Preparations – Parshat Noach

There seems to be an emphasis on preparation in the parsha of Migdal Bavel (the Tower of Babel). “הבה נלבנה לבנים” – let’s get ready and make bricks, & הבה נבנה לנו עיר – let’s prepare and build a city.

Interestingly, we know of preparations, not for negative things such as Migdal Bavel, but positive ones.

Rebbi Chiya famously stated that had the Torah been in danger of being lost, he’d prevent it from happening, by planting and growing flax, in order to make traps to catch deer. He would then slaughter these deer and give the meat to orphans, before taking the Klaf and writing the five Chumshei Torah, teaching one Chumash to each of the orphans, who would proceed to teach them to each other, who would then teach it to the others, eventually passing the Torah down and ensuring it’s continuation.

This all seems to be a little over-the-top? Why not just buy klaf and go from there? The Vilna Gaon explains, al pi Kabbalah, that the more hachanos that people do for a mitzvah, the stronger it is. These preparations, hard work, and giving tzedaka to the orphans will undoubtedly play a big factor in the success of this new educational system.

Rav Azriel Hildesheimer commented that while he didn’t feel confident in Kabbalah, but even in Derech Nigleh, one can reach you this conclusion. The more a student sees how hard the Rebbe worked and toiled, the more he will be interested, and his success will be greater.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true, זה לעומת זה עשה אלוקים – It can also work in an Aveirah. The people of Migdal Bavel were so into their diabolical project (Rashi says it was Avodah Zarah Mamash) that it must have been their preparations which led to their success, and required Hashem to disperse them, to cease the scheme.

Take home: Don’t rush into things. Rather prepare, think ahead and toil, and b’ezrat Hashem, our good deeds will succeed.

Shabbat Shalom.

Share this article on WhatsApp: