Noach: Why Did the Dove Choose the Olive Tree?
The 8 Unique Qualities of the Olive Tree
- November 1, 2019
- |
- 3 Cheshvan 5780
Rabbi YY Jacobson
145 viewsNoach: Why Did the Dove Choose the Olive Tree?
The 8 Unique Qualities of the Olive Tree
Rabbi YY Jacobson
- November 1, 2019
Jokes
1. After a performance a cantor - trying to impress- tells the crowd that his voice is insured with Lloyds of London for 1 million dollars. A voice from the back of the room says "so what did you do with the money?"
2. A hebrew school held a talent show for the community.
A Girl is playing hava nagila, the grandmother sees a man crying.
She says isn't it beautiful that our young are carrying on our tradition?
The man says I'm not Jewish.
So why are you crying?
I'm a musician...
G-d Need Not Destroy the World
And the Lord spoke to Noah and said, "In one year, I am going to make it rain and cover the whole earth with water until all flesh is destroyed.
“But I want you to save the righteous people and two of every kind of living thing on the earth. Therefore, I am commanding you to build an Ark."
In a flash of lightening, G-d delivered the specifications for an Ark. In fear and trembling, Noah took the plans and agreed to build the Ark.
"Remember" said the Lord, "You must complete the Ark and bring everything aboard in one year.”
Exactly one year later, fierce storm cloud covered the earth and all the seas of the earth went into a tumult. The Lord saw Noah was sitting in his front yard weeping. "Noah," He shouted. "Where is the Ark?"
"Lord, please forgive me! Cried Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems. First, I had to get a permit for construction and your plans did not comply with the codes. I had to hire an engineering firm and redraw the plans. Then I got into a fight with OSHA over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler system and flotation devices. Then my neighbor objected, claiming I was violating zoning ordinances by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.
I had problems getting enough wood for the Ark, because there was a ban on cutting trees to protect the Spotted Owl. I finally convinced the US Forest Service that I needed the wood to save the owls. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service won't let me catch any owls. So, no owls.
The carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer. Now I have 16 carpenters on the Ark, but still no owls.
When I started rounding up the other animals, I got sued by an animal rights group. They objected to me only taking two of each kind aboard. Just when I got the suit dismissed, the EPA notified me that I could not complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take very kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of the Creator of the universe.
Then the Army Corp. of Engineers demanded a map of the proposed new flood plain. I sent them a globe. Right now, I am trying to resolve a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that I am practicing discrimination by not taking G-dless, unbelieving people aboard!
The IRS has seized my assets, claiming that I'm building the Ark in preparation to flee the country to avoid paying taxes. I just got a notice from the state that I owe them some kind of user tax and failed to register the Ark as a "recreational watercraft."
Finally, the ACLU got the courts to issue an injunction against further construction of the Ark, saying that since G-d is flooding the earth, it is a religious event and therefore unconstitutional. I really don’t think I can finish the Ark for another 9 years!"
Noah wailed.
The sky began to clear, the sun began to shine, and the seas began to calm. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up hopefully.
"You mean you are not going to destroy the earth Lord?"
"No," said the Lord sadly. "I don't have to. Bureaucracy already has."
The Dove Is Sent
In the entire drama, it is easy to ignore what might seem like a lackluster moment in this week’s Torah portion.
As the flood waters recede, Noah opens the window of the ark and sends out the raven, which "kept going and returning.” So Noach sends out the dove to see if the water has receded sufficiently so that he can leave the ark. The dove returns to the ark, as it could not find a place to rest, because the earth is still engulfed in water. Noach waits seven days and resends the dove.
The Torah relates:[1]
נח ח, י-יא: וַיָּחֶל עוֹד, שִׁבְעַת יָמִים אֲחֵרִים; וַיֹּסֶף שַׁלַּח אֶת-הַיּוֹנָה, מִן-הַתֵּבָה. וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב, וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ; וַיֵּדַע נֹחַ, כִּי-קַלּוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ.
And he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came to him at eventide; and behold in her mouth an olive-leaf freshly plucked; so Noach knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
Noach then waited another seven days, resent the dove, and she never returned. At last he knew the earth was dry.
The simple meaning of the story is that Noah waited until the dove brought back some sign of vegetation and thus knew that the waters did not still cover the whole earth and have significantly abated. Tress can already begin to grow leaves. We must ask though, why was the leaf that was brought back from an olive branch? Why did the dove choose this tree? And even if she did, for whatever random reason, thy does the Torah emphasize this detail? Who cares what type of leaf she brought back to the ark?[2]
What is more, how did the leaf prove anything to Noach? Perhaps the dove has found a leaf floating somewhere on the water and brought it to the ark? How did Noach know it was plucked off a tree?
And even if it looked green and fresh, how did Noach even infer from the olive leaf that the water significantly abated on earth? Perhaps the leaf was taken from an olive tree atop a tall mountain (especially that the ark itself situated atop a tall Mt. Ararat), and from the top of the tree. How could that prove that the earth was beginning to dry up?
(After all, 61 days before the dove returned with the olive leaf the peaks of the mountains were visible; and each day the water continued to recede. If so, how could this leaf prove that the water has abated from the earth, if this leaf came from the peak of a mountain, where the water has receded a while ago?)
The answer to these questions was presented by the Lubavitcher Rebbe at an address on Shabbos Parshas Noach, 1 Cheshvan, 5734, October 27, 1973—smack in middle of the Yom Kippur War.[3]
Eight Fascinating Facts about the Olive Tree
For this, we need to study the science of the olive tree.
The olive tree is one of the strongest and iconic trees in the world. It possesses some extraordinary qualities. Here are eight:
1) LONGEVITY: Olive trees have the longest life span of any entity on earth. With a potential lifespan of up to 6,000 years, individual olive trees have seen not only generations, but entire empires, kingdoms and cultures come and go on the earth's surface.
There are many trees in the Mediterranean region that are scientifically verified to be as old as 2,000 years. If you visit Judea and Samaria, the so called West Bank of Jordan, folks may brag that their Al Badawi tree, in the Beth Lechem district, is the oldest olive of all, at between 4,000 and 5,000 years. Greeks on the island of Crete may assure you that the ancient, gnarly-trunked olive tree in Vouves is at least 3,000 years. A half dozen other olive trees are believed to be of similar age.
Two olives are pals, and they're hanging from the tree like they've been for months. Suddenly, one falls to the ground. The remaining one says, "Are you ok?" And the other replies, "Olive!"
2. INDESTRUCTIBLE: The root system of the olive tree is so robust that it’s capable of regenerating itself even when the above-ground structure of the tree is destroyed by frost, fire or disease. In Tuscany in 1985 a severe frost destroyed many productive and aged olive trees, ruining the livelihoods of many farmers. However, when new shoots appeared in the spring and the dead wood was removed, they soon became new fruit-producing trees.
3. UNPARCHABLE: Olive trees are drought friendly’ and (just like eucalyptus trees) do not need to be watered. In his Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain called the olive tree (and the cactus) “those fast friends of a worthless soil.” It’s true: Olive trees will produce loads of fruit in the cruelest heat and driest gravels of Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Middle East and myriad islands in the Mediterranean. Not only that, the trees thrive in places where others may wither–and olives don’t only survive but thrive for century after century.
4. STRENGTH: The wood of the olive tree is exceptionally robust and inflexible and is a bastion of unwavering strength to the tree as a whole. Which created a fascinating Jewish law: “If one found a lost shovel, he may use it (till the owner comes to claim it, so that it does not get rusty). He may use for soft things but not for olive trees (since their wood is very strong and might break the shovel).”[4]
The wood of the olive tree is so strong that any attempt to graft other species of tree onto it will be unsuccessful.[5] It is unapologetic about its strength and resoluteness and rejects any foreign elements.
5. GENEROUS: Large olive trees produce on average about 400 pounds of olives annually. Older and larger trees can produce more. It’s estimated that there are about 865 million olive trees in the world today. The olive tree starts bearing fruit at around 5 years of age, and it does not stop. A tree in Croatia that is radiocarbon-dated to be 1,600 years old still produces abundant fruit today.
6. ANCIENT: The edible olive has been cultivated for almost 6,000 years; it is one of the oldest trees we know of.
7. HEALTHY: Olives are incredibly healthy fruit (yes, fruit—they are a distant cousin of the peach) containing antioxidants, healthy fats and fiber. In addition, of course, to the incredible benefits we receive from it: oil with all of its blessings, heat, light, and warmth.
Even its nutrients are full of life. Residents of Crete in the Mediterranean have the highest consumption of olive oil per person in the world and they also have the lowest rate of death from heart related diseases in the world. The olive, which has been providing food and medicine to humans for millenniums, is one of the most versatile and life giving trees on earth.
8. ENDURANCE: The olive does not lose its foliage AND it can grow its fruit, the olive, all year round.
So the tree as a whole endures all year, every year, as well as the produce of the tree, the olive enduring all year! We see that the olive tree is literally brimming with life, longevity and endurance.
***
Optional Section
The Laws of Shmitah
This quality of the olive is, fascinatingly, reflected in Jewish law as well:
Shmitah is an intriguing agricultural mitzvah. Shmitah is what we call the sabbatical year. It is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel and still observed in contemporary times. During Shmitah, the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by Jewish law. Additionally, any fruits which grow of their own accord are deemed hefker (ownerless) and may be picked by anyone, Jew and non Jew, human and animal.
Under the rules of the Shmitah, produce with Sabbatical sanctity (kedushas shevi'is) can only be privately stored away by the owner as long as plants of the same species (plants sprouting by themselves) or tress producing these fruits are available to animals in the fields. Once a species is no longer available in the field, the law requires that it be removed, made ownerless, and made available to anyone who wishes to take it. This is a procedure called biur shvieis. For example, once there are no more wild apples in the fields, one must take all the apples he put in his storehouses and declare them available to all.
However, the olive is unique in this regard. Consider what our Sages taught:
תוספתא שביעית ה, ח: עלי זיתים ועלי קנים ועלי חרובין אין להן ביעור לפי שאין כלין.
The law by the olive is that there is no time of biur. This is because olives grow all year and therefore there is no time at which we can say that all the wild olives have ceased growing. Therefore, there is no point in time at which the owner must declare all his privately owned olives to be ownerless.
End of Optional Section
***
We can now understand, the Rebbe explained, the mysterious story of the dove. It shows us how even a small detail in Torah is so profoundly significant.
What happened during that great flood? This is what the Torah tells us:[6]
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day All the fountains of the great deep burst apart, And the floodgates of the sky broke open… The Flood continued forty days on the earth, and the waters increased… The waters swelled and increased greatly upon the earth… When the waters had swelled much more upon the earth, all the highest mountains everywhere under the sky were covered… Fifteen cubits (around 30 feet) higher did the waters swell, as the mountains were covered.
And all flesh that stirred on earth perished—birds, cattle, beasts, and all the things that swarmed upon the earth, and all mankind… All existence on earth was blotted out—man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the sky; they were blotted out from the earth…
The waters had raged on the earth one hundred and fifty days.
Picture in your mind an incessant and raging rainpour for forty days and nights, which does not only flood the earth, but floods it 30 feet above the peak of the highest mountain! The flooding continues for 150 days, only accelerating, increasing, swelling and growing from moment to moment. Does any tree have hope?[7]
We know from far smaller tsunamis and floods how many trees are uprooted. In the aftermath of such a devastating flood which obliterated every living organism on earth, the trees were no exception.
Almost no exception. There was one: the olive tree. Its roots are so deep and so powerful that it managed to survive the furious rainpour! The root system of the olive tree is so robust that its subterranean roots likely survived the raging floods. And as we recall, the root system of the olive tree can regenerate itself even when the above-ground structure of the tree has been destroyed.
So, even though there leaves and branches and stems and seeds floating all over the place, there was one tree—the olive tree—that remained connected (at least its bottom part) to the earth even amid the flood.
That’s true about the tree itself, the roots and perhaps the trunk. But certainly not the leaves. They could not survive the flood; they certainly were all detached from their source.
When the dove came to Noach with the newly plucked leaf of the olive Noach saw not only a old shriveled emaciated leaf floating in the flood for a year; Noach saw a beautiful fresh green leaf, just recently plucked off the tree. And then he realized the good news: the waters have receded so much that the olive tree managed to reproduce a new generation of leaves. This meant not only that the tree was completely exposed and not covered by any water, but that enough time passed for it to begin reproducing after the flood, to the point that it grew new leaves. Things, at last, were returning back to normal.
Which is why the Torah uses the term, “in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked.” Noach did not only see a leaf in her mouth; he saw fresh leave that was just plucked from the tree. The Hebrew term for plucked here is “taraf,” which literally means seized, grabbed, snatched.[8] Why such a strange term? Because this word captures the key to the entire story. The leaf was connected to the tree, hence it has to be seized. What is more, the tree is a powerful one, which is why it survived the flood, and it holds on to its leaves with a tight grip. Hence, the dove has to “snatch” the leaf off the tree to bring it back to Noach.
Our Eternity
As is always the case in every single story of the Torah, this contains a profound lesson to Noach—and to all of his offspring. The Torah is giving that subtle but vital message: If you want to survive and thrive amidst floods, make sure you emulate the olive tree.
What is the secret to the Jewish nations’ survival? How have we endured for so long under such stressful conditions? Mark Twain famously phrased the question as follows:
“The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
Other nations have long looked at this as an anomalous exception, something temporary that must end, a freak accident that will come to a close. Yet others have been sensitive to the subtle power of Jewish survival and sought to emulate us. Just prior to being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, the Dalai Lama of Tibet briefly met with Jewish leaders at a Buddhist monastery near New York City. As the spiritual and temporal leader of a people who had been defeated by Communist China 60 years ago, the world's preeminent Buddhist monk wanted to learn the "Jewish secret" for surviving exile. After all, he reasoned, the Jews had the expertise: 1,900 years of living in the diaspora, all the while preserving their distinct faith and heritage. Surely the Tibetan people could benefit from Jewish experience.
The key to understanding the immutable unwavering strength of the Jew is encapsulated in the olive tree. In the words of the Talmud:
מנחות נג, ב:
אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי למה נמשלו ישראל לזית לומר לך מה זית אין עליו נושרין לא בימות החמה ולא בימות הגשמים אף ישראל אין להם בטילה עולמית לא בעוה"ז ולא בעולם הבא
Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, “Why is Israel compared (in the Tanach) to the olive tree?[9] It is because just as the olive tree does not lose its foliage not in summer and not in winter, so too Israel endures eternally.
If you want to understand the story of our people, suggests the Talmud, consider the olive. This is the story of the Jewish nation. Full of life, endurance and versatility, it is the perfect agricultural representation of the anomalous Jew.
A New Jewish School
Not long ago I came across this story. My heart swelled from emotion.
Jewish Children Celebrate Ulyanovsk School’s Grand Opening
Excitement filled the air as approximately 60 enthusiastic children, parents, grandparents and teachers celebrated the grand opening of the first Jewish childhood education center in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
You may say, what’s the big deal?
Well Ulyanovsk is Vladimir Lenin’s birthplace. Lenin, the father of the Bolshevik Revolution, which uprooted every last vestige of Judaism in the USSR and sent some 30 million people to their deaths, became synonymous with this city.
But now a Jewish school opens up, by whom? By Chabad Chassidim, persecuted and cut down by Lenin and his peers.
Aptly named the “School of Dreams,” the Chabad-Lubavitch run institution is open three days a week for children between the ages of six and 15. Offerings include Jewish traditions, Jewish dance, choir, Hebrew, English, karate, computer science, arts and crafts, and theater. In addition, students will participate in a field trip each month.
No Grafting
What is this quality we have that turns us into the olive tree?
The Talmud gives us a simple and incredible answer:
ירושלמי כלאים א, ז: אשתך כגפן פוריה בירכתי ביתך, בניך כשתילי זתים סביב לשולחנך, מה זיתים אין בהן הרכבה אף בניך לא יהא בהן פסולת.
The verse in Psalms states:[10] Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons, like olive saplings around your table. Why does the Psalmist compare our children to an olive grove planted around a table. What is the meaning of this biblical imagery?
The Talmud explains this in a remarkable way. Olives cannot be grafted with other trees, they stand strong in the face of agricultural attempts at assimilation. The wood of the olive tree is so strong that any attempt to graft other species of tree onto it will be unsuccessful. It is unapologetic about its strength and resoluteness, and rejects any foreign elements. This is the secret of Jewish children and Jewish education: The Jewish nation must remain strong, in full resoluteness, confidence and courage. We must never be apologetic about our faith and way of life. We must not import foreign elements into our lifestyle, elements which compromise our conviction, connection, and longevity. Sure, we must learn from everybody, but never allow another tree that foreign to your source of life be grafted into yours, causing you to lose your identity and assimilate into a new entity.
This is the secret to Jewish survival. It is the unwavering commitment to stand strong and not bend and sway to each current era’s temptations and relativistic morals.
(Note: You can go through all the other qualities of the olive tree and explain them as a mirror for Jewish life, the Jewish people, and a life of Torah and Mitzvos.)
A Tale of Two Loves
Imagine you finally find your long awaited beloved and they say “I love you so very much and want to live with you forever. There is just one thing that I’d like you to compromise on. You always wear orange colored shirts. I never told you but I absolutely can’t stand the color orange?”
Fine. It’s doable. Not the end of the world.
But imagine they say “I love you so very much and want to live with you forever. There is just one thing that I’d like you to compromise on. You are so passionate about music and your latest album was a platinum selling record. You live for composing and the nuanced creative structuring of music and emotion. But I never told you, I really hate music. I can’t stand it. Can you please compromise and never have anything to do with music again?”
Why is this ridiculous? Even if this person was willing to give up everything for their beloved it would still be ludicrous. Music is who this person is! It’s what drives them, it’s what they eat sleep and breathe! If they give that up and compromise, they are compromising part of their very being.
This then is our calling and the exhortation. Be staunch and unyielding like the olive tree. Never apologize or sacrifice who you really are. Compromise on your ego, on your comforts, moods, shtick, and habits. But do not give up your core soul, values, your inner music. Remain true to your inner Jewish identity. Say no to grafting and assimilation. Then you survive any flood, and your leaves become the symbol of a new peaceful and harmonious world.
Don’t Forget Us
In Prague, there are famous synagogues remarkable for their long history, beautiful architecture, and vast size. Most notable is the Alt-Neu Shul, over 700 years old, which holds the world’s record for the synagogue in the longest continuous use.
But nothing can compare to the shul which was only recently discovered in Terezin (or Theresienstadt), the town an hour north of Prague, infamous for its use as a death camp. It housed more than 150,000 Jews during the Holocaust, most of whom were sent to Auschwitz, never to return, while tens of thousands died in Terezin.
The recently discovered shul is a low-ceilinged, small room, dark and damp, a chamber measuring 12 by 15 feet. It was originally used to store potatoes. The imprisoned Jews clandestinely gathered amongst the potatoes for prayer, risking their lives and certain torture if discovered.
Additionally, those who worked as painters stole paint and brushes in order to beautify their secret and forbidden house of worship.
Today you can still see those faded drawings and Hebrew letters on the walls of the shul. As in many synagogues, one wall has written in beautiful Hebrew script, the words from the Talmud: “Da lifnei mee attah omed — Know before whom you stand.” On another wall is a verse from the Amidah: “V’sechzenah eineinu b’shuvcha l’Tziyon b’rachmim — May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in compassion.”
But the largest and most poignant inscription is a passage taken from the Tachanun prayer:
וּבְכָל זאת שִׁמְךָ לא שָׁכָחְנוּ. נָא אַל תִּשְׁכָּחֵנוּ
“Despite all, O G-d, we have not forgotten You. Please — do not forget us.”
Despite all the death and destruction, despite the incredible cruelty visited upon us, despite all this, we have not forgotten You. Now, we beg You, do not forget us!
[1] Genesis 8:11
[2] There are midrashic interpretations, one of them quoted in Rashi as a second explanation. We are concerned here with the literal meaning of the narrative.
[3] Published in Likkutei Sichos vol. 10 Parshas Noach, pp. 30-36. Cf. all the footnotes there exploring the views of the various commentators on the ideas we will explore in this essay.
[4] Tosefta Bava Metziah 2:8
[5] Talmud Yerushalmi Kilayim 1:7
[6] Genesis chapter 7
[7] The Ramban maintains that tress did survive the flood. Yet this is very difficult to understand, see Likkutei Sichos vol. 10 p. 30 and the footnotes there.
[8] See Rashi ibid. and Likkutei Sichos ibid.
[9] Jeremiah 11:16
[10] Psalms 128:3
- Comment
Class Summary:
The story seems simple. Noah sent out the dove and waited until it brought back some sign of vegetation and thus knew that the waters did not still cover the whole earth and have significantly abated. We must ask though, why was the leaf that the dove brought back from an olive branch? Why did the dove choose this tree? And even if she did, for whatever random reason, thy does the Torah emphasize this detail? Who cares what type of leaf she brought back to the ark?
What is more, how did the leaf prove anything to Noach? Perhaps the dove has found a leaf floating somewhere on the water and brought it to the ark? How did Noach know it was plucked off a tree?
And even if it looked green and fresh, how did Noach even infer from the olive leaf that the water significantly abated on earth? Perhaps the leaf was taken from an olive tree atop a tall mountain. How could that prove that the earth was beginning to dry up?
The single answer to these questions was presented by the Lubavitcher Rebbe at a public address on Shabbos Parshas Noach, 1 Cheshvan, 5734, October 27, 1973—smack in middle of the Yom Kippur War.
For this we must understand the world of botany and the science of an olive tree. The olive tree is one of the strongest and iconic trees in the world. It possesses eight extraordinary qualities.
Why does the Tanach compare the Jewish people to an olive tree? Because if you want to understand the story of our people, you need to understand the chemistry of an olive tree.
Jokes
1. After a performance a cantor - trying to impress- tells the crowd that his voice is insured with Lloyds of London for 1 million dollars. A voice from the back of the room says "so what did you do with the money?"
2. A hebrew school held a talent show for the community.
A Girl is playing hava nagila, the grandmother sees a man crying.
She says isn't it beautiful that our young are carrying on our tradition?
The man says I'm not Jewish.
So why are you crying?
I'm a musician...
G-d Need Not Destroy the World
And the Lord spoke to Noah and said, "In one year, I am going to make it rain and cover the whole earth with water until all flesh is destroyed.
“But I want you to save the righteous people and two of every kind of living thing on the earth. Therefore, I am commanding you to build an Ark."
In a flash of lightening, G-d delivered the specifications for an Ark. In fear and trembling, Noah took the plans and agreed to build the Ark.
"Remember" said the Lord, "You must complete the Ark and bring everything aboard in one year.”
Exactly one year later, fierce storm cloud covered the earth and all the seas of the earth went into a tumult. The Lord saw Noah was sitting in his front yard weeping. "Noah," He shouted. "Where is the Ark?"
"Lord, please forgive me! Cried Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems. First, I had to get a permit for construction and your plans did not comply with the codes. I had to hire an engineering firm and redraw the plans. Then I got into a fight with OSHA over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler system and flotation devices. Then my neighbor objected, claiming I was violating zoning ordinances by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.
I had problems getting enough wood for the Ark, because there was a ban on cutting trees to protect the Spotted Owl. I finally convinced the US Forest Service that I needed the wood to save the owls. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service won't let me catch any owls. So, no owls.
The carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer. Now I have 16 carpenters on the Ark, but still no owls.
When I started rounding up the other animals, I got sued by an animal rights group. They objected to me only taking two of each kind aboard. Just when I got the suit dismissed, the EPA notified me that I could not complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take very kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of the Creator of the universe.
Then the Army Corp. of Engineers demanded a map of the proposed new flood plain. I sent them a globe. Right now, I am trying to resolve a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that I am practicing discrimination by not taking G-dless, unbelieving people aboard!
The IRS has seized my assets, claiming that I'm building the Ark in preparation to flee the country to avoid paying taxes. I just got a notice from the state that I owe them some kind of user tax and failed to register the Ark as a "recreational watercraft."
Finally, the ACLU got the courts to issue an injunction against further construction of the Ark, saying that since G-d is flooding the earth, it is a religious event and therefore unconstitutional. I really don’t think I can finish the Ark for another 9 years!"
Noah wailed.
The sky began to clear, the sun began to shine, and the seas began to calm. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up hopefully.
"You mean you are not going to destroy the earth Lord?"
"No," said the Lord sadly. "I don't have to. Bureaucracy already has."
The Dove Is Sent
In the entire drama, it is easy to ignore what might seem like a lackluster moment in this week’s Torah portion.
As the flood waters recede, Noah opens the window of the ark and sends out the raven, which "kept going and returning.” So Noach sends out the dove to see if the water has receded sufficiently so that he can leave the ark. The dove returns to the ark, as it could not find a place to rest, because the earth is still engulfed in water. Noach waits seven days and resends the dove.
The Torah relates:[1]
נח ח, י-יא: וַיָּחֶל עוֹד, שִׁבְעַת יָמִים אֲחֵרִים; וַיֹּסֶף שַׁלַּח אֶת-הַיּוֹנָה, מִן-הַתֵּבָה. וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב, וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ; וַיֵּדַע נֹחַ, כִּי-קַלּוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ.
And he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came to him at eventide; and behold in her mouth an olive-leaf freshly plucked; so Noach knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
Noach then waited another seven days, resent the dove, and she never returned. At last he knew the earth was dry.
The simple meaning of the story is that Noah waited until the dove brought back some sign of vegetation and thus knew that the waters did not still cover the whole earth and have significantly abated. Tress can already begin to grow leaves. We must ask though, why was the leaf that was brought back from an olive branch? Why did the dove choose this tree? And even if she did, for whatever random reason, thy does the Torah emphasize this detail? Who cares what type of leaf she brought back to the ark?[2]
What is more, how did the leaf prove anything to Noach? Perhaps the dove has found a leaf floating somewhere on the water and brought it to the ark? How did Noach know it was plucked off a tree?
And even if it looked green and fresh, how did Noach even infer from the olive leaf that the water significantly abated on earth? Perhaps the leaf was taken from an olive tree atop a tall mountain (especially that the ark itself situated atop a tall Mt. Ararat), and from the top of the tree. How could that prove that the earth was beginning to dry up?
(After all, 61 days before the dove returned with the olive leaf the peaks of the mountains were visible; and each day the water continued to recede. If so, how could this leaf prove that the water has abated from the earth, if this leaf came from the peak of a mountain, where the water has receded a while ago?)
The answer to these questions was presented by the Lubavitcher Rebbe at an address on Shabbos Parshas Noach, 1 Cheshvan, 5734, October 27, 1973—smack in middle of the Yom Kippur War.[3]
Eight Fascinating Facts about the Olive Tree
For this, we need to study the science of the olive tree.
The olive tree is one of the strongest and iconic trees in the world. It possesses some extraordinary qualities. Here are eight:
1) LONGEVITY: Olive trees have the longest life span of any entity on earth. With a potential lifespan of up to 6,000 years, individual olive trees have seen not only generations, but entire empires, kingdoms and cultures come and go on the earth's surface.
There are many trees in the Mediterranean region that are scientifically verified to be as old as 2,000 years. If you visit Judea and Samaria, the so called West Bank of Jordan, folks may brag that their Al Badawi tree, in the Beth Lechem district, is the oldest olive of all, at between 4,000 and 5,000 years. Greeks on the island of Crete may assure you that the ancient, gnarly-trunked olive tree in Vouves is at least 3,000 years. A half dozen other olive trees are believed to be of similar age.
Two olives are pals, and they're hanging from the tree like they've been for months. Suddenly, one falls to the ground. The remaining one says, "Are you ok?" And the other replies, "Olive!"
2. INDESTRUCTIBLE: The root system of the olive tree is so robust that it’s capable of regenerating itself even when the above-ground structure of the tree is destroyed by frost, fire or disease. In Tuscany in 1985 a severe frost destroyed many productive and aged olive trees, ruining the livelihoods of many farmers. However, when new shoots appeared in the spring and the dead wood was removed, they soon became new fruit-producing trees.
3. UNPARCHABLE: Olive trees are drought friendly’ and (just like eucalyptus trees) do not need to be watered. In his Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain called the olive tree (and the cactus) “those fast friends of a worthless soil.” It’s true: Olive trees will produce loads of fruit in the cruelest heat and driest gravels of Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Middle East and myriad islands in the Mediterranean. Not only that, the trees thrive in places where others may wither–and olives don’t only survive but thrive for century after century.
4. STRENGTH: The wood of the olive tree is exceptionally robust and inflexible and is a bastion of unwavering strength to the tree as a whole. Which created a fascinating Jewish law: “If one found a lost shovel, he may use it (till the owner comes to claim it, so that it does not get rusty). He may use for soft things but not for olive trees (since their wood is very strong and might break the shovel).”[4]
The wood of the olive tree is so strong that any attempt to graft other species of tree onto it will be unsuccessful.[5] It is unapologetic about its strength and resoluteness and rejects any foreign elements.
5. GENEROUS: Large olive trees produce on average about 400 pounds of olives annually. Older and larger trees can produce more. It’s estimated that there are about 865 million olive trees in the world today. The olive tree starts bearing fruit at around 5 years of age, and it does not stop. A tree in Croatia that is radiocarbon-dated to be 1,600 years old still produces abundant fruit today.
6. ANCIENT: The edible olive has been cultivated for almost 6,000 years; it is one of the oldest trees we know of.
7. HEALTHY: Olives are incredibly healthy fruit (yes, fruit—they are a distant cousin of the peach) containing antioxidants, healthy fats and fiber. In addition, of course, to the incredible benefits we receive from it: oil with all of its blessings, heat, light, and warmth.
Even its nutrients are full of life. Residents of Crete in the Mediterranean have the highest consumption of olive oil per person in the world and they also have the lowest rate of death from heart related diseases in the world. The olive, which has been providing food and medicine to humans for millenniums, is one of the most versatile and life giving trees on earth.
8. ENDURANCE: The olive does not lose its foliage AND it can grow its fruit, the olive, all year round.
So the tree as a whole endures all year, every year, as well as the produce of the tree, the olive enduring all year! We see that the olive tree is literally brimming with life, longevity and endurance.
***
Optional Section
The Laws of Shmitah
This quality of the olive is, fascinatingly, reflected in Jewish law as well:
Shmitah is an intriguing agricultural mitzvah. Shmitah is what we call the sabbatical year. It is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel and still observed in contemporary times. During Shmitah, the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by Jewish law. Additionally, any fruits which grow of their own accord are deemed hefker (ownerless) and may be picked by anyone, Jew and non Jew, human and animal.
Under the rules of the Shmitah, produce with Sabbatical sanctity (kedushas shevi'is) can only be privately stored away by the owner as long as plants of the same species (plants sprouting by themselves) or tress producing these fruits are available to animals in the fields. Once a species is no longer available in the field, the law requires that it be removed, made ownerless, and made available to anyone who wishes to take it. This is a procedure called biur shvieis. For example, once there are no more wild apples in the fields, one must take all the apples he put in his storehouses and declare them available to all.
However, the olive is unique in this regard. Consider what our Sages taught:
תוספתא שביעית ה, ח: עלי זיתים ועלי קנים ועלי חרובין אין להן ביעור לפי שאין כלין.
The law by the olive is that there is no time of biur. This is because olives grow all year and therefore there is no time at which we can say that all the wild olives have ceased growing. Therefore, there is no point in time at which the owner must declare all his privately owned olives to be ownerless.
End of Optional Section
***
We can now understand, the Rebbe explained, the mysterious story of the dove. It shows us how even a small detail in Torah is so profoundly significant.
What happened during that great flood? This is what the Torah tells us:[6]
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day All the fountains of the great deep burst apart, And the floodgates of the sky broke open… The Flood continued forty days on the earth, and the waters increased… The waters swelled and increased greatly upon the earth… When the waters had swelled much more upon the earth, all the highest mountains everywhere under the sky were covered… Fifteen cubits (around 30 feet) higher did the waters swell, as the mountains were covered.
And all flesh that stirred on earth perished—birds, cattle, beasts, and all the things that swarmed upon the earth, and all mankind… All existence on earth was blotted out—man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the sky; they were blotted out from the earth…
The waters had raged on the earth one hundred and fifty days.
Picture in your mind an incessant and raging rainpour for forty days and nights, which does not only flood the earth, but floods it 30 feet above the peak of the highest mountain! The flooding continues for 150 days, only accelerating, increasing, swelling and growing from moment to moment. Does any tree have hope?[7]
We know from far smaller tsunamis and floods how many trees are uprooted. In the aftermath of such a devastating flood which obliterated every living organism on earth, the trees were no exception.
Almost no exception. There was one: the olive tree. Its roots are so deep and so powerful that it managed to survive the furious rainpour! The root system of the olive tree is so robust that its subterranean roots likely survived the raging floods. And as we recall, the root system of the olive tree can regenerate itself even when the above-ground structure of the tree has been destroyed.
So, even though there leaves and branches and stems and seeds floating all over the place, there was one tree—the olive tree—that remained connected (at least its bottom part) to the earth even amid the flood.
That’s true about the tree itself, the roots and perhaps the trunk. But certainly not the leaves. They could not survive the flood; they certainly were all detached from their source.
When the dove came to Noach with the newly plucked leaf of the olive Noach saw not only a old shriveled emaciated leaf floating in the flood for a year; Noach saw a beautiful fresh green leaf, just recently plucked off the tree. And then he realized the good news: the waters have receded so much that the olive tree managed to reproduce a new generation of leaves. This meant not only that the tree was completely exposed and not covered by any water, but that enough time passed for it to begin reproducing after the flood, to the point that it grew new leaves. Things, at last, were returning back to normal.
Which is why the Torah uses the term, “in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked.” Noach did not only see a leaf in her mouth; he saw fresh leave that was just plucked from the tree. The Hebrew term for plucked here is “taraf,” which literally means seized, grabbed, snatched.[8] Why such a strange term? Because this word captures the key to the entire story. The leaf was connected to the tree, hence it has to be seized. What is more, the tree is a powerful one, which is why it survived the flood, and it holds on to its leaves with a tight grip. Hence, the dove has to “snatch” the leaf off the tree to bring it back to Noach.
Our Eternity
As is always the case in every single story of the Torah, this contains a profound lesson to Noach—and to all of his offspring. The Torah is giving that subtle but vital message: If you want to survive and thrive amidst floods, make sure you emulate the olive tree.
What is the secret to the Jewish nations’ survival? How have we endured for so long under such stressful conditions? Mark Twain famously phrased the question as follows:
“The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
Other nations have long looked at this as an anomalous exception, something temporary that must end, a freak accident that will come to a close. Yet others have been sensitive to the subtle power of Jewish survival and sought to emulate us. Just prior to being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, the Dalai Lama of Tibet briefly met with Jewish leaders at a Buddhist monastery near New York City. As the spiritual and temporal leader of a people who had been defeated by Communist China 60 years ago, the world's preeminent Buddhist monk wanted to learn the "Jewish secret" for surviving exile. After all, he reasoned, the Jews had the expertise: 1,900 years of living in the diaspora, all the while preserving their distinct faith and heritage. Surely the Tibetan people could benefit from Jewish experience.
The key to understanding the immutable unwavering strength of the Jew is encapsulated in the olive tree. In the words of the Talmud:
מנחות נג, ב:
אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי למה נמשלו ישראל לזית לומר לך מה זית אין עליו נושרין לא בימות החמה ולא בימות הגשמים אף ישראל אין להם בטילה עולמית לא בעוה"ז ולא בעולם הבא
Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, “Why is Israel compared (in the Tanach) to the olive tree?[9] It is because just as the olive tree does not lose its foliage not in summer and not in winter, so too Israel endures eternally.
If you want to understand the story of our people, suggests the Talmud, consider the olive. This is the story of the Jewish nation. Full of life, endurance and versatility, it is the perfect agricultural representation of the anomalous Jew.
A New Jewish School
Not long ago I came across this story. My heart swelled from emotion.
Jewish Children Celebrate Ulyanovsk School’s Grand Opening
Excitement filled the air as approximately 60 enthusiastic children, parents, grandparents and teachers celebrated the grand opening of the first Jewish childhood education center in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
You may say, what’s the big deal?
Well Ulyanovsk is Vladimir Lenin’s birthplace. Lenin, the father of the Bolshevik Revolution, which uprooted every last vestige of Judaism in the USSR and sent some 30 million people to their deaths, became synonymous with this city.
But now a Jewish school opens up, by whom? By Chabad Chassidim, persecuted and cut down by Lenin and his peers.
Aptly named the “School of Dreams,” the Chabad-Lubavitch run institution is open three days a week for children between the ages of six and 15. Offerings include Jewish traditions, Jewish dance, choir, Hebrew, English, karate, computer science, arts and crafts, and theater. In addition, students will participate in a field trip each month.
No Grafting
What is this quality we have that turns us into the olive tree?
The Talmud gives us a simple and incredible answer:
ירושלמי כלאים א, ז: אשתך כגפן פוריה בירכתי ביתך, בניך כשתילי זתים סביב לשולחנך, מה זיתים אין בהן הרכבה אף בניך לא יהא בהן פסולת.
The verse in Psalms states:[10] Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons, like olive saplings around your table. Why does the Psalmist compare our children to an olive grove planted around a table. What is the meaning of this biblical imagery?
The Talmud explains this in a remarkable way. Olives cannot be grafted with other trees, they stand strong in the face of agricultural attempts at assimilation. The wood of the olive tree is so strong that any attempt to graft other species of tree onto it will be unsuccessful. It is unapologetic about its strength and resoluteness, and rejects any foreign elements. This is the secret of Jewish children and Jewish education: The Jewish nation must remain strong, in full resoluteness, confidence and courage. We must never be apologetic about our faith and way of life. We must not import foreign elements into our lifestyle, elements which compromise our conviction, connection, and longevity. Sure, we must learn from everybody, but never allow another tree that foreign to your source of life be grafted into yours, causing you to lose your identity and assimilate into a new entity.
This is the secret to Jewish survival. It is the unwavering commitment to stand strong and not bend and sway to each current era’s temptations and relativistic morals.
(Note: You can go through all the other qualities of the olive tree and explain them as a mirror for Jewish life, the Jewish people, and a life of Torah and Mitzvos.)
A Tale of Two Loves
Imagine you finally find your long awaited beloved and they say “I love you so very much and want to live with you forever. There is just one thing that I’d like you to compromise on. You always wear orange colored shirts. I never told you but I absolutely can’t stand the color orange?”
Fine. It’s doable. Not the end of the world.
But imagine they say “I love you so very much and want to live with you forever. There is just one thing that I’d like you to compromise on. You are so passionate about music and your latest album was a platinum selling record. You live for composing and the nuanced creative structuring of music and emotion. But I never told you, I really hate music. I can’t stand it. Can you please compromise and never have anything to do with music again?”
Why is this ridiculous? Even if this person was willing to give up everything for their beloved it would still be ludicrous. Music is who this person is! It’s what drives them, it’s what they eat sleep and breathe! If they give that up and compromise, they are compromising part of their very being.
This then is our calling and the exhortation. Be staunch and unyielding like the olive tree. Never apologize or sacrifice who you really are. Compromise on your ego, on your comforts, moods, shtick, and habits. But do not give up your core soul, values, your inner music. Remain true to your inner Jewish identity. Say no to grafting and assimilation. Then you survive any flood, and your leaves become the symbol of a new peaceful and harmonious world.
Don’t Forget Us
In Prague, there are famous synagogues remarkable for their long history, beautiful architecture, and vast size. Most notable is the Alt-Neu Shul, over 700 years old, which holds the world’s record for the synagogue in the longest continuous use.
But nothing can compare to the shul which was only recently discovered in Terezin (or Theresienstadt), the town an hour north of Prague, infamous for its use as a death camp. It housed more than 150,000 Jews during the Holocaust, most of whom were sent to Auschwitz, never to return, while tens of thousands died in Terezin.
The recently discovered shul is a low-ceilinged, small room, dark and damp, a chamber measuring 12 by 15 feet. It was originally used to store potatoes. The imprisoned Jews clandestinely gathered amongst the potatoes for prayer, risking their lives and certain torture if discovered.
Additionally, those who worked as painters stole paint and brushes in order to beautify their secret and forbidden house of worship.
Today you can still see those faded drawings and Hebrew letters on the walls of the shul. As in many synagogues, one wall has written in beautiful Hebrew script, the words from the Talmud: “Da lifnei mee attah omed — Know before whom you stand.” On another wall is a verse from the Amidah: “V’sechzenah eineinu b’shuvcha l’Tziyon b’rachmim — May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in compassion.”
But the largest and most poignant inscription is a passage taken from the Tachanun prayer:
וּבְכָל זאת שִׁמְךָ לא שָׁכָחְנוּ. נָא אַל תִּשְׁכָּחֵנוּ
“Despite all, O G-d, we have not forgotten You. Please — do not forget us.”
Despite all the death and destruction, despite the incredible cruelty visited upon us, despite all this, we have not forgotten You. Now, we beg You, do not forget us!
[1] Genesis 8:11
[2] There are midrashic interpretations, one of them quoted in Rashi as a second explanation. We are concerned here with the literal meaning of the narrative.
[3] Published in Likkutei Sichos vol. 10 Parshas Noach, pp. 30-36. Cf. all the footnotes there exploring the views of the various commentators on the ideas we will explore in this essay.
[4] Tosefta Bava Metziah 2:8
[5] Talmud Yerushalmi Kilayim 1:7
[6] Genesis chapter 7
[7] The Ramban maintains that tress did survive the flood. Yet this is very difficult to understand, see Likkutei Sichos vol. 10 p. 30 and the footnotes there.
[8] See Rashi ibid. and Likkutei Sichos ibid.
[9] Jeremiah 11:16
[10] Psalms 128:3
Tags
Categories
Parshas Noach 5780
Rabbi YY Jacobson
- November 1, 2019
- |
- 3 Cheshvan 5780
- |
- 145 views
Noach: Why Did the Dove Choose the Olive Tree?
The 8 Unique Qualities of the Olive Tree
Rabbi YY Jacobson
- November 1, 2019
Jokes
1. After a performance a cantor - trying to impress- tells the crowd that his voice is insured with Lloyds of London for 1 million dollars. A voice from the back of the room says "so what did you do with the money?"
2. A hebrew school held a talent show for the community.
A Girl is playing hava nagila, the grandmother sees a man crying.
She says isn't it beautiful that our young are carrying on our tradition?
The man says I'm not Jewish.
So why are you crying?
I'm a musician...
G-d Need Not Destroy the World
And the Lord spoke to Noah and said, "In one year, I am going to make it rain and cover the whole earth with water until all flesh is destroyed.
“But I want you to save the righteous people and two of every kind of living thing on the earth. Therefore, I am commanding you to build an Ark."
In a flash of lightening, G-d delivered the specifications for an Ark. In fear and trembling, Noah took the plans and agreed to build the Ark.
"Remember" said the Lord, "You must complete the Ark and bring everything aboard in one year.”
Exactly one year later, fierce storm cloud covered the earth and all the seas of the earth went into a tumult. The Lord saw Noah was sitting in his front yard weeping. "Noah," He shouted. "Where is the Ark?"
"Lord, please forgive me! Cried Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems. First, I had to get a permit for construction and your plans did not comply with the codes. I had to hire an engineering firm and redraw the plans. Then I got into a fight with OSHA over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler system and flotation devices. Then my neighbor objected, claiming I was violating zoning ordinances by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.
I had problems getting enough wood for the Ark, because there was a ban on cutting trees to protect the Spotted Owl. I finally convinced the US Forest Service that I needed the wood to save the owls. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service won't let me catch any owls. So, no owls.
The carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer. Now I have 16 carpenters on the Ark, but still no owls.
When I started rounding up the other animals, I got sued by an animal rights group. They objected to me only taking two of each kind aboard. Just when I got the suit dismissed, the EPA notified me that I could not complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take very kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of the Creator of the universe.
Then the Army Corp. of Engineers demanded a map of the proposed new flood plain. I sent them a globe. Right now, I am trying to resolve a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that I am practicing discrimination by not taking G-dless, unbelieving people aboard!
The IRS has seized my assets, claiming that I'm building the Ark in preparation to flee the country to avoid paying taxes. I just got a notice from the state that I owe them some kind of user tax and failed to register the Ark as a "recreational watercraft."
Finally, the ACLU got the courts to issue an injunction against further construction of the Ark, saying that since G-d is flooding the earth, it is a religious event and therefore unconstitutional. I really don’t think I can finish the Ark for another 9 years!"
Noah wailed.
The sky began to clear, the sun began to shine, and the seas began to calm. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up hopefully.
"You mean you are not going to destroy the earth Lord?"
"No," said the Lord sadly. "I don't have to. Bureaucracy already has."
The Dove Is Sent
In the entire drama, it is easy to ignore what might seem like a lackluster moment in this week’s Torah portion.
As the flood waters recede, Noah opens the window of the ark and sends out the raven, which "kept going and returning.” So Noach sends out the dove to see if the water has receded sufficiently so that he can leave the ark. The dove returns to the ark, as it could not find a place to rest, because the earth is still engulfed in water. Noach waits seven days and resends the dove.
The Torah relates:[1]
נח ח, י-יא: וַיָּחֶל עוֹד, שִׁבְעַת יָמִים אֲחֵרִים; וַיֹּסֶף שַׁלַּח אֶת-הַיּוֹנָה, מִן-הַתֵּבָה. וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב, וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ; וַיֵּדַע נֹחַ, כִּי-קַלּוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ.
And he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came to him at eventide; and behold in her mouth an olive-leaf freshly plucked; so Noach knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
Noach then waited another seven days, resent the dove, and she never returned. At last he knew the earth was dry.
The simple meaning of the story is that Noah waited until the dove brought back some sign of vegetation and thus knew that the waters did not still cover the whole earth and have significantly abated. Tress can already begin to grow leaves. We must ask though, why was the leaf that was brought back from an olive branch? Why did the dove choose this tree? And even if she did, for whatever random reason, thy does the Torah emphasize this detail? Who cares what type of leaf she brought back to the ark?[2]
What is more, how did the leaf prove anything to Noach? Perhaps the dove has found a leaf floating somewhere on the water and brought it to the ark? How did Noach know it was plucked off a tree?
And even if it looked green and fresh, how did Noach even infer from the olive leaf that the water significantly abated on earth? Perhaps the leaf was taken from an olive tree atop a tall mountain (especially that the ark itself situated atop a tall Mt. Ararat), and from the top of the tree. How could that prove that the earth was beginning to dry up?
(After all, 61 days before the dove returned with the olive leaf the peaks of the mountains were visible; and each day the water continued to recede. If so, how could this leaf prove that the water has abated from the earth, if this leaf came from the peak of a mountain, where the water has receded a while ago?)
The answer to these questions was presented by the Lubavitcher Rebbe at an address on Shabbos Parshas Noach, 1 Cheshvan, 5734, October 27, 1973—smack in middle of the Yom Kippur War.[3]
Eight Fascinating Facts about the Olive Tree
For this, we need to study the science of the olive tree.
The olive tree is one of the strongest and iconic trees in the world. It possesses some extraordinary qualities. Here are eight:
1) LONGEVITY: Olive trees have the longest life span of any entity on earth. With a potential lifespan of up to 6,000 years, individual olive trees have seen not only generations, but entire empires, kingdoms and cultures come and go on the earth's surface.
There are many trees in the Mediterranean region that are scientifically verified to be as old as 2,000 years. If you visit Judea and Samaria, the so called West Bank of Jordan, folks may brag that their Al Badawi tree, in the Beth Lechem district, is the oldest olive of all, at between 4,000 and 5,000 years. Greeks on the island of Crete may assure you that the ancient, gnarly-trunked olive tree in Vouves is at least 3,000 years. A half dozen other olive trees are believed to be of similar age.
Two olives are pals, and they're hanging from the tree like they've been for months. Suddenly, one falls to the ground. The remaining one says, "Are you ok?" And the other replies, "Olive!"
2. INDESTRUCTIBLE: The root system of the olive tree is so robust that it’s capable of regenerating itself even when the above-ground structure of the tree is destroyed by frost, fire or disease. In Tuscany in 1985 a severe frost destroyed many productive and aged olive trees, ruining the livelihoods of many farmers. However, when new shoots appeared in the spring and the dead wood was removed, they soon became new fruit-producing trees.
3. UNPARCHABLE: Olive trees are drought friendly’ and (just like eucalyptus trees) do not need to be watered. In his Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain called the olive tree (and the cactus) “those fast friends of a worthless soil.” It’s true: Olive trees will produce loads of fruit in the cruelest heat and driest gravels of Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Middle East and myriad islands in the Mediterranean. Not only that, the trees thrive in places where others may wither–and olives don’t only survive but thrive for century after century.
4. STRENGTH: The wood of the olive tree is exceptionally robust and inflexible and is a bastion of unwavering strength to the tree as a whole. Which created a fascinating Jewish law: “If one found a lost shovel, he may use it (till the owner comes to claim it, so that it does not get rusty). He may use for soft things but not for olive trees (since their wood is very strong and might break the shovel).”[4]
The wood of the olive tree is so strong that any attempt to graft other species of tree onto it will be unsuccessful.[5] It is unapologetic about its strength and resoluteness and rejects any foreign elements.
5. GENEROUS: Large olive trees produce on average about 400 pounds of olives annually. Older and larger trees can produce more. It’s estimated that there are about 865 million olive trees in the world today. The olive tree starts bearing fruit at around 5 years of age, and it does not stop. A tree in Croatia that is radiocarbon-dated to be 1,600 years old still produces abundant fruit today.
6. ANCIENT: The edible olive has been cultivated for almost 6,000 years; it is one of the oldest trees we know of.
7. HEALTHY: Olives are incredibly healthy fruit (yes, fruit—they are a distant cousin of the peach) containing antioxidants, healthy fats and fiber. In addition, of course, to the incredible benefits we receive from it: oil with all of its blessings, heat, light, and warmth.
Even its nutrients are full of life. Residents of Crete in the Mediterranean have the highest consumption of olive oil per person in the world and they also have the lowest rate of death from heart related diseases in the world. The olive, which has been providing food and medicine to humans for millenniums, is one of the most versatile and life giving trees on earth.
8. ENDURANCE: The olive does not lose its foliage AND it can grow its fruit, the olive, all year round.
So the tree as a whole endures all year, every year, as well as the produce of the tree, the olive enduring all year! We see that the olive tree is literally brimming with life, longevity and endurance.
***
Optional Section
The Laws of Shmitah
This quality of the olive is, fascinatingly, reflected in Jewish law as well:
Shmitah is an intriguing agricultural mitzvah. Shmitah is what we call the sabbatical year. It is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel and still observed in contemporary times. During Shmitah, the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by Jewish law. Additionally, any fruits which grow of their own accord are deemed hefker (ownerless) and may be picked by anyone, Jew and non Jew, human and animal.
Under the rules of the Shmitah, produce with Sabbatical sanctity (kedushas shevi'is) can only be privately stored away by the owner as long as plants of the same species (plants sprouting by themselves) or tress producing these fruits are available to animals in the fields. Once a species is no longer available in the field, the law requires that it be removed, made ownerless, and made available to anyone who wishes to take it. This is a procedure called biur shvieis. For example, once there are no more wild apples in the fields, one must take all the apples he put in his storehouses and declare them available to all.
However, the olive is unique in this regard. Consider what our Sages taught:
תוספתא שביעית ה, ח: עלי זיתים ועלי קנים ועלי חרובין אין להן ביעור לפי שאין כלין.
The law by the olive is that there is no time of biur. This is because olives grow all year and therefore there is no time at which we can say that all the wild olives have ceased growing. Therefore, there is no point in time at which the owner must declare all his privately owned olives to be ownerless.
End of Optional Section
***
We can now understand, the Rebbe explained, the mysterious story of the dove. It shows us how even a small detail in Torah is so profoundly significant.
What happened during that great flood? This is what the Torah tells us:[6]
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day All the fountains of the great deep burst apart, And the floodgates of the sky broke open… The Flood continued forty days on the earth, and the waters increased… The waters swelled and increased greatly upon the earth… When the waters had swelled much more upon the earth, all the highest mountains everywhere under the sky were covered… Fifteen cubits (around 30 feet) higher did the waters swell, as the mountains were covered.
And all flesh that stirred on earth perished—birds, cattle, beasts, and all the things that swarmed upon the earth, and all mankind… All existence on earth was blotted out—man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the sky; they were blotted out from the earth…
The waters had raged on the earth one hundred and fifty days.
Picture in your mind an incessant and raging rainpour for forty days and nights, which does not only flood the earth, but floods it 30 feet above the peak of the highest mountain! The flooding continues for 150 days, only accelerating, increasing, swelling and growing from moment to moment. Does any tree have hope?[7]
We know from far smaller tsunamis and floods how many trees are uprooted. In the aftermath of such a devastating flood which obliterated every living organism on earth, the trees were no exception.
Almost no exception. There was one: the olive tree. Its roots are so deep and so powerful that it managed to survive the furious rainpour! The root system of the olive tree is so robust that its subterranean roots likely survived the raging floods. And as we recall, the root system of the olive tree can regenerate itself even when the above-ground structure of the tree has been destroyed.
So, even though there leaves and branches and stems and seeds floating all over the place, there was one tree—the olive tree—that remained connected (at least its bottom part) to the earth even amid the flood.
That’s true about the tree itself, the roots and perhaps the trunk. But certainly not the leaves. They could not survive the flood; they certainly were all detached from their source.
When the dove came to Noach with the newly plucked leaf of the olive Noach saw not only a old shriveled emaciated leaf floating in the flood for a year; Noach saw a beautiful fresh green leaf, just recently plucked off the tree. And then he realized the good news: the waters have receded so much that the olive tree managed to reproduce a new generation of leaves. This meant not only that the tree was completely exposed and not covered by any water, but that enough time passed for it to begin reproducing after the flood, to the point that it grew new leaves. Things, at last, were returning back to normal.
Which is why the Torah uses the term, “in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked.” Noach did not only see a leaf in her mouth; he saw fresh leave that was just plucked from the tree. The Hebrew term for plucked here is “taraf,” which literally means seized, grabbed, snatched.[8] Why such a strange term? Because this word captures the key to the entire story. The leaf was connected to the tree, hence it has to be seized. What is more, the tree is a powerful one, which is why it survived the flood, and it holds on to its leaves with a tight grip. Hence, the dove has to “snatch” the leaf off the tree to bring it back to Noach.
Our Eternity
As is always the case in every single story of the Torah, this contains a profound lesson to Noach—and to all of his offspring. The Torah is giving that subtle but vital message: If you want to survive and thrive amidst floods, make sure you emulate the olive tree.
What is the secret to the Jewish nations’ survival? How have we endured for so long under such stressful conditions? Mark Twain famously phrased the question as follows:
“The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
Other nations have long looked at this as an anomalous exception, something temporary that must end, a freak accident that will come to a close. Yet others have been sensitive to the subtle power of Jewish survival and sought to emulate us. Just prior to being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, the Dalai Lama of Tibet briefly met with Jewish leaders at a Buddhist monastery near New York City. As the spiritual and temporal leader of a people who had been defeated by Communist China 60 years ago, the world's preeminent Buddhist monk wanted to learn the "Jewish secret" for surviving exile. After all, he reasoned, the Jews had the expertise: 1,900 years of living in the diaspora, all the while preserving their distinct faith and heritage. Surely the Tibetan people could benefit from Jewish experience.
The key to understanding the immutable unwavering strength of the Jew is encapsulated in the olive tree. In the words of the Talmud:
מנחות נג, ב:
אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי למה נמשלו ישראל לזית לומר לך מה זית אין עליו נושרין לא בימות החמה ולא בימות הגשמים אף ישראל אין להם בטילה עולמית לא בעוה"ז ולא בעולם הבא
Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said, “Why is Israel compared (in the Tanach) to the olive tree?[9] It is because just as the olive tree does not lose its foliage not in summer and not in winter, so too Israel endures eternally.
If you want to understand the story of our people, suggests the Talmud, consider the olive. This is the story of the Jewish nation. Full of life, endurance and versatility, it is the perfect agricultural representation of the anomalous Jew.
A New Jewish School
Not long ago I came across this story. My heart swelled from emotion.
Jewish Children Celebrate Ulyanovsk School’s Grand Opening
Excitement filled the air as approximately 60 enthusiastic children, parents, grandparents and teachers celebrated the grand opening of the first Jewish childhood education center in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
You may say, what’s the big deal?
Well Ulyanovsk is Vladimir Lenin’s birthplace. Lenin, the father of the Bolshevik Revolution, which uprooted every last vestige of Judaism in the USSR and sent some 30 million people to their deaths, became synonymous with this city.
But now a Jewish school opens up, by whom? By Chabad Chassidim, persecuted and cut down by Lenin and his peers.
Aptly named the “School of Dreams,” the Chabad-Lubavitch run institution is open three days a week for children between the ages of six and 15. Offerings include Jewish traditions, Jewish dance, choir, Hebrew, English, karate, computer science, arts and crafts, and theater. In addition, students will participate in a field trip each month.
No Grafting
What is this quality we have that turns us into the olive tree?
The Talmud gives us a simple and incredible answer:
ירושלמי כלאים א, ז: אשתך כגפן פוריה בירכתי ביתך, בניך כשתילי זתים סביב לשולחנך, מה זיתים אין בהן הרכבה אף בניך לא יהא בהן פסולת.
The verse in Psalms states:[10] Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons, like olive saplings around your table. Why does the Psalmist compare our children to an olive grove planted around a table. What is the meaning of this biblical imagery?
The Talmud explains this in a remarkable way. Olives cannot be grafted with other trees, they stand strong in the face of agricultural attempts at assimilation. The wood of the olive tree is so strong that any attempt to graft other species of tree onto it will be unsuccessful. It is unapologetic about its strength and resoluteness, and rejects any foreign elements. This is the secret of Jewish children and Jewish education: The Jewish nation must remain strong, in full resoluteness, confidence and courage. We must never be apologetic about our faith and way of life. We must not import foreign elements into our lifestyle, elements which compromise our conviction, connection, and longevity. Sure, we must learn from everybody, but never allow another tree that foreign to your source of life be grafted into yours, causing you to lose your identity and assimilate into a new entity.
This is the secret to Jewish survival. It is the unwavering commitment to stand strong and not bend and sway to each current era’s temptations and relativistic morals.
(Note: You can go through all the other qualities of the olive tree and explain them as a mirror for Jewish life, the Jewish people, and a life of Torah and Mitzvos.)
A Tale of Two Loves
Imagine you finally find your long awaited beloved and they say “I love you so very much and want to live with you forever. There is just one thing that I’d like you to compromise on. You always wear orange colored shirts. I never told you but I absolutely can’t stand the color orange?”
Fine. It’s doable. Not the end of the world.
But imagine they say “I love you so very much and want to live with you forever. There is just one thing that I’d like you to compromise on. You are so passionate about music and your latest album was a platinum selling record. You live for composing and the nuanced creative structuring of music and emotion. But I never told you, I really hate music. I can’t stand it. Can you please compromise and never have anything to do with music again?”
Why is this ridiculous? Even if this person was willing to give up everything for their beloved it would still be ludicrous. Music is who this person is! It’s what drives them, it’s what they eat sleep and breathe! If they give that up and compromise, they are compromising part of their very being.
This then is our calling and the exhortation. Be staunch and unyielding like the olive tree. Never apologize or sacrifice who you really are. Compromise on your ego, on your comforts, moods, shtick, and habits. But do not give up your core soul, values, your inner music. Remain true to your inner Jewish identity. Say no to grafting and assimilation. Then you survive any flood, and your leaves become the symbol of a new peaceful and harmonious world.
Don’t Forget Us
In Prague, there are famous synagogues remarkable for their long history, beautiful architecture, and vast size. Most notable is the Alt-Neu Shul, over 700 years old, which holds the world’s record for the synagogue in the longest continuous use.
But nothing can compare to the shul which was only recently discovered in Terezin (or Theresienstadt), the town an hour north of Prague, infamous for its use as a death camp. It housed more than 150,000 Jews during the Holocaust, most of whom were sent to Auschwitz, never to return, while tens of thousands died in Terezin.
The recently discovered shul is a low-ceilinged, small room, dark and damp, a chamber measuring 12 by 15 feet. It was originally used to store potatoes. The imprisoned Jews clandestinely gathered amongst the potatoes for prayer, risking their lives and certain torture if discovered.
Additionally, those who worked as painters stole paint and brushes in order to beautify their secret and forbidden house of worship.
Today you can still see those faded drawings and Hebrew letters on the walls of the shul. As in many synagogues, one wall has written in beautiful Hebrew script, the words from the Talmud: “Da lifnei mee attah omed — Know before whom you stand.” On another wall is a verse from the Amidah: “V’sechzenah eineinu b’shuvcha l’Tziyon b’rachmim — May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in compassion.”
But the largest and most poignant inscription is a passage taken from the Tachanun prayer:
וּבְכָל זאת שִׁמְךָ לא שָׁכָחְנוּ. נָא אַל תִּשְׁכָּחֵנוּ
“Despite all, O G-d, we have not forgotten You. Please — do not forget us.”
Despite all the death and destruction, despite the incredible cruelty visited upon us, despite all this, we have not forgotten You. Now, we beg You, do not forget us!
[1] Genesis 8:11
[2] There are midrashic interpretations, one of them quoted in Rashi as a second explanation. We are concerned here with the literal meaning of the narrative.
[3] Published in Likkutei Sichos vol. 10 Parshas Noach, pp. 30-36. Cf. all the footnotes there exploring the views of the various commentators on the ideas we will explore in this essay.
[4] Tosefta Bava Metziah 2:8
[5] Talmud Yerushalmi Kilayim 1:7
[6] Genesis chapter 7
[7] The Ramban maintains that tress did survive the flood. Yet this is very difficult to understand, see Likkutei Sichos vol. 10 p. 30 and the footnotes there.
[8] See Rashi ibid. and Likkutei Sichos ibid.
[9] Jeremiah 11:16
[10] Psalms 128:3
- Comment
Class Summary:
The story seems simple. Noah sent out the dove and waited until it brought back some sign of vegetation and thus knew that the waters did not still cover the whole earth and have significantly abated. We must ask though, why was the leaf that the dove brought back from an olive branch? Why did the dove choose this tree? And even if she did, for whatever random reason, thy does the Torah emphasize this detail? Who cares what type of leaf she brought back to the ark?
What is more, how did the leaf prove anything to Noach? Perhaps the dove has found a leaf floating somewhere on the water and brought it to the ark? How did Noach know it was plucked off a tree?
And even if it looked green and fresh, how did Noach even infer from the olive leaf that the water significantly abated on earth? Perhaps the leaf was taken from an olive tree atop a tall mountain. How could that prove that the earth was beginning to dry up?
The single answer to these questions was presented by the Lubavitcher Rebbe at a public address on Shabbos Parshas Noach, 1 Cheshvan, 5734, October 27, 1973—smack in middle of the Yom Kippur War.
For this we must understand the world of botany and the science of an olive tree. The olive tree is one of the strongest and iconic trees in the world. It possesses eight extraordinary qualities.
Why does the Tanach compare the Jewish people to an olive tree? Because if you want to understand the story of our people, you need to understand the chemistry of an olive tree.
Please help us continue our work
Sign up to receive latest content by Rabbi YY
Join our WhatsApp Community
Join our WhatsApp Community
Ways to get content by Rabbi YY Jacobson
Connect now
Please leave your comment below!