The Gemara (Sanhedrin 108.) states: ’Come see how great is the power of חמס: of theft, as the generation of the flood transgressed all, yet their fate was not sealed until they spread their hands in theft, as it says:(6:13) ’The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with robbery through them; and behold, I am about to destroy them’.
Rav Baruch Halevi Epstein - in his work ‘Torah Temima’ - elucidates:’It is not made clear why the power of robbery is greater than the power of גילוי עריות: sexual immorality - after all, it - sexual immorality - is one of the transgressions we are committed to offer our lives for, and not transgress.
‘We might say - as our Sages teach- that:’great is the power of שלום: peace, thar even were Bnei Israel to engage in idol worship, and there is peace among them, says Hashem - as it were -‘I cannot rule over them’.
‘But when they are divided, what does Hashem say: ’Their hearts are divided, now they shall be punished’.
‘Therefore, all the time that they did not steal from one another, and there was peace among them, they were not punished; but since they spread their hands out to steal one from the other - which causes strife and hatred - then they were punished for all their transgressions.’
The Rav also brings the Yerushalmi that Rashi cites:’The generation of the flood were careful to steal only what was of less than a prutah (a coin of a very small value), as it was not recoverable by the owner in their courts.
‘Thus - the Yerushalmi relates - when one put out a container of beans, to dry out, each passer-by would take one bean, feeling free to do so, as its value was less than a prutah.
‘The result was that, as a result of the cumulative actions of these takers, the container was - after a period of time - completely depleted.’
Rav Yitzchak Mirsky derives a beautiful lesson from this, as to the ways of Hashem:’Our Sages teach that Hashem acts מידה כנגד מידה: measure-for-measure, to man’s misdeeds.
‘Hashed therefore brought down rain, which was - like their actions of one bean at a time - drop by drop, though off course the cumulative result was the flood’
Truly a lesson in Divine Justice!
The Maharal expounds: ’Their fate was sealed because they turned their hands to robbery, because theft cause the destruction of the world, as if harms commerce and intercourse and whilst Hashem, in His mercy, does not hasten to seal harsh decrees on the world as a rule - since the robber has no mercy for others and destroys the world - Hashem has no mercy for him, and the decree is quick to come.’
Rav Eliyahu Shlezinger adds: ’Whilst clearly idol worship and immoral sexual relations are amongst the most severe transgressions, they are well known as being prohibited - whereas theft - as long as it was of less than a prutah in value- was not subject to recovery in the courts, and - in that sense seemingly ‘legal’ and not considered to be an offence.
‘This.clearly called out to Heaven, and it was not possible to live in such a generation where theft was ‘permitted’ in their eyes - as this is something that is hateful to Hashem, and therefore their fate was only sealed because of it.’
The Ktav Sofer expounds:’There are many commentaries on the words ‘the end of all flesh..’.
‘It appears to me that there is hope for all men that perhaps they will repent in the end, when they will realize the folly of their misdeeds, and that what they did was not good in the eyes of Hashem or between man-and-man.
‘Therefore Hashem is forbearing and awaits - perhaps the wicked will repent before their death.
‘This is as long as there are in the generation righteous people who go in the right way, and from whom the wicked will take mussar, upon realizing that their own ways are bad.
‘If all rhe people in the generation are wicked and there is no one who goes in the ways of righteousness, it will not enter the mind of the wicked to repent from their misdeeds, as there is no one who will tell them that that their ways are wrong - and there is therefore no hope that they will repent from their ways.
‘This is the meaning of the words: ’The end of all flesh comes before Me’: that I, Hashem, see what their ending will be, ‘because the world is full of robbery’ from one end to the other, and there is no hope for them.’
The Kli Yakar notes the words:’The earth was corrupted before Elohim’, and comments:’The word ‘Elohim’ here refers to the judges, as the people would steal less than the value of a peutah - which the judges cannot judge that it be forbidden - and this in the sight of the judges, who are helpless to save those who were robbed.
‘For this reason, ‘the earth was full of theft’, and - as is said in Yalkut Tehillim - although they were clearly dishonest, there was no way to prevent their misdeeds through the batei din.
‘This led to the offfender boasting to the victim:’I am no less righteous than you, as I - no less than you - am not doing anything which is prohibited.’
‘But if they acted this way in the face of the victims, all was revealed before Hashem, who knew who was righteous and who was wicked, as it says:’Hashem knows the ways of the righteous , and the ways of the wicked will be lost.’’
Abarbanel comments:’Rashi expounded:’and the earth was corrupted’ - by immoral sexual conduct and by idol worship’ AND ‘the land was filled with robbery’: to theft’.
‘It appears from this passuk that there were two types of transgressions: between man-and-man AND between man-and- Hashem.
‘Said the Torah: ‘the earth was corrupted before Hashem’ - against the latter, and ‘the earth was full of robbery’ - against the former, that they were stealing one another’s money and taking their wives, as they chose.
‘The Torah explained in what way the earth was corrupted, by saying:’and the earth was full of robbery’, this including what is between man-and-man AND what is between man’s body and his soul - and, by saying:’the earth was full of robbery’, it relates that there was no person who did not behave in this way - except for the righteous Noach.
‘As the corruption was solely due to their earthly side overwhelming their spiritual side, therefore the Torah ascribed the corruption solely to ‘the earth, as we read:(6:5-6)’And Hashem saw that great was man’s wickedness in the land.. and Hashem ‘regretted’ that He made man in the earth’ - ‘earth’ here alluding to their bad earthly side.’
Rav David Hofstedter wonders at the decree being due to the earth being full of robbery, as: ’the generation of the flood transgressed against all the mitzvot - including the most serious: idol worship and illicit sexual relations.
‘Further, the words of our Sages that Noach was saved from his confinement in the ark, only because he fed the animals - didn’t he have many other merits, which is the reason that Hashem chose him solely from the generation, to be saved?
‘So the question is: in what way was his chessed to the animals, greater than all his other merits, for him to be saved from the flood?
‘The answer would appear to be that to rebuild the world after the flood, it had to be on the foundation of chessed - as the Psalmist says:’The world on chessed will be built’.
‘This also explains why the fate of the generation of the flood was sealed specifically because they all engaged in robbery.
‘Though the Sages relate that they transgressed other more severe matters, had they not engaged in robbery - which is the very opposite of chessed - there was the possibility to permit the world to continue to exist.
‘However, as the people of that generation were so far from the attribute of chessed, there was nothing left on which to found the world - therefore it was decreed that the world be destroyed.
‘The acts of chessed of Noach in the ark were an atonement that rectified the lack of chessed of the generation, and enabled the renewal of the world.’
Rav Epstein - in another of his works: ‘Tosefet Bracha’ - asks the question which demands an answer from us:’Since our Sages relate that the generation of the flood were guilty of the most serious transgressions - including those for which we are commanded to offer up our lives, rather than commiting them - why was their fate not sealed because of them, but only because they all engaged in robbery - which is only a negative prohibition.
‘The answer would appear to lie in the sayings of our Sages: that whilst there is peace and amity between the people, the attribute of strict justice will not seek to punish them, even for the most severe transgressions.
‘When there is disunity and strife between them, they will then be punished also for their prior transgressions.
‘This is the deeper meaning of our parsha, as to the punishment of the generation of the flood:’all the while that they did not spread their hands to robbery, and there was peace between them, they were not punished for the severe transgressions that they had committed - as the peace that reigned between them, protected them.
‘Once they engaged in robbery - which inevitably leads to disharmony and the separation of hearts - they were called to account also for the severe transgressions they had committed till then.’
Rav Gedalia Scharr brings a new understanding as to the concept of ‘robbery’.
He expounds: ’The foundation of the sin of the generation of the flood, was their refusal to recognize any boundaries or limitations, till they came to commit actual theft.
‘This was the inevitable result of their refusal to accept any limitation to fulfilling their whatever their hearts desired.
‘Though they had learned from the fate of the generation of Enosh, that their actions would lead to the end of their world - as it meant obliterating the boundaries on which Hashem had founded the world - they nevertheless decided to fulfill their desires whilst they had the ability to do so, and not be concerned with what might happen in the future.
‘Rashi brings the Gemara - as to their fate being sealed because they all engaged in robbery, and not for the more serious transgressions in which they were steeped - because, as the Chidushei haRim laid down, robbery is the foundation of all sins - as is alluded to in the words:הגוזל אביו ואמו : ‘Who steals from his father and his mother’: Hashem gave abilities to man for his service of Hashem - indeed, this is the purpose of the whole of creation - as we are told:’All was created to bring honor to Hashem’.
‘Whenever man uses these G-d given abilities in a manner which is against the Will of Hashem, he is ‘stealing’ the gift of Hashem.’
A parting gem from the Kli Yakar:’The very first Rashi on the Torah, the saying of Rabbi Yitzchak - that the Torah begins by relating that Hashem created this world, and therefore we have a winning answer to the nations who accuse us of stealing their lands - the answer being that, since all was created and belonged to Hashem, it was He that gave it to us - and we therefore did not steal it.’
Asks the Kli Yakar:’So what, if the nations should say that ‘you are thieves’? Is that a reason to change the order in which the Torah should have been written?
‘The answer is: Yes! - as this claim, if unanswered, would lead to apostasy, as the nations would say:’There is no justice and the strongest does as he wants’- as, had there truly been a Power who ruled and conducted the world, why did He not protest and prevent the rule of the strongest.
‘The severity of theft - making it greater than other transgressions - is not it in itself, but in its consequences, as the thief will not feel that he has done something wrong, as he will say to himself:’I have done nothing wrong, as there is no Power that is a judge, on earth’.
‘As prohibition of theft is the foundation of the whole of the system of Emunah, Hashem preceded to warn against it in the very first Mitzvah:’This month is for you..’ and we read there:’Pull and take for yourself sheep’: from yours, to exclude stealing.
‘When Rabbi Yitzchak said:’It was not necessary to start the Torah..’, he did not mean that the Torah did not need to relate the matter of ‘in the beginning..’ till the first Mitzvah, as clearly there is a great need to relate the story of the Creation, as through this we come to learn of the being of Hashem, and the relation of the fate of the generation of the flood teaches us of His hahgachah pratit - as well as several other mitzvot.
‘He wanted to say, that since the main reason for the giving of the Torah was for the mitzvot it lays down, the Torah should have opened with the first mitzvah, and what it related from ‘In the beginning’ till the first mitzvah, would have sufficed had it been aggregated at the end of the Torah.
‘For this reason, Hashem preceded to relate that He created the world, and therefore there would be a complete answer to the mockers who would have said that, when Moshe said:’take from yours’, he made it up, as - but for Rabbi Yitzchak’s saying - the nations would say:’You are thieves’.
‘Rabbi Yitzchak’s saying preempted and precluded what the nations wanted to claim’.
לרפואת נריה דוב בן חנה ולרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.