noach should have davened for them. Even if they were unworthy. And even if they don't have shchos avos, that's not a good excuse. In fact, girls, what does the word teva mean? What does it really mean? It doesn't mean ark. That's teva. Teva means a word. Really? Like roshet tevos are the beginning of the words. A teva means a word, and the balshem tov says what word is it referring to? It's referring to davening. So Noach, literally, what saved him is he entered into a world of prayer. He entered into a world of tefillah. He entered into the tefah. So it's an unbelievable thing. Noach didn't daven for his generation. That's why he was unsuccessful in getting anybody to actually do tshuva, even though he gave the most inspirational shiurim, even before they had cell phones. He gave the most inspirational shiurim. Nobody changed because he didn't daven. What does he enter into to save himself? He enters into tefillah. What's the first thing that he does when he leaves? He builds him his b'ach, which is a form of tefillin. I mean, it's a form of prayer, but not sure if it's okay to use it here. Okay, so I think we should be careful with the language and keep the meaning as close as possible.

6:33 It seems that he didn't daven for anybody at all. According to the Zohar According to the Zohar, to be malamed schus on Noach Rabbi Yehuda suggests that maybe the reason he didn't daven was because they didn't have schus avos. They didn't have Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov as their grandparents to protect them. But Rav Yitzchok says, still he should have davened for them. So what's the pshat that Noach didn't daven, and what's this kolach at tefila that it saves people? That's your that's your question, right? Like he didn't daven for people because they were unable to be saved because Noach looked at them and he said they're unworthy. They're unworthy of being saved. Rav Yehuda says, therefore he had nothing to rely on because to daven for them he couldn't daven for them because they're unworthy of being saved. He didn't have zchusavos like Moshe Rabbeinu had, so Noach didn't daven for them because they had nothing to rely on. Rav Yitzchak says he still should have davened. He still should have davened. But why If they have nothing to save from, if they don't have schos abus and they are not worthy, then what? What could Noach possibly do? But obviously Noach was wrong because at the end, what does Noach do?

7:33 He literally, the first thing he does when he leaves is he builds him his beach and he daven's and he enters into an ark of davening. He enters into a teva. If he didn't daven, then why were his wife and son part of his family? They were righteous. They were righteous people, but the unrighteous of the generation he didn't daven for. Did he know that he got to daven for? Clearly, he didn't know that he had to daven for them because Obviously Noach understood on some level. This is exactly what we're trying to unpack here. Obviously, Noach understood on some level that tefillah is necessary, but he looked at them according to the Zohar and he said, "I can't daven for you. You're rishonim. You're terrible people. What can I possibly beg Hashem to do to save you for what reason? You're not righteous people." And it's according to Rabbi Yehuda. That's his point. He's saying, and they don't even have schosavos. They don't have anything to rely on. They don't have Avram Yitzchak and Yaakov. Sometimes you can daven for somebody, and you could say, look, this kid is a bad kid.

8:26 But he comes from a good family. He can't even say that about them. They don't have Avram Yitzchak and Yaakov. I want to start to get to a little bit of an answer here. But this is, girls, we could lock in for a couple minutes. It's a very deep answer. I know it's late. I know daylight savings. I also get depressed around 4:30 every day now. I know it's very hard. But let's see if we could do it. Just a couple of minutes. I want to give you—a gift. It's a tremendous gift. What does the word tefillah mean? The word tefillah, lehit pallel. When is the first time it's ever used in the Torah? The word pallel, the first time you ever see it in the Torah, is when Yosef meets Yaakov after being separated for all the years where Yosef was in Mitsrayim. And Yaakov Avinu sees him after all those years and he says.

9:13 I was not pallel that I would ever see you again. You know what the word pallel means? I never dreamt. I never imagined. I never conceived of the possibility that you and I would ever see each other again. Tefillah is a form of imagination. You ever think of tefillah that way? It's a way of imagining the world. What does the word chazan mean? Doesn't mean cantor and it doesn't mean leader. Chazan means a visionary. It's like a vision. It's almost like a type of prophecy. It's an amazing idea. Tefillah is an amazing idea. It's getting together as a community and imagining the world the way it should be, the way it can be. Girls, if you know this idea, there's an unbelievable gift coming. You ready for it? The idea is as follows: Imagine looking at somebody. And all you see is their actions. Can you imagine them being great? No. You know what a great rebbe is Or a great teacher? And I'm sure you've had both in your life. You've had great rebbeim, great teachers, and maybe you've also had some not such good teachers.

10:27 Probably you've had 99% good, but maybe 1% bad. I'm so sorry to hear that. Want to hit them again? Just there. You did good. The idea is as follows: A guy comes into yeshiva, a girl comes into seminary in the beginning of the year. And you could look at them And you could say what they are Or you could look at them and imagine what they could be. And some rebbeim and some teachers are gifted somehow they just look forward. And when they look at you, they don't see who you are. All they see is the possibility. I want to share with you an amazing דבר תורה that I saw. This is a beautiful story. The Ger Rebbe, Rav Huttner, tells this story. The Ger Rebbe, the Chedush Arum, the first Ger Rebbe He saw two bachrim davening. He saw two bachrim dancing on Simchas Torah.

11:30 And he said to his gabai, "You're going to see this kid is going to stop dancing before this kid." And that's exactly what happened. The first kid stopped, and the second kid was still going. The gabbai asked the geyer rebbe. He said, 'Rebbe, how did you know that this one was going to stop first?' And the rebbe said, "This kid is dancing for the Torah that he learned last year" And this kid is dancing for the Torah that he will learn. So the first kid stopped first because he was dancing for what he had already accomplished. But the second kid had big dreams. What's all the Torah that I could learn this year? So at the end, he's still dancing. Because he imagines himself as he could be. It's an amazing gift when you have somebody in your life who looks at you and says, "I don't see any of the klipa, I don't see any of the shell, I don't see any of the external behavior. I know the possibility, and when I speak to you as you truly are."

12:21 And sometimes that means challenging someone. Sometimes it means that if you see someone behaving in a low way, you have to say to them, "If you're a good rebbe" Really, you You're behaving this way. Do you know who you are? It's a beautiful story with R' Shlomo Freifeld, zechut tzadik levrachu, who's the founding Rosh Hashanah of Shiyashuv. And there was a woman in the neighborhood whose kid didn't get into a certain school because they had certain devices in their house that violated the school rules. And R' Freifeld said, "I'm going to call up this woman, and I'm going to tell her I wanted to give her mussar for having these devices in her house." But listen to the words that he used. He said, "I'm going to call up this woman, and I'm going to tell her who she is." You hear the difference? I'm going to call up this woman and I'm going to say, 'You really? You? Do you know how great you are? Do you know how big you are? You don't have to have those devices in your house. They're taking away from your greatness. You're amazing.'

13:13 It's an amazing way of looking at the world. This Zohar is such a powerful Zohar. Noach is looking at the world that Hashem said, 'Save my world.' That means that Hashem was telling Noach Don't look at their actions. They can be saved. So you know what Noach said? He said, "All right, so I need to educate them." Wrong. You can't educate somebody you don't truly believe in. So Noach said, "I'm going to daven. I'm going to daven for them. How can I daven for them? These, they're rishonim. They're rishonim gemurim. These are terrible people. How could I daven for them? What's the answer to that question, girls?" How could you teach someone that you can't daven for? How could you teach someone that you don't even imagine them becoming great? That's the problem. You can have the most inspiring. By the way, I'm going to say something. Maybe it's not so nice. That's why inspiring shiurim never work.

14:08 If somebody gets up and they give an amazing shiur and you go, "Whoa! I never thought of that idea before. It's amazing!" It doesn't work. It doesn't last. You know what lasts? The teacher who might not be charismatic, who might not be dynamic, who maybe doesn't have the most exciting material in the world, but she legitimately cares and she's willing to have you over for Shabbos, or she's willing to have you over for a meal, or she's just willing to spend time talking to you. That's the most meaningful teacher, no? That's the one you gain from the most. Why? Because that's the one that you feel really believes in you, and she sees what you could be. That's the one you stay in touch with ten years later, and you're like, I have to call her up and tell her that I had a child. I have to call her up and tell her what's good in my life. Why? Because she believed in me when I wasn't. Noach gave the most incredible shiurim. He was Eishat Torah on steroids. He didn't even need to bring Floyd Mayweather into his yeshiva.

14:59 He was amazing. But Noah didn't actually believe in them. So the first sheet, the Rav Yehuda says, "Well, the reason he didn't believe in them is because they didn't have schosavos." And Rav Yitzchok responds, and what does Rav Yitzchok say? It's not about their grandparents. It's not about their great grandparents. When you look at them, what should you say? Hashem told me to save them. That means they're worthy of being saved. That means I have to be able to imagine their greatness. You understand why Noah survived, girls? What did he walk into? He walked into tefila. He walked into ateva. He walked into imagination. Who walked in with him? Him and his family. You know who he believed in? He believed in himself, but he didn't believe in everybody else. Now the truth is, did he really believe in himself? Maybe he didn't really believe in himself because if he really believed in himself, he would have believed in everybody.

15:49 But he believed in himself because he was a tzaddik and did the right things. He there was a God. Well Avram and Sarah came after the flood. We're talking about before. They he lived in a time where there was a God and he communicated with God, but the world didn't yet have religion like Avram Avinu brought into the world. And that's the depth of Noah. In terms of his own behavior, he was a tzaddik. He did the right thing. He even spent his life trying to go around and give shiurim. Wasn't he a great rebbe? He gave the best shiurim. Why did nobody change? People only change if you actually believe in them. Tefila doesn't mean he didn't daven for them. It doesn't just mean he didn't shuckle hard. It could be again. Maybe this is too much license to say. It could be that when Noach woke up in the morning and davened, it could be he was shuddering like he was having a seizure, and it could be that he was davening for every single person in the world.

17:01 But not truly. Maybe he said the words of the seder, so to speak, but he didn't actually believe in them in the sense that he imagined their greatness. And because he didn't, maybe people were temporarily inspired, but nobody else was worthy of going into the teva. And now we can answer one last question. What's the first thing that Noach does when he leaves the teva? He davens. He builds a mizbeach, and where? In the place that becomes the world's imagination, in the place of the Beis Hamikdash. He says he has to be part of this movement of imagining a better world. You know why the world is a nasty place? Because people don't have hope for a better world. People are cynical. People are negative. And girls' negativity destroys. I bet you've even seen it so far here this year in seminary. I'm going to say something again. This might not be the nicest thing to say, but I'm going to say it anyway.

17:49 There's a cynicism that could be here. Somebody gets up, they give a she'er. All it takes is one girl to roll her eyes, and what happens to the entire she'er? It gets deflated. You ever see that? You walk out, let's say you feel really inspired, and maybe a girl goes Just another like whatever pump-up she'er. It's not really inspired, and it deflates the entire room. Isn't that true? Why is that? That cynicism. Why is it so contagious? Why is cynicism so much more powerful than hope? Because it's so easy to be negative. It's so easy to look at somebody and give up hope on them. It's so easy to look at them and go, look at that person. There's no hope for them. Look at. Do you realize what type of disgusting behavior they're engaged in? And do you know how many times I've spoken to them? And even though I said get off the phone, they're still on the phone. But you're looking at the behavior. You're not looking at the person.

18:37 If a seminary comes along and they say Have hope for a brighter future. If you don't have that, that's a chesaron in your ability to imagine a better life. What I love about teaching here in Bera Miriam, I'm going to be very honest with you. I saw last year was my first year. This is my second. I came in halfway through the year last year. I saw an amazing thing. From the time I came in January until Pesach, the girls were radically different. Radically. What's different mean? Different means they didn't have any personality. Bera Miriam. There's no such thing as girls here that don't have personality. Every week, it's a fight with the ADHD. I'm a big believer. I'm listen. It's easy for me. I also have ADHD, but I'm the one giving the shears, so it's easy for me to stay engaged. I saw these girls had real belief in themselves. They're like, yeah, I could be amazing, and that's the secret. They went out and they were amazing because they believed in their capacity to be amazing.

19:27 If you don't believe that you're worthy of change, if you don't believe that your life could be awesome, what's going to make you be awesome in your life? The answer is nothing. And even worse. If you don't have someone in your life who loved you into being It's very hard to find that for yourself. I bet you right now, everybody in this room can think of somebody—a brother, a sister, a parent, a counselor, a teacher, a rebbe—somebody who said, "I believe in you" when you don't believe in yourself. Those are the most powerful people in the world. So I'll share with you one last thing because I know the hour is already late and we're already overtime. But can I share with you one last thing? I had a person in my life. His name is Mr. Richie Altobee. Richie Altobee is the principal today of Halbe Elementary School. He was my principal when I was younger. Richie Altobee, when I was a counselor in camp, he hired me every single summer, even though I didn't always do the best job.

20:18 And one of the gifts that he gave me is one summer there was a girl in camp And I basically didn't do my job and just spent the entire summer hanging out with her. And the next summer She wasn't rehired. And I was. And somebody in the head staff made a comment to me. I was 16 or 17 years old. Somebody made a comment to me. The reason she didn't get hired was because of you. I was like, are you serious? I was so upset because I wanted her back in the camp. I wanted to hang out with her again. I was like, are you serious? The reason you didn't hire her was because of me. I marched into Richie's office. I was so angry. That was intense. Bless you. Hashem should bless you like tenfold for that one. I marched into Richie's office and said to him, 'Did you really not hire her back because of me?'

21:05 And he didn't blink an eye. He just looks at me and he goes, "I had to make a choice. It was her or you, and I chose you." You really gonna be upset at me? And I was like, "Whoa!" And I didn't. I never thought of it that way before. He chose me. It was such an unbelievable gift. Now it's a great story because Richie told that story at my Ufrof because I was engaged to that girl. I'm married to that girl today. So in the end, I don't know who won, Richie or me. I want you to know, I want you to know. See, I told you I could keep you engaged. In ways that I didn't even understand When I was 15, 16, and 17 years old Even though Richie had every reason to fire me, he never did. And those people, the ones who daven for us, they imagine us as our greatest self. They give us permission to be great.

22:07 That's where Noach's failure was. Let's make sure we don't fail ourselves and each other. If you have a girl who's sitting next to you in Ber Miriam this year, and you look at her, do you judge her? Or do you imagine Chas v'Shalom, or do you imagine her as her greatest self that God willing she will be? Girls have a beautiful Shabbos. Yes.