After the flood, Noach and his descendants are given new commandments (mitzvos), and a new covenenant between G-d and man is established.
We find the following verses (pesukim):
וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת-נֹחַ וְאֶת-בָּנָיו וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ: וּמוֹרַאֲכֶם וְחִתְּכֶם יִהְיֶה עַל כָּל-חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ וְעַל
כָּל-עוֹף
:הַשָּׁמָיִם בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר תִּרְמֹשׂ הָאֲדָמָה וּבְכָל-דְּגֵי
הַיָּם בְּיֶדְכֶם נִתָּנוּ
"And Eloh-m blessed Noach and his sons, and He said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the world. And awe and fear of you will be upon all animals of the world, and upon the birds of the sky, in all that creeps on the ground and in all the fish of the ocean; in your hand they are given."
Followed by:
"One who spills a person's blood, by another person shall his blood be spilled, because in the image of Eloh-m was a person made. And you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm in the land, and multiply in it."
Rashi notes the redundancy of Hashem's mention of procreation in verses 1 (א) and 7 (ז):
"According to (the Torah's) simple meaning, the first (verse is stated for) a blessing, and here, as a commandment. According to its interpretative (midrashic) meaning, (it is stated again here) to compare one who does not engage in procreation to one who spills blood."
What?! The midrash compares the horrific sin of murder with refusal to procreate? What exactly is the logic here?
We could say that perhaps the Torah is deliberately overstating, to emphasize the importance and seriousness of G-d's commandment to have children. Or, perhaps we can say the Torah is making a practical comparison, in that disobedience to either command, taken to an extreme, would leave the world devoid of people.
There is something dissatisfying with either of the above explanations, however. Regarding the first idea: we can't morally equate these acts, and it is hard to believe the Torah would employ such a heavy-handed way of emphasizing the importance of child bearing. And, regarding the second idea: although it is a logical approach, it seems too abstract and beyond something that speaks to a single person's behavior.
Instead, we could suggest that perhaps the Torah is trying to teach us a different idea. When someone commits murder, he is taking a person out of the world who is supposed to be here. Similarly, if one does not engage in procreation, then he is not bringing a person into the world who is supposed to be here.
We know that G-d wants the world to be full of people -- he sends holy souls which are, in the words of our tradition, "carved from the Throne of Glory", into this world to perfect and be perfected by interacting with the physical world. It is our sacred task to neither remove a soul from this world by our hand, nor to prevent those new souls from entering the world to fulfill their mission.
Followed by:
שֹׁפֵךְ דַּם הָאָדָם בָּאָדָם דָּמוֹ יִשָּׁפֵךְ כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת-הָאָדָם: ואתם פרו ורבו שרצו בארץ ורבו בה
בראשית ט,ו-ז"One who spills a person's blood, by another person shall his blood be spilled, because in the image of Eloh-m was a person made. And you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm in the land, and multiply in it."
Rashi notes the redundancy of Hashem's mention of procreation in verses 1 (א) and 7 (ז):
לפי פשוטו הראשונה לברכה וכאן לציווי, ולפי מדרשו להקיש מי שלא עוסק בפריה ורביה לשפוך דמים
"According to (the Torah's) simple meaning, the first (verse is stated for) a blessing, and here, as a commandment. According to its interpretative (midrashic) meaning, (it is stated again here) to compare one who does not engage in procreation to one who spills blood."
What?! The midrash compares the horrific sin of murder with refusal to procreate? What exactly is the logic here?
We could say that perhaps the Torah is deliberately overstating, to emphasize the importance and seriousness of G-d's commandment to have children. Or, perhaps we can say the Torah is making a practical comparison, in that disobedience to either command, taken to an extreme, would leave the world devoid of people.
There is something dissatisfying with either of the above explanations, however. Regarding the first idea: we can't morally equate these acts, and it is hard to believe the Torah would employ such a heavy-handed way of emphasizing the importance of child bearing. And, regarding the second idea: although it is a logical approach, it seems too abstract and beyond something that speaks to a single person's behavior.
Instead, we could suggest that perhaps the Torah is trying to teach us a different idea. When someone commits murder, he is taking a person out of the world who is supposed to be here. Similarly, if one does not engage in procreation, then he is not bringing a person into the world who is supposed to be here.
We know that G-d wants the world to be full of people -- he sends holy souls which are, in the words of our tradition, "carved from the Throne of Glory", into this world to perfect and be perfected by interacting with the physical world. It is our sacred task to neither remove a soul from this world by our hand, nor to prevent those new souls from entering the world to fulfill their mission.
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