Halacha

Pearls of Wisdom Posted 10/17/2001 By Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser


During the year that Noah and his family spent in the ark, they were constantly busy with the care and feeding of the hundreds of animals that shared their floating habitat. Each day, a cacophony of assorted growls, roars, barks and chirps filled the air as the multitude of creatures impatiently demanded their food.

The Midrash tells of one bird, the orsheina, that did not add its calls to the deafening mealtime crescendo. Noah discovered it one day sitting perfectly still, unnoticed and uncomplaining. Astonished, he asked, "Where have you been? Why did you not call out for your food as the others did?"

The orsheina answered, "I see how hard you work, running around endlessly to feed everyone on this ark, day and night. I decided it was better to go hungry than to add to your burden."

In an overwhelming burst of appreciation, Noah said to the bird, "May Hashem bless you with everlasting life because of your sensitivity and kindness." And Hashem indeed fulfilled Noach`s words.

The response of the orsheina was surely an act of kindness; but many acts of kindness have been performed throughout history. What was so unique about the orsheina`s kindness that brought it the unusual gift of everlasting life?

Our sages explain that the times in which Noah lived were marked by cruelty and insensitivity to others. The generation of the flood was full of thieves, cheaters, and oppressors. Kindness was all but obliterated by the terrible sins between man and man, which ultimately doomed the generation to destruction.

The orsheina`s silence was special not only for the kindness it manifested; it was unique in that it represented the opposite tendency of the society of that time. To something good when all those around you do differently is more than doubly hard.

The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De`ah 58) discusses the testing of an animal regarding its fitness for ritual slaughter. The animal must be checked for broken limbs, which would render it unkosher. The beast or fowl is allowed to walk or swim; if it does so properly, it is judged to be of sound body. However the swimming test is valid only when the subject swims against the current, for a lame animal, even a lifeless animal, can be carried along with the tide or current.

The Halacha metaphorically represents the job of the Jew in this world. If a Jew is truly conscientious, he has the ability, when necessary, to "swim against the current". This was Noach`s strength, and it was certainly the strength of the orsheina as well.