Facts and their Interpretations

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There are facts and there are interpretations of facts. We often confuse the two.  And the truth is that we interpret facts based on our own feelings.  The Torah teaches us a powerful message about this relating to the Great Flood.  Hashem decides to destroy the world with the exception of a family and one or seven pairs of each living species.  Then after the flood, when Noach brings offerings in gratitude to Hashem, He makes a covenant never again to destroy the entire world. 


What is uncanny is that the reason that Hashem used to destroy, is the same reason He made a covenant to never again destroy. The words in each case are almost identical.   (Genesis 6):


5 The Lord saw that the evil of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of his heart was only evil all the time.


Then in chapter 8, after the flood, Hashem states in the covenant:

 

21And the Lord smelled the pleasant aroma, and the Lord said to Himself, "I will no longer curse the earth because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, and I will no longer smite all living things as I have done.

 

So which is it?  Is the evil imagination of humanity a reason to destroy or to swear never to destroy?  This is one of the messages we can learn from these passages. The fact is that humans have an evil inclination. The interpretation and outcome can go either way. 

 

Now it seems ridiculous to say that the Creator of everything changes His mind or somehow is affected by moods.  Chassidus explains that Hashem is infinite, and He envelops His light and the life-force that comes to the world in different “vessels.”  There is a vessel of Chesed - kindness, and a vessel of Gevurah - judgment. Before the Flood, there was judgment due to the complete corruption of the world. So the interpretation of humanity’s evil inclination was from that perspective; - there needs to be a clean slate and a new start. After the Flood, however, when humanity showed a different side that recognized Hashem’s sovereignty and brought offerings, the Divine light shone in the vessel of mercy. From that perspective, the evil inclination is a reason Hashem gives us a break. We sin because of our inclination, not because we are intrinsically evil.  Our essence is good. Notice that the first verse says “evil all the time.”  The later verse says, “evil from his youth.”  This is a recognition of the fact that our essence is part of Hashem and is therefore pure goodness. Evil is picked up as we navigate the pressures of the world. 

 

So next time someone does something that makes you mad or that you think is a bad thing, it is a good idea to stop and think:  Is this my interpretation?  Do I really know the other person’s intention?  Maybe the person is going whatever they are doing because of a completely different reason than I think. Nine times out of ten this will avoid conflict and hard feelings, and I bet that nine times out of ten the good interpretation will turn out to be true.


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