It is brought down in Halacha that one who meets a Jew who is wise in the teachings of the Torah should recite the blessing "Blessed... Who gave from His wisdom to those who fear Him." One who meets with a scholarly non-Jew recites the blessing "Blessed... Who gave wisdom to a being of flesh and blood." But when one meets a Jew (e.g. like Albert Einstein) who is well versed in secular knowledge but not in Torah, he does not make any brachah at all. The question is why?

 

The answer can be found in this week's Parsha. After the flood, Noach was afraid to procreate lest there be another flood and the world once again be destroyed together with his children. Therefore, G-d made the famous covenant of the rainbow with Noach, promising never again to destroy the world. Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner points out that there is a basic difference between the symbol used for the covenant between us and Hashem and the one used between Noach and Hashem. The rainbow existed prior to its being used as the symbol of the covenant, whereas the Bris Milah, which is the symbol of our covenant, was created anew with Avraham our forefather. This dissimilarity hints to a much deeper fundamental difference between a Jew and a Noachite.

 

Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner zt"l explains that the primary goals of a Jew and non-Jew are very different. A Jew, beginning with his acceptance of Torah, has the ability to shed new light on the Torah and bring out new thoughts. Every Mitzvah performed rectifies and creates something new in the world. A Noachite, on the other hand, does not have the option to accept or not accept the seven Noachite laws. They exist and are mandatory regardless. And keeping those laws doesn't alter anything, for they were only given to maintain law and order in this world. This is reflected in secular knowledge. Scientists say that you can only "discover", but you cannot create new knowledge. It is these concepts that will help us understand the lack of a blessing upon greeting a Jew well versed in secular knowledge together with a law regarding the blessing on besamim (spice).

 

The Gemara in tractate Berachos tells us that one may only recite a blessing when smelling a spice whose primary usage is for smell. If it is mainly used for something else, making its scent only secondary (e.g. coffee), one will not pronounce a blessing on its smell. The same guidelines can be applied with regard to the blessings recited on exceptionally wise and knowledgeable Jews and non-Jews. As explained above there is a difference in the levels of knowledge attainable by Jews and non-Jews. The reason why when one meets a wise non-Jew one pronounces a blessing, but when meeting a Jew who possesses the same knowledge one doesn't pronounce a blessing at all, is because for a Jew secular knowledge is only secondary in importance to the greater knowledge that Jew is able to acquire. Knowledge of Torah with its ability to create is far greater than the sciences which one can only discover. Reciting the blessing designated for a scholarly non-Jew on a Jew could be compared to one who every day instead of saying that he has a firm belief in the resurrection of the dead which represents the ability to create (one of the basic tenets of Judaism), announces his firm belief that there will never again be a flood (which is of lesser importance, but yet significant to a Noachite).

 

May the viewing of a rainbow remind us of the above, and keep us focused on what is primary and what is secondary in our lives.