Noah: Time for Straight Talk

 

When describing the animals that entered Noah's ark, the Torah does not simply say that there were impure (טמא) beasts in the ark. The text uses a longer, circuitous phrase: "animals that are not pure." The Sages noted that the Torah intentionally uses a refined manner, avoiding outright negative labels like 'impure.'

Yet, this observation does not seem to hold water. When the Torah later sets out the dietary laws (in parashot Shemini and Re'eh), it does not mince words. It simply calls the forbidden animals "impure." No euphemisms, no polite detours—just the unvarnished truth. Why the inconsistency?

Reb Yossi the Scholar and Yossi the Ignoramus

Once in a respectable Jewish town, there lived two wealthy men—both named Yossi. One was Reb Yossi, a learned Talmudic scholar with a large and impressive library of holy books. The other was, well, Yossi the am ha’aretz—Yossi the ignoramus. He was wealthy, but his appreciation for books was largely limited to the decorative value of their bindings.

It would have been confusing to refer to them both as Yossi, so the townspeople had long ago settled on an easy distinction: Reb Yossi the scholar, and Yossi the ignoramus. Not the most flattering, but it did the trick.

One day, a visitor arrived at Reb Yossi’s house and knocked on the door. The butler opened it.

“I’m looking for Yossi,” the visitor said.

“Ah,” the butler replied, “You want Yossi the ignoramus. Two streets down.”

From inside the house, Reb Yossi overheard this exchange and frowned. Later, he called his butler aside.

“In this house,” he said, “we do not speak that way about our neighbors. Yes, others may call him Yossi the ignoramus, but we do not. I will not have it said that I look down on my neighbors.”

The butler, properly chastised, nodded.

As luck would have it, not long after this, a matchmaker came to visit Reb Yossi. The matchmaker beamed as he announced, “Reb Yossi, I have an excellent match for your daughter. The son of Yossi the ignoramus!”

Reb Yossi nearly choked on his tea. “My daughter should marry the son of Yossi the ignoramus? Over my dead body!”

The matchmaker, not being entirely clueless, made a hasty exit.

The butler, however, was confused. “Forgive me, sir,” he said hesitantly, “but just last week you scolded me for using that very term. And yet you just said it yourself...”

The scholar sighed. "Don't you understand the difference? If someone asks you where someone lives, he is not asking for an assessment of his character and scholarship. All you need to do is provide his address. Anything more, if it is uncomplimentary, is simply lashon hara —uncalled-for gossip.

"But when a match is proposed for my daughter, I must be clear in explaining why I object to such an arrangement. It is my duty to clarify in no uncertain terms that I will not allow my daughter to marry the unlearned son of an ignoramus."

A Time for Niceties and a Time for Plain Speech

When the Torah describes the animals in Noah's ark, the classifications of "pure" and "not pure" are only to describe what animals entered the ark. Since there are no practical ramifications, refined speech is preferred.

But when the Torah lays down the dietary laws, the stakes are different. Kashrut is not a matter of historical record—it is a matter of Torah law. Here, the text does not hesitate or soften its language. It tells us plainly: “These animals are impure to you” (Lev. 11:8, Deut. 14:7). No beating around the bush, no euphemisms. 

Words matter. The wise know when to soften the edges—and when to speak with unflinching clarity.

(Adapted from The Maggid and his Parables, pp. 125-127.)