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Friday, October 9, 2026

Bereshis 9

This class finishes Parshas Bereshis. It starts with Lamech and his wives at the end of chapter 4, then the births of Sheis and Enosh. From there it goes through the ten generations of chapter 5, from Adam to Noach, and ends with the first eight pesukim of chapter 6: the corruption of the generation of the Flood, Hashem's decree, and Noach finding favor. One idea keeps coming back: corruption starts small and grows. A well-meant honoring of the stars turned into worship of idols until Hashem was forgotten, and the sins of Enosh's generation changed people's faces and nature itself. By the generation of the Flood, immorality and robbery were simply the norm. The other idea is responsibility. Each person dies for his own sins, not Adam's. We have to do what Hashem commands and leave His decrees to Him, and whoever knows Torah carries responsibility for those who don't.

The pesukim

Bereshis 4:23–24

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לֶ֜מֶךְ לְנָשָׁ֗יו עָדָ֤ה וְצִלָּה֙ שְׁמַ֣עַן קוֹלִ֔י נְשֵׁ֣י לֶ֔מֶךְ הַאְזֵ֖נָּה אִמְרָתִ֑י כִּ֣י אִ֤ישׁ הָרַ֙גְתִּי֙ לְפִצְעִ֔י וְיֶ֖לֶד לְחַבֻּרָתִֽי׃

Lemekh said to his wives, "Adah and Tzillah, hear my voice; wives of Lemekh, listen to my speech. I have killed a man by wounding [him], and a child by bruising [him].

כִּ֥י שִׁבְעָתַ֖יִם יֻקַּם־קָ֑יִן וְלֶ֖מֶךְ שִׁבְעִ֥ים וְשִׁבְעָֽה׃

If Cain shall be revenged seven times, then for Lemekh it shall be seventy-seven times."

Lamech tells his two wives, Adah and Tzillah, "I have killed a man by wounding him and a child by bruising him", and says that if Kayin is avenged sevenfold, Lamech will be avenged seventy-seven fold. The Me'am Loez reads this as an apology after a real tragedy: Lamech accidentally killed both Kayin and his own son Tuval Kayin, and his wives separated from him rather than bear children who might be wiped out. Lamech answered that Kayin had murdered on purpose and was still given seven generations. He himself had killed by accident, so Hashem would surely have far more mercy on his children, and they should have more.
Bereshis 4:25–26

וַיֵּ֨דַע אָדָ֥ם עוֹד֙ אֶת־אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֔ן וַתִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ שֵׁ֑ת כִּ֣י שָֽׁת־לִ֤י אֱלֹהִים֙ זֶ֣רַע אַחֵ֔ר תַּ֣חַת הֶ֔בֶל כִּ֥י הֲרָג֖וֹ קָֽיִן׃

Adam knew his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth -"Because God has granted (shath) me other offspring in place of Abel, whom Cain had killed."

וּלְשֵׁ֤ת גַּם־הוּא֙ יֻלַּד־בֵּ֔ן וַיִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ אֱנ֑וֹשׁ אָ֣ז הוּחַ֔ל לִקְרֹ֖א בְּשֵׁ֥ם יְהֹוָֽה׃

A son was also born to Seth, and [Seth] named him Enosh. It was then initiated to pray with God's name:

Adam is intimate with his wife again, and she bears a son. She names him Sheis, "in place of", because Hashem has given her another child in place of Hevel, whom Kayin killed. Sheis then has a son, Enosh. This is the first time Adam has returned to Chava after 130 years apart. He did it to set an example: otherwise people would stop having children out of fear of death, and humanity would die out. Lamech and his wives followed that example and got back together.
Bereshis 5:1–2

זֶ֣ה סֵ֔פֶר*(בספרי תימן סֵ֔פֶר בסמ״ך גדולה) תּוֹלְדֹ֖ת אָדָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם בְּרֹ֤א אֱלֹהִים֙ אָדָ֔ם בִּדְמ֥וּת אֱלֹהִ֖ים עָשָׂ֥ה אֹתֽוֹ׃

This is the book of the Chronicles of Adam: On the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.

זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בְּרָאָ֑ם וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָ֗ם וַיִּקְרָ֤א אֶת־שְׁמָם֙ אָדָ֔ם בְּי֖וֹם הִבָּֽרְאָֽם׃

He created them male and female. He blessed them and named them Man (Adam) on the day that they were created.

"This is the book of the chronicles of Adam: on the day Hashem created man, He made him in the likeness of Hashem." Hashem created them male and female, blessed them, and named them Adam. The Torah usually says just "these are the chronicles", so why does it add the word "book" (sefer)? This "book" is the whole Torah, which tells the story of humanity from the start, and its foundation is that every person was made by Hashem in His image. Ben Azzai calls this verse the central principle of the Torah (Bereishis Rabbah 24:7). So the lesson of the entire book is to respect every human being.
Bereshis 5:3–5

וַיְחִ֣י אָדָ֗ם שְׁלֹשִׁ֤ים וּמְאַת֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בִּדְמוּת֖וֹ כְּצַלְמ֑וֹ וַיִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ שֵֽׁת׃

Adam lived 130 years, and he had a son in his likeness and form. He named him Seth.

וַיִּֽהְי֣וּ יְמֵי־אָדָ֗ם אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־שֵׁ֔ת שְׁמֹנֶ֥ה מֵאֹ֖ת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

Adam lived Boo years after he had Seth, and he had sow; and daughters.

וַיִּֽהְי֞וּ כׇּל־יְמֵ֤י אָדָם֙ אֲשֶׁר־חַ֔י תְּשַׁ֤ע מֵאוֹת֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃

All the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

Adam was 130 when Sheis was born in his likeness and form. He lived another 800 years and had sons and daughters, 930 years in all, and then he died. The Torah now lists the ten generations from Adam to Noach, just as there will be ten more from Noach to Avraham. The 130 years before Sheis are the years Adam stayed apart from Chava, and the verse itself shows he lived to 930.
Bereshis 5:6–11

וַֽיְחִי־שֵׁ֕ת חָמֵ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים וּמְאַ֣ת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד אֶת־אֱנֽוֹשׁ׃

Seth lived 105 years, and he had a son Enosh.

וַֽיְחִי־שֵׁ֗ת אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־אֱנ֔וֹשׁ שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֔ים וּשְׁמֹנֶ֥ה מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

Seth lived 807 years after he had Enosh, and he had sons and daughters.

וַיִּֽהְיוּ֙ כׇּל־יְמֵי־שֵׁ֔ת שְׁתֵּ֤ים עֶשְׂרֵה֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּתְשַׁ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃

All of Seth's days were 912 years, and he died.

וַיְחִ֥י אֱנ֖וֹשׁ תִּשְׁעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד אֶת־קֵינָֽן׃

Enosh lived go years, and he had a son Kenan.

וַיְחִ֣י אֱנ֗וֹשׁ אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־קֵינָ֔ן חֲמֵ֤שׁ עֶשְׂרֵה֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁמֹנֶ֥ה מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

Enosh lived 815 years after he had Kenan, and he had sons and daughters.

וַיִּֽהְיוּ֙ כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י אֱנ֔וֹשׁ חָמֵ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֔ים וּתְשַׁ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃

All of Enosh's days were 905 years, and he died.

Sheis had Enosh at 105 and lived 912 years. Enosh had Keinan at 90 and lived 905 years. Adam was made with perfect features, and Bereishis Rabbah learns from the words "to Sheis too (gam hu) a son was born" that Sheis and Enosh both resembled Adam, in looks and in deeds. That changed once people turned wicked and began serving idols. According to the Rambam (Hilchos Avodah Zarah 1:1), Enosh himself got caught up in it, though some say only after Adam died. In Enosh's generation idolatry began, and from then on human faces began to lose that beauty.
Bereshis 5:12–14

וַיְחִ֥י קֵינָ֖ן שִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד אֶת־מַֽהֲלַלְאֵֽל׃

Kenan lived 70 years, and he had a son Mahalalel.

וַיְחִ֣י קֵינָ֗ן אַחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־מַֽהֲלַלְאֵ֔ל אַרְבָּעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁמֹנֶ֥ה מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

Kenan lived 840 years after he had Mahalalel, and he had sons and daughters.

וַיִּֽהְיוּ֙ כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י קֵינָ֔ן עֶ֣שֶׂר שָׁנִ֔ים וּתְשַׁ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃

All of Kenan's days were 910 years, and he died.

Keinan had Mahalalel at 70 and lived 910 years. He was a great genius who saw that Hashem would one day flood the world and left a written warning about it. It is also written that in his days the ocean flooded a third of the world, the second such flood after the one in Enosh's time.
Bereshis 5:15–20

וַיְחִ֣י מַֽהֲלַלְאֵ֔ל חָמֵ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים וְשִׁשִּׁ֣ים שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד אֶת־יָֽרֶד׃

Mahalalel lived 65 years, and he had a son Yered.

וַיְחִ֣י מַֽהֲלַלְאֵ֗ל אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־יֶ֔רֶד שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁמֹנֶ֥ה מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

Mahalalel lived 830 years after he had Yered, and he had sons and daughters.

וַיִּהְיוּ֙ כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י מַהֲלַלְאֵ֔ל חָמֵ֤שׁ וְתִשְׁעִים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁמֹנֶ֥ה מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃

All of Mahalalel' s days were 895 years, and he died.

וַֽיְחִי־יֶ֕רֶד שְׁתַּ֧יִם וְשִׁשִּׁ֛ים שָׁנָ֖ה וּמְאַ֣ת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד אֶת־חֲנֽוֹךְ׃

Yered lived 162 years, and he had a son Enoch.

וַֽיְחִי־יֶ֗רֶד אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־חֲנ֔וֹךְ שְׁמֹנֶ֥ה מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

Yered lived Boo years after he had Enoch, and he had sons and daughters.

וַיִּֽהְיוּ֙ כׇּל־יְמֵי־יֶ֔רֶד שְׁתַּ֤יִם וְשִׁשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּתְשַׁ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃

All of Yered's days were 962 years, and he died.

Mahalalel had Yered at 65 and lived 895 years. Yered had Chanoch at 162 and lived 962 years. These verses simply carry the line forward toward Noach, one generation at a time.
Bereshis 5:21–24

וַיְחִ֣י חֲנ֔וֹךְ חָמֵ֥שׁ וְשִׁשִּׁ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד אֶת־מְתוּשָֽׁלַח׃

Enoch lived 65 years, and he had a son Methuselah.

וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֨ךְ חֲנ֜וֹךְ אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־מְתוּשֶׁ֔לַח שְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

Enoch walked with God for 300 years after he had Methuselah, and he had sons and daughters.

וַיְהִ֖י כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י חֲנ֑וֹךְ חָמֵ֤שׁ וְשִׁשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָֽה׃

All of Enoch's days were 365 years.

וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ חֲנ֖וֹךְ אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְאֵינֶ֕נּוּ כִּֽי־לָקַ֥ח אֹת֖וֹ אֱלֹהִֽים׃

Enoch walked with God, and he was no more, because God had taken him.

Chanoch had Mesushelach at 65 and walked with Hashem for 300 years after that, 365 years in all. Then "he was no more, because Hashem had taken him." Chanoch was a righteous man who walked with Hashem. The Me'am Loez says much could be said about him, but does not discuss it here.
Bereshis 5:25–27

וַיְחִ֣י מְתוּשֶׁ֔לַח שֶׁ֧בַע וּשְׁמֹנִ֛ים שָׁנָ֖ה וּמְאַ֣ת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד אֶת־לָֽמֶךְ׃

Methuselah lived 187 years, and he had a son Lemekh.

וַיְחִ֣י מְתוּשֶׁ֗לַח אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־לֶ֔מֶךְ שְׁתַּ֤יִם וּשְׁמוֹנִים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁבַ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

Methuselah lived 782 years after he had Lemekh, and he had sons and daughters.

וַיִּהְיוּ֙ כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י מְתוּשֶׁ֔לַח תֵּ֤שַׁע וְשִׁשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּתְשַׁ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃

All of Methuselah's days were 969 years, and he died.

Mesushelach had Lamech at 187 and lived 969 years, the longest of anyone. He was a complete tzaddik (righteous person). When he died, a great noise was heard as the angels eulogized him. Some say the seven days of mourning before the Flood were for him: Hashem held back the Flood until the mourning for such a righteous man was over.
Bereshis 5:28–31

וַֽיְחִי־לֶ֕מֶךְ שְׁתַּ֧יִם וּשְׁמֹנִ֛ים שָׁנָ֖ה וּמְאַ֣ת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד בֵּֽן׃

Lemekh lived 182 years, and he had a son.

וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֶת־שְׁמ֛וֹ נֹ֖חַ לֵאמֹ֑ר זֶ֞֠ה יְנַחֲמֵ֤נוּ מִֽמַּעֲשֵׂ֙נוּ֙ וּמֵעִצְּב֣וֹן יָדֵ֔ינוּ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵֽרְרָ֖הּ יְהֹוָֽה׃

He named him Noah," saying, "This one will bring us relief from our work and the anguish of our hands, from the soil that God has cursed."

וַֽיְחִי־לֶ֗מֶךְ אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־נֹ֔חַ חָמֵ֤שׁ וְתִשְׁעִים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וַחֲמֵ֥שׁ מֵאֹ֖ת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

Lemekh lived 595 years after he had Noah, and he had sons and daughters.

וַֽיְהִי֙ כׇּל־יְמֵי־לֶ֔מֶךְ שֶׁ֤בַע וְשִׁבְעִים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁבַ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃

All of Lemekh's days were 777 years, and he died.

Lamech had a son at 182 and named him Noach, saying, "This one will bring us relief from our work and the toil of our hands, from the ground that Hashem cursed." Lamech lived 777 years. How could Lamech know at the birth that this child would bring relief? Bereishis Rabbah explains that since Adam's sin, the ground was cursed: the ox would kick or gore the man plowing, and planted grain came up as thorns. Adam had told his descendants that the suffering would last until a child was born circumcised. Every baby was checked, and Noach was the first born circumcised. So Lamech knew the curse was over and named him for the relief he would bring.
Bereshis 5:32

וַֽיְהִי־נֹ֕חַ בֶּן־חֲמֵ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֣וֹלֶד נֹ֔חַ אֶת־שֵׁ֖ם אֶת־חָ֥ם וְאֶת־יָֽפֶת׃

Noah was 500 years old, and Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Yefeth.

When Noach was 500, he fathered Shem, Cham and Yefes, completing the ten generations from Adam to Noach. Shem is named first, though by some opinions he was not the oldest, because he was the most righteous of the three.
Bereshis 6:1

וַֽיְהִי֙ כִּֽי־הֵחֵ֣ל הָֽאָדָ֔ם לָרֹ֖ב עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וּבָנ֖וֹת יֻלְּד֥וּ לָהֶֽם׃

Man began to increase on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them.

"When man began to increase on the face of the earth, daughters were born to them." The verse links daughters to increase because daughters are a blessing, not an embarrassment as some cultures treat them. Daughters bring many grandchildren. They also marry and move away, spreading a family's descendants across the face of the earth. In that generation, however, people also increased sin "on the face of the earth": wasting seed, cheating, and every forbidden relationship. They did it openly, as a celebration.
Bereshis 6:2

וַיִּרְא֤וּ בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֥י טֹבֹ֖ת הֵ֑נָּה וַיִּקְח֤וּ לָהֶם֙ נָשִׁ֔ים מִכֹּ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּחָֽרוּ׃

The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were good, and they took themselves wivesfrom whomever they chose.

"The sons of Hashem saw that the daughters of man were good, and they took wives from whoever they chose." "Sons of Elohim" can also mean sons of the leaders, because corruption starts at the top. The leaders took any woman they wanted and even made a law that a bride had to go to the ruler the night before her wedding. Once the leaders did it, everyone did it. When everyone is corrupt, there is no one left to punish anyone.
Bereshis 6:3–4

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֗ה לֹֽא־יָד֨וֹן רוּחִ֤י בָֽאָדָם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ם בְּשַׁגַּ֖ם ה֣וּא בָשָׂ֑ר וְהָי֣וּ יָמָ֔יו מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה׃

God said, "My spirit will not continue to judge man forever, since he is nothing but flesh. His days shall be 120 years."

הַנְּפִלִ֞ים הָי֣וּ בָאָ֘רֶץ֮ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵם֒ וְגַ֣ם אַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָבֹ֜אוּ בְּנֵ֤י הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם וְיָלְד֖וּ לָהֶ֑ם הֵ֧מָּה הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר מֵעוֹלָ֖ם אַנְשֵׁ֥י הַשֵּֽׁם׃

The titans were on the earth in those days and also later. The sons of God had come to the daughters of man and had fathered them. [The titans] were the mightiest ones who ever existed, men of renown.

Hashem says, "My spirit will not continue to judge man forever, since he is but flesh; his days shall be 120 years." The Nephilim, the mightiest men who ever lived, were on the earth then as "men of renown". The 120 years were a warning. When Noach was 480, Hashem announced that in 120 years He would flood the world, after the two partial floods had already come, so people would have time to repent. The words "My spirit will not judge them" teach that those who died in the Flood have no share in the World to Come. They are not cleansed and brought back; they are wiped out forever.
Bereshis 6:5–6

וַיַּ֣רְא יְהֹוָ֔ה כִּ֥י רַבָּ֛ה רָעַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְכׇל־יֵ֙צֶר֙ מַחְשְׁבֹ֣ת לִבּ֔וֹ רַ֥ק רַ֖ע כׇּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃

God saw that man's wickedness on earth was increasing. Every impulse of his innermost thought was only for evil, all day long.

וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם יְהֹוָ֔ה כִּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃

God regretted that He had made man on earth, and He was pained to His very core.

Hashem saw that man's wickedness was great and that every impulse of his heart was only evil all day long. He regretted making man and was pained to His core. They were steeped in robbery, and not just as individual crimes. Like the immorality, robbery became the norm and the very foundation of society, with everyone stealing from everyone.
Bereshis 6:7

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֗ה אֶמְחֶ֨ה אֶת־הָאָדָ֤ם אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֙אתִי֙ מֵעַל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה מֵֽאָדָם֙ עַד־בְּהֵמָ֔ה עַד־רֶ֖מֶשׂ וְעַד־ע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם כִּ֥י נִחַ֖מְתִּי כִּ֥י עֲשִׂיתִֽם׃

God said, "I will obliterate humanity that I have created from the face of the earth-man, livestock, land animals, and birds of the sky. I regret that I created them."

Hashem says He will wipe out the humanity He created from the face of the earth, along with livestock, crawling creatures and birds, because He regrets having made them. In those times Hashem sent earthquakes in the mountains, darkness, thunder and lightning and other natural disasters to wake people up. No one paid attention, and that refusal is counted as part of their evil.
Bereshis 6:8

וְנֹ֕חַ מָ֥צָא חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃

But Noah found favor in God's eyes. 6

"But Noach found favor in the eyes of Hashem", and so he, his sons and their wives were saved from the Flood. Bereishis Rabbah gives three reasons. Hashem loved him and gave him the intelligence to care for all the animals in the ark. Hashem saw that Moshe would descend from him. And although Noach had sinned like the rest of his generation and was also sentenced to die, he repented when he realized the Flood was coming, and his decree was cancelled.

English from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, used with the permission of the Kaplan family. Hebrew: Miqra according to the Masorah (CC BY-SA).

Takeaways

  • Do what Hashem commands and leave His decrees to Him; don't try to play God.
  • Respect every human being, because each one was created by Hashem in His image.
  • A small change made with good intentions can grow, over generations, into forgetting Hashem entirely.
  • We die for our own sins, not Adam's, so the responsibility for our lives is ours.
  • Whoever knows Torah is responsible for reaching those who don't; the famine of our time is a famine for the words of Hashem.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

Lamech's hunting accident

  • Hevel was meant to have four lines of descendants. Because Kayin cut them off, Hashem decreed that four of Kayin's descendants, Chanoch, Irad, Mechuyael and Mesushael, would be swallowed by the earth.
  • The Midrash Tanchuma tells how it happened. Lamech was completely blind but still hunted every day. His son Tuval Kayin acted as his spotter, telling him where to aim, and together they never missed.
  • One day Kayin appeared in the distance with a horn in the middle of his forehead, perhaps the sign Hashem had placed on him. Tuval Kayin took him for an animal, Lamech fired, and Kayin was killed.
  • When Lamech realized what had happened, he clapped his huge hands together in grief and accidentally crushed Tuval Kayin's head. He had killed both his ancestor and his son, and he was left sitting blind in the forest.
  • When men came looking for him and began to cry, the earth opened and swallowed the four families descended from Kayin. That is why Lamech says, "a man by my wound and a child by my bruise", and why his wives left him.

Why he was called Tuval Kayin

  • The name Tuval comes from taval, "to spice" or "season". Tuval Kayin was the first to make weapons.
  • Kayin, the first murderer, killed with his bare hands. Tuval Kayin "spiced up" his ancestor's trade by giving it weapons.

Lamech's wives, and Adam's answer

  • A second reason the wives left the wives left. Kayin's line was to be cut off after seven generations, and Lamech's children were already the seventh, so why have children only to see them die?
  • In Bereishis Rabbah (23:4), Lamech answers with a question: "Did I kill a man?" Kayin was condemned because he murdered. Lamech had killed no one, so Hashem had no claim against his children. The Me'am Loez combines the two accounts: Lamech did kill, but only by accident, unlike Kayin, so Hashem would have mercy.
  • They took the dispute to Adam. He sided with Lamech: "You do your job, and leave Hashem's job to Him." Hashem commanded people to have children, and what He decrees about them is His business. Don't try to play God.
  • The wives answered, "Correct yourself before you correct others." Adam had himself stayed apart from Chava for 130 years. They thought it was to avoid bringing children into a world of death, but it was really part of his teshuvah (repentance). He then returned to Chava to teach everyone to do what Hashem commands.
  • There is another opinion: the wives feared bringing more children into a family that was making weapons. Lamech replied that no one had been killed. They only made the weapons, and a weapon doesn't kill on its own; a person does.

Desire that brings a person home, and the 'other seed'

  • Bereishis Rabbah says Hashem increased Adam's desire so he would return to Chava. Before then, a man desired his wife only when she was in front of him.
  • From then on, it became part of human nature for a man to desire his wife even when she is far away. Without this, a man would go on a business trip and never come back.
  • Chava says Hashem gave her "zera acher", other seed, when "seed" alone would have been enough. The Me'am Loez says this hints at Mashiach, who descends from Rus, a Moabite, someone from an "other" people.
  • Chava was in deep grief over the sin and over Hevel's murder, so Hashem showed her the distant future: there would come a time with no war, when people no longer die and the dead come back to life.
  • According to the opinion that Lamech did not kill Kayin, the Ramban says Kayin died in the Flood.

What the 'book' of Adam was

  • The Zohar says the "book" is the actual book Hashem gave Adam, revealing to him all the secrets and mysteries of creation.
  • Bereishis Rabbah says Adam invented writing and all the other arts and taught them to his descendants, who were the first to use them. Yuval became the first musician, and Tuval Kayin the first maker of weapons.

Adam's death and burial

  • Adam died on the same date he was created, and on a Friday.
  • Adam had dug out the two-level Me'aras HaMachpelah himself, so he would be well hidden and no one would worship his body as a god, and Hashem Himself buried him there.
  • Hashem warned that on the day Adam ate from the tree, he would die, and one of Hashem's days is a thousand years. Adam should have lived to 1,000 but lived to 930, because he gave 70 of his years as a gift to King David.

Meeting Adam at the moment of death

  • The Zohar says that right before a person dies, he sees Adam, who asks him why he is leaving the world. The person answers, "It's your fault, you brought death into the world."
  • Adam replies: "I committed one sin in my whole life, and see how far its punishment reached. How many have you committed?" The lesson is that a person dies because of his own sins, not because of Adam's.
  • The Gemara (Shabbos 55b, Bava Basra 17a) names four people who never sinned and died only because of the snake's advice to Adam and Chava: Binyamin son of Yaakov, Amram father of Moshe, Yishai father of David, and Kilav son of David. The Me'am Loez also counts Levi among them.
  • The Zohar adds that Adam visits the Avos (the forefathers) twice a day to confess his sin and show them the exalted place he held before it. He also visits the righteous in Gan Eden and takes nachas (joy) in the tzaddikim who came from him.

How idolatry began

  • Adam spoke with Hashem directly, so how did idolatry start? The Rambam explains that it began as a mistake that slowly got worse.
  • Enosh's generation reasoned that Hashem created the stars and planets to run the world and placed them in the heavens, a place of honor. A king's ministers are honored, and that honor goes to the king, so honoring these powers must also honor Hashem.
  • They built temples, painted pictures of the stars and planets, bowed and brought offerings, believing this was Hashem's will. They did not think the stars were gods.
  • Then false prophets arose, each claiming Hashem wanted a particular star served, and later all kinds of images. Eventually people made their own idols on every hill and under every tree, swore by them, and forgot completely that there is a Hashem in heaven.
  • The lesson: a small change that starts with good intentions and seems right can, generations later, become an entire society that serves something else.

Idol worship, denial, and who is responsible

  • There is a difference between avodah zarah, serving another deity, and kefirah, denying the Torah. A Jew who serves Hashem the wrong way, or denies parts of the Torah, is a kofer (denier), not an idol worshipper.
  • The Sages say a tinok shenishba, a child taken captive among the nations, is not held accountable for what he never learned. After all the exiles and troubles we have been through, most Jews today who are not religious fall into this category. They are not true heretics who know the Torah inside and out and reject it.
  • Each person still has free will on his own level, and Hashem judges each one by his circumstances. People carry a family's negative remarks about religion, financial pressure, and a phone full of distractions. Even those of us who are religious have many conclusions we should have reached and haven't yet. And Hashem is merciful.
  • This doesn't lower our responsibility. When those who know do not reach out and teach those who don't, the people who know bear the greater punishment. Like Yonah on the ship, a person has to say "it is my fault".

The few who still knew Hashem

  • Only a few people understood that man-made images had not created the world and that Hashem had, among them Chanoch, Mesushelach, Noach, Shem and Ever. This Chanoch is a different person from Kayin's son Chanoch.
  • They were righteous, but Avraham, about twenty generations after creation, was the first to take responsibility and go out teaching others that there is a Creator and how great He is. That is why he is our forefather. (Ramban)

Four things that changed in Enosh's generation

  • The Zohar says that people of that generation knew spells to control the angels in charge of fire and water. Even young children practiced them, and people grew arrogant and felt invincible.
  • Bereishis Rabbah (23:6) lists four things that changed. First, people's faces changed: they lost Adam's beautiful features and began to look like apes. The face does come to reflect a person's character.
  • Second, the harmful forces Hashem had created, which until then were afraid of humanity, gained the power to attack people.
  • Third, until then bodies decayed in the grave without worms. From then on worms entered the grave. That is why the Mishnah in Avos (4:4) tells a person to be very humble, since the end of man (enosh) is worms.
  • Fourth, the mountains, made for man's enjoyment, became rocky cliffs. Because people worshipped the forces of nature, Hashem let nature break its bounds: the ocean flooded a third of the earth and even washed the dead out of their graves.

Keinan's monument

  • The Abarbanel, quoting Josephus, says Alexander the Great explored an island in the Indian Ocean whose people lived on raw fish they swallowed alive, and that Keinan is buried there.
  • Keinan knew everything and could even rule over demons. He understood that Hashem would bring a flood, and on that island he left a monument engraved in clear Hebrew script warning about it.

More signs that Noach would bring relief

  • Noach was a great genius. Until his time people worked the ground by hand, and he invented farming tools that made it much easier to get food from the earth.
  • For nine generations the wicked had no rest even in the grave: twice a day water rose and flooded their graves. When Noach was born, the decree that made the dead suffer was cancelled.
  • A great famine was raging, and it stopped when Noach was born.
  • Noach was also the first child born after Adam died. Adam's curse was for "all the days of your life", so it ended with his death.

The ten famines, and the one we are in now

  • There are ten famines in history. They came after Adam's sin, in Lamech's day, in the days of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, in the time of the Judges and of Rus, in the days of King David, and in the days of Eliyahu and Elisha.
  • The tenth is the one in Amos (8:11): days are coming, says Hashem, of a famine not for bread or water but for hearing the words of Hashem.
  • That is the famine we live in now. Each generation the Torah is forgotten a little more, and we come to learn every day to strengthen our knowledge of Torah and of Hashem.

Noach's hidden name

  • Every other generation says "and he fathered so-and-so", but for Lamech the verse says only "he had a son" and names him in the next verse.
  • The commentaries explain that his real name was Menachem, "comforter". Mesushelach, a great sage, told Lamech to keep it secret, because if the forces of evil or evil people knew it, they would try to harm the child who was to comfort the world.
  • So the name used for him is Noach. Had people repented, they would have been comforted in his lifetime.

Why the early generations lived so long

  • The Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 2:47) attributes it to their way of life, and the Me'am Loez spells it out: they ate no meat or animal products, drank no wine or anything intoxicating, drank only water, never overate, and were restrained in marital relations, all of which weaken the body.
  • In his view, only the individuals the Torah names lived that long, because they took that kind of care of their bodies. Everyone else lived ordinary lifespans.
  • Bereishis Rabbah (26:5) and the Shalsheles HaKabbalah say Hashem gave these people long lives so they could study the workings of the world without interruption. Once that knowledge was written in books, it could be learned quickly and such long lives were no longer needed.
  • Another reason: Adam was created to live forever, his body built of far stronger stuff, and his descendants inherited it. After the Flood the atmosphere changed, people began eating meat, and human bodies weakened.
  • The verses show a pattern: the later someone first had children, the longer he lived. Sheis had children at 105 and lived 912 years; Adam at 130 and lived 930; Yered at 162 and lived 962; Mesushelach at 187 and lived 969.

Shem, and why Noach waited until 500

  • Shem had several advantages. He was born circumcised, he was the ancestor of Avraham (we are "Semites", from Shem, which is why our haters are called anti-Semites), he served as Kohen Gadol (High Priest), and the Beis HaMikdash would be built in his portion.
  • Because of Shem, Hashem waited 340 years before punishing the builders of the Tower of Bavel.
  • The opinions differ on the order of the brothers. Some say Shem was the youngest, some that he was the middle one with Yefes the oldest, and some that Shem and Yefes were twins.
  • Hashem had Noach wait so late to have children out of mercy. Had he had many children earlier, the wicked ones would have drowned and he would have suffered their loss, and if they were righteous he would have had to build many arks.
  • Back then, since people lived so long, no one was punished before age 100 (today it is 20). The Flood came in Noach's 600th year, so all his sons were under 100, and none were taken in the Flood.

Daughters are a blessing

  • When Rabbi Shimon, son of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, had a daughter, Rabbi Chiya came to visit and told him that Hashem had begun to bless him, as the verse says, "man began to increase... and daughters were born to them" (Bereishis Rabbah 26:4).

The Nephilim as 'men of name'

  • The verse calls the Nephilim anshei shem, "men of name". Shem is also read as shemamah, desolation: they were men of destruction.
  • They were "men of name" because they were famous as the fathers of countless illegitimate children: they were so handsome and mighty that women all went after them.
  • They also denied that Hashem created the world, and their sins drove the world into deeper and deeper corruption.

What a person sees leaves an impression

  • Even virtuous women of that generation saw the handsome giants and imagined them when they were with their husbands, and their children came out like the giants (Bereishis Rabbah 26:7).
  • So a married woman should guard her eyes, especially on the night she goes to the mikvah. What a person sees and thinks makes a deep impression, as Yaakov showed with Lavan's sheep (Bereishis 30:31–43).

What Hashem's 'regret' means

  • Hashem does not regret the way a person does. Vayinachem can also mean "He was comforted".
  • Hashem was comforted about having brought death into the world: seeing how corrupt people had become, it was clear why death was needed.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha and the gentile

  • A gentile asked: if Hashem knows the future, why does the Torah say He regretted making man? Rabbi Yehoshua asked him what he did when his son was born. "I made a great feast." "Didn't you know he would one day die?" "In a time of joy one rejoices, in a time of mourning one mourns." "So too Hashem: He created man for the tzaddikim who would come, though it pained Him that others would sin" (Bereishis Rabbah 27:4).
  • "There was anguish in His heart" means that for seven days before the Flood the world mourned: the sun and moon held back their light. Hashem, who knows the future, made the mourning before the Flood, not after.

The luz bone and the resurrection

  • Bereishis Rabbah (28:3), on the words "I will wipe out man", speaks of the luz, a bone some identify with the sacrum. It is indestructible, and from it Hashem will rebuild a person at the resurrection of the dead.
  • The Roman emperor Hadrian asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya how the dead could be revived once the body turns to dust, and was told about this bone. He tested it: a mill could not grind it, a hammer could not break it, and it survived a furnace (in Bereishis Rabbah's version, water could not dissolve it). It was stronger than iron.
  • This bone gets its nourishment from the melaveh malkah, the meal eaten after Shabbos. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 300:1) says to set the table on Motzaei Shabbos to escort the Shabbos, even for a small amount.
Review questions
  1. According to the Me'am Loez, what did Lamech kill, and why did he think his children deserved more mercy than Kayin's?
  2. What did Adam tell Lamech's wives, and how did they answer him?
  3. How did idolatry begin in the generation of Enosh, and how did it end up with people forgetting Hashem?
  4. What four things changed in the world because of the sins of Enosh's generation?
  5. How did Lamech know that Noach would bring relief to the world, and why was Noach's real name kept hidden?
  6. Give two of the explanations for why the early generations lived for hundreds of years.
Sources
  • Me'am Loez — the main text of the class, including its reading of Lamech's accidental killings and the 'other seed' as Mashiach
  • Midrash Tanchuma, Bereishis 11 — blind Lamech's hunt and the deaths of Kayin and Tuval Kayin
  • Bereishis Rabbah 23:4–6 — Lamech's claim and Adam's answer, Adam's added desire, the four changes in Enosh's generation
  • Bereishis Rabbah 24:7; 26:4–7 — 'This is the book' as the Torah's principle; daughters as blessing; long lives for study; men of name
  • Bereishis Rabbah 28:3; 29:1 — the luz bone; why Noach found favor
  • Ramban — Kayin dying in the Flood; Lamech and the weapons; Avraham the first to teach
  • Zohar — Adam's book of secrets, meeting Adam before death, Adam's visits to the Avos, the spells of Enosh's generation
  • Gemara Shabbos 55b and Bava Basra 17a — the four who died without sin
  • Rambam, Hilchos Avodah Zarah 1:1 — how idolatry began
  • Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim 2:47 — long lives only for those the Torah names, from their way of life
  • Mishnah Avos 4:4 — be very humble, for the end of man is worms
  • Abarbanel quoting Josephus — Keinan's burial island and his monument
  • Amos 8:11 — the tenth famine, a famine for the words of Hashem
  • Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 300:1 — the meal after Shabbos
  • Yonah 1:12 — taking responsibility: 'it is because of me'