Dvar Torah + A Link

First the link: http://www.npr.org/2011/11/14/142300731/gangs-enter-new-territory-with-sex-trafficking

Then the Dvar Torah:

A friend recently sent me an article by Eve Ensler, of Vagina Monologues fame, that reminded me how endemic rape is in our society and across the globe: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/over-it_b_1089013.html

Then I started thinking about parshat Noach, Genesis 6*: The verses mention men sleeping around with women "whomever they chose". The traditional implication is that they slept around with married women. I think however, that in context, this verse is referring to rape - the men slept around with whomever they chose, giving the women no choice in the matter. Men sleeping around improperly with women is mentioned twice as a reason for God's dissapointment with the human race - no other sin - not theft, not murder - is mentioned by name. There is a midrash that picks up on this, listing rape as a endemic in that society - rich men would rape the wives of poor ones, and insist on sleeping with virgins before they were married - a practice carried out by feudal landlords in the Middle Ages. It says a lot that the midrash credits rape with being responsible for the destruction of the humanr race.

In that case, it could be that it is rape that caused the flood - rape is the sin that destroys society, that so angers God that he is willing to destroy the human race - and remember, it doesn't matter whether or not the flood actually happened: The story was put into the Torah to teach a moral, to teach a value expressed by the Jewish religion.

One need only look at places like the Democratic Republic of Congo or Sudan today to see the way that rape can - and does - tear families and societies apart. Whether or not there was an actual flood, the Torah's message - that rape cultures are doomed to destruction, and that rape has the power to destory human life - is extremely powerful, because it is true.

As a more general principle, one notices that it is for sins against fellow humans- not for sins against God - that the world is destroyed. The rabbis taught that the reason Bavel, which sinned against God, was given a light punishment (they are dispersed, but no one is killed) whereas Noah's generation is condemned to death, is that the Bavel-ites behaved nicely towards one another, as it says in Genesis 9:1 "And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.", whereas Noah's generation behaved badly towards each other. (This badness is predicated on the rabbinic interpretation of "hamas", violence/anger, as that of theft and rape - at least in the context of the Noah story.)

I think the Noah story is an example of the rabbinic saying, "derech eretz kadma laTorah" - common decency is a prerequisite to the Torah - something that comes before it. That is why, when looking for a wife for Yitzhak, Avraham's servant did not seek a monotheist or a religious person - he sought a kind person, as evidenced by her giving him and his camels water. The servant understood that kindness was a prerequisite to Divine worship, and once that foundation was there, the rest could follow.

I also beleive this may be the meaning of the term "olam chessed yibaneh": It is kindness that builds the world, not just because kindness is the bridge between people that allows them to form a good society, but also because love leads to romantic relationships that result in children, and love must be based on kindness - and that is why the relationship between the Jewish people and God is metaphorized as a romantic relationship based on kindness - not just the kindness of God towards the Jewish people, but also their kindness to Him "zacharti lach chessed neurayich, lechtech acharay bamidbar" - I remember the kindness of your youth, in your going after me in the desert, God tells the Jewish people.

* Not that improper sleeping with women is mentioned twice. Genesis 6: א וַיְהִי כִּי-הֵחֵל הָאָדָם, לָרֹב עַל-פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה; וּבָנוֹת, יֻלְּדוּ לָהֶם. 1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, ב וַיִּרְאוּ בְנֵי-הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת-בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם, כִּי טֹבֹת הֵנָּה; וַיִּקְחוּ לָהֶם נָשִׁים, מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בָּחָרוּ. 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives, whomsoever they chose. ג וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, לֹא-יָדוֹן רוּחִי בָאָדָם לְעֹלָם, בְּשַׁגַּם, הוּא בָשָׂר; וְהָיוּ יָמָיו, מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה. 3 And the LORD said: 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.' ד הַנְּפִלִים הָיוּ בָאָרֶץ, בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם, וְגַם אַחֲרֵי-כֵן אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל-בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם, וְיָלְדוּ לָהֶם: הֵמָּה הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר מֵעוֹלָם, אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם. {פ} 4 The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown. {P} ה וַיַּרְא יְהוָה, כִּי רַבָּה רָעַת הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ, וְכָל-יֵצֶר מַחְשְׁבֹת לִבּוֹ, רַק רַע כָּל-הַיּוֹם. 5 And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ו וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהוָה, כִּי-עָשָׂה אֶת-הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ; וַיִּתְעַצֵּב, אֶל-לִבּוֹ. 6 And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. ז וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, אֶמְחֶה אֶת-הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר-בָּרָאתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה, מֵאָדָם עַד-בְּהֵמָה, עַד-רֶמֶשׂ וְעַד-עוֹף הַשָּׁמָיִם: כִּי נִחַמְתִּי, כִּי עֲשִׂיתִם. 7 And the LORD said: 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.'