"Why Didn’t Cham Want Noach to Have More Children?"

The Daily Strengthening from our teacher, the holy Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a — Where Did Noach’s Dove Disappear To?

“For You precede him with blessings of goodness; You place a crown of pure gold upon his head” (Tehillim 21:4)

“But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the House of Hashem” (Tehillim 52:10)

“An olive leaf, freshly plucked, was in its mouth” (Bereishis 8:11)

“And Esav harbored hatred toward Yaakov” (Bereishis 27:41)

“I have acquired an ox and a donkey” (Bereishis 32:6)

Thursday, 19 Teves 5783 — “The entire difference between us and the nations is the prohibition of desires”

These are his holy words:

No person in the world knows where the dove (of Noach) disappeared to—where did it go?

The Zohar says: I will reveal to you where it went—it was hidden away in the Sanctuary-Chamber of Moshiach!

“For You precede him with blessings of goodness; You place a crown of pure gold upon his head” (Tehillim 21:4)—when Moshe will come to the mitzvah of bringing the offering and will stand upon the platform, then the dove will descend with a crown of gold, and it will place upon his head a crown of pure gold.

About this it is said: “But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the House of Hashem” (Tehillim 52:10). What is “an olive leaf, freshly plucked, was in its mouth” (Bereishis 8:11)? This is the soul of Cham—and Canaan feared that soul. It is written that Cham said: I will not allow my father (Noach) to bring this soul.

Noach’s children were three (Shem, Cham, and Yefes), and with three there are already disputes over inheritance. Now there will be four—how will we divide the world? How can four people divide the entire earth?

“And Esav harbored hatred toward Yaakov” (Bereishis 27:41)—why “harbored hatred”? What did they take from you? You received the whole world; you received the entire earth. We (Yisrael) received nothing.

Esav says, “I have acquired an ox and a donkey” (Bereishis 32:6): I have nothing—“ox” is Moshiach ben Yosef, and “donkey” is Moshiach ben David.

So what is a “flourishing olive tree”? The olive leaf is the soul of Moshiach. This is what Noach’s sons feared—because the moment Moshiach is revealed, the Tzaddik is revealed, and then all desires become forbidden!

The entire difference between us and the nations is the prohibition of desires. This will take place with the coming of Melech HaMoshiach. When Melech HaMoshiach comes, it will be forbidden to pursue any desire—any sin; no transgression will be permitted. This is what Cham feared.

There is an approach that Cham committed the indecent act against Noach. In Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer it is written that Canaan did it—because if it was Cham, why did Noach curse Canaan? Therefore, according to Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, the one who committed the indecent act against his grandfather was Canaan, and from this it is understood why he cursed Canaan.

It is written (Tehillim, chapter 52): “But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the House of Hashem.” This is what Cham feared—Canaan feared (depending on each approach)—that if Melech HaMoshiach comes, desires and transgressions will become forbidden. The Gemara says in Sanhedrin that Cham told his sons: steal as much as you can, because Cham and Canaan feared that now Melech HaMoshiach would come and all desires would be forbidden. It will be forbidden to steal; it will be forbidden to murder—therefore they did this terrible act to Noach.

All of this is alluded to in the Zohar (page 165a), that “an olive leaf, freshly plucked, was in its mouth” refers to Melech HaMoshiach.