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The Lubavitcher Rebbe was known for many of the initiatives that he created for Klal Yisrael. He was known for the incredible brilliance of the sichos that he gave. In particular The Lubavitcher Rebbe had an approach to how to learn Rashi. And he would give. A Rashi Sicha. Rashi always comes to give the simplest explanation, and the Rebbe had a mahalach And how to understand Rashi's throughout all of Torah. Brilliant, brilliant sichos. Though the sicha that I'm about to share with you may appear to be technical If you stay with it And you work through the technical difficulties that the Rebbe shows in Rashi and ultimately come to appreciate his answer. You'll see that it's not only a technical understanding of a pasuk in Torah. But rather we're gaining a fundamental insight into our lives. So I ask for your patience.
And to treat this seichah with the depth and profundity that it deserves, by working through it, it's not easy to understand, but we'll work through it together. Noach finds himself in the teva. How does he know if he can leave? How does he know if the waters have receded? The Torah tells us. He sent out a dove. The dove returned to him. And it has a plucked olive leaf in its mouth. Ve'Yedah Noach kikolu amaya me'ala aretz. And now Noach knows that the water has receded from upon the earth. We know that the entire world was destroyed. So where does it come from that all of a sudden we have? A tree that's mature enough to sprout leaves. Where does that come from? If everything was destroyed, how did this Yona find this leaf? And what's fascinating is that Rashi doesn't even address this obvious question.
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Usually, when there's a glaring omission in a pasuk, Rashi comes to tell us what's the backstory. Rashi says nothing. It's especially puzzling because the Medrash does deal with this issue And the Medrash tells us one of two possibilities: where did Yona find this olive leaf? The Yona either found it, the Medrash says, in Gan Eden. Which was beyond the reach of the flood Or perhaps the Yona. Found the olive leaf in Eretz Yisrael, which the Medrash says was unaffected by the flood, even though the flood covered the entire world. The Medrash says that the flood did not reach the shores of Eretz Yisrael. So Rashi ought to have quoted, as he does so often throughout Chumash. Rashi ought to have quoted these Medrashim. Where did the Yona get this leaf from? It seems obvious that there could not have been a freshly sprouted leaf. So it must be that it either came from Gan Eden or Eretz Yisrael.
Rashi doesn't address the question. Rashi doesn't quote the midrashim. Rashi says nothing. That's very strange. The question is, why not? So we know that Rashi always comes to offer the simplest explanation of the psukim. And these midrashim are not the simplest explanation of the pesukim. Why not? One reason could be that the Torah gives us no indication that there were places in the world that were unaffected by the mabul. So pashut b'shad in the Torah, the simplest explanation of the pesukim is that Eretz Yisrael was flooded. So Rashi doesn't give an explanation that goes against the simplest explanation. Perhaps that's one problem. There's another problem. If there was a region of the world like Gan Eden or Eretz Yisrael that the flood didn't reach, then where should Noach's teva have gone? It should have gone into those areas. You ever see how things always float to the bottom? If there's water on one side, everything goes to the other side.
So Noach's teva. Ostensibly should have ended up in Eretz Yisrael, not on Har Ararat. A third problem, perhaps you could suggest If there was an area that was unaffected by the flood, then Noach didn't even need to build the teva. He should have just gone to those areas. So these midrashim, while very beautiful, Rashi cannot offer them as explanations because it goes against the rules of Rashi, who always tries to give the simplest explanation of the pasuk. But the biggest problem The biggest problem with these midrashim Is that if the dove somehow was able to fly the thousands of miles from Harara to Eretz Yisrael and find a fresh leaf from there How does that help Noach right now? Noach right now says, "I need to know if I could leave the table." I need to know if the waters have receded. If the dove brings a leaf from a thousand miles away, Chaver, does that help Noach?
A thousand miles away, it's dry. But maybe there's water over here. So it can't be that Rashi could offer these midrashim. There are too many problems. Still, we're bothered by another technical issue. Maybe this Maybe this leaf Grew on a very tall tree. Or maybe this leaf was floating on the water. And if that's the case Then how did Noach know with this leaf, wherever it came from, that it's safe to leave the teva? If it grew on top of a very tall tree So then maybe the water is still very high And if the water was floating If the leaf was floating on the water Then maybe there's still water there. So how can Noach leave the teva? So the Lebavitcher Rebbe offers a very beautiful, simple explanation that if you read the words of the pasuk clearly, you see why Rashi didn't comment because Rashi wasn't bothered by any of this.
Let's look at the pasuk again. There's a gift here. Listen to the words of the pasuk. Vatavoe l'avayona le'is erev. The Yona came back to Noah. Ve'hine and what did he have in his mouth? Ale zayas teref b'fiya. What does he have? An olive leaf that was plucked in his mouth. Chaver, what does plucked mean? Plucked means that there was a plucking. It means that there was a tree that had grown a leaf that Noach was able to tell was not an old leaf. It was plucked. This was not a leaf that was floating on the water. It was plucked from a tree. So Noach understood. This is a fresh leaf. But how could there be a fresh leaf if everything was destroyed? How could there be a fresh leaf? The Torah tells us another thing. What type of leaf was it? It's an olive leaf. That means it came from an olive tree. And the Tosafot in Baba Metzia says that olive trees are known to be very resilient. Even if they're attacked, an olive tree stays strong.
So Noah, when he sees that the Yona comes back with a freshly plucked olive leaf, he says to himself, 'it must be that even though the entire world was destroyed, Noah was familiar with the Tosafot and Bava Metzia, and he said it must be that some olive leaves somehow were able, some olive trees were able to survive, and this is a freshly plucked leaf.' Memele, we understand. Rashi didn't bring the midrashim because Rashi didn't have a problem. He understood clearly. An olive tree is not a very tall tree. The waters have receded. Enough time has passed. A fresh leaf has grown from an olive tree. Rashi doesn't need to quote the midrashim. The pasuk itself gives you the answer. A very beautiful, very clear explanation in Rashi. Stunning. But if we leave it here Then all we have is an academic understanding of a pasuk in Torah.
And there is no pasuk in Torah that's academic. There's no pasuk in Torah that doesn't come to teach us fundamental lessons. I would like, with your permission, to draw a lesson that I think is relevant to everyone in this room right now from the Lubavitcher Rebbe's explanation of the simplest explanation of this pasuk. How do you know when it's safe to leave an ark? How do you know when it's safe to go outside? We live in a world right now. It's a marble. It's a marble outside. It's a marble. It's a marble in every sense of the word. It's a marble on a moral level. You look at the world, the morality of the world. It doesn't exist. If you traveled back in time 100 years ago and you asked regular people in the street if you told them the morality of 2024, they would say, 'What in the world happened? How did you end up here?'
The morality of the world is a marvel. It's a marvel. There's very little decency in the world. But not only that Things that were obvious—good versus evil—things that were obvious not that long ago. Are no longer obvious. You know In the beginning of the war, I want you to know every Israeli knew we knew the schedule. We knew the schedule. The world is going to be behind us in the beginning. Everyone's going to be on our side. Then in the second week People will be on our side, but you'll start to hear the chirping from the extreme anti-Semites from the Squad and the Chavurah Kedusha over there. In the third week, you'll see the tide is about to turn, and in the fourth week, Israel will become the bad guy. We knew how it goes. But one thing was not on our bingo card. We did not know that Osama bin Laden, Yemach Shemo, was going to become a hero.
We didn't know that the world was going to go so crazy that they're going to make Rishayim into Tzadikim and Tzadikim into Rishayim. We couldn't have imagined it. We killed Nasrallah. Everybody was celebrating. We got Nasrallah. Nasrallah, who killed American citizens. Nasrallah, who was a terrorist for forty years. Taka Nasrallah wasn't so bad. And CNN, they were writing nice things about Sinwar. Yomachshemo, we're living in Pasha and Mabul. How does a person leave the teva? Maybe a person should stay inside the teva their entire life. Maybe a person should come into the community, close the doors real tight, never leave, and say, "How could I go outside if there's missiles falling? You go into the mamad, you go into the miklat, you go into your teva, you go to your safe room." How could you leave? How could you leave the confines of yeshiva? How could you leave our shuls? How do you go out into the streets?
In other words How do you know when the waters have receded? How do you know that you can go out into the world and be unmolested? In Yiddishkeit, there are different liquids. There's water, there's wine, and then there's olive oil. Water that's everywhere. Seventy percent of the world is made of water. That's the obvious thing. Wine has more kedusha. You have to squeeze it out. You have to draw it out. But wine is also very easy to get. You just have to squish the grapes. But olive oil is a process. That's why they have 100% extra virgin olive oil, because you have to extract it from the essence of the olive. The olive tree is the essence of a Jew. That's why on Hanukkah everything is about the olive oil, the purity. The part of you that is unsullied, the part of you that never sinned. The part of you that is absolutely pure—that's what olive oil represents.
The olive tree is not just resilient because it's a strong tree. The olive tree is resilient because it is the essence. It is the part of you that cannot be destroyed. So when the Tosefta and Baba Metzia says that the olive tree is resilient And the Rebbe said it must be that there were olive trees that lasted through the flood. It's because a person has to know about themselves that even with all the things that are going on in their lives and all the devastation that's around them. And maybe even the devastation that they caused There is an olive tree that stays firmly planted. That no matter how far you've gone astray, the olive tree is still planted firmly. And that olive tree is not only planted But it's constantly sprouting new leaves. And who you were yesterday doesn't have to be who you are today.
The biggest machla in our world is that a person says, "Rebbe, you know who I am. You know what I did." You know what you did. Whatever you did, it's already done. And tomorrow you could do something new. You could sprout a new leaf, a fresh leaf. It doesn't look like an old leaf. It's a plucked leaf from that olive tree that was never destroyed. New things are growing all the time. Rabbi, how am I supposed to go to davening? Do you know what I did last night? Rabbi, how am I supposed to learn in beis medrash? How hard it is. I was battling for so long and now I'm going to get into it. Those people are terrified to leave the teva because they don't believe in their essential goodness. So they stay closeted inside their entire life, and they say, "I can't be myself, and I can't explode out onto the scene and be awesome because I know who I am. I'm a terrible person."
That is not the way in our yeshiva. That is not what we're trying to teach you. We're trying to teach you that yes, there are times that you go into a teva and come to Eretz Yisrael for the year. The Medrash was right. There's a place called Eretz Yisrael. There's a place called Gan Eden. Those are tevas. But you leave the teva. But how am I supposed to leave the teva? When you're ready You leave the teva. But how do I know when I'm ready? It's a very simple equation. If you believe there's an olive tree and you believe that olive tree is sprouting new leaves, then you're ready to leave. Because then you're not afraid to walk around in the world. Because yes, I know that the world is a tumultuous place, and I know there's crazy morality in the world, and I know there's crazy ethics in the world.
But I'm not defined by any of the devastation of the world, or even my own devastation, my own aviras, my own things that I've destroyed in my world. I know that lemaisa I have an olive tree inside of me. Because that's the essence. That's what it means to be a Jew. That's why we light olive oil. It's the purity. It's the part of you that can never be destroyed. And that part is always sprouting new leaves. There's a boy in this yeshiva. He's in this room right now. I'm not going to say his name. I don't do shoutouts. But I want you to know this boy is a hero. He's a hero. He's sitting in this room, a regular guy. You think you're just sitting next to him singing? He's a tremendous hero. Why? I'll tell you why. Because this young man He's seen some devastation.
Some of it was devastation that he caused. If we're being honest. Some of it was the devastation of really silly things that he did. Some of it was devastation. That had nothing to do with him. Situations that he was put in, situations that he was born into. Maybe he did those silly things because of what he was born into. But for a long time, this young man He defined himself by those lowest moments. He defined himself by the ma'abul. And he was terrified. He's terrified, Rebbe. You don't know who I am. You don't know what's going to be with me in my life. I'm a terrible person, Lamaisa. And you might not see this guy at shacharis every day, and you might not see him in beis medrash as much as some others. There are guys in the yeshiva of Baruch Hashem and beis medrash yom and velayla. Don't miss a minion, beautiful.
But I want you to know This guy's not in beis medrash as much as the rest of you. But when he shows up He's a hero. Because for him to show up to the beis medrash is the hardest thing in the world. And even though I'm speaking to him, I'm really speaking to everybody. Because even though it's easier for some of us, it's hard for everybody. There are times when we feel I'm gonna put on tefillah. You know what I did last night? I'm gonna daven. You know what I did last night? I'm gonna learn. You know what I did? We all have those moments, but this guy has those moments in spades. But it's Thursday night. And it's 11:15 at night And he's not out in the place where they sell vegetables in the morning. He's here and he's singing with us, learning taira and diking with us. Because ultimately you should know he's a person who believes in his own essential goodness.
And he's trying to sprout new leaves. And he's my rabbi. He's my rabbi. He's teaching me it's never too late. I'm not lost. I'm not broken. I'm a good guy. I've done things I'm not proud of. And if we're being honest, he's still doing some things he's not proud of. And he knows it's not who he is. That's a bentira. That's a bentira. In this yeshiva, we don't measure a bentaira by how many hours you spend in the bais medrash. Person should be in bais medrash, but that's not how we measure our hours. We don't measure a bentaira by how hard you shakun. We don't measure a bentaira by how many minyanim you went to in a row, or what your streak is, and shmiras enayim or shmiras abris, or whatever it is you're working on. That's not what we measure. What we measure is Are you a fighter?
Are you staying in it? With all of the setbacks and all the trials and tribulations, do you never give up on yourself? Do you believe that there's a part of you that's fundamentally good? And do you sprout new leaves? Do you live from that place? That's a bentayra. And in 30 years from now, if I'm being honest with you In 30 years from now, the guys that are in base measures 15, 16 hours a day In a general sense Maybe one percent will still be like that. Lamaisa, you grow up. You leave yeshiva. You get a job, you have a family. Unless you're a real miyuchad, you're not spending fifteen or sixteen hours a day in the bais medrash. As Hashem, you'll go to minyan. But it's hard. It's easier in yeshiva. It's hard when you're out there in the world. It's hard to really stay focused on your davening. Over time, people struggle with their davening.
But in fifteen, sixteen years from now, in thirty years from now, in forty years from now. You want to know who's going to be the guy that you're going to look up to? It's going to be this guy who I'm talking to right now in yeshiva. This guy, and he knows who he is. This guy who comes Thursday night and he comes to mishmar And this guy who says, "I'm not giving up on myself, and I'm not going to define myself by my lowest moments." And maybe on Shabbos he won't be perfect, but for this moment, for this minute right now He's living from a deep place. He's living from a good place. And he's growing new leaves, and that's what we celebrate in our yeshiva. That's a bentaira. Because he's putting himself on a path to greatness. I want to give everyone in this yeshiva a bracha.
It's the first week of a new zman. I was talking with one of the guys this morning. A real emesdik guy, and he said, "Rebbe, it's so hard getting back into it, and it's daylight savings, and get back into it. It's just the days are so long." A really good guy. He's an emesik guy who wants to work on himself. Rabbi said we have a long zman ahead of us. It's our first week back. And maybe some of us over ben zmanim had interesting moments. Back in yeshiva It's a long zaman. You look ahead of yourself and you say, "Can I do it?" Can I push myself? What am I going to be like in two months from now and three months from now? Some people are on roller coasters. They go up, they go down, they go up, they go down, and every time they go down, they get very frustrated, and every time they go up, they get very excited. A person can't live on a roller coaster. Not a way of living. But you know what a person could be? They could be a fighter.
They go up, they go down. They never get too high, they never get too low. But they say, no matter what it is, I don't take my eyes off the prize. I know who I am. There's an alei zayit teruf v'fiyah. There's a plucked leaf in my mouth. I'm a Heliqah Jew in my heart And I'm going to live from that place. And beez Hashem, this man We're going to live from that place and pluck new leaves. Old leaves will wash away. New leaves will come up, and beez Hashem, we'll do good things with our lives. Amen. Aye.
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