By Rabbi Elimelech Biderman

Chazal (Sanhedrin 108a) tell us that the fish in the sea didn’t die in the mabul. The animals on dry land died, as it states (7:22) “All that were on the dry land, died,” but, as Chazal say, the fish at sea didn’t die. Why didn’t the fish die?

The Rom (Mizrachi) explains that the fish didn’t sin, like the animals on dry land did.

This explains why the fish didn’t die in the flood, but we still must understand why the fish didn’t sin, while the rest of the animals did.

The Maharal (Gur Aryeh) explains this with a Rashi (Bereishis 6:6) Hashem was consoled that He created man in this world, because if he were created in heaven, he would cause heaven to rebel against Hashem. The Maharal writes, “We learn from this that when a person sins, he causes all those who are in his vicinity to rebel. If man were in heaven, he would cause the malachim in heaven to rebel and to go against Hashem’s will, chas v’shalom.

This explains the reason the fish didn’t sin. They weren’t with man; instead, they are at sea, in their own world, and in their own environment; therefore, they weren’t affected by man’s sins, like the animals were. Let us learn from this the importance of living in a good neighborhood, where there are righteous Yidden with yiras Shamayim. How much good can come from this, b’ruchniyus and b’gashmiyus! L’havdil, when one is among resha’im, their evil ways influence the people in their vicinity.

It states (8:11)” The dove came back to him in the evening, and behold an olive leave it had plucked with its bill.” The Midrash (Bereishis Rabba 33:6) states that the leaf came from Gan Eden. The gates of Gan Eden opened for her, and she brought the leaf from there. The Ramban asks how, according to this explanation, did Noach know from the olive leaf that the flood subsided? There was no flood in Gan Eden! He answers, “Perhaps the gates of Gan Eden were closed [throughout the duration of the mabul] so that the water of the mabul shouldn’t enter. When the mabul waters subsided, the doors of Gan Eden opened.” We learn from this that when there is a mabul in the world, even Gan Eden is in danger of being affected. The only counsel is to close the gates of heaven from the mighty waters.

On a practical level, this means that when the yetzer hara is burning on the streets, these powerful waters threaten to flood the entire world. They have the ability chas v’shalom to penetrate the houses of the Jewish people, and even their batei knesiyos and midrashos, and to cause destruction. At these times, there is an obligation to keep the doors of the home and of the batei medrashim sealed shut. This means to not allow foreign material, ideas, and influences inside. Or, more precisely, this means to guard the home from the internet. The Gemara (Zevachim 113b) states that there is a huge animal called urzila. Even when this animal is just born, it is as large as Mount Tavur. How did this animal, survive the flood? The Gemara says that we can’t answer that it placed its head in the teivah because even its head was a parsah and a half long! Its large head wouldn’t fit into the teivah. The Gemara answers that this animal placed its nose into the teivah. Rashi writes, “So it could breathe.” In this manner, the animal survived and later had children. Reb Chaim Kreisworth zt’l said that there is a great lesson here: Even if a person fell to very low places, and he is drowning in the waters of the mabul (which means he is drowning in the tumah and debased culture of the non-Jewish world), if he will at least place his nose into the teivah, into kedushah, this will save him, and it will save the generations after him… This lesson is particularly important for our generation. We are living in a very trying time. The tumah around us is powerful, and it tries to capture everything into its “flood.” A person should place his nose into kedushah. This means he should have experiences of kedushah. He should go to a beis medresh to daven, and he should have set times for Torah. He has to “breathe” healthy, spiritual air. This will help him survive the mabul, the flood of tumah of our times. These moments of kedushah will be his oxygen, and like the urzila animal, he will be able to survive these difficult times.