By: Daniel Zalman Kronengold, Canfei Nesharim Editorial Intern

 

 

The commentators understand chamas, violence, as referring specifically to the sin of thievery. Why is this specific sin chosen for destroying the world in the Flood? One would think the primary reason(s) would be more serious transgressions, such as murder, idolatry, and sexual immorality!

      
I would like to propose an essential understanding of the sin of stealing. On a spiritual level, why is stealing wrong?

      
The commentators take note of verse 6:13, "G-d said to Noah, the end of all flesh comes before Me, because the earth is filled with chamas because of them, "And behold I will destroy the earth." The final phrase means literally, "I will destroy them-The Earth." While the Ramban explains that this simply reflects a peculiarity of the Hebrew language, many commentators make a literal interpretation. Rav Ovadia Seforno explains:

      
The earth is filled with destruction-They all steal from one another: The landowners steal from the sharecroppers by force, and the sharecroppers steal from the owners with guile. Consequently, the land gives all of its fruits to thieves.
And behold I will destroy the earth-I will destroy them together with the Earth, for I will damage the climate of the earth and air, by turning the angle to the sun… Therefore, immediately after the Flood, the years of Humanity are diminished, because the climate and fruits weren't up to their original wholeness. Because of this, the human race was permitted [to eat] animals after the Flood.

      
Seforno is pointing to a connection between respect for property and environmental change. Really, the entire universe and everything in it belongs to G-d, and the ultimate reason why stealing is wrong comes from that G-d created the world. When society abides by the moral imperative to desist from stealing, the authority of G-d over every living creature and inanimate object has been recognized. Thus, when stealing had become rampant, humanity had effectively denied the existence of G-d, chas v'shalom. The Almighty punished humanity measure for measure, by diminishing the quality of the world's environmental conditions, the property G-d gives to all humanity.

      
Ramban explains our verse, and why stealing was singled out as the harbinger of punishment, in this manner:

Our Sages say that for this their verdict was decided [although Noah's generation was guilty of many other transgressions] because it is a rational precept for there was no need for a prophet to warn them about.

The generation of the Flood was guilty of many transgressions, and robbery was perhaps one of the lesser ones. Yet the Jewish interpretive tradition determines that this is what sealed their fate. If not for that generation's exceptional breach of gezela, stealing, the modern environment, and society, would be very different.

      
What made the stealing of the generation of the Flood so evil? Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch refers to a midrash which teaches that the generation of the Flood stole in a method by which it would be exempt from legal prosecution, such as by taking property worth less than a peruta - the legal minimum for prosecuting a case of theft. People did what they knew was wrong, but they did it in a way that they managed to avoid punishment.

      
There is an interesting parallel to some of the environmental damages that happen today. When people disrespect the natural environment, legal penalties are not always imposed by municipal authorities. We will not be punished if we waste plastic disposable plates, or if we buy that huge fuel-consuming car. Yet in the long run, there will be consequences for our actions. And sometimes, derech eretz calls us to do more than is required by the law of the land.

      
After the Flood, G-d promised never to destroy the earth again. (Bereishis 9:12) "This is the sign of the covenant, which I make between Me and you, and between every living creature that is with you, for all generations."

      
Though our fragile world is immune by Divine decree to worldwide flood, we can still affect and damage our own environment. In the modern age of thorough industrialization, militarization and technology, humanity has the ability to physically destroy the Earth. Do we not have the responsibility to protect the physical world?

      
May we emulate G-d, by working to protect the property which G-d gives to all living, both through respectful behavior towards other people, and through respect for all of the earth's inhabitants and resources.

 

Originally posted in "On Eagles'  Wings" November 8th 2006