10/13/2026 - Yaakov Blatter / The real sin of the Dar Habul

What are we supposed to learn from the Parsha today that HaKadosh Baruch Hu destroyed the world because it was corrupt, because of chamus, robbery.

So what are we supposed to take? We shouldn't rob? We know we're not supposed to rob.

What is it-- what is today different than then? Today, we also have corruption in the world.

Today, we have robbery, too.

What's then different than today? What was the world different than today that Hashem destroyed the world? The Gemara says in Sanhedrin that the Dor HaMabul was very rich.

They had everything they needed.

It was a rich dor, and they were full of gaava.

They said, they said, "I-- we don't need Hashem's little drops of rain that He gives us.

We have oceans and rivers.

We'll get the water from there." They denied Hashem.

That led them to the midah of gaava.

Once they had the midah of gaava, they've got the midah of self-indulgence.

They only cared about themselves.

They didn't care about anybody else.

It says when they had relations with their wives to have children, they didn't care about the children.

They only cared about the bia, for their own pleasure, for themselves.

They were only interested in self-indulgence.

When they took chamus —why is chamus less than a shover putah? It says they stole such a little bit.

Why is it such a big aveira? The aveira was not the stealing.

The s-- aveira was that they didn't care about somebody else.

There was no chesed.

There was only self-indulgence.

The generation only cared about itself.

They weren't interested in anything else.

When the Torah says ki hishchis, me'ein ish chaso ki hishchis kol basar, ez dar Kai, all flesh was corrupt.