NOAH PARSHA
Noach – נֹחַ (פָּרָשָׁה, Parashah)
Noah's Ark (1846
painting by Edward Hicks)
Noach, Noiach, Nauach, Nauah,
or Noah (נֹחַ, Hebrew for
the name "Noah", the third word, and first distinctive word, of the
parashah) is the second weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the
annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It
constitutes Genesis 6:9–11:32. The parashah tells the stories of the Flood and Noah's Ark, of Noah's
subsequent drunkenness and cursing of Canaan, and of the Tower of Babel.
The parashah has
the most verses of any weekly Torah portion in the Book of Genesis (but not the
most letters or words). It is made up of 6,907 Hebrew letters, 1,861 Hebrew
words, 153 verses, and 230 lines in a Torah Scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah). In the Book of Genesis, Parashah Miketz has the most letters,
Parashah Vayeira has the most words, and
Parashah Vayishlach has an
equal number of verses as Parashah Noach.[1]
Jews read it on the second Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in
October or early November.[2]
Contents
o 1.1First reading — Genesis 6:9–22
o 1.2Second reading — Genesis 7:1–16
o 1.3Third reading — Genesis
7:17–8:14
o 1.4Fourth reading — Genesis
8:15–9:7
o 1.5Fifth reading — Genesis 9:8–17
o 1.6Sixth reading — Genesis
9:18–10:32
o 1.7Seventh reading — Genesis
11:1–32
o 1.8Readings according to the
triennial cycle
·
3In inner-biblical
interpretation
·
4In classical Rabbinic
interpretation
·
5In medieval Jewish
interpretation
o 10.1Connection to the parashah
Readings[edit]
In traditional
Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or עליות, aliyot. In the Masoretic Text of
the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Parashah
Noach has five "open portion" (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions
(roughly equivalent to paragraphs, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter פ (peh)).
Parashah Noach has several further subdivisions, called "closed
portion" (סתומה, setumah) divisions
(abbreviated with the Hebrew letter ס (samekh)) within the open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions. The
first open portion is from the first reading through the fifth readings. The
second and third open portion divisions divide the sixth reading. And the
fourth and fifth open portion divisions divide the seventh reading. Closed
portion divisions divide the first reading, set off the third and fourth
readings, and further divide the sixth and seventh readings.[3]
The Building of
Noah's Ark (painting
by a French master of 1675)
First reading —
Genesis 6:9–22[edit]
In the first
reading (עליה, aliyah), the Torah
writes that Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his age,
who walked with God (in one of
many of His original translated names).[4] Noah
had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.[5] God saw
that all flesh on earth had become corrupt and lawless.[6] The first
closed portion (סתומה, setumah) ends here.[7]
In the
continuation of the reading, God told Noah that God had decided to bring a
flood to destroy all flesh.[8] God
directed Noah to make an ark of gopher wood and cover
it with pitch inside and
outside.[9] The Ark
was to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.
It was to have an opening for daylight near the top, an entrance on its side,
and three decks.[10] God told
Noah that God would establish a covenant with Noah, and that he, his sons, his wife, his sons' wives, and two of each kind of beast — male and
female — would survive in the Ark.[11] Noah did
everything that God commanded him to do.[12] The first
reading (עליה, aliyah) ends here with
the end of chapter 6.[13]
Second reading —
Genesis 7:1–16[edit]
In the second
reading (עליה, aliyah), in
chapter 7, seven days before the Flood, God told Noah to
go into the Ark with his household, and to take seven pairs of every clean animal and every
bird, and two pairs of every other animal, to keep their species alive.[14] When Noah
was 600 years old, the Flood came, and that same day, Noah, his family and the
beasts went into the Ark, and God shut him in.[15] The second
reading (עליה, aliyah) ends here.[16]
The Deluge
(illustration by Gustave Doré from the
1865 La Sainte Bible)
The Return of the Dove to the Ark (1851 painting by John Everett Millais)
Third reading —
Genesis 7:17–8:14[edit]
In the third
reading (עליה, aliyah), the rains
fell 40 days and 40 nights, the waters swelled 15 cubits above the highest
mountains, and all flesh with the merest breath of life died, except for Noah
and those with him on the Ark.[17] When the
waters had swelled 150 days, God remembered Noah and the beasts, and God caused
a wind to blow and the waters to recede steadily from the earth, and the Ark
came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.[18] At the end
of 40 days, Noah opened the window and sent out a raven, and it went to and fro.[19] Then he
sent out a dove to see if the waters had decreased from the ground, but the dove
could not find a resting place, and returned to the Ark.[20] He waited
another seven days, and again sent
out the dove, and the dove came back toward evening with an olive leaf.[21] He waited
another seven days and sent out the dove, and it did not return.[22] When Noah
removed the covering of the Ark, he saw that the ground had dried.[23] The third
reading (עליה, aliyah) and a closed
portion (סתומה, setumah) end here.[24]
Landscape with
Noah's Thank Offering (painting c. 1803 by Joseph Anton Koch)
Fourth reading —
Genesis 8:15–9:7[edit]
In the fourth
reading (עליה, aliyah), God told Noah
to come out of the Ark with his family and to free the animals.[25] Then Noah
built an altar to God and offered burnt offerings of every clean animal and of every clean
bird.[26] God
smelled the pleasing odor and vowed never again to doom the earth because of
man, as man's imaginings are evil from his youth, but God would preserve the
seasons so long as the earth endured.[27] God
blessed Noah and his sons to be fertile and increase, and put the fear of them
into all the beasts, which God gave into their hands to eat.[28] God
prohibited eating flesh with its life-blood in it.[29] God would
require a reckoning of every man's and beast's life-blood, and whoever shed the
blood of man would have his blood shed by man, for in God's image did God
make man.[30] God told
them to be fertile and increase.[31] The fourth
reading (עליה, aliyah) and a closed
portion (סתומה, setumah) end here.[32]
Fifth reading —
Genesis 9:8–17[edit]
In the fifth
reading (עליה, aliyah), God made
a covenant with Noah, his sons, and every living thing that never again would
a flood destroy the earth.[33] God set
the rainbow in the clouds as the sign of God's covenant with earth, so that
when the bow appeared in the clouds, God would remember God's covenant and the
waters would never again flood to destroy all flesh.[34] The fifth
reading (עליה, aliyah) and the first open
portion (פתוחה, petuchah) end here.[35]
Noah cursing
Canaan (illustration by Gustave Doré from the 1865 La Sainte Bible)
Sixth reading —
Genesis 9:18–10:32[edit]
In the sixth
reading (עליה, aliyah), Noah became
the first to plant a vineyard, and he drank himself drunk, and was uncovered within his tent.[36] Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers.[37] Shem and
Japheth placed a cloth against both their backs and, walking backward, covered
their father, without seeing their father's nakedness.[38] When Noah
woke up and learned what Ham had done to him, he cursed Ham's son
Canaan to become the lowest of slaves to Japheth and Shem, prayed that God
enlarge Japheth, and blessed the God of
Shem.[39] Noah lived
to the age of 950 and then died.[40] The second
open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) ends here.[41]
The dispersion of the descendants of Shem, Ham,
and Japheth (map from the 1854 Historical Textbook and Atlas of
Biblical Geography)
As the reading
continues, chapter 10 sets forth the descendants of Shem, Ham,
and Japheth, from whom the nations branched out over the earth after the Flood.
Among Japheth's descendants were the maritime nations.[42] Ham's
son Cush had a son
named Nimrod, who became the first man of might on earth, a
mighty hunter, king in Babylon and the land of Shinar.[43] From
there Asshur went and built Nineveh.[44] Ham's
son Mizraim had sons from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim.[45] A closed
portion (סתומה, setumah) ends here.[46]
In the
continuation of the reading, Canaan's descendants — Sidon, Heth, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the
Zemarites, and the Hamathites — spread out from Sidon as far as Gerar,
near Gaza, and as far as Sodom and Gomorrah.[47] Another
closed portion (סתומה, setumah) ends here.[48]
The continuation
of the reading set forth Shem's descendants, among whom was Eber.[49] The sixth
reading (עליה, aliyah) and the third
open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) end here with
the end of chapter 10.[50]
_-_Google_Art_Project_-_edited.jpg)
The Tower of Babel (1563 painting by Pieter Bruegel)
Seventh reading —
Genesis 11:1–32[edit]
In the seventh
reading (עליה, aliyah), in
chapter 11, everyone on earth spoke the same language.[51] As people
migrated from the east, they settled in the land of Shinar.[52] People
there sought to make bricks and build a city and a tower with its
top in the sky, to make a name for themselves, so that they not be scattered over the
world.[53] God came
down to look at the city and tower, and remarked that as one people with one
language, nothing that they sought would be out of their reach.[54] God went
down and confounded their speech, so that they could not understand each
another, and scattered them over the face of the earth, and they stopped
building the city.[55] Thus the
city was called Babel.[56] The fourth
open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) ends here.[50]
The continuation
of the reading sets forth the descendants of Shem.[57] Eight
closed portion (סתומה, setumah) divisions
separate each generation.[58]
As the reading
continues, eight generations after Shem, Terah had
three sons: Abram (who would become Abraham), Nahor,
and Haran.[59] Haran had
a son Lot and two
daughters Milcah and Iscah, and then died in Ur during the lifetime of his father Terah.[60]
In the maftir (מפטיר) reading that concludes the parashah,[61] Abram
married Sarai, and Nahor married Haran's daughter Milcah.[62] Sarai was
barren.[63] Terah took
Abram, Sarai, and Lot and set out together from Ur for the land of Canaan, but
when they had come as far as Haran, they settled there, and there Terah died.[64] The seventh
reading (עליה, aliyah), the fifth
open portion (פתוחה, petuchah), chapter 11, and the parashah end here.[65]
Torah
——–
Genesis
6:8-14; 11:32; 7: 1; 5:29
Genesis
12:7 ; 17:1
Genesis
24:40
Haftarah
Portion
————————
Amos 3:7
Isaiah
54:1-9; 55: 5
Ha-Berit
ha-Hadashah
——————————–
Hebrews
11:7
Matthew
24:37-39
Luke
17:26-30
1 Peter
3:20
2 Peter
2:5
1 Peter
4:8
Readings according
to the triennial cycle[edit]
Jews who read
the Torah according to the triennial cycle of Torah
reading read the parashah according to the following schedule:[66]
|
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 |
|
|
2019, 2022, 2025 . . . |
2020, 2023, 2026 . . . |
2021, 2024, 2027 . . . |
|
|
Reading |
|||
|
1 |
|||
|
2 |
|||
|
3 |
|||
|
4 |
|||
|
5 |
|||
|
6 |
|||
|
7 |
|||
|
Maftir |
In ancient
parallels[edit]
The parashah has
parallels in these ancient sources:
Genesis chapters
6–8[edit]
The Deluge
Tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic
Tablet 11 of the Epic of
Gilgamesh, composed in Mesopotamia in the
14th to 11th centuries BCE, presents a parallel flood story to that in Parashah
Noach.[67] Professor John J. Collins of Yale Divinity School reported that the flood story that came to be part of the Epic of
Gilgamesh appears to have previously been an independent tale in Sumerian.[68] Professor Gary Rendsburg of Rutgers University notes these similarities and differences:[69]
|
Order |
Story Element |
In Gilgamesh? |
Verses |
|
1 |
Morality factor |
No |
|
|
2 |
Wood, Pitch, Reeds |
Yes |
|
|
3 |
Dimensions |
Yes |
|
|
4 |
Decks |
Yes |
|
|
5 |
Covenant |
No |
|
|
6 |
Population |
Yes |
|
|
7 |
Flood |
Yes |
|
|
8 |
Mountaintop Landing |
Yes |
|
|
9 |
Birds Sent Forth |
Yes |
|
|
10 |
Dry Land |
Yes, But Less So |
|
|
11 |
All Set Free |
Yes |
|
|
12 |
Sacrifices |
Yes |
In inner-biblical
interpretation[edit]
The parashah has
parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources:[70]
Genesis chapter 6[edit]
In Genesis 6:13, God shared God's purpose with Noah, saying,
"I have decided to put an end to all flesh," and in an internal
dialogue in Genesis 18:17–19, God asked, "Shall I hide from Abraham
what I am about to do ... ? For I have singled him out, that he may
instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of the Lord by doing
what is just and right, in order that the Lord may bring about for Abraham what
He has promised him." Similarly, in Amos 3:7, the 8th century BCE prophet Amos reported,
"Indeed, my Lord God does nothing without having revealed His purpose to
His servants the prophets."
Genesis chapter 11[edit]
Joshua 24:2 reports that Abram's father Terah lived
beyond the River Euphrates and served other gods.
While Genesis 11:31 reports that Terah took Abram, Lot, and
Sarai from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran, and Genesis 12:1 subsequently reports God's call to Abram
to leave his country and his father's house, Nehemiah 9:7 reports that God chose Abram and brought
him out of Ur of the Chaldees.
God Appears to
Noah (watercolor
circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
In classical
Rabbinic interpretation[edit]
The parashah is
discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud:[71]
Genesis chapter 6[edit]
Interpreting the
words, "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations,"
in Genesis 6:9, Rabbi Johanan taught that Noah was considered righteous in his generations, but
would not have been considered righteous in other generations. Resh Lakish, however, maintained that if even
in his generations Noah was able to be righteous, then he certainly would have
been righteous in other generations. Rabbi Haninah compared Rabbi Johanan's view of
Noah to a barrel of wine lying in a vault of acid. In its place, its aroma is
fragrant (compared to that of the acid). Elsewhere, its aroma would not be
considered fragrant. Rabbi Oshaia compared Resh Lakish's view of
Noah to a vial of spikenard oil lying amidst refuse. If it is fragrant
where it is, how much more so would it be among spices![72]
Similarly, Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Nehemiah differed
interpreting the words, "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his
generations," in Genesis 6:9. Rabbi Judah taught that only "in his
generations" was he a righteous man (by comparison). Had he lived in the
generation of Moses or Samuel, he would not have been called righteous. Rabbi Judah said that in the
street of the totally blind, the one-eyed man is called clear-sighted, and the
infant is called a scholar. Rabbi Judah compared it to a man with a wine vault
who opened one barrel and found it vinegar, opened another and found it
vinegar, and opened a third to find it turning sour. When people told him that
it was turning, he asked if the vault contained any better. Similarly, "in
his generations" Noah was a righteous man. Rabbi Nehemiah, however, taught
that if Noah was righteous even in his generation (in spite of the corrupt
environment), how much more so would he have been, had he lived in the age of
Moses. Rabbi Nehemiah compared Noah to a tightly closed vial of perfume in a
graveyard, which nevertheless gave forth a fragrant aroma. How much more
fragrant would it have been outside the graveyard.[73]
The Prophecy of
the Flood (engraving
by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld from the 1860 Bible in Pictures)
Rabbi Judah
contrasted the words "Noah walked with God" in Genesis 6:9 with God's words to Abraham, "walk
before Me," in Genesis 17:1. Rabbi Judah compared it to a king who had two
sons, one grown up and the other a child. The king asked the child to
walk with him. But the king asked the adult to walk before him.
Similarly, to Abraham, whose moral strength was great, God said, "Walk
before Me." But of Noah, who was feeble, Genesis 6:9 says, "Noah walked with God."
Rabbi Nehemiah compared Noah to a king's friend who was plunging about in dark
alleys, and when the king saw him sinking in the mud, the king urged his friend
to walk with him instead of plunging about. Abraham's case, however, was
compared to that of a king who was sinking in dark alleys, and when his friend
saw him, the friend shined a light for him through the window. The king then
asked his friend to come and shine a light before the king on his way. Thus,
God told Abraham that instead of showing a light for God from Mesopotamia, he
should come and show one before God in the Land of Israel.[74]
Similarly,
a Midrash read the words "Noah walked with
God" in Genesis 6:9 to mean that God supported Noah, so that
Noah should not be overwhelmed by the evil behavior of the generation of the
Flood. The Midrash compared this to a king whose son went on a mission for his
father. The road ahead of him was sunken in mire, and the king supported him so
that he would not sink in the mire. However, in the case of Abraham, God said
in Genesis 17:1, "walk before Me," and regarding the
Patriarchs, Jacob said in Genesis 48:15, "The God
before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked." For the Patriarchs would
try to anticipate the Divine Presence, and would go ahead to do God's will.[75]
Another Midrash,
however, read the words of Genesis 6:9, "Noah
walked with God" to mean that Noah walked in humility, whole-heartedness,
and integrity before his Creator, even as Micah 6:8 says, "And what does the Lord require
of you? Only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your
God." Moreover, the Midrash taught that Noah took upon himself the yoke of
the Seven Commandments and transmitted them to his sons, and thus of him, Proverbs 20:7 says, "He that walks in his integrity
as a just man, happy are his children after him."[76]
Naamah, the teacher, with her half-brother Jubal, a father of
music (14th-century marble bas relief at Orvieto
Cathedral)
Rabbi Abba bar
Kahana read Genesis 6:7–8 together to report God saying, "I
repent that I have made them and Noah." Thus even Noah, who was left, was
not worthy, save that (in the words of Genesis 6:8) "Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord."[77]
Rabbi Abba bar
Kahana said that Naamah, the
sister of Tubal-cain, mentioned in Genesis 4:22, was Noah's wife. She was called Naamah,
because her deeds were pleasing (ne'imim). But the Rabbis said that
Naamah was a woman of a different stamp, for her name denotes that she sang (man'emet)
to the timbrel in honor of idolatry.[78]
The Mishnah
concluded that the generation of the Flood and the generation of the dispersion
after the Tower of Babel were both so evil as to have no share in the world to
come.[79] Rabbi Akiva deduced
from the words of Genesis 7:23 that the generation of the Flood will have
no portion in the world to come; he read the words "and every living
substance was destroyed" to refer to this world and the words "that
was on the face of the ground" to refer to the next world. Rabbi Judah ben
Bathyra deduced from the words "My spirit will not always enter into
judgment with man" of Genesis 6:3 that God
will neither revive nor judge the generation of the Flood on Judgment Day.[80]
The Earth was corrupt before God and filled with
violence (illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible)
The Tosefta taught that the generation of the
Flood acted arrogantly before God on account of the good that God lavished on
them. So (in the words of Job 21:14–15) "they said to God: 'Depart from us; for
we desire not the knowledge of Your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should
serve Him? And what profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?'" They
scoffed that they needed God for only a few drops of rain, and they deluded
themselves that they had rivers and wells that were more than enough for them,
and as Genesis 2:6 reports, "there rose up a mist from
the earth." God noted that they took excess pride based upon the goodness
that God lavished on them, so God replied that with that same goodness God
would punish them. And thus Genesis 6:17 reports,
"And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth."[81] Similarly,
the Rabbis taught in a Baraita that the good that God lavished upon the
generation of the Flood led them to become arrogant.[80]
Interpreting the
words, "And the earth was corrupt (תִּשָּׁחֵת,tishachet) before God," in Genesis 6:11, a Baraita of the School of Rabbi Ishmael taught
that whenever Scripture uses the word "corruption," it refers to
sexual immorality and idolatry. Reference to sexual immorality appears in Genesis 6:12, which says, "for all flesh had corrupted
(הִשְׁחִית,hishchit)
their way upon the earth" (and the use of the term "their way" (דַּרְכּוֹ,darko) connotes sexual matters, as Proverbs 30:19 indicates when it says, "the way (דֶרֶךְ,derech) of a man with a young woman"). And Deuteronomy 4:16 shows that "corruption" connotes
idolatry when it says, "lest you deal corruptly (תַּשְׁחִתוּן,tashchitun), and make a graven image."[82]
Rabbi Johanan
deduced from the words "all flesh had corrupted their way upon the
earth" in Genesis 6:12 that they mated domesticated animals with
wild animals, and animals with humans. Rav Abba bar Kahana taught that after
the Flood, they all returned to their own kind, except for the tushlami bird.[83]
.jpg)
The Earth Was Corrupt before God and Filled with
Violence (illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible)
Interpreting Genesis 6:13, Rabbi Johanan deduced that the consequences of
robbery are great. For though the generation of the Flood transgressed all
laws, God sealed their decree of punishment only because they robbed. In Genesis 6:13, God told Noah that "the earth is filled
with violence (that is, robbery) through them, and, behold, I will destroy them
with the earth." And Ezekiel 7:11 also states, "Violence (that is,
robbery) is risen up into a rod of wickedness; none of them shall remain, nor
of their multitude, nor any of theirs; neither shall there be wailing for
them." Rabbi Eleazar interpreted Ezekiel 7:11 to teach
that violence stood up before God like a staff, and told God that there was no
good in any of the generation of the Flood, and none would bewail them when
they were gone.[83]
Similarly,
Midrash interpreted the words, "the earth is filled with violence,"
in Genesis 6:13 to teach that it was because they were
steeped in robbery that they were blotted out from the world.[84]
Interpreting Genesis 6:13, Rabbi Haninah told what the people of the age
of the Flood used to do. When a person brought out a basket of beans for sale,
one would come and seize less than the worth of the smallest coin in
circulation, a perutah (and thus there was no redress under
the law). And then everyone would come and seize less than a perutah's worth,
so that the seller had no redress at law. Seeing this, God said that the people
had acted improperly, so God would deal with them improperly (in a way that
they would not relish).[85]
Interpreting Genesis 6:13, Rabbi Levi taught that "violence" (חָמָס, chamas) connotes
idolatry, sexual immorality, and murder, as well as robbery. Reference to
sexual immorality appears in Jeremiah 51:35, which says, "The violence done to me (חֲמָסִי, chamasi) and to my
flesh (שְׁאֵרִי, she'eri) be upon
Babylon" (and שְׁאֵר, she'er refers to
sexual immorality, for example, in Leviticus 18:6). And reference to murder appears in Joel 4:19, which says, "for the violence (חָמָס, chamas) against the
children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land."[86]
Interpreting
God's words in Genesis 6:13, "I will destroy them with the
earth," Rav Huna and Rabbi Jeremiah in Rav Kahana's name taught that the Flood
washed away even the three handbreadths of the Earth's surface that a plough turns. It was as if a prince had a tutor,
and whenever the prince did wrong, the king punished the tutor. Or it was as if
a young prince had a nurse, and whenever the prince did wrong, the king
punished the nurse. Similarly, God said that God would destroy the generation
of the Flood along with the earth that nurtured them.[87]
Building the Ark (watercolor
circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
Rabbi Isaac
taught that God told Noah that just as a pair of birds (ken) cleansed a
person with skin disease (as instructed in Leviticus 14:4–8), so Noah's Ark would cleanse Noah (so that he
would be worthy to be saved from the Flood).[88]
Rav Adda taught
that the scholars of Rav Shila interpreted
"gopher wood" in Genesis 6:14 to
mean mabliga (a resinous species of cedar), while others
maintained it was golamish (a very hard and stone-like species
of cedar).[89]
While Genesis 6:14 tells that Noah's Ark had pitch
"within and without," Exodus 2:3 tells that Jochebed daubed the Ark of the infant Moses
"with slime and with pitch." A Tanna taught that the slime was inside
and the pitch outside so that that righteous child would not have to smell the
bad odor of the pitch.[90]
Reading God's
words in Genesis 6:15, "And this is how you
shall make it," to indicate that God pointed with God's finger, Rabbi
Ishmael said that each of the five fingers of God's right hand appertain to the
mystery of Redemption. Rabbi Ishmael said that God showed the little finger of
the hand to Noah, pointing out how to make the Ark, as in Genesis 6:15, God says, "And this is
how you shall make it." With the second finger, next to the little one,
God smote the Egyptians with the ten plagues, as Exodus 8:15 (8:19 in the KJV) says, "The magicians said to Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.'" With the
middle finger, God wrote the Tablets of Stone, as Exodus 31:18 says, "And He gave to Moses, when He
had made an end of communing with him ... tables of stone, written with
the finger of God." With the index finger, God showed Moses what the
children of Israel should give for the redemption of their souls, as Exodus 30:13 says, "This they shall
give ... half a shekel for an offering to the Lord." With
the thumb and all the hand, God will in the future smite God's enemies (who
Rabbi Ishmael identified as the children of Esau and Ishmael), as Micah 5:9 says, "Let your hand be lifted up
above your adversaries, and let all your enemies be cut off."[91]
Rabbi Johanan
interpreted the words, "A light (צֹהַר, tzohar) shall you make
to the Ark," in Genesis 6:16 to teach that God instructed Noah to set
therein luminous precious stones and jewels, so that they might give light as
bright as noon (צָּהֳרָיִם, tzaharayim).[89] Similarly,
Rav Achava bar Zeira taught that when Noah entered the Ark, he brought precious
stones and jewels with him to keep track of day and night. When the jewels
shone dimly, he knew that it was daytime, and when they shone brightly, he knew
that it was night. The Gemara noted that it
was important for Noah to be able to tell day from night, for some animals eat
only during the day, and others eat only during the night, and thus Noah could
determine the proper feeding times for the animals under his care. The Gemara
noted that if in Genesis 6:16 God told Noah, "A window shall you
make to the ark," then Noah should have been able to tell day from night.
The Gemara explained that Noah needed the jewels because the account of Noah
bringing jewels into the Ark followed the view that the celestial bodies —
including the sun — did not serve during the year of the Flood. (Thus, no
sunlight entered the Ark, and Genesis 6:16 must refer
to jewels rather than a window.)[92]
The Building of
Noah's Ark (16th-century
painting by Jacopo Bassano)
The Gemara read
the words, "and to a cubit shall you finish it upward," in Genesis 6:16 to ensure that thus would it stand firm
(with the sides of the roof sloping, so that the rain would fall off it).[89]
A Tanna read the
words, "with lower, second, and third stories shall you make it,"
in Genesis 6:16 to teach that the bottom story was for the
dung, the middle for the animals, and the top for Noah's family.[89] A Midrash,
however, reported that some said that the words, "with lower, second, and
third stories shall you make it," meant that the bottom story was for
waste, the second for Noah's family and the clean animals, and the third for
the unclean animals. And the Midrash reported that others said that the bottom
story was for the unclean animals, the second for Noah's family and the clean
animals, and the top for the garbage. The Midrash taught that Noah managed to
move the waste by arranging a kind of trapdoor through which he shoveled it
sideways.[93]
Noting
that Genesis 6:9 calls Noah "a man," a Midrash
taught that wherever Scripture employs the term "a man," it indicates
a righteous man who warned his generation. The Midrash taught that for 120
years (deduced from Genesis 6:3), Noah planted cedars and cut them down. When
they would ask him what he was doing, he would reply that God had informed him
that God was bringing a flood. Noah's contemporaries replied that if a flood
did come, it would come only on Noah's father's house. Rabbi Abba taught that
God said that one herald arose for God in the generation of the Flood — Noah.
But they despised him and called him a contemptible old man.[94]
Noah's Ark
(illustration from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle)
Similarly, Rabbi
Jose of Caesarea read the words, "He is swift upon the
face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth, he turns not by the
way of the vineyards," in Job 24:18 to teach
that the righteous Noah rebuked his contemporaries. Noah urged them to repent,
or God would bring a deluge upon them and cause their bodies to float upon the
water like gourds, reading Job 24:18 to say,
"He floats lightly upon the face of the waters." Moreover, Noah told
them that they would be taken as a curse for all future generations, as Job 24:18 says, "their portion is cursed."
And Rabbi Jose of Caesarea taught that the words, "he turns not by the way
of the vineyards," indicate that as the people worked in their vineyards,
they asked Noah what prevented God from bringing the Flood at that moment. And
Noah replied that God had one dear one, one dove, to draw out before God could
bring the Flood. (That is, the aged Methuselah had to die
first, so that he would not suffer the punishment of the Flood).[83]
Similarly, a
Midrash taught that Noah reproved them, calling them good-for-nothings who
forsook the One whose voice breaks cedars, to worship a dry log. But they
reacted as in Amos 5:10, which says, "They hate him that reproves
in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks uprightly."[95]
Construction of
Noah's Ark (late
16th-century painting by Kaspar Memberger the Elder)
And Rava interpreted the words of Job 12:5, "He that is ready to slip with his feet
is as a stone despised in the thought of him that is at ease," to teach
that when Noah rebuked them and spoke words as hard as fiery flints, they would
deride him. They called Noah "old man," and asked him what the Ark
was for. Noah replied that God was bringing a flood upon them. They asked with
what God would flood the earth. If God brought a flood of fire, they said, they
had a thing called alitha (that would extinguish fire). If God brought a flood
of water up from the earth, they said, they had iron plates with which they
could cover the earth (to prevent the water from coming up). If God brought a
flood of water from heaven, they said, they had a thing called akob (or some
say akosh) (that could ward it off). Noah replied that God would bring it from
between the heels of their feet, as Job 12:5 says, "He is ready for the steps of
your feet."[89]
A Midrash
compared Noah to Moses and found Moses superior. While Noah was worthy to be
delivered from the generation of the Flood, he saved only himself and his
family, and had insufficient strength to deliver his generation. Moses,
however, saved both himself and his generation when they were condemned to
destruction after the sin of the Golden Calf, as Exodus 32:14 reports, “And the Lord repented of the
evil that He said He would do to His people.” The Midrash compared the cases to
two ships in danger on the high seas, on board of which were two pilots. One
saved himself but not his ship, and the other saved both himself and his ship.[96]
A Baraita
interpreted Job 12:5 to teach that the waters of the Flood were
as hot and viscous as bodily fluids. And Rav Hisda taught that since it was with
hot passion that they sinned, it was with hot water that they were punished.
For Genesis 8:1 says, "And the water cooled" (יָּשֹׁכּוּ, yashoku, more often
translated as 'abated'), and Esther 7:10 says, "Then the king's wrath cooled
down" (שָׁכָכָה, shachachah).[97]
According to
the Pirke De-Rabbi
Eliezer, Noah warned the generation of the Flood to turn from their
evil deeds, so that God would not bring the Flood upon them. But they told Noah
that if God brought the Flood, they were so tall that the waters would not
reach up to their necks, and their feet could plug up the depths. So they placed
their feet to close up all the depths. So God heated the waters of the deep so
that they rose and burnt their flesh, and peeled off their skin, as Job 6:17 says, "What time they wax warm, they
vanish; when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place."[98]
Genesis 6:18–7:8 in a Torah scroll
Reading God's
words to Noah in Genesis 6:18, "But I will establish My covenant with
you," a Midrash taught that God was telling Noah that he would need a
covenant to ensure that the produce would not decay or rot on the Ark. Further,
the Midrash taught, Noah needed a covenant to prevent giants from plugging the
openings of the deep and seeking to enter the Ark. And Noah needed a covenant
to prevent additional lions from coming into the Ark. Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba explained that God was
thus telling Noah that though he may have built the Ark, but for God's
covenant, Noah could not have entered the Ark. Thus Noah's ability to enter the
Ark at all was proof of the covenant God established with Noah in Genesis 6:18.[99]
Rabbi Hanan said
in the name of Rabbi Samuel ben Isaac that as soon as Noah entered the Ark, God
prohibited his family from cohabitation, saying in Genesis 6:18: "you shall come into the Ark, you,
and your sons," speaking of them apart, and, "your wife, and your
sons' wives," speaking of them apart. When Noah left the Ark, God
permitted cohabitation to him again, saying in Genesis 8:16: "Go forth from the Ark, you and your
wife," speaking of them together.[100] Similarly,
Rabbi Johanan deduced from the same sources that God had forbidden cohabitation
for all the Ark's inhabitants. The Rabbis taught in a Baraita that three
nonetheless cohabited in the Ark — the dog, the raven, and Ham — and they were
all punished.[89]
Noah's Ark (illustration from the 1897 Bible
Pictures and What They Teach Us by Charles Foster)
Genesis chapter 7[edit]
Reading in Genesis 7:2 the command that "of every clean
beast you shall take seven, man and wife," the Gemara asked whether beasts
have marital relationships. Rabbi Samuel bar
Nahman said
in Rabbi Jonathan's name that the
command means of those animals with which no sin had been committed (that is,
animals that had not mated with other species). The Gemara asked how Noah would
know. Rav Hisda taught that Noah led them past the Ark, and those that the Ark
accepted had certainly not been the object of sin, while those that the Ark
rejected had certainly been the object of sin. And Rabbi Abbahu taught that Noah took only those
animals (fulfilling that condition) that came of their own accord.[101] Similarly,
Rav Hisda asked how Noah knew (before the giving of Leviticus 11) which animals were clean and which were
unclean. Rav Hisda explained that Noah led them past the Ark, and those that
the Ark accepted (in multiples of seven) were certainly clean, and those that
the Ark rejected were certainly unclean. Rabbi Abbahu cited Genesis 7:16, "And they that went in, went in male and
female," to show that they went in of their own accord (in their
respective pairs, seven of the clean and two of the unclean).[102]
The Animals
Enter the Ark (watercolor
circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
Reading in Genesis 7:3 the command to take into the Ark "of
the fowl also of the air, seven each," a Midrash hypothesized that the
command might have meant seven of each kind of animal (three of one gender and
four of the other). But then one of them would lack a mate. Hence the Midrash
concluded that God meant seven males and seven females. Of course God did not
need them, but they were to come (in the words of Genesis 7:3) "to keep seed alive upon the face of all
the earth."[103]
Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai taught
that because the generation of the Flood transgressed the Torah that God gave
humanity after Moses had stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights (as
reported in Exodus 24:18 and 34:28 and Deuteronomy 9:9–11, 18, 25, and 10:10), God announced in Genesis 7:4 that God would "cause it to rain upon
the earth 40 days and 40 nights." Similarly, Rabbi Johanan taught that
because the generation of the Flood corrupted the features that take shape
after 40 days (in the womb), God announced in Genesis 7:4 that God would "cause it to rain upon
the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and every living substance that I have made
will I blot out."[104]
The Deluge (1869
painting by Wassilij Petrovich Wereschtschagin)
Reading in Genesis 7:4 that God said, "every living
substance (יְקוּם, yekum) that I have
made will I blot out," Rabbi Abin taught that this included the one who
rose up (יָּקָם, yakam) against his
brother — Cain. Rabbi Levi
said in the name of Resh Lakish that God kept Cain's judgment in suspense until
the Flood and then God swept Cain away. And thus Rabbi Levi read Genesis 7:23 to say, "And He blotted out every one
that had arisen."[104]
A Midrash read
the words "And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him," in Genesis 7:5 narrowly to refer to the taking in of the
animals, beasts, and birds.[104]
The Deluge (late
19th-century painting by Léon Comerre)
The Gemara
read Genesis 7:8 to employ the euphemistic expression
"not clean," instead of the brief, but disparaging expression
"unclean," so as not to speak disparagingly of unclean animals. The
Gemara reasoned that it was thus likely that Scripture would use euphemisms
when speaking of the faults of righteous people, as with the words, "And
the eyes of Leah were weak," in Genesis 29:17.[105]
Reading in Genesis 7:10 that "it came to pass, after seven
days, that the waters of the Flood were upon the earth," the Gemara asked
what the nature of these seven days was (that God delayed the Flood on their
account). Rav taught that
these were the days of mourning for Methuselah, and thus that lamenting the
righteous postpones retribution. Another explanation is that during "the
seven days" God reversed the order of nature (בְּרֵאשִׁית, bereishit) (established
at the beginning of creation), and the sun rose in the west and set in the east
(so that sinners might be shocked into repentance). Another explanation is that
God first appointed for them a long time (the 120 years to which Genesis 6:3 alludes), and then a short time (a
seven-day grace period in which to repent). Another explanation is that during
"the seven days," God gave them a foretaste of the world to come, so
that they might know the nature of the rewards of which they were depriving
themselves.[89]
The Flood (1516
painting by Hans Baldung)
Similarly,
the Jerusalem Talmud linked
"the seven days" in Genesis 7:10 to the law
of seven days of mourning for the death of a relative (שִׁבְעָה, shivah). Rabbi Jacob
bar Acha taught in the name of Rabbi Zorah that the command to Aaron in Leviticus 8:35, "at the door of the tent of meeting shall
you abide day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the Lord,"
served as a source for the law of shivah.
Rabbi Jacob bar
Acha interpreted Moses to tell Aaron that just as God observed seven days of
mourning for the then-upcoming destruction of the world at the time of the
Flood of Noah, so too Aaron would observe seven days of mourning for the
upcoming death of his sons Nadab and Abihu. And we know
that God observed seven days of mourning for the destruction of the world by
the Flood from Genesis 7:10, which says, "And it came to pass after
the seven days, that the waters of the Flood were upon the earth." The
Gemara asked whether one mourns before a death, as Jacob bar Acha appears to
argue happened in these two cases. In reply, the Gemara distinguished between
the mourning of God and people: People, who do not know what will happen until
it happens, do not mourn until the deceased dies. But God, who knows what will
happen in the future, mourned for the world before its destruction. The Gemara
noted, however, that there are those who say that the seven days before the
Flood were days of mourning for Methuselah (who died just before the Flood).[106]
A Midrash taught
that God kept seven days of mourning before God brought the Flood, as Genesis 7:10 reports, "And it came to pass
after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the
earth." The Midrash deduced that God was mourning by noting that Genesis 6:6 reports, "And it repented the Lord
that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him (וַיִּתְעַצֵּב, vayitatzeiv) at His
heart." And 2 Samuel 19:3 uses the same word to express mourning
when it says, "The king grieves (נֶעֱצַב, ne'etzav) for his
son."[107]
Noah's Ark floats in the background while people
struggle to escape the rising water of the Flood (fresco c. 1508–1512 by Michelangelo in
the Sistine Chapel)
Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Eliezer differed about when the events took place in Genesis 7:11, where it says, "In the sixth hundredth
year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the
month." Rabbi Joshua taught that the events of Genesis 7:11 took place on the seventeenth day of Iyar, when the constellation of the Pleiades sets at daybreak and the fountains begin
to dry up. Because the generation of the Flood perverted its ways (from the way
of creation), God changed for them the work of creation and made the
constellation of the Pleiades rise at daybreak. God took two stars from the
Pleiades and brought the Flood on the world. Rabbi Eliezer, however, taught
that the events of Genesis 7:11 took place on the seventeenth of Cheshvan, a day on which the constellation of the
Pleiades rises at daybreak, and the season when the fountains begin to fill.
Because the generation of the Flood perverted its ways (from the way of creation),
God changed for them the work of creation, and caused the constellation of the
Pleiades to rise at daybreak. God took away two stars from it and brought the
Flood on the world. If one accepts the view of Rabbi Joshua, then one can
understand why Genesis 7:11 speaks of the "second month" (to
describe Iyar, because Exodus 12:2 describes Nisan as the first month, and Iyar follows
Nisan). If one accepts Rabbi Eliezer's view, the "second month" means
the month that is second to the Day of Judgment (Rosh Hashanah, which Deuteronomy 11:12 recognizes
as the beginning of a year when it says, "The eyes of the Lord are upon it
(the Land of Israel) from the
beginning of the year"). If one accepts Rabbi Joshua's view, the change in
the work of creation was the change in the constellation and the waters. If one
accepts Rabbi Eliezer's view, the Gemara asked what change there was in the
natural order (as the constellation usually rose at that time and that time of
year is usually the rainy season). The Gemara found the answer in the dictum of
Rabbi Hisda, when he said that with hot passion they sinned, and with hot
waters were they punished. The Rabbis taught in a Baraita that the Sages of
Israel follow Rabbi Eliezer in dating the Flood (counting Rosh Hashanah as the
beginning of the year) and Rabbi Joshua in dating the annual cycles (holding
that God created the world in Nisan). The scholars of other peoples, however,
follow Rabbi Joshua in dating the Flood as well.[108]
Rabbi Johanan
taught that because the corruption of the generation of the Flood was great,
their punishment was also great. Genesis 6:5 characterizes their corruption as great (רַבָּה, rabbah), saying,
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth."
And Genesis 7:11 characterizes their punishment as great (רַבָּה, rabbah), saying,
"on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up."
Rabbi Johanan reported that three of those great thermal fountains remained
open after the Flood — the gulf of Gaddor, the hot-springs of Tiberias, and the great well of Biram.[83]
The Mekhilta of
Rabbi Ishmael called the east wind "the mightiest of winds" and
taught that God used the east wind to punish the generation of the Flood, the
people of the Tower of Babel, the people of Sodom, the Egyptians with the
plague of the locusts in Exodus 10:13, the Tribes
of Judah and Benjamin,[109] the Ten Tribes,[110] Tyre,[111] a wanton
empire,[112] and the
wicked of Gehinnom.[113]
The Gemara
interpreted the words "every bird (צִפּוֹר, tzippor) of any winged
(כָּנָף, kanaf)
[species]" in Genesis 7:14. The Gemara read the word "bird" (צִפּוֹר, tzippor) here to refer
only to clean birds, and "winged" (כָּנָף, kanaf) to include
both unclean birds and grasshoppers.[114]
Noah's Ark (illustration from the 1897 Bible
Pictures and What They Teach Us by Charles Foster)
In a Baraita,
Rabbi Eleazar of Modi'im interpreted Genesis 7:22, "Fifteen
cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered."
Rabbi Eleazar of Modi'im asked whether waters that measured fifteen cubits high
on the mountains could also measure fifteen cubits in the valley. To do so, the
waters would have to stand like a series of walls (terraced with the
topography). And if so, the ark could not have come to rest on the top of the
mountains. Rather, Rabbi Eleazar of Modi'im taught that all the fountains of
the great deep came up first until the water was even with the mountains, and
then the water rose fifteen more cubits.[115]
Reading in Genesis 7:22 that "all that was on the dry land
died," the Gemara deduced that the fish in the sea did not die (apparently
not having committed the transgressions that land animals had).[116]
The Tosefta
taught that the Flood killed people before animals (as seen in the order
of Genesis 7:23), because man sinned first (as shown in Genesis 6:5).[117]
Noah and the
Dove (mosaic circa 12th–13th century in St Mark's Basilica, Venice)
Rabbi taught
that, in conferring honor, the Bible commences with the greatest, in cursing
with the least important. With regard to cursing, the Gemara reasoned that
Rabbi must have meant the punishment of the Flood, as Genesis 7:23 says, "And He blotted out every
living substance which was upon the face of the ground, both man and
cattle," starting with the people before the cattle.[118]
Reading in Genesis 7:23 that "every living substance was
destroyed that was upon the face of the ground" — people and animals alike
— the Gemara asked how the beasts had sinned (to deserve this punishment). A
Baraita on the authority of Rabbi Joshua ben Karha compared
this to a father who set up a bridal canopy for his son, and prepared a banquet
with every sort of food. But then his son died. So the father broke up the
canopy, saying that he had prepared it only for his son. Now that the son was
dead, the father had no need for a banquet. Thus God created the animals only
for the benefit of people. Now that people had sinned, God had no need for the
animals.[83]
The Mishnah
taught that those who vow not to benefit from the children of Noah may not
benefit from non-Jews, but may benefit from Jews.[119] The Gemara
asked how Jews could be excluded from the "children of Noah,"
as Genesis 7:23 indicates that all humanity descended from
Noah. The Gemara answered that since God singled out Abraham, Jews are
considered descendants of Abraham.[120]
Noah sends off a dove from the Ark (miniature on
vellum by Jean Dreux circa 1450–1460 at the Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum, The Hague)
Genesis chapter 8[edit]
Reading
"and he sent forth a raven" in Genesis 8:7, Resh Lakish taught that the raven gave Noah a
triumphant retort, arguing that both God and Noah must have hated the raven. It
was evident that God hated the raven because God commanded Noah to save seven
pairs of the clean creatures on the Ark, but only two of the unclean (among
which the raven counted itself under Leviticus 11:15). And it was evident that Noah hated the raven
because Noah had left in the Ark the species of which there were seven pairs,
and sent one of which there were only two. If the angel of heat or cold had smitten the raven, the
world would have been missing the raven's kind.[89]
The Dove Returns
to Noah (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
Similarly,
interpreting the words, "and it went forth to and fro" in Genesis 8:7, Rabbi Judan said in the name of Rabbi Judah
ben Rabbi Simon that the raven began arguing with Noah. The raven asked Noah
why of all the birds that Noah had in the Ark Noah sent none but the raven.
Noah retorted that the world had no need of the raven; the raven was fit
neither for food nor for sacrifice. Rabbi Berekiah said in
Rabbi Abba's name that God told Noah to take that back, because the world would
need ravens in the future. Noah asked God when the world would need ravens. God
replied that (in the words of Genesis 8:7) "when the
waters dry off from on the earth," a righteous man (Elijah) would arise and dry up the world (threatening
drought, and then see the threat fulfilled). And God would cause him to have
need of ravens, as 1 Kings 17:6 reports, "And the ravens (עֹרְבִים, orvim) brought him
bread and flesh." Rabbi Judah maintained that the word orvim (עֹרְבִים) referred to a town within the borders of Bashan called Arbo. But Rabbi Nehemiah insisted
that 1 Kings 17:6 literally meant ravens, and the ravens
brought Elijah food from King Jehoshaphat's table.[121]
From the
discussion of the dove in Genesis 8:8, Rabbi Jeremiah
deduced that the clean fowl lived with the righteous people on the Ark. (Of the
raven, Genesis 8:7 says, "he sent forth a raven."
But of the dove, Genesis 8:8 says, "he sent forth a dove from
him" indicating that the dove was with him.)[89]
Reading of the
dove in Genesis 8:11, "and lo, in her mouth was an olive
leaf," a Midrash asked where the dove found it. Rabbi Abba taught that the
dove brought it from the young shoots of the Land of Israel. Rabbi Levi taught
that the dove brought it from the Mount of Olives, for the Flood
had not submerged the Land of Israel. Thus God told Ezekiel (in Ezekiel 22:24): "Son of man, say to her: 'You are a land
that is not cleansed, nor rained upon on the day of indignation.'" Rabbi
Birai (or some say Rabbi Berekiah) taught that the gates of the Garden of Eden were
opened for the dove, and from there the dove brought the olive leaf. Rabbi
Abbahu asked if the dove had brought it from the Garden of Eden, would the dove
not have brought something better, like cinnamon or a balsam leaf. But in fact
the dove was giving Noah a hint, saying to him in effect that better is
bitterness from God than sweetness from Noah's hand.[122]
Noah's Ark (1882 painting by Andrei
Ryabushkin at the State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg)
Similarly,
reading of the dove in Genesis 8:11, "and lo, in her mouth was an olive
leaf," Rabbi Eleazar (or others say Rabbi Jeremiah ben Eleazar) taught
that the dove prayed to God that God might let the dove's sustenance be as
bitter as the olive but given by God, rather than sweet as honey and given by
flesh and blood (upon whom the dove was therefore dependent).[123]
The Ark Rests upon Ararat (woodcut by Julius
Schnorr von Carolsfeld from the 1860 Die Bibel in Bildern)
A Midrash taught
that when Psalm 142:8 says, "Bring my soul out of
prison," it refers to Noah's imprisonment 12 months in the Ark, and
when Psalm 142:8 says, "for You will deal bountifully
with me," it refers to God's bounty to Noah when God told Noah in Genesis 8:16, "Go forth from the Ark."[124]
Rabbi Johanan
interpreted the words, "After their kinds they went forth from the
Ark," in Genesis 8:19 to teach that the animals went out by
their families, not alone. Rabbi Hana bar Bizna taught that Abraham's
servant Eliezer once inquired of Noah's son Shem about
these words in Genesis 8:19, asking Shem how his family managed. Shem
replied that they had a difficult time in the Ark. During the day they fed the
animals that usually fed by day, and during the night they fed those that
normally fed by night. But Noah did not know what the chameleon ate. One day Noah was cutting a pomegranate, when a worm
dropped out of it, and the chameleon ate it. From then on, Noah mashed up bran
for the chameleon, and when the bran became wormy, the chameleon would eat. A
fever struck the lion, so it lived off of its reserves rather than
eating other animals. Noah discovered the avarshinah bird
(some say the phoenix bird) lying in the hold of the Ark and asked it if it needed food.
The bird told Noah that it saw that Noah was busy and decided not to give him
any more trouble. Noah replied by asking that it be God's will that the bird
not perish, as Job 19:18 says, "Then I said: 'I shall die with
my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the phoenix.'"[89]
The Covenant of the Rainbow (woodcut by Julius
Schnorr von Carolsfeld from the 1860 Die Bibel in Bildern)
A Midrash
recounted that Noah fed and provided for the Ark's inhabitants for all of 12
months. But Rav Huna said in Rabbi Liezer's name that when Noah was leaving the
Ark, a lion nonetheless set on him and maimed him, so that he was not fit to
offer sacrifices, and his son Shem sacrificed in his stead. The Midrash took
this as an application of the words of Proverbs 11:31: "the righteous shall be requited on
earth; how much more the wicked and the sinner." From this, the Midrash
inferred that if in spite of his comparative righteousness, Noah was punished
for his sins, "how much more" was the generation of the Flood.[125]
Noah's Sacrifice (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by
James Tissot)
Rav Huna cited
the report in Genesis 8:20 that Noah offered burnt offerings from
every clean animal and bird to support the proposition in a Baraita that all
animals were eligible to be offered, as the words "animal" (בְּהֵמָה, behemah) and
"bird" (עוֹף, of) refer to any
animal or bird, and the term "animal" (בְּהֵמָה, behemah) includes wild
beasts (חַיָה, hayyah).[126]
.jpg)
When Noah got off the ark, he built an altar to
the Lord. (1984 illustration by Jim Padgett, courtesy of Sweet Publishing)
Rabbi Haninah
cited the report of Genesis 8:21 that "the Lord smelled the sweet
savor; and ... said ... 'I will not again curse the ground any more
for man's sake,'" for the proposition that those who allow themselves to
be pacified when drinking wine possess some of the characteristics of the
Creator.[127]
Rav Awira (or
some say Rabbi Joshua ben Levi) taught that
the Evil Inclination (yetzer hara) has seven
names. God called it "Evil" in Genesis 8:21, saying, "the imagination of man's heart
is evil from his youth." Moses called it "the Uncircumcised"
in Deuteronomy 10:16, saying,
"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart." David called it "Unclean" in Psalm 51:12; Solomon called it
"the Enemy" in Proverbs
25:21–22; Isaiah called it "the Stumbling-Block"
in Isaiah 57:14; Ezekiel called it "Stone" in Ezekiel 36:26; and Joel called it
"the Hidden One" in Joel 2:20.[128]
The Rabbis
taught in a Baraita that the Evil Inclination is hard to bear, since even God
its Creator called it evil, as in Genesis 8:21, God says, "the desire of man's heart is
evil from his youth."[129]
Noah Descending
from Ararat (1889 painting by Ivan Aivazovsky)
Genesis chapter 9[edit]
The Rabbis
interpreted Genesis 9 to set forth seven Noahide laws binding on all people: (1) to set up courts of justice, (2) not to
commit idolatry, (3) not to commit blasphemy, (4) not to commit sexual
immorality, (5) not to commit bloodshed (see Genesis 9:6), (6) not to commit robbery, and (7) not to eat
flesh cut from a living animal (see Genesis 9:4).[130] Rabbi
Hanina taught that they were also commanded not to consume blood from a living
animal. Rabbi Leazar taught that they were also commanded not to cross-breed
animals. Rabbi Simeon taught
that they were also commanded not to commit witchcraft. Rabbi Johanan taught
that they were also commanded not to emasculate animals. And Rabbi Assi taught
that the children of Noah were also prohibited to do anything stated in Deuteronomy 18:10–11: "There
shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass
through the fire, one that uses divination, a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a
sorcerer, or a charmer, or one that consults a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a
necromancer."[131] The
Tosefta instructed that Israelites should not tempt anyone to violate a Noahide
law.[132]
Rabbi Shimon ben
Eleazar deduced from Genesis 9:2 that even a one-day-old child scares small
animals, but said that the corpse of even the giant Og of Bashan would need to be guarded from weasels and
rats.[133]
Rabbi Tanhum ben
Hanilai compared the laws of kashrut to the
case of a physician who went to visit two patients, one whom the physician
judged would live, and the other whom the physician judged would die. To the
one who would live, the physician gave orders about what to eat and what not to
eat. On the other hand, the physician told the one who would die to eat
whatever the patient wanted. Thus to the nations who were not destined for life
in the World to Come, God said in Genesis 9:3, "Every moving thing that lives shall be
food for you." But to Israel, whom God intended for life in the World to
Come, God said in Leviticus 11:2, "These are the living things which you
may eat."[134]
The Gemara noted
the paradox that mother's milk is kosher even though it is a product of the
mother's blood, which, due to Genesis 9:4, is not kosher.
In explanation, the Gemara quoted Job 14:4: “Who can bring a pure thing out of an
impure? Is it not the One?” For God can bring a pure thing, such as milk, out of
an impure thing, such as blood.[135]
It was taught in
a Baraita that Rabbi Eleazar interpreted the words of Genesis 9:5, "And surely your blood of your lives will
I require," to mean that God will require retribution (in the Afterlife) from those who shed their own blood (by committing suicide).[136]
Similarly, the
Tosefta cited Genesis 9:5–6 for the proposition that just as one is
liable for injury done to another, so is one liable for injury done to one's
self. And Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar said in the name of Rabbi Hilpai ben Agra, which he said in the
name of Rabbi Johanan ben Nuri,
that if one pulled out one's own hair, tore one's own clothing, broke one's
utensils, or scattered one's coins, in a fit of anger, it should be seen as if
that person did an act of service for an idol.[137]
The Midrash also
read Genesis 9:5, "And surely (וְאַךְ, ve-ach) your blood of
your lives will I require," to include one who strangles one's self. But
the Midrash taught that the principle of retribution for suicide did not apply
to one in the plight of Saul (who
committed suicide to save himself from the Philistines)[138] or one
like Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (who risked their lives to sanctify God's
name),[139] as the
word אַךְ, ach implies a
limitation on the general rule.[140]
Rav Judah read the
words of Genesis 9:5, "And surely your blood of your lives will
I require," to teach that even a single judge could try a non-Jew (under
the seven Noahide laws, as "will I require" is stated in the
singular).[141]
A Midrash
read Genesis 9:5, "at the hand of every beast will I
require it," to teach that when a murder is committed in secret, even if
no one knows of it and a court cannot punish the murderer, still God will
avenge the victim's blood.[142]
Rabbi Akiva said that
it demonstrated the value of human beings that God created us in God's image,
and that it was an act of still greater love that God let us know (in Genesis 9:6) that God had created us in God's image.[143] And Rabbi
Akiva also said that whoever spills blood diminishes the Divine image.[144] Rabbi
Eleazar ben Azariah and Ben Azzai both said that whoever does not have children
diminishes the Divine image as demonstrated by proximity of the notice that God
created us in God's image (Genesis 9:6) and the command to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 9:7).[144] Similarly,
a Midrash taught that some say a man without a wife even impairs the Divine
likeness, as Genesis 9:6 says, "For in the image of God made
He man," and immediately thereafter Genesis 9:7 says, "And you, be fruitful, and
multiply (implying that the former is impaired if one does not fulfill the
latter).[145]
.jpg)
God made a promise never again to destroy all
the living things on the earth with a floor. (1984 illustration by Jim Padgett,
courtesy of Sweet Publishing)
Rabbi Jacob bar
Aha said in the name of Rav Assi that
Abraham asked God whether God would wipe out Abraham's descendants as God had
destroyed the generation of the Flood. Rabbi Jacob bar Aha said in the name of
Rav Assi that Abraham's question in Genesis 15:8, "O Lord God, how shall I know that I
shall inherit it?" was part of a larger dialogue. Abraham asked God if
Abraham's descendants should sin before God, would God do to them as God did to
the generation of the Flood (in Genesis 6–8) and the generation of the Dispersion (in
Genesis in Genesis 11:1–9). God told Abraham that God would not. Abraham
then asked God (as reported in Genesis 15:8), "Let me
know how I shall inherit it." God answered by instructing Abraham (as
reported in Genesis 15:9), "Take Me a heifer of three years old,
and a she-goat of three years old" (which Abraham was to sacrifice to
God). Abraham acknowledged to God that this means of atonement through
sacrifice would hold good while a sacrificial shrine remained in being, but
Abraham pressed God what would become of his descendants when the Temple would
no longer exist. God replied that God had already long ago provided for
Abraham's descendants in the Torah the order of the sacrifices, and whenever
they read it, God would deem it as if they had offered them before God, and God
would grant them pardon for all their iniquities. Rabbi Jacob bar Aha said in
the name of Rav Assi that this demonstrated that were it not for the מעמדות, Ma'amadot, groups of lay
Israelites who participated in worship as representatives of the public, then
heaven and earth could not endure.[146]
Rabbi Meir taught
that while it was certain that God would never again flood the world with water
(Genesis 9:11), God might bring a flood of fire and
brimstone, as God brought upon Sodom and Gomorrah.[147]
Noah's
Drunkenness (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
The Mishnah
taught that the rainbow (of Genesis 9:13) was one of ten
miraculous things that God created on the sixth day of creation at twilight on
the eve of the Sabbath.[148] Rabbi Jose and Rabbi
Judah disagreed whether verses of remembrance referring to the rainbow (Genesis 9:15–16) needed to be said together or individually.[149]
The Drunkenness
of Noah (1509 fresco by Michelangelo at the Sistine Chapel)
The Gemara
helped explain why (as Genesis 9:13 reports) God chose a rainbow as the symbol
of God's promise. The Mishnah taught with regard to those who take no thought
for the honor of their Maker, that it would have been better if they had not
been born.[150] Rabbi Abba
read this Mishnah to refer to those who stare at a rainbow, while Rav Joseph said
that it refers to those who commit transgressions in secret. The Gemara
explained that those who stare at a rainbow affront God's honor, as Ezekiel 1:28 compares God's appearance to that of a
rainbow: "As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day, so
was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of
the likeness of the glory of the Lord." Thus those who stare at a rainbow
behave as if they were staring directly at God. Similarly, Rabbi Judah ben
Rabbi Nahmani, the speaker for Resh Lakish, taught that because Ezekiel 1:28 compares God's appearance to that of a
rainbow, staring at the rainbow harms one's eyesight.[151]
Noah's curse of Canaan (engraving by Julius
Schnorr von Carolsfeld from the 1860 Bible in Pictures)
The Talmud
deduced two possible explanations (attributed to Rav and Rabbi Samuel) for what Ham did to Noah to warrant Noah's curse of Canaan. According
to one explanation, Ham castrated Noah,
while the other says that Ham sexually abused Noah. The textual argument for
castration goes this way: Since Noah cursed Ham by his fourth son Canaan, Ham
must have injured Noah with respect to a fourth son, by emasculating him, thus
depriving Noah of the possibility of a fourth son. The argument for abuse from
the text draws an analogy between "and he saw" written in two places
in the Bible: With regard to Ham and Noah, it was written, "And Ham the
father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father (Noah)"; while in Genesis 34:2, it was written, "And when Shechem the son
of Hamor saw her (Dinah), he took her and lay with her and defiled
her." Thus this explanation deduced that similar abuse must have happened
each time that the Bible uses the same language.[152]
Noah damning Ham
(19th-century painting by Ivan Stepanovitch Ksenofontov)
Genesis chapter 10[edit]
A Baraita employed Genesis 10:6 to interpret the words "and Hebron
was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt" in Numbers 13:22 to mean that Hebron was seven times as
fertile as Zoan. The Baraita rejected the plain meaning of "built,"
reasoning that Ham would not build a house for his younger son Canaan (in whose
land was Hebron) before he built one for his elder son Mizraim (in whose land was Zoan,
and Genesis 10:6 lists (presumably in order of birth)
"the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan." The Baraita also taught that
among all the nations, there was none more fertile than Egypt, for Genesis 13:10 says, "Like the garden of the Lord,
like the land of Egypt." And there was no more fertile spot in Egypt than
Zoan, where kings lived, for Isaiah 30:4 says of
Pharaoh, "his princes are at Zoan." And in all of Israel, there was
no more rocky ground than that at Hebron, which is why the Patriarchs buried
their dead there, as reported in Genesis 49:31. But rocky Hebron was still seven times as
fertile as lush Zoan.[153]
Rab and Samuel equated the Amraphel of Genesis 14:1 with the Nimrod whom Genesis 10:8 describes as "a mighty warrior on the
earth," but the two differed over which was his real name. One held that
his name was actually Nimrod, and Genesis 14:1 calls him Amraphel because he ordered
Abraham to be cast into a burning furnace (and thus the name Amraphel reflects
the words for "he said" (amar) and "he cast" (hipil)).
But the other held that his name was actually Amraphel, and Genesis 10:8 calls him Nimrod because he led the world
in rebellion against God (and thus the name Nimrod reflects the word for
"he led in rebellion" (himrid)).[154]
Building the
Tower of Babel (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
Genesis chapter 11[edit]
Rabbi Leazar in
the name of Rabbi Jose bar Zimra found the story of the generation of the
Dispersion (reported in Genesis 11:1–9) reflected in
the words of Psalm 59:12–13: "Slay them not, lest my people
forget, make them wander to and fro by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord,
our Shield, for the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips."
Rabbi Leazar told in the name of Rabbi Jose bar Zimra that the people of Israel
asked God: "Slay them [the generation of Dispersion] not, lest my people
forget" and the generations that followed them forget. "Make them
wander to and fro by Your power" — cast them away. "And bring them
down" from the top of their tower to the land. But for us, said Israel,
may "The Lord be our shield." "For the sin of their mouth"
— for the sin that the generation of the Dispersion uttered when they said that
once in every 1,656 years (the time from the Creation to the Flood), the
Firmament disintegrates (thus not recognizing that God unleashed the Flood
because of human evil). Therefore, they said, people should make supports for
the Firmament, one in the north, one in the south, one in the west, and the
Tower of Babel in the east. "And the word of their lips" reflects
that they said this to each other by virtue of the "one language"
that Genesis 11:1 reports that they had.[155]
The Tosefta
taught that the men of the Tower of Babel acted arrogantly before God only
because God had been so good to them (in Genesis 11:1–2) as to give them a single language and allow
them to settle in Shinar. And as usage elsewhere indicated that
"settle" meant "eat and drink" (see Exodus 32:6), this eating and drinking was what led them to
say (in Genesis 11:4) that they wanted to build the Tower.[156]
The Tower of
Babel (1594 painting by Lucas van Valckenborch at the Louvre)
Rabbi Levi, or
some say Rabbi Jonathan, said that a tradition handed down from the Men of
the Great Assembly taught
that wherever the Bible employs the term "and it was" or "and it
came to pass" (וַיְהִי, wa-yehi), as it does
in Genesis 11:2, it indicates misfortune, as one can read wa-yehi as wai, hi,
"woe, sorrow." Thus the words, "And it came to pass,"
in Genesis 11:2 are followed by the words, "Come, let
us build us a city," in Genesis 11:4. And the Gemara
also cited the instances of Genesis 6:1 followed
by Genesis 6:5; Genesis 14:1 followed by Genesis 14:2; Joshua 5:13 followed by the rest of Joshua 5:13; Joshua 6:27 followed by Joshua 7:1; 1 Samuel 1:1 followed by 1 Samuel 1:5; 1 Samuel 8:1 followed by 1 Samuel 8:3; 1 Samuel 18:14 close after 1 Samuel 18:9; 2 Samuel 7:1 followed by 1 Kings 8:19; Ruth 1:1 followed by the rest of Ruth 1:1; and Esther 1:1 followed by Haman. But the Gemara
also cited as counterexamples the words, "And there was evening and there
was morning one day," in Genesis 1:5, as well
as Genesis 29:10, and 1 Kings 6:1. So Rav Ashi replied that wa-yehi sometimes
presages misfortune, and sometimes it does not, but the expression "and it
came to pass in the days of" always presages misfortune. And for that
proposition, the Gemara cited Genesis 14:1, Isaiah 7:1 Jeremiah 1:3, Ruth 1:1, and Esther 1:1.[157]
The Tower of Babel (illustration from the
1897 Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us by Charles Foster)
Rabbi Johanan
said in the name of Rabbi Eleazar the son of Rabbi Simeon that wherever you
find the words of Rabbi Eleazar the son of Rabbi Jose the
Galilean in an Aggadah, make your ear like a funnel (to receive the
teaching). (Rabbi Eleazar taught that) God bestowed greatness on Nimrod, but
Nimrod (did not humble himself, but) said, in the words of Genesis 11:4, "Come, let us build ourselves a
city."[158]
The Mishnah
taught that the generation of the dispersion has no portion in the world to
come.[159] The Gemara
asked what they did to justify this punishment. The scholars of the academy of
Rav Shila taught that they sought to build a tower, ascend to heaven, and
cleave it with axes, that its waters might gush forth. In the academies of the
Land of Israel, they laughed at this, arguing that if the generation of the
dispersion had sought to do so, they should have built the tower on a mountain.
Rabbi Jeremiah bar Eleazar taught that the generation of the dispersion split
into three parties. One party sought to ascend to heaven and dwell there. The
second party sought to ascend to heaven and serve idols. And the third party
sought to ascend and wage war with God. God scattered the party that proposed
to ascend and dwell there. God turned into apes, spirits, devils, and
night-demons the party that sought to ascend and wage war with God. As for the
party that sought to ascend and serve idols, God responded, in the words
of Genesis 11:9, "for there the Lord did confound the
language of all the earth." It was taught in a Baraita that Rabbi Nathan said that the generation of the dispersion were all bent on
idolatry. For Genesis 11:4 says, "let us make us a name,"
while Exodus 23:13 says, "and make no mention of the
name of other gods." Rabbi Nathan reasoned that just as the word
"name" indicates idolatry in Exodus 23:13, so does the word "name" in Genesis 11:4. Rabbi Jonathan taught that a third of the
tower was burned, a third sank into the earth, and a third still stood at his
time. Rav taught that the atmosphere of the tower caused forgetfulness. Rav
Joseph taught that Babylon and the neighboring city of Borsif were both evil
omens for the Torah, because one soon forgets one's learning there. Rabbi Assi
said that the name "Borsif" means "an empty pit" (bor
shafi), for it empties one of knowledge.[160]
.jpg)
Building the Tower of Babel (1984 illustration
by Jim Padgett, courtesy of Sweet Publishing)
Rabbi Phineas
taught that the land of Babel had no stones with which to build the city and
the tower. So they baked bricks until they built the tower seven miles high.
The tower had ramps on its east and its west. Laborers took up the bricks on
the eastern ramp, and people descended on the western ramp. If a man fell and
died, the laborers paid him no heed, but if a brick fell, they sat and wept,
asking when another brick would come in its stead.[161]
Rabbi Simeon bar
Yohai taught that the report of Genesis 11:5 that "the Lord came down to see the
city and the tower" was one of ten instances when the Torah reports that
God descended.[162]
The Confusion of
Tongues (engraving by Gustave Doré from the 1865 La Sainte Bible)
Rabbi Judah and
Rabbi Nehemiah disagreed over how to interpret Genesis 11:6, “And the Lord said: ‘Behold, they are one
people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; and
now nothing will be withheld from them, which they purpose to do.’” Rabbi Judah
interpreted the words, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one
language,” to mean that because the people lived in unity, if they had
repented, God would have accepted them. But Rabbi Nehemiah explained that it
was because “they are one people, and they have all one language,” that they
rebelled against God. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana taught that God gave them an
opportunity to repent, for the words “and now” in Genesis 11:6 indicate repentance, for Deuteronomy 11:6 says, “And now, Israel, what does
the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God.” But the next
word of Genesis 11:6, “No,” reports their response. The continuation
of Genesis 11:6, then reports God's reply, “Then let all that
they purpose to do be withheld from them!”[163]
Rabbi Johanan
taught that wherever heretics have taken Biblical passages as grounds for their
heresy, another passage nearby provides the refutation. Thus (the heretics
questioned the use of the plural with regard to God in Genesis 11:7): "Come, let us go down and there confound
their language." (But nearby, in Genesis 11:5, it says in the singular): "And the Lord
came down to see the city and the tower." Rabbi Johanan taught that God
says, "let us," in the plural in Genesis 11:7 (and elsewhere) to show that God does
nothing without first consulting God's Heavenly Court.[164]
Rabbi Simeon
told that God called to the 70 angels who surround the throne of God's glory and
said, "Let us descend and let us confuse the 70 nations (that made up the
world) and the 70 languages." Rabbi Simeon deduced this from Genesis 11:7, where God said, "Let us go
down," not "I will go down." Rabbi Simeon taught
that Deuteronomy 32:8, "When the Most High gave to the nations
their inheritance," reports that they cast lots among them. God's lot fell
upon Abraham and his descendants, as Deuteronomy 32:9 reports, "For the Lord's portion is
his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." God said that God's soul
lives by the portion and lot that fell to God, as Psalm 16:6 says, "The lots have fallen to me in
pleasures; yea, I have a goodly heritage." God then descended with the 70
angels who surround the throne of God's glory and they confused the speech of
humankind into 70 nations and 70 languages.[165]
The Dispersion (engraving by Julius Schnorr von
Carolsfeld from the 1860 Bible in Pictures)
The Sages taught
that the God who punished the generation of the Flood and the generation of the
Dispersion would take vengeance on people who renege on their word after money
has been paid.[166]
The Gemara asked what the name Babel (which can
mean "to mix" or "confound," as in Genesis 11:9) connotes. Rabbi Johanan answered that the
study of Scripture, Mishnah, and Talmud was intermingled (in the study reported
in the Babylonian Talmud).[167]
Upper image:
Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son. Lower image: Abraham miraculously
unharmed after being cast into fire by Nimrod (1583 illustration from the
manuscript Zubdat-al Tawarikh in the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum in Istanbul)
The Mishnah
taught that Abraham suffered ten trials and withstood them all, demonstrating
how great Abraham's love was for God.[168] The Avot of Rabbi Natan taught[169] that two
trials were at the time he was bidden to leave Haran,[170] two were
with his two sons,[171] two were
with his two wives,[172] one was in
the wars of the Kings,[173] one was at
the covenant between the pieces,[174] one was in
Ur of the Chaldees (where, according to a tradition, he was thrown into a
furnace and came out unharmed[175]), and one was
the covenant of circumcision.[176] Similarly,
the Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer counted as the 10 trials (1) when Abraham was a
child and all the magnates of the kingdom and the magicians sought to kill him
(see below), (2) when he was put into prison for ten years and cast into the
furnace of fire, (3) his migration from his father's house and from the land of
his birth, (4) the famine, (5) when Sarah his wife was taken to be Pharaoh's
wife, (6) when the kings came against him to slay him, (7) when (in the words
of Genesis 17:1) "the word of the Lord came to Abram in a
vision," (8) when Abram was 99 years old and God asked him to circumcise
himself, (9) when Sarah asked Abraham (in the words of Genesis 21:10) to "Cast out this bondwoman and her
son," and (10) the binding of Isaac.[177]
The Pirke
De-Rabbi Eliezer taught that the first trial was when Abram was born, and all
the magnates of the kingdom and the magicians sought to kill him. Abram's
family hid Abram in a cave for 13 years without seeing the sun or moon. After
13 years, Abram came out speaking the holy language, Hebrew, and he despised
idols and held in abomination the graven images, and he trusted in God, saying
(in the words of Psalm 84:12): "Blessed is the man who trusts in
You." In the second trial, Abram was put in prison for ten years — three
years in Kuthi, seven years in Budri. After ten years, they brought him out and
cast him into the furnace of fire, and God delivered him from the furnace of
fire, as Genesis 15:7 says, "And He said to him, 'I am the
Lord who brought you out of the furnace of the Chaldees." Similarly, Nehemiah 9:7 reports, "You are the Lord the God,
who did choose Abram, and brought him forth out of the furnace of the
Chaldees." The third trial was Abram's migration from his father's house
and from the land of his birth. God brought him to Haran, and there his father
Terah died, and Athrai his mother. The Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer taught that
migration is harder for a human than for any other creature. And Genesis 12:1 tells of his migration when it says,
"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Get out.'"[178]
The Gemara
taught that Sarah was one of seven prophetesses who prophesied to Israel and
neither took away from nor added anything to what is written in the Torah. (The
other prophetesses were Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Esther.) The Gemara derived Sarah's status as a
prophetess from the words, "Haran, the father of Milkah and the father of
Yiscah," in Genesis 11:29. Rabbi Isaac taught that Yiscah was
Sarah. Genesis 11:29 called her Yiscah (יִסְכָּה) because she discerned (saketah) by means of Divine inspiration,
as Genesis 21:12 reports God instructing Abraham, "In
all that Sarah says to you, hearken to her voice." Alternatively, Genesis 11:29 called her Yiscah because all gazed (sakin)
at her beauty.[179]
The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana taught
that Sarah was one of seven barren women about whom Psalm 113:9 says (speaking of God), "He ...
makes the barren woman to dwell in her house as a joyful mother of
children." The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana also listed Rebekah Rachel, Leah, Manoah's wife, Hannah, and Zion. The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana taught that the
words of Psalm 113:9, "He ... makes the barren woman to
dwell in her house," apply, to begin with, to Sarah, for Genesis 11:30 reports that "Sarai was barren."
And the words of Psalm 113:9, "a joyful mother of children," apply
to Sarah, as well, for Genesis 21:7 also reports that "Sarah gave
children suck."[180]
Rav Nahman said in
the name of Rabbah bar Abbuha that the redundant report, "And Sarai was
barren; she had no child," in Genesis 11:30 demonstrated that Sarah was incapable of
procreation because she did not have a womb.[181]
In medieval Jewish
interpretation[edit]
The parashah is
discussed in these medieval Jewish
sources:[182]
Genesis chapter 6[edit]
Baḥya ibn Paquda read the description "perfect" (תָּמִים, tamim) in Genesis 6:9 to describe one who aims to make one's
exterior and interior selves equal and consistent in the service of God, so
that the testimony of the heart, tongue, and limbs are alike and support and
confirm each other.[183]
Maimonides
Maimonides taught that God, being incorporeal, is
elevated above the use of a sense of sight. Thus, when Scripture says that God
"sees" — as in Genesis 6:12, "And
God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt" — it
means that God perceives visible things. Maimonides thus argued that "God
saw" would be more properly translated "it was revealed before
God."[184]
Maimonides
taught that whenever Scripture relates that God spoke to a person, this took
place in a dream or in a prophetic vision. Thus Genesis 6:13, "And God said to Noah," reports a
prophecy proclaimed by Noah acting as a prophet.[185]
Nachmanides
Abraham ibn Ezra wrote
that Genesis 6:18, "But I will establish My covenant,"
could be read to indicate that God had sworn earlier to Noah that he and his
children would not die in the Flood, even though the text had not previously
mentioned it. Alternatively, ibn Ezra taught that "But I will
establish" meant that God would keep God's oath. Ibn Ezra also taught that
the "covenant" alluded to the covenant that God would make when God
set the rainbow in the sky in Genesis 9:8–17.[186] After
reviewing Ibn Ezra's analysis, Nachmanides argued that the expression,
"And I will establish My covenant," meant that when the Flood came,
God's covenant would be established with Noah so that he and his family and two
of all the animals would come into the Ark and remain alive, and
"covenant" meant God's word when God decrees something without any
condition and fulfills it. Nachmanides also taught that by way of the Kabbalah, the covenant (בְּרִית, berit) is
everlasting, the word being derived from Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created (בָּרָא, bara)." God
thus commanded that the covenant exist and be with the righteous Noah.[187]
Maimonides
taught that before Abraham's birth, only a very few people recognized or knew
God in the world, among them Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, and Eber.[188]
The first page
of the Zohar
The Zohar compared Moses to Noah and found Moses
superior. For when God told Moses in Exodus 32:10, “Now therefore let me alone, that My anger may
grow hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a
great nation,” Moses immediately asked whether he could possibly abandon Israel
for his own advantage. Moses protested that the world would say that he had
killed Israel and did to them as Noah did to his generation. For when God bade
Noah to save himself and his household from the Flood, Noah did not intercede
on behalf of his generation, but let them perish. It is for this reason that
Scripture names the waters of the Flood after Noah, as Isaiah 54:9 says, “For this is as the waters of Noah
to me.” Thus, Moses sought mercy for his people, and God indeed showed them
mercy.[189]
Genesis chapter 7[edit]
Maimonides
taught that although the two Hebrew nouns אִישׁ, ish, and אִישָׁהּ, ishah, were
originally employed to designate the "male" and "female" of
human beings, they were afterwards applied to the "male" and
"female" of other species of the animal creation. Thus, in Genesis 7:2, "Of every clean beast you shall take
seven and seven, each with his mate (אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ, ish ve-ishto)," the
words אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ, ish ve-ishto mean
"male and female" of those animals.[190]
The Zohar teaches that the waters did not touch the
Land of Israel, that is, Jerusalem.
Genesis chapter 8[edit]
Reading Genesis 8:1, “And God remembered Noah,” Saadia Gaon taught
that Scripture designates the deliverance of the human world from a painful
situation as a recollection on the part of God. Saadia argued
that the verse does not permit the use of the term “forgetfulness” in
connection with God's desisting from delivering God's creatures.[191]
The Midrash
ha-Ne'lam (The Midrash of the Concealed) told that when Noah left the
Ark and saw the terrible destruction all around, he wept and cried out to God
that God should have shown compassion for God's creatures. God called Noah a
foolish shepherd and asked why Noah complained only then, and not when God told
Noah in Genesis 7:1, “You have I seen righteous before Me in this
generation”; or when in Genesis 6:17, God told Noah,
“And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all
flesh”; or when in Genesis 6:14, God told Noah, “Make an ark of gopher wood.”
God told Noah those things so that Noah would seek compassion for the world.
But as soon as Noah heard that he would be saved in the Ark, the evil of the
world did not touch his heart. Noah built the Ark and saved himself! Now that
the world had been destroyed, Noah opened his mouth before God with prayers and
supplications! When Noah realized his mistake, he offered sacrifices, as Genesis 8:20 says, “And Noah built an altar to the
Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered
burnt-offerings on the altar.” Similarly, the Midrash ha-Ne'lam contrasted
Noah with the righteous heroes who arose for Israel afterward. Noah did not
shield his generation and did not pray for them as Abraham did for his. For as
soon as God told Abraham in Genesis 18:20, “the cry of
Sodom and Gomorrah is great,” immediately in Genesis 18:23, “Abraham drew near, and said.” Abraham
countered God with more and more words until he implored that if just ten
righteous people were found there, God would grant atonement to the generation
for their sake. Abraham thought that there were ten in the city, counting Lot
and his wife, his daughters and sons-in-law, and that is why he beseeched no
further.[192]
Baḥya ibn Paquda noted that Genesis 8:21, "God said
in His heart," and Genesis 9:6, "for God
made man in His image," imply that God has physical form and body parts.
And Genesis 8:1, "and God remembered"; Genesis 8:21, "and God smelled the pleasing
aroma"; Genesis 11:5, "and God came down," imply that God
moves and takes bodily actions like human beings. Baḥya explained that necessity brought people to anthropomorphize God and
describe God in terms of human attributes so that human listeners could grasp
God in their minds. After doing so, people can learn that such description was
only metaphorical, and that the truth is too fine, too sublime, too exalted,
and too remote from the ability and powers of human minds to grasp. Baḥya advised wise thinkers to endeavor to remove the husk of the terms and
their corporeality and ascend in their minds step by step to reach the true
intended meaning according to the power and ability of their minds to grasp.[193] Baḥya cautioned that one must be careful not to take descriptions of God's
attributes literally or in a physical sense. Rather, one must know that they
are metaphors, geared to what we are capable of grasping with our powers of
understanding, because of our urgent need to know God. But God is infinitely
greater and loftier than all of these attributes.[194]
Maimonides
read Genesis 8:21 to refer to the evil inclination (yetzer
ha-ra). Maimonides taught that the three terms — the adversary (הַשָּׂטָן, ha-satan), the evil
inclination (yetzer ha-ra), and the angel of death — all designate the
same thing. And actions ascribed to these three are in reality the actions of
one and the same agent. Maimonides taught that the Hebrew term שָּׂטָן, satan was
derived from the same root as the word שְׂטֵה, seteh, "turn
away," as in Proverbs 4:15, and thus implies the notion of turning and
moving away from a thing. Thus, the adversary turns people away from the way of
truth, and leads them astray in the way of error. Maimonides taught that the
same idea is contained in Genesis 8:21, "And the
imagination of the heart of man is evil from his youth." Maimonides
reported that the Sages also said that people receive the evil inclination at
birth, for Genesis 4:7 says, "at the door sin
crouches," and Genesis 8:21 says, "And the imagination of the
heart of man is evil from his youth." The good inclination, however, is
developed. Maimonides taught that the Sages refer to the evil inclination and
the good inclination when they tell[195] that every
person is accompanied by two angels, one on the right side and one on the left,
one good and one bad.[196]
Genesis chapter 9[edit]
Baḥya ibn Paquda argued that one proof in creation of God's existence is
that out of God's abounding goodness to mankind, God put the fear of humans
into dangerous wild creatures, as Genesis 9:2 says,
"And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the
earth."[197]
Saadia Gaon read Genesis 9:6, "Whoso sheds man's blood, by man shall
his blood be shed," to explain why the death penalty was not imposed on
Cain for killing Abel, for at the time of that murder, neither judge or
witnesses yet existed to impose the penalty.[198]
Genesis chapter 11[edit]
Maimonides
taught that when Scripture reports that God intended "to descend," it
signals that God meant to punish humanity, as in Genesis 11:5, "And the Lord came down to
see"; Genesis 11:7, "Let us go down and there confound their
language"; and Genesis 18:21, "I will go down now and see."[199]
Genesis chapters
11–22[edit]
In their
commentaries to Mishnah Avot 5:3[168] (see
"In classical rabbinic interpretation" above), Rashi and
Maimonides differed on what 10 trials Abraham faced:[200]
|
Rashi |
Maimonides |
||
|
1 |
Abraham hid underground for 13 years from King
Nimrod, who wanted to kill him. |
||
|
2 |
Nimrod threw Abraham into a fiery furnace. |
||
|
3 |
God commanded Abraham to leave his family and
homeland. |
1 |
Abraham's exile from his family and homeland |
|
4 |
As soon as he arrived in the Promised Land,
Abraham was forced to leave to escape a famine. |
2 |
The famine in the Promised Land after God assured
Abraham that he would become a great nation there |
|
5 |
Pharaoh's officials kidnapped Sarah. |
3 |
The corruption in Egypt that resulted in the
kidnapping of Sarah |
|
6 |
Kings captured Lot, and Abraham had to rescue
him. |
4 |
The war with the four kings |
|
7 |
God told Abraham that his descendants would
suffer under four regimes. |
||
|
5 |
Abraham's marriage to Hagar after having
despaired that Sarah would ever give birth |
||
|
8 |
God commanded Abraham to circumcise himself and
his son when Abraham was 99 years old. |
6 |
The commandment of circumcision |
|
7 |
Abimelech's abduction of Sarah |
||
|
9 |
Abraham was commanded to drive away Ishmael and
Hagar. |
8 |
Driving away Hagar after she had given birth |
|
9 |
The very distasteful command to drive away
Ishmael |
||
|
10 |
God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. |
10 |
The binding of Isaac on the altar |
In modern
interpretation[edit]
The parashah is
discussed in these modern sources:
Genesis chapters
5–11[edit]
Victor P. Hamilton, professor emeritus at Asbury University, observed that genealogies bracket narrative blocks in the opening
chapters of Genesis.
1A: 5:32 genealogy (Noah's sons)
1B: 6:1–8 narrative (the sons of God)
1A1: 6:9–10 genealogy (Noah's sons)
2A: 6:9–10 genealogy (Noah's sons)
2B: 6:11–9:17 narrative (the Flood)
2A1: 9:18–19 genealogy (Noah's sons)
3A: 10:21–31 genealogy (Shemites)
3B: 11:1–9 narrative (Tower of Babel)
3A1: 11:10–32 genealogy (Shemites)
Hamilton argued
that this literary artistry provides another reason for the sequence of
chapters 10 and 11.[201]
Genesis chapter 6[edit]
Professor Ephraim Speiser of the University of Pennsylvania in the mid 20th century contrasted the
reason for the Flood given by the Jahwist in Genesis 6:5–8 — that God “regretted” with “sorrow in His
heart” that man had not been able to master his evil impulses — with the reason
given by the Priestly source in Genesis 6:13 — that the world was lawless and thus had
to be destroyed.[202]
Although the
text does not name Noah's wife when it mentions her in Genesis 6:18; 7:7, 13; and 8:18, Professor Carol Meyers of Duke University reported
that postbiblical discussions of the Genesis Flood story assigned her more than
103 different names.[203]
Genesis chapter 7[edit]
Speiser
read Genesis 7:4, 12, 8:6, 10, and 12, to reflect the Jahwist's chronology that the
rains came down 40 days and nights, and the waters disappeared after 3 times 7
days, the whole deluge lasting thus 61 days. Whereas Speiser read the Priestly
source, whose calendar is typically detailed down to the exact day of the given
month, to report in Genesis 7:24 that the waters held their crest for 150
days and to report in Genesis 7:11 and 8:14 that they remained on the earth one year
and 11 days.[202]
Genesis chapter 8[edit]
Professor Walter Brueggemann, formerly of Columbia Theological Seminary, wrote that God's promise in Genesis 8:20–22 inverts the destructive action of the
Flood story and marks the decisive end of the Genesis pre-history.[204]
Mendelssohn
Genesis chapter 9[edit]
The
18th-century German Jewish philosopher Moses
Mendelssohn alluded to Genesis 9:6, "in the
image of God made He man," in comparing church and state. Government and
religion, Mendelssohn asserted, have for their object the promotion, by means
of public measures, of human felicity in this life and in the life to come.
Both act upon people's convictions and actions, on principles and their
application; the state, by means of reasons based on the relations between
people, or between people and nature, and religion by means of reasons based on
the relations between people and God. The state treats people as the immortal
children of the earth; religion treats people as the image of their Creator.[205]
Spinoza
The
17th-century Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza explained
the report of Genesis 9:13, in which God told Noah that God would set
God's rainbow in the cloud, as but another way of expressing the refraction and
reflection that the rays of the sun are subjected to in drops of water. Spinoza
concluded that God's decrees and mandates, and consequently God's Providence,
are merely the order of nature, and when Scripture describes an event as
accomplished by God or God's will, we must understand merely that it was in
accordance with the law and order of nature, not that nature had for a time
ceased to act, or that nature's order was temporarily interrupted.[206]
Genesis chapter 10[edit]
Spinoza noted
that Abraham ibn Ezra alluded to
a difficulty by noting that if, as Genesis 10:19 indicates, Canaan first settled the land,
then the Canaanites still possessed those territories during the time of Moses.
Spinoza deduced that the person who wrote Genesis 12:6, "the Canaanite was then in the
land," must thus have written at a time when the Canaanites had been
driven out and no longer possessed the land, and thus after the death of Moses.
Spinoza concluded that Moses did not write the Torah, but someone who lived
long after him, and that the book that Moses wrote was something different from
any now extant.[207]
Genesis chapter 11[edit]
Brueggemann
argued that Genesis 11 was as symmetrically
structured as any narrative since Genesis 1, showing the conflict of human resolve with
God's resolve:[208]
A: 11:1: "Whole earth ... one
language"
B: 11:3–4: Human words and actions
C: 11:4: "Come let us"
B1: 11:6–7: God's words and actions
C1: 11:7: "Come let us"
A1: 11:9: "The language of all the
earth ... all the earth"
Cassuto
The
mid-20th-century Italian-Israeli scholar Umberto Cassuto, formerly of
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, suggested that the Tower of Babel story
in Genesis 11:1–9 reflects an earlier Israelite poem that
regarded with a smile the boastful pride of the Babylonians in their city,
temple, and ziggurat. Cassuto deduced that Israelites composed the
poem when the city and tower were already in ruins, and he posited that they
were written in the centuries after the fall of the First Babylonian dynasty and the destruction of Babylon by
the Hittites in the
middle of the 16th century B.C.E., during which Israelites remembered the
bragging of the Babylonians with derision.[209] Cassuto
saw manifest irony in the report of Genesis 11:3, "And they had brick for stone," as
if the Israelites mocked the object of Babylonian boasting — buildings of
bricks, which stand today and tomorrow are in ruins — as if the poor
Babylonians did not even have hard stone for building such as the Israelites
had in the land of Israel.[210] Similarly,
the liberal German Rabbi and scholar Benno Jacob, writing in
1934, saw irony in the report of Genesis 11:5, "And the Lord came down," which
implied that the tower supposed to reach to the heavens was still far from
there, and that seen from above, the gigantic structure was only the work of
"children," of miniature men.[211]
In critical
analysis[edit]
Diagram of the
Documentary Hypothesis
Some scholars
who follow the Documentary Hypothesis find evidence of four separate sources in the parashah. Thus some
scholars consider the parashah to weave together two Flood story accounts
composed by the Jahwist (sometimes abbreviated J) who wrote
possibly as early as the 10th century BCE and the Priestly source who wrote
in the 6th or 5th century BCE.[212] One such
scholar, Richard Elliott Friedman, attributes to the Jahwist Genesis 7:1–5, 7, 16b–20, 22–23; 8:2b–3a, 6, 8–12, 13b, and 20–22.[213] And he
attributes to the Priestly source Genesis 6:9b–22; 7:8–16, 21, 20; 8:1–2a, 3b-5, 7, 13a, and 14–19.[214] For a
similar distribution of verses, see the display of
Genesis according to the Documentary Hypothesis at Wikiversity. Friedman also attributes to a
late Redactor (sometimes abbreviated R) the introductory clause in Genesis 6:9a and to another source the report of Noah's
age during the Flood in Genesis 7:6.[215]
Friedman also
attributes to the Jahwist the account of Noah's drunkenness and the cursing of
Canaan in Genesis 9:18–27; the genealogies in Genesis 10:8–19, 21, and 24–30; and the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1–9.[216] He
attributes to the Priestly source the account of the covenant of the rainbow
in Genesis 9:1–17 and the genealogies in Genesis 10:1b–7, 20, 22–23, 31–32; and 11:27b–31.[217] He
attributes to the Redactor introductory clauses in Genesis 10:1a; 11:10a and 27a and the account of Terah in Genesis 11:31b and 32b.[218] And he
attributes to another source the genealogy of Shem at Genesis 11:11b–26 and 32a.[219]
Professor Gary
Rendsburg, however, notes that the Flood story has many similarities with the
Epic of Gilgamesh. He argues that several sources would be unlikely to track
these plot elements from the Epic of Gilgamesh independently. Thus, Rendsburg
argues that the Flood story was composed as a unified whole.[220]
Commandments[edit]
Maimonides cited
the parashah for one positive commandment:[221]
·
To "be fruitful and multiply"[31]
The Sefer ha-Chinuch, however, attributed the commandment
to Genesis 1:28.[222]
Shlomo
Ganzfried, editor of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch
The Kitzur
Shulchan Aruch read the words of Genesis 9:5, "And surely your blood of your lives will
I require," to refer to "foolish pietists" who needlessly
endanger their lives by refusing to be healed on the Sabbath. The Kitzur
Shulchan Aruch taught that one overrides the Shabbat as well as other
commandments (except for idol worship, incest, and murder) if there is danger
to life and one who hastens to disregard the Sabbath for an ill person who is
in danger is praiseworthy.[223]
Similarly,
the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch read the words of Genesis 9:5, "And surely your blood of your lives will
I require," to support the proposition that one who commits suicide is
considered an evildoer of the highest degree. For God created the world for a
single individual, Adam, so anyone who destroys a soul destroys a whole world.
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch therefore taught that Jews should
not carry out for one who committed suicide anything to honor that person, but
Jews should bury the body after cleansing and dressing it in a shroud. The
principle is that everything for honoring the living relatives should be done
for them, as opposed to for the honor of the person who committed suicide.[224]
The Kitzur
Shulchan Aruch taught that upon arising in the morning, one should
wash one's face in honor of one's Creator, as Genesis 9:6 states, "for in the image of God made
He man."[225]
In the liturgy[edit]
God's dominion
over the Flood in Genesis 7:6–8:14 is reflected in Psalm 29:10, which is in turn one of the six Psalms recited
at the beginning of the Kabbalat Shabbat prayer service and again as the Torah is returned to the Torah ark at the end of the Shabbat morning Torah
service.[226]
Some Jews read
the words "for in the image of God made He man" from Genesis 9:6 as they study chapter 3 of Pirkei Avot on a Sabbath
between Passover and Rosh Hashanah.[227] And then
they encounter the discussion of the ten generations from Adam to the Flood and
then the ten generations from Noah to Abraham (enumerated in Genesis 11:10–26) as they study chapter 5 of Pirkei
Avot thereafter.[228]
Isaiah (1509
fresco by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel)
Haftarah[edit]
The haftarah for the
parashah is:
·
for Ashkenazi Jews,and Mizrahi Jews: Isaiah 54:1–55:5
·
for Sephardi Jews: Isaiah 54:1–10
·
for Yemenite Jews: Isaiah 54:1–55:3
·
for Italian Jews and some
Yemenite communities: Isaiah 54:1–55:5
·
for Karaite Jews: Isaiah 54:9–55:12
·
for Frankfurt am Main and Chabad Lubavitch: Isaiah 54:1–10
Connection to the
parashah[edit]
The parashah and haftarah both tell
the power of God's covenant. The parashah[229] and
the haftarah[230] both
report God's covenant with Noah never again to destroy the earth by flood. In
the parashah[231] and
the haftarah,[232] God
confesses to anger at human transgression. In the wake of God's
punishment, Genesis 9:11,15, Isaiah 54:10,
and 55:3 all
use the words "no ... more" (lo' 'od). The
"righteousness" of Israel's children in Isaiah 54:14 echoes
that Noah is "righteous" in his age in Genesis 6:9..
Noach Roundup
Ten long generations
after Adam and Eve, we meet Noah who is the hero of this
week’s parshah. The people who lived at the time of Noah were not honest — they stole, robbed, told lies — you name it,
they did it. They were wicked and did not follow in G‑d’s ways. The only
righteous person in the whole generation was Noah. G‑d tells
Noah that He is planning on destroying the entire world by bringing a great
flood.
G‑d tells Noah to build an ark —
a teivah — where he and his family as well as any people who
will repent could escape from the flood. It takes Noah 120 years to build the
ark — do you know why? G‑d wanted to give a chance to the people to repent, so
Noah builds the ark very, very slowly, and whenever people pass by his yard and
ask him what he is doing, he says: "I am building an ark, because G‑d will
destroy the world if you do not repent. Repent, there is still a chance! Start
behaving honestly and become good people!" But the people laugh at Noah
and don't take him seriously.
Sadly, the day comes when G‑d tells
Noah to go into the ark with his three sons and their wives, as well as to take
a male and female of every single type of animal and, of course, food and water
for everyone. When Noah seals the ark, drops of rain start to fall, which
slowly became bigger and bigger. G‑d still wants to give a last-minute chance
to the people to repent, to show that them that this is real, but they do not
change their minds. The rain becomes a flood which lasts 40 days and 40 nights.
The entire world is covered in water, and everything is destroyed.
When the flood is over, the earth is
still covered with water and the teivah floats around for a
long time. After another 150 days, it finally settles on Mount Ararat and Noah
sends a raven out of the ark and then a few doves to see if there is dry land
yet. Finally after a few weeks a dove comes back with an olive branch in its
beak. Noah understands that the earth has dried, and finally G‑d commands him
to exit the ark. When he leaves, Noah builds an altar and offers sacrifices to
G‑d to thank Him for sparing his life. G‑d swears that He will never again
destroy the entire world and uses the rainbow as a sign.
For the next ten generations, everyone
speaks the same language and has the same customs. At one point, though, a
large group of people get together and decide to build a tower with which they
could "reach into the sky" to show that they are as powerful as G‑d.
At this point, G‑d makes all the people speak a different language, so no one
can understand one another and there is a great mess. Their project comes to a
halt, and the people separate into different nations.
Finally we meet Abram or Abraham,
the hero of the next few parshahs, and
great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of Noah.
Parshah Summary:
Noah—the only righteous
man in a corrupted world—is told by G‑d:
“The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with
violence.” Therefore,
Make yourself an ark of gopher wood,
and make rooms in the ark; and caulk it both inside
and out with pitch.
This is how you shall make it: the
length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth fifty cubits and
the height thirty cubits. Make a window for the ark, and taper it to a cubit on
top, and set the door of the ark in its side; with lower, second and third
stories shall you make it.
Behold, I will bring the flood of
waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of
life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die. But with you
I will establish My covenant, and you shall come
into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your
sons’ wives with you.
Noah is also commanded to bring into
the ark two members of each animal species—a male and a female (but seven pairs
of all “pure” or kosher species), as well as food for himself, his family and
the animals.
The Flood
In the six-hundredth
year of Noah’s life, in the second
month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that very day all the fountains of
the great deep broke open, and the windows of heaven were opened.
The rain was upon the earth forty days
and forty nights. . . . And the waters increased, and raised up
the ark, and it was lifted up off the ground. . . . The waters
prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high mountains that were
under the whole heaven were covered . . .
All flesh that moved upon the earth
perished. . . . There remained only
Noah and those who were with him in
the ark.
The
Flood lasted a full solar
year—365 days. The 40 days of rain were
followed by 150 days in which the water swelled and churned, after which “G‑d
remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle that were with him in
the ark, and G‑d made a wind pass over the earth, and the waters were assuaged”
and began to subside. Sixteen days later the ark came to rest upon the
mountains of Ararat, but it took another 44 days for the mountain peaks to
become visible.
Noah waited another 40 days, and
then, opening
the ark’s window, he sent a raven from the ark to test
the conditions in the flooded world outside. The raven proved uncooperative, so
a week later Noah sent a dove. The dove returned, finding no rest for her feet,
so Noah waited another seven days. This time,
The dove came in to him in the evening,
and behold, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off; so Noah knew that the
waters had subsided from the earth.
When Noah dispatched the dove a third
time seven days later, it did not return to the ark at all. Still, Noah
remained in the ark. On “the first day of the first month”—307 days after the
rains began—the water was completely drained, and Noah removed the covering of
the ark, but it took another 57 days for the surface of the earth to dry
completely. Finally, on the 27th day of the second month came the divine command:
G‑d spoke to Noah, saying: “Go out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with
you. Every living thing that is with you, of all flesh—of fowl, of animals, and
of all the creeping things that creep on the earth—bring out with you, and they
shall swarm upon the earth, and they shall be fruitful and multiply upon the
earth.”
The Vow
Noah built an altar and brought offerings “of every pure
beast and of every pure bird” (of which
he had been commanded to bring additional members into the ark).
G‑d smelled the sweet savor, and G‑d
said in His heart: “I will no longer curse the earth because of man, for the
imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, and I will no longer smite
all living things as I have done.”
Never again, vowed G‑d, shall the
patterns of nature be so disrupted:
For as long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold
and heat, summer and winter, and day and night
shall not cease.
Man and Animal
G‑d then blessed Noah and his sons that
they “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” and issued a number of
instructions regarding the new world they are to build.
Man is given dominion over all life forms,
and the fear of him is instilled in all animals. He is allowed to kill animals
for food (Adam was given license to eat
only plants), but is forbidden to eat meat or blood taken from an animal while
it is still alive.
Human life is sacred, and murder is
punishable by death—if a human court fails to punish the murderer, G‑d
Himself will seek redress. “From the hand
of each man, his brother, I will demand the soul of man. Whoever sheds the
blood of man through man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of G‑d He
made man.”
The Covenant
G‑d spoke to Noah, and to his sons with
him, saying:
“Behold, I establish My covenant with
you, and with your seed after you, and with every living creature that is with
you . . . from all that came out of the ark . . .
that never shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood;
neither shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
G‑d said: “This is the sign of the
covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with
you . . . I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between me and
the earth.
“It shall come to pass, when I bring a
cloud over the earth . . . the rainbow shall be in the cloud. I
will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between G‑d and
every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”
The First Drunk
Noah began to be a man of
the earth, and he planted a vineyard.
He drank of the wine, and was drunk, and was uncovered within his tent. Ham, the father of
Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
Shem and Japheth took the garment, and
laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness
of their father; their faces were backward, and they did not see their
father’s shame.
Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what
his younger son had done to him. He said: “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of
servants shall he be to his brothers.” Then he said: “Blessed be the L‑rd, G‑d
of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. G‑d shall enlarge Japheth, and he
shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
Noah lived after the Flood three
hundred and fifty years. All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty
years, and he died.
The Dispersion
The Torah now lists the seventy nations
that formed when the descendents of Shem, Ham and Japheth (Noah’s three sons)
dispersed across the earth. It then tells the story of how this dispersion came
about.
At first the descendents of Noah formed
a single community, sharing “one language and mutual words.” Migrating westward, they settled in the valley of Shin’ar
(Babylon).
They said: “Come, let us build for
ourselves a city
and a tower whose top shall reach the
heavens; and we shall make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad
upon the face of the whole earth.”
G‑d came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of man had built.
G‑d said: “Behold! [They are] one
people, and they all have one language, and this is what they have commenced to
do. Now, will there not be withheld from them all that they have planned to do?
Come, let us go down and there confound their language, so that they will not
understand one another’s speech.”
So G‑d scattered them from there upon
the face of the entire earth, and they ceased building the city.
Therefore He named it Babel, for there
the L‑rd confused (balal) the
language of the entire earth, and from there the L‑rd scattered them upon the
face of the entire earth.
Abram’s First Years
Noah’s son, Shem, had a son named
Arpachshad. Arpachshad fathered Shelach; Shelach’s son was Eber (one of the
sources of the appellation “Hebrew”); Eber fathered Peleg (“division”—it was in
the year of Peleg’s death that the division of humanity into nations occurred
in wake of the sin of the Tower); Peleg’s son was Reu; Reu’s son was Serug;
Serug begot Nachor; and Nachor was the father of Terach.
Terach had three sons: Haran (who died
in his father’s lifetime), Nachor and Abram. Haran had a son, Lot, and two
daughters: Milkah, who became the wife of her uncle Nachor; and Sarai (also
called Yiskah), who also wed a younger brother of her father’s, Abraham. Sarai
was barren, having no children.
The Parshah of Noach concludes by
telling how the entire family set out from their hometown, Ur Casdim, to
journey to the land of Canaan. They stopped, however, at Charan, where Terach
died at the age of 205.
From Our Sages:
Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations (6:9)
Among our sages, there are those who
interpret this as being in praise of Noah: If he was righteous in his
generation, then certainly he would have been even more righteous if he would
have been in a generation of righteous people. And there are those who
interpret this as a condemnation: In relation to his generation he was
righteous, but had he been in Abraham’s generation, he wouldn’t have been
regarded as anything.
(Rashi)
G‑d said to
Noah: “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with
violence through them” (6:13)
Why was the generation of the Flood
utterly destroyed, but not the generation of the Tower? Because the generation
of the Flood were consumed by robbery and violence, while amongst the
generation of the Tower, love prevailed.
(Midrash Rabbah)
G‑d said to Noah . . .
“Make yourself an ark” (6:13–14)
G‑d has many ways to save someone; why
did he make Noah toil to build the ark? In order that the people of his
generation should see him occupied with the task for 120 years, and they should
ask him, “Why are you doing this?” and he would tell them that G‑d is bringing
a flood upon the world. Perhaps this would cause them to repent.
(Rashi; Midrash Tanchuma)
When G‑d
said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me,” Noah said: “What will
You do with me?” But he did not pray for mercy for the world, as Abraham would
pray for the city of Sodom. . . . This is why the Flood is
called “the waters of Noah” (Isaiah
54:9)—he is culpable for them, because he
did not appeal for mercy on the world’s behalf.
(Zohar)
Noah tried
to save his generation by calling on them to repent. But the fact that he did
not pray for them implies that, ultimately, it did not matter to him what
became of them. Had he truly cared, he would not have sufficed with “doing his
best,” but would have implored the Almighty to repeal His decree of
destruction—just as a person whose own life is in danger would never say,
“Well, I did my best to save myself” and leave it at that, but would beseech G‑d
to help him.
In other words, Noah’s involvement with
others was limited to his sense of what he ought to do for
them, as opposed to a true concern for their wellbeing. He understood the
necessity to act for the sake of another, recognizing that to fail to do so is
a defect in one’s own character; but he fell short of transcending the self to
care for others beyond the consideration of his own righteousness.
This also
explains a curious aspect of Noah’s efforts to reach out to his generation.
When the Flood came, Noah and his family entered the ark—alone. His 120-year
campaign yielded not a single baal teshuvah (repentant)!
Perhaps public relations was never Noah’s strong point, but how are we to explain
the fact that in all this time he failed to win over a single individual?
But in order to influence others, one’s
motives must be pure; in the words of our sages, “Words that come from the
heart enter the heart.” Deep down, a person will always sense whether you truly
have his interests at heart, or you are filling a need of your own by seeking
to change him. If your work to enlighten your fellow stems from a desire to “do
the right thing” but without really caring about the result, your call will be met
with scant response. The echo of personal motive, be it the most laudable of
personal motives, will be sensed, if only subconsciously, by the object of your
efforts, and will ultimately put him off.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
G‑d said to Noah . . .
“Come into the ark” (7:1)
The Hebrew word for “ark,” teivah,
also means “word.” “Come into the word,” says G‑d; enter
within the words of prayer and Torah study. Here
you will find a sanctuary of wisdom, meaning
and holiness amidst the raging floodwaters of life.
(Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov)
In the
six-hundredth year of Noah’s life . . . all the fountains of the
great deep broke open, and the windows of heaven were opened (7:11)
[This hints that] in the sixth century
of the sixth millennium [from creation—1740–1840 in the secular calendar], the
gates of supernal wisdom will be opened, as will the springs of earthly wisdom,
preparing the world to be elevated in the seventh millennium.
(Zohar)
The
chronology of events, as indicated by the dates and time periods given in the
Torah’s account and calculated by Rashi, is as follows:
Cheshvan 17: Noah enters ark; rains begin.
Kislev 27: Forty days of rain end; 150 days of water’s swelling and churning
begin, during which the water reaches a height of 15 cubits above the mountain
peaks.
Sivan 1: Water calms, and begins to subside at the rate of one cubit each
four days.
Sivan 17: The bottom of the ark, submerged 11 cubits beneath the surface,
touches down on the top of Mount Ararat.
Av 1: The
mountain peaks break the water’s surface.
Elul 10: Noah open the ark’s window and dispatches the raven.
Elul 17: Noah sends the dove for the first time.
Elul 23: The dove is sent a second time, and returns with an olive branch
in its beak.
Tishrei 1: Dove’s third mission. Water completely drained.
Cheshvan 27: Ground fully dried. Noah exits the ark.
Total time in ark: 365 days (one solar
year; one year and 11 days on the lunar calendar).
G‑d spoke to
Noah, saying: “Go out of the ark . . .” (8:16)
This, too, is a divine command. G‑d
commands us to “enter into the ark,” into the sanctums of spirituality we are
to create in the material world. But then we must “go out of the ark” to carry
forth its sanctity to the
ends of the earth.
(The Chassidic Masters)
And Noah
built an altar to G‑d (8:20)
The location of the altar [in the Holy
Temple] is very exactly defined, and is never to be
changed. . . . It is a commonly held tradition that the place
where David and Solomon built the altar, on the threshing floor of Aravnah, is
the very place where Abraham built an altar and bound Isaac upon it; this is
where Noah built [an altar] when he came out from the ark; this is where Cain
and Abel brought their offerings; this is where Adam the First Man offered
a korban when he was created—and it is from [the earth of]
this place that he was created. Thus the sages have said: Man was formed from
the place of his atonement.
(Maimonides)
I will
demand the life of man . . . for in the image of G‑d made He man
(9:5–6)
How were the Ten Commandments given?
Five on one tablet and five on a second tablet. This means that “Do not murder”
corresponds to “I am the L‑rd your G‑d.” The Torah is telling us that one who
sheds blood, it is as if he has reduced the image of the King.
To what is this analogous? To a king of
flesh and blood who entered a country and put up portraits of himself, made
statues of himself, and minted coins with his image. After a while the people
of the country overturned his portraits, broke his statues and invalidated his
coins, thereby reducing the image of the king. So too, one who sheds blood
reduces the image of the King, as it is written (Genesis 9:6): “One who spills a man’s blood . . . for in the image of
G‑d He made man.”
(Mechilta)
Noah began
to be a man of the earth, and he planted a vineyard (9:20)
When Noah took to planting, Satan came
and stood before him and said to him: “What are you planting?” Said he: “A
vineyard.” Said Satan to him: “What is its nature?” Said he: “Its fruits are
sweet, whether moist or dry, and one makes from them wine, which brings joy to
the heart.” Said Satan to Noah: “Do you desire that we should plant it
together, you and I?” Said Noah: “Yes.”
What did Satan do? He brought a lamb
and slaughtered it over the vine; then he brought a lion and slaughtered it over
it; then he brought a monkey and slaughtered it over it; then he brought a
swine and slaughtered it over it; and he watered the vine with their blood.
Thus he alluded to Noah: When a person drinks one cup, he is like a lamb,
modest and meek. When he drinks two cups, he becomes mighty as a lion and
begins to speak with pride, saying: Who compares with me! As soon as he drinks
three or four cups he becomes a monkey, dancing and frolicking and profaning
his mouth, and not knowing what he does. When he becomes drunk, he becomes a
pig, dirtied by mud and wallowing in filth.
(Midrash Tanchuma)
Ham saw the
nakedness of their father, and told his two brothers outside. Shem and Japheth
took the garment . . . and covered the nakedness of their
father, and they did not see their father’s shame (9:22-23)
One of the cornerstones of Rabbi Israel
Baal Shem Tov’s teaching is the doctrine of hashgachah peratit,
“specific divine providence.” Hashgachah peratit means that
nothing is by chance—every event in a person’s life is purposeful, an integral
part of his divinely ordained mission in life.
From this principle arises another of
the Baal Shem Tov’s famous teachings. “Your fellow is your mirror,” the Besht
would say to his disciples. “If your own face is clean, the image you perceive
will also be flawless. But should you look upon your fellow man and see a
blemish, it is your own imperfection that you are encountering—you are being
shown what it is that you must correct within yourself.” Otherwise, to what
purpose would G‑d cause you to see your fellow’s degradation?
One may ask: Perhaps I am being shown
my fellow’s deficiency not as a message concerning my own state, but so that I
may assist him in its correction?
To answer this question, we must first
take a closer look at the principle of “particular divine providence.” Particular divine
providence means that not only is every event purposeful, but also its every
aspect and nuance.
For example, the same event can imply
different things to different observers, depending on how much they know about
the people involved and the events that led up to it. Divine providence is
“particular” in that it shows each observer precisely what is applicable to
him. If you witness an event, everything about it, including the particular way
in which it has affected you, serves a purpose crucial to your mission in life.
When you are confronted with a fellow’s
deficiency, there are two distinct elements in your awareness: (a) the fact of
that person’s wrongdoing; (b) his guilt, culpability and decadence. The former
does not necessarily imply the latter. You may be aware of the fact that a
fellow has done wrong, yet such knowledge can be accompanied with
understanding, compassion and vindication.
In order to correct your fellow’s
wrongdoing, it is enough to know that the action is wrong. To also sense his
guilt and lowliness is completely unnecessary; on the contrary, it only hinders
your ability to reach out to him in a loving and tolerant manner. The only
possible purpose that it can serve is to impress upon you how despicable that
thing—or something similar to it, if only in a most subtle way—is in yourself,
and thereby compel you to correct it.
This is what the Torah is telling us
when it says, “And they did not see their father’s shame.” Not only did Shem
and Japheth not physically see their father’s shameful state—this we already
know from the (twice-repeated) fact that “their faces were backward”; they also
did not perceive his guilt or disgrace. Unlike Ham, whose own debasement was reflected
in his vision of his father, their entire reaction to their knowledge of what
had transpired lay in what they must now do to correct it. The shame of
their father, however, they simply did not see.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
They said to
one another: “. . . Come, let us build ourselves a city and a
tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make ourselves a name” (11:4)
What was their sin? Their motives for
building a city with a tower whose top shall reach the heavens seem quite
understandable. Mankind was only just reconstructing itself after the flood
that had wiped out the entire human race save for Noah and his family. If
fledgling humanity was to survive, unity and cooperation were of critical
importance. So they set out to build a common city to knit them into a single
community. At its heart they planned a tower which would be visible for miles,
a landmark to beckon to those who had strayed from the city, and a monument to
inspire commitment to their common goal—survival. All they wanted was to “make
for ourselves a name”—to ensure the continuity of the human race.
And yet, their project to preserve
humanity deteriorated into a rejection of all that humanity stands for, and an
open rebellion against their Creator and purpose. Their quest for unity
resulted in the breakup of mankind into clans and factions, and the onset of
close to four thousand years of misunderstanding, xenophobia and bloodletting
across the divisions of race, language and culture. Where did they go wrong?
But precisely that was their error:
they saw survival as an end in itself. Let us make a name for ourselves, they
said; let us ensure that there will be future generations who will read of us
in their history books. But why survive? For what purpose
should humanity inhabit the earth? What is the content of the
name and legacy they are laboring to preserve? Of this they said, thought and
did nothing. To them, life itself was an ideal, survival itself a virtue.
This was the beginning of the end. No
physical system will long tolerate a vacuum, and this is true of spiritual
realities as well: unless a soul or cause is filled with positive content,
corruption will ultimately seep in. A hollow name and shrine soon becomes a
Tower of Babel.
Never has the lesson of the Tower of
Babel been more pertinent to our people than it is today. We, too, are a
generation struggling to recoup after a holocaust of destruction that
threatened to erase us from the face of the earth. Reconstruction and survival
are uppermost in our minds, and together, with G‑d’s help, we are succeeding.
At a time like this, it is extremely
important that we not repeat the error of the builders of Babel. Rebuild we
must, but the objective must be more than a more enduring name, a greater city,
a taller tower. If we are to survive, we must give import to our survival,
reiterate the why of our existence. We must fill our name with value, our city
with significance, and crown the tower of our resurgence with the higher
purpose for which we were created.
(Based on an address by the Lubavitcher
Rebbe in 1959)
G‑d
descended to see the city and the tower which the sons of man had built (11:5)
Obviously, G‑d did not need to “come
down” in order to see their crime; but He wished to teach all future judges not
to judge a defendant until they see [the case] and understand [it].
(Rashi)
The
Zohar teaches about the influence of one's name
Rabbi Elazar opened his discourse
with the words: "Come behold the work of G‑d who has
made desolate places on the earth." (Psalms
46:9)
This verse has already been interpreted
in a number of ways, but now let us ask why it starts with the Aramaic
expression "chazu" [for the
word "behold", instead of the Hebrew word "ri'oo"].
The word "chazu" hints
at [the level of prophecy as Isaiah states]: "A grievous prophetic
vision has been imparted to me." (Isaiah 21:2) So it
is that the works of G‑d reveal supernal prophecy to humankind.The very names which people or things are given have a causal effect on
their destiny…
The verse goes on to state "…who
has made desolate places [in
Hebrew, 'shmoot'] in the earth". Don't interpret the word
"shamoot" to mean "desolate places". Instead read
the word as "shaymot" [meaning "names"],
for [one's] name causes everything!
Now the verse can be interpreted:
"Through names which G‑d has placed in the world, you can envision the
future that will happen to those people or things." The very names which
people or things are given have a causal effect on their destiny. Thus parents,
naming a child, are given a type of prophecy, enabling the name chosen to have
significance in relation to the child's future. A tzadik can
have special insights into a person or thing by relating properly to their
name. This is proven by the name given to Noah who was called "Noach",
related to the Hebrew root "to comfort".
Thus the verse: "And he called his
name Noah, saying, ['This baby
will grow up to give us comfort, making our work and our manual labor easier,
despite the curse which the Lord has put on the ground']." (Gen:
5:29)
Indeed
the Midrash states that Noah invented tools - something he would have
certainly needed to build an ark!
Why does the verse state that: "He
called his name Noah, saying, This…"
The word "This" seems
inappropriate, because one would normally say that he was called "Noah,
because he will comfort us etc." These two words which
seem out of place - "…saying, This..." actually represent two levels
in the spiritual worlds.
"Saying" [in Hebrew, "laymor"] is the feminine
aspect [called malchut], and "this" ["zeh"] represents
the [sefira of yesod that is also called] "Tzadik".
This comforting unity is what is hinted
at by the use of these two words.
Here it is written that "This will
comfort us" and elsewhere it is written "This is G‑d, whose
revelation we have waited for, we will rejoice and be happy in His salvation of
us." (Isaiah
25:9) Happy are those righteous ones
whose names are registered with the seal of the King, to be registered in His
Name, as He places them on the earth as befits them.
Keeping Out of the Limelight
Everything which a person does in a
hidden manner is blessed
In the translation
below, the Zohar explains why the name of G‑d, spelled yud hei vav hei (referred to
as "Havayah") is pronounced in a way unrelated to its
spelling. The name is pronounced "Ado-nai", meaning
"L-rd", but this is not even hinted at by the spelling. Another
name, Elokim, is also used to describe Divinity in its aspect as
creator, and our text explores the meaning behind the use of this name and what
it means in our daily lives.
Why is it written in one place, "And Havayah [a name referring to
the divine aspect of mercy] rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and
Gomorrah" (Gen. 19:24)? What is the
difference between this and the story of the Flood, where the name Elokim is
used in every instance and not the name G‑d?
The only exception to
this is when the text deals with the salvation of Noah and his family,
such as "Havayah said to Noah, 'Come, you and all
your house into the ark'" (Gen. 7:1), or "Havayah closed
him in." (Gen. 7:16)
However we have
learned that every place where it says "and Havayah"
refers to Him and His Court of Judgment.
The intention is to show
that Zeir Anpin, the higher merciful aspect of G‑d, has connected
with Malchut. Just as a kingdom is ruled by law, so the connection
of Zeir Anpin with Malchut results
in the execution of judgment.
Where the name Elokim is used by itself, it refers to
the aspect of judgment. When Sodom was destroyed, the verdict was not to
destroy the entire world. As a result, Havayah [the name] became
involved in the execution of the judgment [so as to ensure that there
was limitation to the destruction]. This was not the case in the Flood.
There, the whole world was destroyed and all those living in it.Wherever the
name Elokim is used, all people need to hide themselves…
Now don’t think that [because] Noah and all with him
were saved [there must have been judgment mixed with mercy]. He was
hidden from sight and not seen [by the destructive powers and
therefore was saved]. Because of the power of judgment, everything in the
world was destroyed. From here we see that where the words "and Havayah"
are used, it is possible to be revealed out in the open [like Lot] and
yet be saved [because there is a differentiation made between the
wicked and those who merit to be saved]. Wherever the name Elokim is
used, all people need to hide themselves and remain guarded in a sealed
place [like a bunker!]. This is because He [the aspect of
judgment] destroys everything [not differentiating between the
righteous and the wicked]. This is the reason that the name Elokim is
used by itself in connection with the Flood.
[Here we skip a few
lines that reinforce the above concept and move to a related topic that
follows.]The Holy One blessed Be He hidden and revealed…
I have learned this secret. The Holy One blessed Be He is [both] hidden and revealed.
The hidden aspect is
the name Havayah, which is forbidden to pronounce. The revealed
aspect is the name Ado-nai.
The revealed aspect is His Court of Judgment below [Malchut].
The hidden [name] is the place from which issues all
blessings. Because of this, everything which a person does in a hidden manner
is blessed [since its spiritual source is in the hidden name of Havayah].
The blessing dwells
over the activity because the forces of destruction, like pride generated by
the honor received, and their spiritual parallel in the angelic forces of
destruction have no place upon which to cling.
Everything that is done in a revealed manner [in the world, which
is His Kingdom], is in a place where His Court of Judgment dwells [and
is therefore subject to close scrutiny].
Drunk on D'vine
At the moment of his fall, Noah was in
the midst of rectifying the sin of Adam.
From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai;
translation & commentary by Moshe Miller
Noah, the man of the soil, debased himself and planted a vineyard. He
drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself with this tent. (Gen. 9:20-21)
Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yose [interpreted these verses
respectively]:
One maintained that
the grapevine was banished from the Garden of Eden.
[i.e. it was the Tree
of Knowledge, according to one of the views cited (Bereishit Rabbah 15:8
and Sanhedrin 70b)] and he planted it here [in
the ground - outside of the Garden of Eden].
Noah intended to
rectify the vine with which Adam had transgressed….
The other one maintains that the grapevine was from the Land of Israel,
and he uprooted it and planted it [outside Israel].
On the same day [that he planted it], it produced
fruits which he squeezed [to make wine].
He then drank the
wine and became intoxicated.
According to the
opinion that the vine was banished together with Adam from the Garden
of Eden, Noah intended to rectify the vine with which Adam had transgressed.
However, instead of sanctifying the wine which he made from the grapes, he
became drunk on it. He thus debased himself by repeating Adam's sin, as
explained below. The sin of the Tree of Knowledge was that Adam drank the juice
which Eve squeezed from its grapes.
According to the
second opinion, Noah found the vine outside of the Garden of Eden, in the Land
of Israel. He debased himself by uprooting it from its proper place, and
replanting it elsewhere, in a place that was not fitting for it. According to
this view, his transgression was not the same as that of Adam. (Sulam)
Rabbi Shimon said: This verse contains the secret of wisdom.
When Noah wished to examine the sin that Adam had committed with the intention
of avoiding it himself and learning how to rectify it and the world, he was
unable to [fathom its secret]. So he squeezed grapes in order to examine [the
secret of] the vineyard.
The sons
of Aaron…became intoxicated with the same wine which intoxicated Noah….
The Zohar states
that Eve squeezed grapes from the Tree of Knowledge and gave Adam to
drink. (Zohar I, 36a, 267b) Ziv
Hazohar explains that this refers to "external" or secular
wisdom, i.e. wisdom other than the Torah, such as philosophy, which
attempts to examine divine secrets by way of the intellect; or witchcraft,
which attempts to harness the powers of impurity.
When he reached this point, he became intoxicated and exposed, and he
lost his resistance [to the External Forces].
Thus the breach in the world [which Adam's sin had made] became
revealed, after it had been sealed [against the entry of External Forces
(Ashmoret HaBoker)].
This is similar to [what happened with] the sons
of Aaron, regarding whom we
have learned [that they entered into the Holy of Holies] intoxicated
with wine.
Now who gave them
wine to drink there? Do you really think that they were so brazen as to drink
wine there?
Certainly not! Rather they became intoxicated with the same wine [which intoxicated
Noah].
This refers to
secular wisdom. (Ziv Hazohar )
Here [regarding Aaron's sons] it is written, "they
offered strange fire before G‑d." Elsewhere it is
written, "Beware of a strange woman" (Mishlei 7:5) [alluding
to secular wisdom].
The Returning Dove
The account of the dove and Noah's
ark alludes to the history of the Jewish People.
From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai;
translation & commentary by Moshe Miller
"He sent off
the dove…." (Gen. 8:8)
Rabbi Pinchas said: The Holy One blessed be He wished to test
the Children of Israel, and so He sent them into exile in Babylon, as it
states: "He sent off the dove". "The dove" refers to
the Community of Israel [the collective souls of the Jewish
people, known as "Knesset Yisrael"].
This exile took place
after the destruction of the First Temple.
Now see what is written in the next verse "But the dove did not
find a perch for its foot…" (ibid. 8:9) in regard to this:
the King of Babylon exacerbated the yoke of their exile by starvation and
thirst and by murdering many of the righteous. Because of the harshness of the
exile, "…"[the dove] returned to him in the ark and he took it".
This symbolized that
the Jewish people repented and returned to G‑d, who stretched out His
hand, having accepted their repentance.
Then the Community of
Israel sinned again, and He sent them into exile again, as it states, "Once
more he sent the dove out from the ark" (ibid. 8:10)
This time into the
Greek exile, during the era of the Second Temple.
This final exile
has no set limit, and everything depends upon repentance….
After [the Jewish
People suffered great anguish and duress during the Greek exile,]: "Toward
evening, the dove returned." (ibid. 8:11) What is the
allegorical meaning of "toward evening"? That the hour of relief did
not shine as it had done previously. The righteous were killed, the day
darkened, as is states: "Woe to us, for the day wanes, and the shadows
of night are lengthening." (Jeremiah 6:4) "The
day wanes" - these are the righteous, who shine like the sun; "and
the shadows of night are lengthening" - they remained like the dregs.
This is the meaning of "towards evening", and not at the time when
the righteous shone like the sun.
"In its beak
was an olive leaf it had plucked". (Gen. 8:11)
Had the Holy One
blessed be He not aroused the spirit of the Kohanim who lit
the Menorah using olive oil1 then the vestige of the
tribe of Judah would have been lost.
But each time [the Jewish people were sent into exile] they
repented and returned, and their repentance was accepted…
[He waited yet
another seven days] "and sent out the dove"…. (Gen. 8:12)
This refers to the exile of Edom [i.e. Rome, after the
destruction of the Second Temple].
"…it did not
return to him any more". (ibid. 8:12)
Until this very day we have not repented, and our spirit has not been
aroused [to return to G‑d].
Rabbi Pinchas said:
Every time the Jewish People were sent into exile, the Holy One blessed be He
set a limit to the exile, and they were always aroused to repentance. But this
final exile has no set limit, and everything depends upon repentance.
Real Human Beings
Based on Zohar Breishit 71a
Real Human Beings:
Based on Zohar Breishit 71a
Formerly, the creatures of the world looked upon man and saw the holy
supernal image and trembled with fear.
"And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be." (Gen. 9:2) This
means that from now on, you shall [again] take the form of human
beings, for before [the flood] mankind did not take the form
of human beings.
Come and see! In the
beginning it is written: "for in the image of Elokim He
made Man," (Gen. 9:6) and also, "in the likeness of Elokim He
made him." (Gen. 5:1) But as people sinned, they no
longer maintained the supernal image, and they became afraid of the beasts of
the field.
...human beings now
tremble with fear of other creatures.
Formerly, the
creatures of the world looked upon man and saw the holy supernal image and
trembled with fear. But as people sinned, their image was transformed in the
eyes of the beasts. This is why human beings now trembled with fear of other
creatures.
Come and see! All the
people who do not sin before their Master and do not transgress against the
commandments of the Torah, keep their divine radiance of the supernal
image. Therefore all the creatures of the world tremble with fear of them. But
when the people transgress against the commandments of the Torah, their shape changes and they tremble and fear other creatures, because
the supernal shape has left them. Because the beasts cannot see the supernal
form in them anymore, they are ruled by the beasts of the field.
...He delivered
everything into the hands of Man.
When the world was
renewed, G‑d blessed them by granting them dominion over all, even
over the fish in the sea. As it is written: "And upon all the fishes of
the sea; into your hand they are delivered." (Gen. 9:2) Rabbi
Chiya said that into your hand they are delivered, indicating that when G‑d created the world, He delivered everything into the hands of Man.
As it is written: "and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air..." (Gen. 1:28)
BeRahamim LeHayyim:
We are created "slightly less than the angels." Yet our potential for
free choice, and choosing the straight way, puts us even higher than these
completely spiritual beings.
Let us not live
solely to make choices to satisfy our present physical needs. Go for the Gold!
Seek to find G‑d in all your ways. Do not take the physical at face value. This
is the way to make the terrestrial holy. This is the lesson of parashat Noah.
One Common, Evil Purpose
The Zohar teaches the Tower of
Babel's success was due to its builders speaking Hebrew.
Advanced
From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai;
translation & commentary by Moshe Miller
"The entire earth had one language and a common purpose…: 'Come,
let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach the sky. This
we will make ourselves a name so that we will not become scattered over the
entire earth.'" (Gen. 11:1-4)
Rabbi Shimon said: Until that time, the world had a single
foundation, principle and root: belief in the Holy One blessed be He. What is
written [subsequently]? "When people migrated from Kedem…"
- "Kadmono shel Olam" [the Primordial and
Principle One] in whom everyone believed.
The builders of the
city spoke the Holy Tongue….
The word "kedem"
can be understood literally - "the east" or, as in this case, as
referring to the Holy One blessed be He who is called "Kadmono
shel Olam". Thus, the meaning of the verse is: "They abandoned
belief in G‑d, and began to worship idols." (Zohar I, 74b)
"The entire
earth had one language." The builders of the city spoke the Holy Tongue
[Hebrew], which the ministering angels know, and did not speak any other
language. For this reason it is written, "Shouldn't they be prevented from
accomplishing all their objectives?" (ibid. 11:6) Had
they spoken a different language, which the ministering angles do not know,
they could not have accomplished their objectives, because witchcraft has no
permanence.
The builders of the
city used their knowledge of the Hebrew language in the use or manipulation of
Divine Names….
The meaning of this
is as follows: The builders of the city used their knowledge of the Hebrew
language in the use or manipulation of Divine Names to force the ministering
angels to aid them in their task of building the city and the tower. Had they
not known the Holy Tongue, they would not have been able to force the angels to
do their bidding. Angels can be manipulated only by using Divine Names which
derive from the Hebrew language. Instead, they would have used witchcraft.
Since witchcraft has no permanence, whatever they would have achieved thereby
would have soon disintegrated of its own accord.
"A common purpose" [also translated as, "a few
matters"] means that they knew clearly the rank each of the [multiple] supernal
levels without erring between them, [as if they were merely] a
few matters. For this reason, [because of their vast knowledge of
spiritual matters], they took evil counsel from wisdom, as it is written,
"Let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach the
sky."
The "city and
tower" refer to extremely elevated levels of esoteric wisdom which they
dragged into impurity, as will be explained shortly.
They wanted to
increase the power of unholiness on earth, and serve the side of impurity….
This matter is the secret of chochma, wisdom [or better,
"cunning" since this refers to chochma of the
side of unholiness]. They wanted to increase the power of unholiness on
earth, and serve the side of impurity, for they knew that from that level all
negative aspects descend upon the world. In this way they attempted to drive
holiness away.
"A city and a tower": This refers to supernal chochma,
for they knew that the Holy Divine Name is not grasped down below other than by
way of the "city and tower" [yesod and malchut (commentary Or
Yakar)]. They cunningly worked to make the side of impurity dominate on
earth and drive away the Master of the earth, malchut of
Holiness, from its proper place, and make the powers of impurity dwell upon
earth.
"We will make ourselves a name"
This means that they
built the corresponding levels (city and tower) on the side of unholiness, by
utilizing their knowledge of esoteric matters, which enabled them to use Divine
Names to force the ministering angels to do their evil will, as mentioned
above.
Rainbows and Doves
The Zohar teaches how Children
manifest the spiritual light of the Parents.
Advanced
From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai;
adapted from the Zohar by Peretz Auerbach
Something else [explaining the verse "The buds appeared in
the land" (Songs 2:12)]: "the buds" - these are the
Patriarchs, that arose in thought [Abba], and ascended to
the World to Come [Imma], and were hidden there.
As at first, the buds
were explained to refer to chesed, gevura and tiferet.
Throughout
the Zohar, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are
understood as the human embodiment of these sefirot. Abraham's outstanding quality was loving-kindness, or chesed,
as the Torah tells of his outstanding care to bring in and serve guests (Gen. 18:2); Isaac was known for his great fear of G‑d (see Gen. 31:42), which comes from
and corresponds to the attribute of strength and severity, or gevura; Jacob was known as a dweller in tents (see Gen. 25:27) where he
learned Torah, which manifests the harmonious combination of the previous two traits,
known as "tiferet".
The divine
flow…descended to chesed, gevura and tiferet,
but in a concealed way….
Here, when the Zohar mentions
"ascent", it refers to the awakening of "feminine waters"
from the level below (here referring to chesed, gevura and tiferet of Zeir
Anpin) to the levels above (in this case Abba, from the sefira of chochma,
which is called "Thought", and Imma, from the sefira of bina, from which comes the
delight of the World to Come).
The partzufim of Abba and Imma,
literally "mother" and "father", parent the partzufim directly
underneath them, Zeir Anpin and Nukva,
their "children". Just as when children go to their parents, the
parents are roused to give them food and supply their needs, so does the ascent
of Zeir Anpin and Nukva awaken a flow of
light and life from Abba and Imma.
And from there they left [the upper] concealment and
were concealed within the true prophets [netzach and hod].
The divine flow
transmitted from Abba and Imma descended
to chesed, gevura and tiferet, but in
a concealed way. This was arranged by G‑d in order to prevent the husks from seeking to be nourished from
this flow.
Chesed, gevura and tiferet passed the divine
gift along to netzach and hod.
They are known as "prophets" throughout the Zohar because from them
originates the prophet's inspiration (see Shaar Ruach Hakodesh pg.
11). Their physical expression is in the two cherubim upon the
ark of the Holy Temple. From them emanated the voice of prophecy to Moses (end
of Exodus).
Joseph [yesod] was born, and they [the lights of the
Patriarchs] were hidden in him.
Joseph is identified
with yesod,
which receives the life force from above and does its job of giving over and
reproducing. This actualization of its potential is called "being
born".
Joseph went into the Holy Land [malchut].
At the time the
rainbow appears then they are revealed….
Malchut is the last level within the sefirot. There yesod stands firmly with
all the flow received from chesed, gevura, tiferet, netzach and hod,
enabling yesod to establish this in malchut.
There they stood up
firmly. And then they appeared in the Land and were revealed there.
Once these lights of
the Patriarchs (chesed, gevura and tiferet) come
to malchut, they come to fruition and manifest in the world as G‑d's
sovereignty through these qualities.
And when do they
appear? At the time when the rainbow is revealed in the world. Because at the
time the rainbow appears then they are revealed.
The beaming colors of
the rainbow represent the shining of the attributes chesed, gevura and tiferet into
the world.
And at that time [when the rainbow appears], "The
time of song has arrived" (Songs 2:12) [implying] the
time to cut the wicked from the world [i.e. "shir" in
Hebrew can mean either 'song' or 'cut'].
Through singing to
G‑d, the powers of evil are annihilated….
Through singing to G‑d,
the powers of evil are annihilated. The best way to do this is through praising
G‑d and singing to Him, ridding evil from one's own heart.
Why will they [the wicked] be saved?
The sins of the
wicked in the generation of the Flood caused destruction. What
prevents this from re-occurring?
Because the buds
appear in the land.
Because the lights
of chesed, gevura and tiferet shined down and
sweetened the judgments caused by the sins.
And were it not that they [the buds] appeared, they [the
wicked] would not be left in the world, and the world would not endure.
Children … generate
such merit as to justify the world's endurance, despite its sins….
And what makes the
world endure and caused the Patriarchs to be revealed?
What awakening from
below, in this world, caused the drawing of these spiritual lights from above?
The voice of the
children who speak words of Torah.
Being below the age
of maturity, children are not responsible for their deeds, and are therefore
free from sin. The words of Torah emanating from their pure lips therefore
generate such merit as to justify the world's endurance, despite its sins.
And because of these
youths of the world, the world is saved. Relating to them, the verse states,
"Doves of gold we will make for you" (Songs
1:11) for these are the children, the youths, the lads, as it is written,
"And you shall make two golden cherubs." (Ex. 25:18)
The children's'
melodious chanting of words of Torah is likened to the sweet song that the
doves sing….
How do we know that
this verse refers to the children? Rabbinic tradition teaches that the faces of
these cherubs, or angelic figures, in the Holy Temple were like that of children. and
were made of gold. (Chagiga 13b) From this we can deduce
that the gold mentioned in the aforementioned verse hints to children. These
are allegorized in the Song of Songs as "doves of gold",
because the children's' melodious chanting of words of Torah is likened to the
sweet song that the doves sing.
Also, the dove is
known throughout the words of the Sages as being always loyal to its mate.
Children are similar in that they are always loyal to G‑d. The cherubs also
have the faces of children because angels share with children the quality of
being free of sin. And the Torah hints to us the connection between the two
verses specifically through the word "gold", because this exalted
quality is rare like gold.
In terms of the verse
in context of the Song of Songs, the Jewish people are expressing their love for G‑d
by telling how we have our children sing the words of Torah to Him.
כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא, שנאמר ועמך כולם צדיקים, לעולם יירשו ארץ,
נצר מטעי מעשה ידי להתפאר
1. “By Ten Sayings the world was
created. And what is learned from this? For could it not have been created by
One Saying? But it was that vengeance might be taken on the wicked, who destroy
the world that was created by Ten Sayings, and to give a goodly reward to
the righteous, who maintain the world that was created by Ten Sayings.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with
God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that
has been made.”
John 1:1-3
2. “There were ten generations
from Adam to Noach, to show how great His patience was, as all the
generations were provoking Him, until He brought the flood upon them.”
“The L-rd is not slow concerning his
promise, as some count slowness, but is patient with us, not wishing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9
3. “There were ten generations
from Noach to Avraham, to show how great His patience was, as all the
generations were provoking Him, till Avraham Avinu came, and received
the reward of them all.”
4. “With ten temptations was
Avraham Avinu tempted, and he withstood them all, to show how great was
the love of Abraham our father.”
“By faith, Abraham, being tested,
offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up
his one and only son; even he to whom it was said, In Isaac will your seed be
called;[3] concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead.
Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead. ”
Hebrews 11:17-19
5. “Ten miracles were
performed for our fathers in Egypt, and ten by the sea.”
6. “With ten temptations did our
fathers tempt God in the wilderness, for it is said, “And they have tempted me
now these ten times, and have not listened to my voice (Number 14:22).”
7. Ten miracles were
performed in the Sanctuary. No woman miscarried from the scent of the holy
meat, and the holy meat never smelled bad. And never did ritual impurity
befall the Kohen Gadol on the Day of Atonement, and a fly was not seen in the
slaughterhouse, and a defect was not found in the sheaf, nor in the two
loaves, nor in the showbread, and rains quenched not the
pile, and the wind prevailed not against the pillar of smoke, they stood
serried, and bowed down at ease, and serpent and scorpion harmed not in
Yerushalayim, and a man never said to his fellow, ‘This place is too small
for me (Isaiah 49:20) to lodge in Yerushalayim.”
8. “Ten things were created on the
twilight of the Eve of the Sabbath. The mouth of the earth, the mouth
of the well, the mouth of the donkey, the
rainbow, manna, the rod, and the shamir-worm, and the
Script, and the writing, and the Tablets. And some say, “the spirits
also, and the grave of Moshe and the Ram of Abraham Avinu (Genesis
22:13). And some say, “tongs also, made with tongs.”
9. “Seven things are in a clod,
and seven in a wise man. The wise man speaks not before one who is greater than
he in wisdom; and does not interrupt the words of his companion; and is not
hasty to reply; he asks according to canon, and answers to the point; and
speaks on the first thing first, and on the last last; of what he has not
heard he says, I have not heard; and he acknowledges the truth. And their
opposites are in the clod.”
10. “Seven kinds of punishment come
on account of seven main transgressions. When some tithe, and some do not
tithe, dearth from drought comes. Some of them are hungry, and some of them are
full. When they have not tithed at all, a dearth from tumult and from
drought comes. And when they have not offered the challah, a deadly dearth
comes.”
11. “Pestilence comes into the
world for the capital crimes mentioned in the Torah, which are not brought
before the tribunal, and for the seventh year fruits. The sword comes
upon the world for suppression of judgment, and for perversion of judgment, and
for explaining Torah not according to halacha. Wild beasts come into the
world for vain swearing, and for profanation of the Name. Captivity comes upon
the world for strange worship, and for incest, and for shedding of
blood, and for (not) giving release to the land.”
12. “At four seasons the pestilence
waxes: in the fourth (year); in the seventh; at the ending of the seventh; and
at the ending of the Feast in every year. In the fourth (year), on account of
the poor’s tithe in the third; in the seventh, on account of the poor’s tithe
in the sixth; and at the ending of the seventh, on account of the seventh year
fruits; and at the ending of the Feast in every year,, on account of the
largesses of the poor.”
13. “There are four traits in
men, He that says, ‘Mine is mine, and your is yours,’ is an indifferent
character, but some say, ‘It is the character of Sodom.’ He that says,
‘Mine is yours, and yours is mine,’ is am
ha-aretz. Mine and yours are yours, pious. ‘Yours and mine are mine,’ wicked.
14. “There are four traits in
temperaments. Easily provoked, and easily pacified, his gain is cancelled by
his loss. Hard to provoke and hard to pacify, his loss is cancelled by his
gain. Hard to provoke, and easily pacified, pious. Easily provoked, and hard to
pacify, wicked.”
15. “There are four characters in
students. Quick to hear and quick to forget, his gain is cancelled by his loss:
slow to hear and slow to forget, his loss is cancelled by his gain: quick to
hear, and slow to forget, is wise: slow to hear, and quick to forget, this is
an evil lot.”
16. “There are four traits in
givers of charity. He who is willing to give, but not that others should give,
his eye is evil (that is, he is greedy) towards the things of others. That
others should give, and he should not give, his eye is evil towards his own. He
who would give and let others give, is pious. He who will not give, nor let
others give, is wicked.”
17. “There are four traits in
those who to go the Beit HaMidrash (House of Study). He that goes and does not
practice, the reward of going is in his hand. He that practices and does not
go, the reward of practice is in his hand. He that goes and practices is pious.
He that does not go and does not practice is wicked.”
18. “There are four traits in
those who sit under the sages: A Sponge, a Funnel, a Strainer and a Sieve.
A Sponge, which sucks up all. A funnel, which lets in here and lets
out there. A Strainer, which lets out the wine and keeps back the dregs, and a
Sieve, which lets out the pollard and keeps back the flour.”
19. “All love which depends on
something, when that thing ceases, the love ceases. And love that does not
depend on anything, never ceases. What love is that which
depends on something? The love of Amnon and Tamar. And that which does not
depend on anything? This is the love of David and Jonathan.”
20. “Any argument that is for
the sake of Heaven will in the end be established, and that which is not
for the sake of Heaven will not be established in the end. What kind
of argument is that which is for the sake of Heaven? The disputes of
Shammai and Hillel. And that which is not for the sake of Heaven? This is
the argument of Korach.”
21. “Whoever influences the masses
to be righteous, sin prevails not over him. Whoever influences the
masses sin, he is not granted the ability to repent. Moshe was
righteous, and made many righteous, and the righteousness of many was laid upon
him, for it is said, ‘He executed the justice of HaShem and His judgments, with
Israel (Deuteronomy 33:21).’ Yerovam sinned, and caused the masses to sin,
and the sin of the masses was laid upon him, for it is said, “Because of the
sins of Yerovam who sinned, and made Israel to sin (I Kings 14:16).”
22. “In whomsoever are three
traits, he is a disciple of Avraham, and three (other) things, a disciple of
Bilam. A good eye, a lowly soul, and a humble spirit belong to the
disciple of Avraham. A evil eye, a arrogant soul, and a haughty
spirit, to the disciple of Bilam. And what is the difference between the
disciples of Avraham and the disciples of Bilam? The disciples of Bilam go down
to Gehinnom, for it is said, “But you, O G-d, shall bring them down into
the pit of destruction (Psalm 55:24), but the disciples of Avraham inherit the
Garden of Eden, for it is said, “That I may cause those that love me to inherit
substance, and I will fill their treasures (Proverbs 8:21).”
23. Yehuda ben Tema said, “Be bold
as a leopard, and swift as an eagle, and quick as a deer, and strong as a lion,
to do the will of your Father who is in Heaven.”
“Not everyone who says to me, Lord,
Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of
my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 7:21
24. He used to say, “The boldfaced
go to Gehinnom, and the shamefaced to the Garden of Eden. May it be
well-pleasing in your sight, HaShem our G-d, and G-d of our fathers, that
your city may be built in our days, and give us our portion in your Torah.”
25. He used to say, “At five years
old, Scripture. At ten years, Mishnah. At thirteen, the Commandments. At
fifteen, Gemara. At eighteen, the Chuppah. At twenty, pursuits. At thirty,
strength. At forty, discernment. At fifty, counsel. A sixty, age. At
seventy, hoariness. At eighty, strength. At ninety, decrepitude. At a
hundred, it is as though he were dead, and gone, and had ceased from the
world.”
26. Ben Bag Bag said,
“Turn it over, and turn it over again. For all is contained in it. Search
deeply into it, and do not depart from it for you can have no greater
excellency than this.” Ben Hei Hei said, “According to the toil, is the
reward.”
רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא לזכות את ישראל, לפיכך הרבה להם תורה ומצות,
שנאמר: ה’ חפץ למען צדקו יגדיל תורה ויאדיר
Noah
Noach |
נח | “Noah “
In
Hebrew, the name Noah is spelled Noach (נח). The word Noach is related to the
Hebrew word for “rest.” Genesis 5:29 says that his parents named him Noah
(Noach נח) because they hoped their son would give them rest (nacham, נחם) from
their toil.
For the
Son of Man’s coming will be just as it was in the days of Noach. Back then,
before the Flood, people went on eating and drinking, taking wives and becoming
wives, right up till the day Noach entered the ark; and they didn’t know what
was happening until the Flood came and swept them all away. It will be just like that when the Son
of Man comes – Matthew 24:37-39
Torah
——–
Genesis
6:8-14; 11:32; 7: 1; 5:29
Genesis
12:7 ; 17:1
Genesis
24:40
Haftarah
Portion
————————
Amos 3:7
Isaiah
54:1-9; 55: 5
Ha-Berit
ha-Hadashah
——————————–
Hebrews
11:7
Matthew
24:37-39
Luke
17:26-30
1 Peter
3:20
2 Peter
2:5
1 Peter
4:8
Notes:
A
person’s level of righteousness corresponds to their level of relationship with
G-d. Contrast Genesis 6:9, “…in fear of the Lord he (Noah) walked,” with verses
regarding the more righteous Abraham such as; Gen 12:7 and 17:1, “The Lord
appeared to Abraham,” and Gen 24:40, “… the Lord before whom I (Abraham) walk.”
G d said
to Noah . . . “Come into the ark” (7:1)
The
Hebrew word for “Ark,” teivah, also means “Word.” “Come into the
word,” says G d; Enter within the words of prayer and Torah
study. Here you will find a sanctuary of wisdom, meaning and
holiness amidst the raging floodwaters of life.
(Rabbi
Israel Baal Shem Tov)
And
Noah built an altar to G d (8:20)
The
location of the altar [in the Holy Temple] is very exactly defined, and is
never to be changed. . . . It is a commonly held tradition that the place where
David and Solomon built the altar, on the threshing floor of Aravnah, is the
very place where Abraham built an altar and bound Isaac upon it; this is where
Noah built [an altar] when he came out from the ark; this is where Cain and
Abel brought their offerings; this is where Adam the First Man offered a korban
when he was created—and it is from [the earth of] this place that he was
created. Thus the sages have said: Man was formed from the place of his
atonement.
-(Maimonides)
Yeshua
Words:
Leave
your offering there before the altar and go, first be reconciled with
your brother(house of judah), and then come, bring your offering – Matthew 5 : 25
As it is
Written:
“From
beyond the rivers of KUSH my worshipers, the daughter of My dispersed ones
(Ephraim/Manasseh), shall bring My offering” – Zep_3:10
Isaiah
56:7
these I
will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their
burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will
be called a house of prayer for all nations.
In
the days of Noah Earth is filled with violence [i.e robbery ]
Talmud –
Mas. Sanhedrin 108a – And G-d said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come
before me. R. Johanan said: Come and see how great is the power of robbery. For
lo, though the generation of the flood transgressed all laws, their decree of punishment
was sealed only because they stretched out their hands to rob, as it is
written, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and, behold, I
will destroy them with the earth. And it is ‘also written, Violence [i.e.,
robbery] is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor
of their multitude, nor any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them.
Talmud –
Mas. Baba Bathra 88b – Ordinary robbery is worse than the robbery of the Most High
Yeshua
Words: saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’
but you have made it a den of robbers.”
Interestingly,
the next time G-d comes “close” to allowing the entire earth to be destroyed,
theft once again is counted among the most egregious sins:
Revelation
9:21 –
yea they did not reform from their murders, nor from their sorceries, nor from
their whoredoms, nor from their thefts(i.e their stealing.)
Noah’s
time was also one of great demonic activity, as cited in the book of Jude:
Jude 1:6
– And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own
habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the
judgment of the great day.
Noach –Noach’s Ark and the
Curse of Canaan
The Ark of Noach symbolizes the
Garden of Eden whereas the Flood symbolizes the Hell, and Noach symbolizes
Mashiach.
The secret of the two letters of Noach נֹחַ parallel the 50th gates of
understanding on the 8th day, which
is the secret of Mashiach, as follows:
|
Noach |
ח |
נ |
|
|
8 = 7 + 1 |
50 = 7 x 7 + 1 |
Additionally, the “Albam”(אלב”ם) of the two letters of Noach in
gematria is 3 and 100. Which 3 is multiplied by 100, the product is 300, as
follows:
|
Noach |
ח |
נ |
|
Albam |
ק |
ג |
|
300 |
100 |
3 |
Adding to the gematria of Noach נֹחַ which is 58, the sum is 358, the gematria of
Mashiach מָּשִׁיחַ.
The flood is called in Isaiah 54:9 as the “water of Noach” מֵי-נֹחַ,
which in gematria is 108, the same gematria of Gehinom גֵּיהִנֹּם, meaning Hell.
The Garden of Eden is the foretaste
of the Messianic Age, which is prototyped by the Holy Temple where the time and
space dimensions are nullified.
Holy Temple
The Ark of Noach symbolizes the Holy Temple, and
the gematria of Noach and Holy Temple is 1721:
|
Ark
of Noach |
תֵּבַת נֹחַ |
860 |
|
Holy
Temple |
בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ |
861 |
|
|
|
1721 |
The mid-point number of 1721 is
exactly 861, which is the gematria of Holy Temple בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ.
The miracle of the Holy Temple is
that space and time dimensions are nullified, and this is exactly what happened
in the Ark of Noach.
Otherwise it would have been
impossible for Ark to contain all the animals in the world, especially when the
Ark was divided into three decks to separate human, animals and refuse (one
opinion), or even the clean from the unclean animals (another opinion), and how
about the food of one year’s supply?
The fact that the Ark was divided
into three parts obviously parallels the three divisions of the Holy Temple
(Holy of Holies, Holy Place, and the Court).
Noach was 600 years old when the
flood came (Gen 7:6), and the water dried up when Noach was 601 years
old (Gen 8:13). Noach lived after the flood 350 years (Gen 9:28). A simple math would dictate that Noach lived 600
+ 1 + 350 = 951 years.
But Noach lived 950 years (Gen 9:29) according to Torah, this comes to reveal that the
1 year when Noach was in the Ark was obviously not counted, because time
dimension was nullified in the Ark, as there was no passing of time in the Ark.
This comes to explain how the insects
could have survived in the Ark, as the life spans of most insects are less than
one year, and the male and female were prohibited from procreation in the Ark.
In this parallel with the Holy
Temple, Noach would be the High Priest, Shem would be the regular priest,
Japeth the Levites, and Ham the common Children of Israel.
Astonishingly, the gematria of Noach and his three
sons is exactly the same gematria of High Priest, Priests, Levites, and
Children of Israel, as follows:
|
Noach |
נֹחַ |
58 |
High
Priest |
כֹּהֵן גָּדֹל |
112 |
|
Shem |
שֵׁם |
340 |
Priests |
הַכֹּהֲנִים |
130 |
|
Jephath |
יָפֶת |
490 |
Levites |
הַלְוִיִּם |
91 |
|
Ham |
חָם |
48 |
Children of Israel |
בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל |
603 |
|
|
|
936 |
|
|
936 |
Procreation in the Ark was
prohibited, similar to Yom Kippur. The gematria of Yom Kippurim יוֹם כִּפּוּרִים
is 412, which is the exact same gematria of “The Ark” הַתֵּבָה.
This is why the Ark was sealed with
“pitch” כֹּפֶר, which is the same root for (Yom)
Kippur.
Mashiach
At the deeper level, the Ark also symbolizes
Mashiach, as it is written:
|
וְזֶה, אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָהּ: שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת אַמָּה, אֹרֶךְ הַתֵּבָה, חֲמִשִּׁים אַמָּה רָחְבָּהּ, וּשְׁלֹשִׁים אַמָּה קוֹמָתָהּ |
And
this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits,
the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. (Gen 6:15) |
The prescribed length is 300, the
breadth 50, and the height 30, which is the secret of the name YHVH (י-ה-ו-ה).
When the second letter Hey (ה) of YHVH is multiplied by the third letter Vav (ו), the result is: 5 x 6 = 30, the height of the
Ark, alluding to the union of Binah and Tiferet.
When the first three letters, Yud,
Hey, and Vav (י-ה-ו) are multiplied, the result is: 10 x 5 x 6 = 300,
the length of the Ark, alluding to the union of Chochmah, Binah and Tiferet.
When the final letter Hey (ה) is multiplied by the first letter Yud (י), the result is: 10 x 5 = 50, the breadth of the
Ark, alluding to the union of Chochmah and Malchut.
300 is the gematria of Shin (ש), 50 is the gematria of Nun (נ), and 30 is the gematria of Lamed (ל). The Ark being a three dimensional vessel would
have 6 sides, which is the gematria of Vav (ו).
The four letters would spell Lashon לָשׁוֹן, meaning “tongue”. The secret of “tongue” is speech, and the “tongue of YHVH” produces the Word of God which is Mashiach. In
fact, the gematria of Lashon לָשׁוֹן
is 386, exactly the gematria of Yeshua יֵשׁוּעַ. The sum of Lashon לָשׁוֹן
and Noach נֹחַ in gematria is: 386 + 58 = 444,
which is also the gematria of Sanctuary מִקְדָּשׁ.
Noach, Mashiach in Potential
The only person called Tzadik in
Torah was Noach (Gen 6:9), meaning the “righteous”, based on which Noach
was understood by Zohar to parallel the Sefirah of Yesod (Bridegroom), and the
Ark was understood to parallel the Sefirah of Malchut (Bride), for the Ark
symbolizes the Messianic Age where “the wolf dwells with the lamb, etc”. Noach
entered into Ark in order to engender the supernal three, namely, the three
sons emerging from the Ark: Shem on the right side (Chesed), Ham on the left
side (Gevurah), and Japheth blending the two (Tiferet), whose name itself means
“beauty”.
The gematria of the five is 1432:
|
Chesed |
Shem |
שֵׁם |
340 |
|
Gevurah |
Ham |
חָם |
48 |
|
Tiferet |
Japheth |
יָפֶת |
490 |
|
Yesod |
Noach |
נֹחַ |
58 |
|
Kingdom
(Ark) |
Malchut |
מַלְכוּת |
496 |
|
|
|
|
1432 |
The average number for the 4 persons
is: 1432 / 4 = 358, the gematria of Mashiach מָּשִׁיחַ, also the gematria of Snake נָּחָשׁ, the thesis and the antithesis.
The name of Shem (שֵׁם) plus the initial letter of Ham (ח) and Japheth (י)
spell exactly the name of Mashiach מָּשִׁיחַ, the thesis.
And the name of Noach (נֹחַ) plus the initial letter of Shem (ש) spell exactly the name of the Snake נָּחָשׁ, the antithesis.
The sum of the three sons in gematria is exactly
the gematria of Mashiach spelled out, as follows:
|
Shem |
שֵׁם |
340 |
|
Ham |
חָם |
48 |
|
Japheth |
יֶפֶת |
490 |
|
|
|
878 |
Mashiach spelled out in gematria is 878:
|
Mashiach |
מָּשִׁיחַ |
|
|
Spelled
out |
מם שין יוד חית |
878 |
If the Ark symbolizes the Garden of Eden, then
Noach would parallel Adam in that Noach was gifted with the potential to
rectify the sin of Adam as the Mashiach, and the three sons of Noach would
parallel the three sons of Adam. Astonishingly, their gematria is exactly the
same if Noach is spelled with a Vav (symbolizing Yesod), as follows:
|
Noach
(with Vav) |
נוֹחַ |
64 |
Adam |
אָדָם |
45 |
|
Shem |
שֵׁם |
340 |
Abel |
הָבֶל |
37 |
|
Ham |
חָם |
48 |
Cain |
קַיִן |
160 |
|
Jephath |
יָפֶת |
490 |
Seth |
שֵׁת |
700 |
|
|
|
942 |
|
|
942 |
For this reason Noach was called
“Noach man of the earth” נֹחַ אִישׁ
הָאֲדָמָה immediately after the flood (Gen 9:20), which in gematria is 424, the same gematria of
Mashiach ben David מָּשִׁיחַ בֶּן
דָּוִד, therefore Noach represents the
potential of Mashiach to rectify the original sin, which attempt failed after
he planted a vineyard and ate from it, which according to Zohar was the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Cursed be Canaan
In Kabbalah, the Ten Sefirot as a
whole is understood as the Tree of Life, and the central axle, i.e. the
Keter-Malchut continuum is understood as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil, where Keter represents the extremity of Good and Malchut represents the
extremity of Evil.
Ham and his son Canaan correspond to
the Sefirah of Gevurah, denoting judgment and severity which is the Left hand,
Noach corresponds to the Sefirah of Yesod, which parallels the site of
circumcision.
In the same way that the snake
deceived the woman, and the woman deceived Adam, so can it be deduced that
Canaan must have deceived Ham, and Ham must have deceived Noach.
The gematria:
|
Adam,
Eve, Snake |
אָדָם חַוָּה נָּחָשׁ |
422 |
|
Noach,
Ham, Canaan |
נֹחַ חָם כְנַעַן |
296 |
|
|
|
718 |
The average number of the two
triplets is: 718 / 2 = 359, which is the gematria of Satan שָׂטָן, the source of evil behind the Tree of Knowledge
of Good and Evil.
As it is written:
|
וַיִּיקֶץ נֹחַ, מִיֵּינוֹ; וַיֵּדַע, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-עָשָׂה לוֹ בְּנוֹ הַקָּטָן |
And
Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto
him. (Gen 9:24) |
Torah chooses not to reveal what had
been done to Noach, and is ambiguous with the identity of “his youngest son”,
as grandson can also be called “son” (Gen 31:28), the conclusion must be drawn that the culprits
are both Ham and Canaan.
If we are to reveal the identity of the culprits as
Ham and Canaan by adding their names to the verse below:
|
וַיִּיקֶץ נֹחַ, מִיֵּינוֹ וַיֵּדַע חָם כְנָעַן |
And
Noah awoke from his wine, and knew Ham, Canaan. |
Astonishingly, the gematria of the
six words is exactly 718, the gematria of the triplets above.
Add “the servant” to the verse, to which was Canaan
cursed:
|
וַיִּיקֶץ נֹחַ, מִיֵּינוֹ וַיֵּדַע חָם כְנָעַן הָעֶבֶד |
And
Noah awoke from his wine, and knew Ham, Canaan the servant. |
The gematria becomes 799, which is exactly the same
gematria of the curse pronounced by Noach, as follows:
|
אָרוּר כְּנָעַן: עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים |
Cursed
be Canaan; a servant of servants… (Gen 9:25) |
The gematria of Geuvrah and Yesod is exactly the
same gematria of Noach, Ham and Canaan, as follows:
|
Gevurah |
גְּבוּרָה |
216 |
Ham,
Canaan |
חָם כְנַעַן |
238 |
|
Yesod |
יְסוֹד |
80 |
Noach |
נֹחַ |
58 |
|
|
|
296 |
|
|
296 |
This confirms the deduction that both
Ham and Canaan were the culprits, representing severe judgment.
The Gevurah of Yesod corresponds to
the 37th day of counting the Omer, where 37 is the
gematria of Yechidah יְחִידָה, which is Mashiach the Redeemer.
Yesod symbolizes the Bridegroom and Malchut
symbolizes the Bride, astonishingly, the gematria of Noah and Canaan is exactly
the gematria of Malchut מַלְכוּת in half, which is 496 / 2 = 248, as
follows:
|
Noach |
נֹחַ |
58 |
|
Canaan |
כְנַעַן |
190 |
|
|
|
248 |
The rabbis argued that Ham either
castrated his father, or sodomised him, in both cases the Yesod (site of
circumcision) was corrupted in Malchut which is now symbolized by Canaan.
The descent of Canaan from Gevurah to
Malchut is paralleled by the 44th day of
counting the Omer which is Gevurah in Malchut. 44 is the gematria of “blood” דָם.
The “blood of Yechidah” דָם יְחִידָה
in gematria is 81, which is the same gematria of “the servant” הָעֶבֶד,
to which was Canaan cursed. 81 is also the gematria of Af אַף, the first word uttered by the Snake (Gen 3:1) to deceive the woman.
In the same way that Mashiach
conquers the snake, so does the “blood of Yechidah” rectifies the venom of the
snake.
Where Noach had failed, this is where Abraham will
come to rectify in next week’s Parashah, hence the gematria of Abraham is also
248, the same gematria of Noach and Canaan, and the sum of the three names is
the same gematria of Kingdom, Malchut, which is 496:
|
Noach |
נֹחַ |
58 |
|
Canaan |
כְנַעַן |
190 |
|
Abraham |
אַבְרָהָם |
248 |
|
|
|
496 |
The Rectification of Canaan
The rectification of Canaan was
epitomized by the servant of Abraham called Eliezer אֱלִיעֶזֶר, who was a Canaanite. Eliezer represents the
transformation from the “Curse
of Canaan”
to the “Blessed
of YHVH” (Gen 24:31).
At the deeper level, Canaan
symbolizes mankind in general who is cursed by sin due to Eve the first woman.
The gematria:
|
Canaan |
כְּנָעַן |
190 |
|
Small
gematria (without 0) |
5 + 7 + 5 + 2 |
19 |
|
Ordinal
number |
14 + 16 + 14 + 11 |
55 |
|
atbash |
לטז”ט |
55 |
Astonishingly, the gematria of Canaan
is 190, which is 10 times 19, the gematria of Eve חַוָּה. The small gematria of Canaan is also 19, and the “atbash” as well as the ordinal number of Canaan is both
55, which is the exact gematri of Bride כַּלָּה,
i.e. Eve.
For this reason the human strivings
in general are epitomized by the transformation of “Land of Canaan” into the
“Land of Israel”.
The gematria of “Canaan, Eliezer
Servant of Abraham” כְּנַעַן אֱלִיעֶזֶר עֶבֶד
אַבְרָהָם is 832, which is exactly the same
gematria of “Land of Israel” אֶרֶץ
יִשְׂרָאֵל. This comes to teach that “Servant of Abraham” is the key to transform the curse to
the blessing, for Canaan כְּנַעַןcan also mean “submission” הַכְנָעָה.
This rectification can be summarized with the
following terms:
|
The
darkness to light, and bitterness to sweetness, and curse to blessing |
הַחֹשֶׁךְ לְאוֹר וּמָר לְמָתוֹק וּקְלָלָה לִבְרָכָה |
1820 |
There are exactly 26 letters in this
phrase, alluding to the gematria of YHVH whose name appears in Torah exactly
1820 times. The average number of each letter therefore is: 1820 / 26 = 70,
alluding to the redemption of the 70 nations.
The transformation from “Land of Canaan” to “Land
of Israel” is 351, which is exactly the triangle number of 26:
|
Land
of Israel |
אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל |
832 |
|
Land
of Canaan |
אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן |
(481) |
|
|
|
351 |
From Gevurah to Malchut
The line of Gevurah started with Cain
the first murderer, continued with Canaan the cursed, and with Nimrod the
mighty hunter, the father of all idolatries, and culminated with Esau, the
symbolism of the other side, until final redemption by Mashiach, the son of
David corresponding to the Sefirah of Malchut.
Astonishingly, the key characters above are all
connected with number 799, as follows:
|
It
came to pass, when they (Cain and Abel) were in the field… (Gen 4:8). |
יְהִי בִּהְיוֹתָם בַּשָּׂדֶה |
799 |
|
Cursed
be Canaan; a servant of servants… (Gen 9:25) |
אָרוּר כְּנָעַן: עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים |
799 |
|
…Like Nimrod a
mighty hunter before… (Gen 10:9) |
כְּנִמְרֹד גִּבּוֹר צַיִד,לִפְנֵי |
799 |
|
…and Esau came
in from the field… (Gen 25:29) |
וַיָּבֹא עֵשָׂו מִן-הַשָּׂדֶה |
799 |
|
…the
noise (Edom) whereof is heard in the Red Sea…(Jeremiah 49:21) |
בְּיַם-סוּף נִשְׁמַע קוֹלָהּ |
799 |
Finally, with the coming of Mashiach and his elect,
the Kingdom will be rectified, the gematria of this verse is also 799:
|
Who
are these that fly as a cloud…(Isaiah 60:8) |
מִי-אֵלֶּה, כָּעָב תְּעוּפֶינָה |
799 |
799 is the gematria of “Good from
Gevurah to Malchut” טוֹב מִגְּבוּרָה לַמַּלְכוּת,
meaning the clarification of evil and good so that the “good” can be used to build the Kingdom.
799 = 17 x 47, where 17 is the
gematria of “good” טוֹב, and 47 is the gematria of “for it is good” כִּי
טוֹב, for in its final analysis, all that
created by God is good.
The redemption process from the lowest of the low
to the highest of the high is exactly the gematria of Israel יִשְׂרָאֵל, (when Alef is counted as both 1 and 1000), which
is 1541, as follows:
|
Cain
son of Adam |
קַיִן בֶּן-אָדָם |
257 |
|
Canaan |
כְּנָעַן |
190 |
|
Nimrod |
נִמְרֹד |
294 |
|
Esau |
עֵשָׂו |
376 |
|
Mashiach
ben David |
מָּשִׁיחַ בֶּן-דָּוִד |
424 |
|
|
|
1541 |
What had really
happened inside Noach’s tent?
There is a strange episode in this
week’s Parashah: Noach got drunk and uncovered himself in his tent, then came
Cham who saw his father’s nakedness and went out and told his two brothers
about it. Noach woke up from his slumber and realized what his younger son had
done to him and cursed his grandson Canaan.
The obvious question is since when
father is not allowed to go to a public bath house with this son?
Like Days of Noach, Like the Days of
Lot
The key to unravel this cryptic
account is revealed in Luke 17:26-28 which essentially says: Like days of
Noach…like the days of Lot…so what is the parallel between Noach’s story and
that of Lot?
Both are the story of a single family
being delivered from a devastating judgment, Noach from water, and Lot from
fire.
Noach was the righteous man in his
generation and Lot was the righteous man in his city, which are not necessarily
compliments against the backdrop of their evil generation and a perverted city.
Both are a family of eight members,
for Lot has two married daughters and two virgin ones, which add up to eight
people when his wife and the two sons-in-laws are counted.
Both are unworthy of their
deliverance, why?
There was no window made in the ark,
except for a mysterious Tzohar on the top, so that Noach’s family wouldn’t be
able to see the dead bodies on the water. The command to Lot was even more
explicit, “don’t look back”, for it is not proper for a person saved through
grace to rejoice over the destruction of their enemies.
Now here is the climax of the story:
both were saved, and both got drunk, Lot committed incest in a cave with his
two daughters, but how about Noach, anything happened between him and his son
in the tent?
Lot’s older daughter obviously was
not ashamed of what she did and came out and told her younger sister exactly
what happened. She had gone so far as to name her son as Moab, that is, from
the father.
Similarly, Cham obvious was not so
embarrassed with what he did, so he also went out and told his two brothers,
but what did he do inside Noach’s tent?
The first mention of Canaan in the
Torah is literally out of blue, saying: “And Cham is the father of Canaan” וְחָם, הוּא
אֲבִי כְנָעַן,
with no context whatsoever (Gen 9:18), but why should we know this relationship? Why
weren’t the other sons of Canaan mentioned, or the sons of Shem and Japheth for
that matter?
Now the gematria for these four words is 269, which
is the key, for this is the exact same gematria of “like the days of Noach,
like the days of Lot”. More astonishingly, it is also the gematria of “Lot,
father, Moab, Ben-Ami”, as follows:
|
And
Cham is the father of Canaan |
וְחָם, הוּא אֲבִי כְנָעַן |
269 |
|
Lot,
father, Moab, Ben-Ami |
לוֹט אָב מוֹאָב בֶּן-עַמִּי |
269 |
|
Like
the days of Noach, like the days of Lot |
כִּימֵי נֹחַ וְכִימֵי לוֹט |
269 |
The numbers speak for themselves: in
the same way Moab and Ben-Ami were the sons from an incestuous relationship, so
was Canaan the son of Cham, for like in the days of Lot, so is the days of
Noach.
Came the Wife of Noach
Who was the wife of Noach, the Torah
seems to be silent on this point, but is it really?
According to the Rabbis, she was the
last female mentioned in Cain’s genealogy, Naamah (Gen 4:22).
The obvious question is why does
Torah care to spill the ink over the genealogy of Cain if all of them were
doomed for destruction in the flood? And more pointedly, why list a female in
the genealogy which seems to be so out of character of Torah narrative?
Naamah נַעֲמָה
means pleasant, and in Zohar’s language, she was so attractive that even the
angles would fall for her, which is reminiscent of the “sons of God seeing the
daughters of the man…”.
Cham חָם
means heat or hot, the connotation is lust, who apparently did not have a good
reference from the Rabbis, for according to Sanhedrin 108b, three copulated in the ark, and they were all
punished – the dog, the raven, and Cham…
Why should the Rabbis care about the sexual
behavior of a dog or a raven in the ark? These are codes waiting to be
revealed, for the gematria of the three Hebrew words plus that of Naamah is
astonishing:
|
Raven,
dog, Cham |
עֹרֵב כֶּלֶב חָם |
372 |
|
Naamah |
נַעֲמָה |
165 |
|
|
537 |
Since 537 is an odd number, which
means there is a mid-point number from 1 to 537, which midpoint number is 269.
This is exactly the gematria of “And Cham is the father of Canaan” as noted
above.
The Nakedness of Noach
What does the nakedness of his father mean?
|
וַיַּרְא, חָם אֲבִי כְנַעַן, אֵת, עֶרְוַת אָבִיו |
And
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father…(Gen 9:22) |
This is obvious a euphemism, for the same exact
term was used in the following verse:
|
עֶרְוַת אֵשֶׁת-אָבִיךָ, לֹא תְגַלֵּה עֶרְוַת אָבִיךָ, הִוא |
The
nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness (Lev 18:8) |
It is obvious from above verse that
the nakedness of the father is the mother, and it follows the nakedness of
Noach was Naamah.
So what really happened in Noach’s
tent?
It may be surmised that both Noach
and Naamah got drunk in the tent, and Cham violated Naamah without her
knowledge, for this is hinted in Lot’s story in that Lot had no knowledge of
what his two daughters did to him.
It is now clear that when Shem and
Japheth went backward and covered their father’s nakedness, they were in fact
covering Naamah, for she was Noach’s nakedness.
Let’s now analyze the gematria.
The gematria of Noach and his three
sons is 1126.
Since Torah does not reveal the names of Lot’s two
daughters but simply refers them as “his daughters”, we will use this term in
our analysis. The number worked out for Lot, his daughters, Moab, Ben-Ami is
732, and the difference between Noach’s family and Lot’s family in gematria is
392, as follows:
|
Noach,
Shem, Cham, Japheth, Canaan |
נֹחַ שֵׁם חָם יָפֶת כְּנָעַן |
1126 |
|
Lot,
his daughters, Moab, Ben-Ami |
לוֹט בְנֹתָיו מוֹאָב בֶּן-עַמִּי |
(734) |
|
|
392 |
Mostly astonishingly, 392 is exactly the gematria
of “Canaan, servant of servants” which is the exact phrase used by Noach to
curse Canaan in Gen 9:24:
|
Canaan,
Servant of Servants |
כְּנָעַן: עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים |
392 |
G-d’s Master Plan – XXI –
And Then נחמו Split To Create …
בסייד
For this Blog, I want to re-examine
the Hebrew word נחמו.
If we simply split the word equally
down the middle we get two very interesting letter combinations-
נח
מו
You have seen this before in a recent
Blog referring to their inclusion in the Hebrew word for Ammonium Nitrate.
But this time I want to take a closer
look at each two letter combination to produce a totally different meaning-
נח = Noah
Of course, those two letters
represent the word Noah, and immediately we think of the Torah Parshah that is named
after him.
But what is more amazing is that
Parshat Noah begins with the similar pattern as the Haftorah for Parshat
Shoftim.
In Parshat Noah, נח נח
appears together as the third and fourth words at the beginning of the Parshah.
Reading further on, G-d saw that the earth had been filled with חמס. (Ch. 6, Verse 11). Then only two lines further down, on Verse 13,
Hashem is talking to Noah and again Hashem uses the same word while describing
the situation on Earth to Noah. By using this word twice, it would seem to
indicate G-d is very disturbed by this and has decided to take decisive action
by bringing on the Flood.
Defining The Hebrew Word חמס
I found a few English words which can
be used to define חמס such as Robbery, Violence, Injustice
and Larceny.
Pronouncing The Hebrew Word חמס
In my Chumash as well as others I
have seen that have the vowels written together with the Hebrew letters, the
word חמס is pronounced the same as Hamas.
Taking A Closer Look At Hamas
Hamas (Arabic:
حماس Ḥamās,
an acronym of
حركة المقاومة الاسلامية Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah [Islamic Resistance Movement]) is a Palestinian Sunni–Islamic fundamentalist[13] militant
organization.[14] It
has a social service wing, Dawah,
and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
It has been the de facto governing authority
of the Gaza Strip since its takeover of that area in 2007.[15][16] During
this period it fought several wars with Israel.[17] Israel,
the United States and the European Union classify,
either in whole or in part, Hamas as a terrorist organization. This classification is one among various and
diverse international positions on the nature
of Hamas.[18][19][20] Iran,
Russia, China, and Turkey are some countries who view Hamas in a positive
light.[21][22][23][24][25][26]
Hamas was founded in 1987,[27][28] soon
after the First Intifada broke out, as an offshoot of the
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood,[29][30]
I Now Want To Bring The Other Half
Of The Word נחמו Into This Discussion.
מו = ??
I really could not find a translation
for those two Hebrew letters above that fits in well with this discussion,
however if I look at the Gematria, this opens a whole new possibility.
מו = 46
The numerical value of those two
Hebrew letters equals a number that can be tied into some recent events within
the past year.
Last Year’s Israeli Earthquake Equaled
4.6 On The Richter Scale
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/minor-earthquake-felt-in-center-of-israel-589789
The above link will take you to a
story that appeared in the Jerusalem Post on May 16, 2019. That earthquake also
measured 4.6.
Under the main headline of the
article, the sentence reads
Residents in Cyprus, Jordan and Egypt
also reported feeling an earthquake.
Cyprus–Israel relations refer to the bilateral relations between Cyprus and Israel.
Israel has an embassy in Nicosia,
while Cyprus has an embassy in Tel-Aviv.
Both countries are members of the Union for the Mediterranean, United Nations, Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development, International Monetary Fund, World Bank,
and World Trade Organization.
The Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty (Arabic: معاهدة السلام
المصرية الإسرائيلية, Mu`āhadat as-Salām al-Misrīyah al-‘Isrā’īlīyah; Hebrew: הסכם השלום
בין ישראל
למצרים, Heskem HaShalom Bein Yisrael LeMitzrayim) was signed in Washington, D.C.,
United States on 26 March 1979, following the 1978 Camp David Accords. The Egypt–Israel treaty was signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin,
and witnessed by United States president Jimmy Carter.[1]
The agreement notably made Egypt the
first Arab state to officially recognize Israel.[1]
The Israel–Jordan peace treaty or
in full “Treaty of Peace Between the State of Israel and the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan” (Hebrew: הסכם השלום
בין ישראל
לירדן; transliterated: Heskem Ha-Shalom beyn Yisra’el Le-Yarden; Arabic: معاهدة السلام
الأردنية الإسرائيلية; Arabic transliteration: Mu’ahadat as-Salaam
al-‘Urdunniyah al-Isra’yliyah), sometimes referred to as Wadi Araba Treaty, was signed in 1994. The signing
ceremony took place at the southern border crossing of Arabah on
26 October 1994. Jordan was the second Arab country,
after Egypt,
to sign a peace accord with Israel
Please Note That The UAE Agreement Will
Be Signed 26 Years After The Jordan Peace Treaty
Since the Number 26 in Gematria is
equal to the Name Of Hashem, it is all the more interesting that the UAE
Agreement is timed exactly that amount of years corresponding to G-d’s name
after Israel’s Peace Treaty With Jordan.
With hindsight, and using the
sub-heading in the Jerusalem Post article, it appears that those countries who
felt the earthquake are the only countries to have signed a peace treaty with
Israel or in the case of Cyprus have a peaceful relationship with the Jewish
State. For those countries who have not done so, perhaps they run the risk of
suffering the same fate as residents of Beirut did with the recent explosion.
And therefore it is interesting that
the UAE has come to the peace table at this time with other countries expected
to follow.
Unfortunately for those terrorist
organization such as Hamas, the Beirut explosion may just signal the beginning
of tough times ahead. Especially when the word appearing in the Torah which G-d
himself refers to is pronounced the same way and means the same as what Hamas
represents.
This, of course, is all in Hashem’s hands.
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