A Sichah from Maran HaGaon Rav Gershon Edelstein shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Ponevez - Vayeira 5773
The passuk in Bereishis (6:9) says: ‫אלה‬
‫ תולדות נח נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדורותיו‬- “These are
the events of Noach; Noach was righteous and
perfect in his generations”. Rashi explains that “in
his generations” could be interpreted either as a
positive description or a negative one. On one
hand it could indicate that if he were able to
maintain his lofty levels during such lowly
generations, clearly he would have been even
greater had he lived in a generation of righteous
people. Conversely, it could mean that he was
only considered so righteous in comparison to his
lowly period but had he lived in the generation of
Avraham Avinu, he would not be considered
righteous at all.
I heard from my Rebbi, Rav Dessler zt”l
that regarding matters of aggadeta, there is no
dispute but rather all opinions are correct. Here
that would mean that both the praise and the
accusation regarding Noach are valid. Noach was
indeed the Tzaddik Hador, spanning numerous
generations, as the verse says: “in his
generations”, throughout his entire life of 950
years; yet in comparison to Avraham, though, he
would not be considered righteous. There is still
quite a bit of praise given here, as he lived in a
generation full of idol worshippers and
nevertheless, was not affected.
We see this comparison to Avraham
Avinu regarding another verse as well. The
passuk says: ‫ את האלוקים התהלך נח‬- “Noach walked

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in the ways of Hashem” yet Rashi points out that
here, the context of the word “walked” is different
than when spoken of regarding Avraham. Noach
needed Hashem to assist and support him in
staying on the right path whereas Avraham Avinu
was able to walk on that path without assistance
from Hashem. Noach was not affected by his
generation due to Hashem intervening and
making sure his lofty levels wouldn’t decline.
Avraham, did not require as much assistance
giving that his levels of righteousness were
intrinsically greater than those of Noach. Granted,
he too needed Divine assistance as we know that
without that there is no ability to succeed, and all
righteous people require this assistance, but the
help given to Noach was blatant, as his own levels
clearly did not suffice to protect him from the
tumultuous times he lived in. Avraham’s level
that allowed him to withstand the ten trials also
enabled him to be unaffected by the times; and for
this he didn’t need special assistance. In context, I
once heard the Mashgiach, Harav Hagaon Rabbi
Abba Grossbard zt”l, explain the Gemara
(Sanhedrin 96a) that refers to the Avos as horses
running in swamps and muddy waters. He
explained that just as horses have the ability to
run through mud and not be hindered or slowed
down, so too the Avos were on such a lofty level
in their Avodas Hashem, enabling them to stand
up to very harsh trials. This is why Avraham did
not require special assistance to not be influenced
by his surroundings.
 In contrast to this idea we find the story of
Chanoch (Bereishis 5:24) ‫ויתהלך חנוך את האלוקים‬
‫ ואיננו כי לקח אותו האלוקים‬- “And Chanoch walked
in the ways of Hashem, and he is no longer, as
Hashem took him”. He was very righteous and
became an angel as told to us by Tosfos (Yevamos
16b) and even with this lofty level there was
concern that he would be affected by his
generation and become a rasha. Rashi tells us that
he was righteous yet he quickly could have
become wicked, therefore Hashem brought about
his death prematurely. The evil effects of the
generation were so strong, even Chanoch was
endangered of being affected.
Not only did his peers not affect Avraham
Avinu, he actually affected them. He spread the
word of G-d and the concept of emunah
throughout the world. Rashi tells us (21:33) that
Avraham Avinu would give food and drink to
passersby and tell them to give thanks and make a
bracho to Hashem, as the food and drink are His.
With such techniques he taught and affected the
world. Chanoch, did not affect the people around
him, he could have easily been dragged down and
was susceptible to becoming wicked,
consequently, Hashem “took him” before his
time. Noach as well did not affect those around
him. The passuk (7:1) states: ‫כי אותך ראיתי צדיק‬
‫ לפני בדור זה‬- “For I have seen that you are
righteous before Me in this generation”. This
implies that only Noach was a tzaddik and did not
have an effect on others to improve their actions. I
heard from the Ponevezer Rav zt”l that the flood
is referred to as: ‫ מי נח‬- “The waters of Noach” -
because it was his fault for not causing his
generation to repent and thus prevent the flood
(see Zohar Parashas Noach). Despite being a
righteous person, he lacked a certain level in that
he wasn’t able to affect them. With this in mind,
he did manage to affect his family as we are told
that of their own merit, they would not have been
saved but they were affected from Noach and
through this, they were worthy of salvation. We

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are told that Shem the son of Noach was a tzaddik
(14:18) ‫ והוא כהן לקל עליון‬- “And he is a priest to
the G-d above” and that he was a prophet as well
as told to us from the story of Rivka Imeinu
seeking out his help regarding her pregnancy
(25:22). It seems that this level was attained after
the flood, given that the flood affected and
revolutionized the whole world. This is when he
achieved these lofty levels. Now he was affected
from Noach who was a prophet as well.
Chazal tell us in Avos (5:2) that there were
ten generations from Adam HaRishon until
Noach, during which the people deserved to be
destroyed yet Hashem had mercy on the world,
waiting and anticipating them to do teshuva. After
ten generations, this approach was not possible
anymore and the time for the flood had come. The
mishna continues that there were ten generations
from the time of Noach until Avraham Avinu
when again, the generations were wicked and
deserving of death yet Hashem had promised not
to bring another flood to the world. Hashem in his
mercy did not punish them in different ways but
rather waited to see if someone would try to
correct the world. Avraham came, showed the
world the way to live with G-d, made them do
teshuva, and merited the rewards for all those
generations. I heard from Rav Dessler zt”l, my
Rebbi, an explanation regarding Avraham
meriting the rewards for all those generations.
Avraham received the schar - rewards - as if those
ten generations were all righteous people. The
tumah - impurity - in the world during those ten
generations was so potent that in order to combat
it one needed to be very strong. Avraham Avinu
stood against this with all his might and with
messirus nefesh. We are told he was called
Avraham HaIvri (Bereishis Rabbah 42:8)
referring to the entire world being on one side and
him on the other - (Ivri from the root ever ‫עבר‬,
meaning side). Due to the overwhelming efforts
he needed to achieve this, he was zoche to such
great rewards as Chazal tell us: ‫ לפום צערא אגרא‬-
 “The rewards are in accordance with the
difficulty” (Avos 5:22).
We have mentioned both Noach and
Avraham, but how does all this pertain to us? We
are not on the level of Avraham or that of Noach.
Our main obligation is to concentrate our efforts
on our emunah. As we have mentioned in past
weeks from the Gemara (Makos 24a) the 613
mitzvos were given to Moshe
Rabbeinu...Chavakuk came and and consolidated
them to one as it states: ‫ צדיק באמונתו יחיה‬- “The
righteous will live through their emunah”. We
explained that it is an arduous task to fulfill all the
mitzvos in their entirety and with the right
intentions, devoid of any self-interest; the only
path out of this is strengthening our emunah. We
are all ‫ מאמינים בני מאמינים‬- “Believes the
descendents of believers” but there are many
levels within emunah. In the first siman of
Shulchan Aruch the Rema tells us of a level where
people constantly see Hashem in front of them,
guiding every aspect of their lives: ‫שויתי השם לנגדי‬
‫תמיד‬, this is a main principle in the lofty levels of
the tzaddikim. Those who live on this level
continuously remember that there is a seeing eye
and a listening ear and that all our deeds are
recorded. It is indeed very hard not to forget this
and even though people constantly utter
expressions like ‫ אם ירצה השם‬and ‫בסייעתא דשמיא‬,
these are said by rote. If someone really lived
with these ideas in mind, as well as realizing that
Gehinom is open beneath him, if he were to sin,
his actions would surely look different. Anger,
arrogance and competition would be non existent
as only through a lack in emunah do such
negative middos exist. Bittul Torah as well, is not
possible while living with such emunah. This is
why; strengthening our emunah is our main
objective.
In truth, emunah is very natural and a
straight mind should feel it with ease. One just
needs to look at our world and ponder, “Who

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created these?” and see that all that occurs is with
precise control from Above. I saw in a book that
we could heighten our emunah from observing the
animal kingdom. Animals act with wisdom and
exactness; they live and develop in marvelous
ways, which we cannot comprehend. When one
thinks of such things, he sees hashgacha - that
Heaven directs all things down here. To attain the
level of emunah mentioned earlier is very
difficult, yet to strengthen our emunah, we do
have a path. Learning mussar is the recipe for
growth in this field. One must have a daily dose
of mussar, each person according to their
abilities; a sefer that deals with emunah, good
middos, avoiding bittul Torah, the concepts of
Gehinom and Olam Habah. The natural order of
things is that we forget, it is through mussar that
we halt that process.
Chazal tell us in Kiddushin (30b) that the
antidote against the Yetzer Harah is Torah (and
only Torah). The Mishnah Berura (1:12) brings
the Chida that explains that this antidote is
specifically the rebuke of the Rabbis, i.e., sifrei
mussar. Rabbi Yisroel Salanter zt”l writes in
Igeres Hamussar that any part of Torah facilitates
against the Yetzer Harah even if they have no
connection to each other; therefore, one might
learn the sugyos dealing with a bull that gored a
cow and merit Divine assistance in the area of
lashon harah. It is the spiritual nature of the
Torah that is helping him. He adds that if one
needs help in regards to specific aveiros, he
should learn those parts of Torah that are
applicable to it. For instance, if one finds that his
prayers need to be strengthened he should learn
the halachos of davening. There are many seforim
that deal with this topic of how to achieve a more
focused prayer with the right intentions. It is quite
difficult to achieve correct concentration during
prayers. We are told in the Shulchan Aruch (98:1)
about the pious people from the generations of the
mishna who would prepare themselves before
prayers until they were almost on the level worthy
 of prophecy. We are not on this level but we
should at least feel that we are talking to the King,
a bit more. The Missilas Yesharim (Ch.19) tells us
that someone with a straight mind can attain this.
We have mentioned, numerous times,
that one who lives his life with emunah is
happy. All that one does, including taking care
of his physical needs is ultimately for the sake
of serving Hashem. One would not be able to
function without sustaining his body and will
not be able to learn or pray. Food, drink, rest,
sleep, peace of mind and a general healthy
outlook are all needed to serve Hashem
properly. The Rambam (Hilchos Deos 3:3)
writes that if one performs all the above with
emunah and with intent that he should have
the strength to perform all his spiritual
obligations, he is considered involved in mitzvos
even during his sleep.
Someone who has a family and must
take care of them needs to know that it is also
considered being involved in mitzvos. There are
those who while they are helping at home think
they should instead be learning and that
staying at home is bittul Torah. They do





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everything at home with a heavy heart but they
should know that it is a mitzvah that cannot be
performed by anyone else. One who would like
to learn more, whose time is precious to him,
should remember that this too is based on
merits and Siyata DiShmaya and if he had
more merits he would receive more Divine
assistance that all of his affairs will be taken
care of with more ease and be less time
consuming. What are these merits? One should
greet everyone with a pleasant demeanor and
be happy with his lot.
These are practical solutions. Everything
is contingent on a constant regimen of learning
mussar, through which one gains new perceptions
regarding his life. Many have attested that they
did so and they are very happy with more peace
of mind and an overall happier calmer life.
Dedicated by 
the Kroll Family, Los Angeles 
In Honor Of The Recent Simchas 
the Family Was Blessed With