5785/2024

One of the many questions addressed by Meforshim regarding the Mabul is why Hashem felt it necessary to destroy the animals along with mankind. We can understand the need to punish and even wipe out the people for their moral corruption, but why should that include the animals? Is it possible that they too were deserving of punishment? 

רש"י at the end of Parashat BeReishit (6:7) cites two very different explanations. In one answer, רש"י explains that with the destruction of mankind there would no longer be a need for animals, as the creation of animals, like the rest of creation, was only for the purpose of serving man. As such, the destruction of the animals is nothing more than a consequence of man being destroyed. However, in his other answer, רש"י cites the Midrash that the animals were being punished because they too had corrupted their ways. How so? רש"י in Parashat Noach (6:12) comments  “אֲפִלּוּ בְהֵמָה חַיָּה וָעוֹף נִזְקָקִין לְשֶׁאֵינָן מִינָן”. Meaning, that even the animals did not consort with their own species. How puzzling? How could such behavior come about? Do animals have a Yetzer Hara to act in a way against the very nature that Hashem gave them? 

The Beit HaLevi develops a fundamental idea to explain the behavior of the animals. If we look closely at the Pesukim we find an odd description of the world’s corruption before the Mabul. ׳׳וַיַּרְא אֱלֹקים אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וְהִנֵּה נִשְׁחָתָה כִּי־הִשְׁחִית כל־בָּשָׂר אֶת־דַּרְכּוֹ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׳׳. “Hashem saw that the Earth was corrupted because all flesh corrupted its ways”. Does the Pasuk mean to say that the Earth somehow became corrupted because of the corruption of man? Argues the Beit HaLevi, the very natural order of creation hinges upon the moral behavior of man. When man violates the rules of nature established by Hashem, the consequence is a natural deterioration of the norms of the entire creation. Thus, when man engages in abnormal and sinful acts of sexual immorality, there is a trickle down effect in the animal kingdom as well. 

This idea may shed light on the very reason why the world was destroyed specifically with a Mabul. Instead of looking at the Mabul as an external punishment brought about by Hashem, it seems that it really is the natural consequence of our behavior. Despite the Avodah Zara and Giluy Arayot that the people were involved in, the Pasuk highlights that the main cause of the mabul was the “Chamas”, or theft that was rampant. Why? Theft, at its core, is the result of a lack of concern for the necessary boundaries of society. The Ganav doesn’t care about the wall between our houses or the lock on my front door as he views the world as his own. What happens when we ignore the boundaries of others? Hashem removes the boundaries of his world. The Mabul is essentially a systematic undoing of the very boundaries Hashem set up during Ma’aseh BeReishit. Hashem was Mavdil between the land and the water and now that boundary is removed. Hashem was Mavdil between the upper and lower waters and now waters gush from the depths of the Earth and from the sky above.  In fact, רש"י points out that during the Mabul there wasn’t even day and night either, just return to the chaos that existed at the beginning of creation. The takeaway from the Mabul must be the recognition that just as the physical world needs boundaries to exist so does the morality of mankind. In a world where many moral norms seem to be decaying we must be steadfast in preserving the boundaries Hashem has entrusted to us.