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Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Noach 3

Bereshis 8:1 to 9:4 tells of the end of the flood and the new start after it: the waters going down, the raven and the dove, leaving the ark, Noach's offering, Hashem's oath and the seasons, and the blessings and the permission to eat meat that open chapter 9. Two ideas keep coming back. The first is measure for measure: the generation's fiery lust brought boiling water, their pride about the sun brought a full solar year, and the merits of Noach and the animals brought the flood to its end. The second is that Hashem does not change, but the way His world treats us depends on what we are. Justice can be mercy for the righteous, and animals fear a person only while he lives on the level of a human being.

The pesukim

Bereshis 8:1–5

וַיִּזְכֹּ֤ר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־נֹ֔חַ וְאֵ֤ת כׇּל־הַֽחַיָּה֙ וְאֶת־כׇּל־הַבְּהֵמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִתּ֖וֹ בַּתֵּבָ֑ה וַיַּעֲבֵ֨ר אֱלֹהִ֥ים ר֙וּחַ֙ עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וַיָּשֹׁ֖כּוּ הַמָּֽיִם׃

God gave special thought to Noah, and to all the beasts and livestock with him in the ark. God made a wind blow on the earth, and the waters began to subside.

וַיִּסָּֽכְרוּ֙ מַעְיְנֹ֣ת תְּה֔וֹם וַֽאֲרֻבֹּ֖ת הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וַיִּכָּלֵ֥א הַגֶּ֖שֶׁם מִן־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃

The wellsprings of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were sealed. The downpour from the heavens thus stopped.

וַיָּשֻׁ֧בוּ הַמַּ֛יִם מֵעַ֥ל הָאָ֖רֶץ הָל֣וֹךְ וָשׁ֑וֹב וַיַּחְסְר֣וּ הַמַּ֔יִם מִקְצֵ֕ה חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וּמְאַ֖ת יֽוֹם׃

The waters receded from the earth. They continued to recede, and at the end of 150 days, the water had [visibly] diminished.

וַתָּ֤נַח הַתֵּבָה֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י בְּשִׁבְעָה־עָשָׂ֥ר י֖וֹם לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ עַ֖ל הָרֵ֥י אֲרָרָֽט׃

In the seventh month, on the 17th day of the month, the ark came to rest on the Ararat Mountains.!Ct

וְהַמַּ֗יִם הָיוּ֙ הָל֣וֹךְ וְחָס֔וֹר עַ֖ד הַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽעֲשִׂירִ֑י בָּֽעֲשִׂירִי֙ בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֔דֶשׁ נִרְא֖וּ רָאשֵׁ֥י הֶֽהָרִֽים׃

The waters continued to diminish [visibly] until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the mountain peaks became visible.

Hashem remembered Noach and the animals and sent a wind over the earth. He sealed the wellsprings of the deep and the floodgates of heaven, and the waters began to go down. On the 17th of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, and on the first of the tenth month the mountain peaks could be seen. The water went down at a steady quarter of an amah (cubit) a day, one amah every four days. The fifteen amos of water above the highest peaks therefore took sixty days to drain. Yet the ark came to rest on the 17th of Sivan, only sixteen days in. By then the water had dropped just four amos, so eleven amos still stood above the peaks. Bereshis Rabbah draws the conclusion: the ark must have sat eleven amos deep in the water, because that is the moment its bottom touched the mountaintop.
Bereshis 8:6–7

וַיְהִ֕י מִקֵּ֖ץ אַרְבָּעִ֣ים י֑וֹם וַיִּפְתַּ֣ח נֹ֔חַ אֶת־חַלּ֥וֹן הַתֵּבָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃

After forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the ark.

וַיְשַׁלַּ֖ח אֶת־הָֽעֹרֵ֑ב וַיֵּצֵ֤א יָצוֹא֙ וָשׁ֔וֹב עַד־יְבֹ֥שֶׁת הַמַּ֖יִם מֵעַ֥ל הָאָֽרֶץ׃

He sent out the raven, and it departed. It went back and forth until the water had dried up from the land's surface.

Forty days after the peaks appeared, on the 10th of Elul, Noach opened the window of the ark and sent out the raven. It went back and forth until the waters dried. Noach understood the speech of animals and birds, so he could give the raven, the most intelligent of birds, a real mission: go out, see the state of the world, and come back and report. The raven went unwillingly and never really left the area around the ark. Even so, Hashem had it taken back in, for a reason explained below.
Bereshis 8:8–9

וַיְשַׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֖ה מֵאִתּ֑וֹ לִרְאוֹת֙ הֲקַ֣לּוּ הַמַּ֔יִם מֵעַ֖ל פְּנֵ֥י הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃

He then sent out the dove to see if the water had subsided from the land's surface.

וְלֹֽא־מָצְאָה֩ הַיּוֹנָ֨ה מָנ֜וֹחַ לְכַף־רַגְלָ֗הּ וַתָּ֤שׇׁב אֵלָיו֙ אֶל־הַתֵּבָ֔ה כִּי־מַ֖יִם עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כׇל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח יָדוֹ֙ וַיִּקָּחֶ֔הָ וַיָּבֵ֥א אֹתָ֛הּ אֵלָ֖יו אֶל־הַתֵּבָֽה׃

The dove could not find any place to rest its feet, and it returned to him, to the ark. There was still water over all the earth's surface. [Noah] stretched out his hand, and brought it to him in the ark.

Noach then sent out the dove to see whether the water had gone from the land. It found no place to rest its feet and came back, and Noach reached out and brought it into the ark. Unlike the raven, the dove was not sent on a mission. Noach only wanted to see if it could find a place to land. A dove rests on trees and branches, and the uncovered mountaintops were above the tree line. When it came back, Noach knew the wooded areas were still under water. He had also waited seven days after sending the raven before he risked the dove, because he valued the dove more.
Bereshis 8:10–11

וַיָּ֣חֶל ע֔וֹד שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים אֲחֵרִ֑ים וַיֹּ֛סֶף שַׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֖ה מִן־הַתֵּבָֽה׃

He waited another seven days, and once again sent the dove out from the ark.

וַתָּבֹ֨א אֵלָ֤יו הַיּוֹנָה֙ לְעֵ֣ת עֶ֔רֶב וְהִנֵּ֥ה עֲלֵה־זַ֖יִת טָרָ֣ף בְּפִ֑יהָ וַיֵּ֣דַע נֹ֔חַ כִּי־קַ֥לּוּ הַמַּ֖יִם מֵעַ֥ל הָאָֽרֶץ׃

The dove returned to him toward evening, and there was a freshly-plucked olive leaf in its beak. Noah then knew that the water had subsided from the earth.

Seven days later Noach sent the dove again. Toward evening it came back with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak, and Noach knew the water had gone down. The leaf came from Eretz Yisrael or from Gan Eden. Eretz Yisrael was never flooded, so the leaf itself proved nothing about the rest of the world. The proof was its message. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 108b) says the dove chose a bitter olive leaf to say: "Better that my food be bitter as an olive and come from Hashem than sweet as honey and come from man." Rabbi Moshe Galanti, in Zevach HaShelamim, explains why that settled it. A bird that still depended on Noach would never dare lecture the man who had fed it for a year. Once the dove could tell him it no longer needed him, Noach understood that the flood was over.
Bereshis 8:12–14

וַיִּיָּ֣חֶל ע֔וֹד שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים אֲחֵרִ֑ים וַיְשַׁלַּח֙ אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֔ה וְלֹֽא־יָסְפָ֥ה שׁוּב־אֵלָ֖יו עֽוֹד׃

He waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove [again]. This time it did not return to him any more.

וַ֠יְהִ֠י בְּאַחַ֨ת וְשֵׁשׁ־מֵא֜וֹת שָׁנָ֗ה בָּֽרִאשׁוֹן֙ בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֔דֶשׁ חָֽרְב֥וּ הַמַּ֖יִם מֵעַ֣ל הָאָ֑רֶץ וַיָּ֤סַר נֹ֙חַ֙ אֶת־מִכְסֵ֣ה הַתֵּבָ֔ה וַיַּ֕רְא וְהִנֵּ֥ה חָֽרְב֖וּ פְּנֵ֥י הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃

In the 601st year [of Noah's life], in the first [month], on the first of the month, the land was drained off and Noah removed the ark's hatch. He saw that the land's surface was beginning to dry.

וּבַחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ הַשֵּׁנִ֔י בְּשִׁבְעָ֧ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֛ים י֖וֹם לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ יָבְשָׁ֖ה הָאָֽרֶץ׃

By the second month, on the 27th day of the month, the land was completely dry.

After seven more days Noach sent the dove out again, and this time it did not come back. On the first day of the first month of Noach's 601st year the ground was drained and Noach removed the hatch. By the 27th of the second month the land was completely dry. That first day was Rosh Hashanah of the year 1657 from Creation. The ground was still boiling mud, so Noach could look out but could not yet leave. "Completely dry" means parched past the point of plowing. After a whole year of water, Hashem still had to send a miraculous rain to soften the earth so it could be worked and grow food again.
Bereshis 8:15–17

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־נֹ֥חַ לֵאמֹֽר׃

God spoke to Noah saying,

צֵ֖א מִן־הַתֵּבָ֑ה אַתָּ֕ה וְאִשְׁתְּךָ֛ וּבָנֶ֥יךָ וּנְשֵֽׁי־בָנֶ֖יךָ אִתָּֽךְ׃

"Leave the ark—you, along with your wife, your sons, and your son's wives.

כׇּל־הַחַיָּ֨ה אֲשֶֽׁר־אִתְּךָ֜ מִכׇּל־בָּשָׂ֗ר בָּע֧וֹף וּבַבְּהֵמָ֛ה וּבְכׇל־הָרֶ֛מֶשׂ הָרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ (הוצא) [הַיְצֵ֣א] אִתָּ֑ךְ וְשָֽׁרְצ֣וּ בָאָ֔רֶץ וּפָר֥וּ וְרָב֖וּ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

Take out with you every living creature from all flesh: birds, livestock, and all land animals that walk the earth. Let them swarm on the land. They shall breed and multiply on the earth."

Hashem tells Noach to leave the ark with his wife, his sons and his sons' wives, to bring out every living creature, and to let them swarm on the land and multiply. When they went in, the men and the women were listed separately: Noach and his sons, then his wife and his sons' wives. That taught that couples were to stay apart while the world was being destroyed. Now the verse pairs them, "you and your wife, your sons and your sons' wives," which gives permission to be together again. The permission had to be said out loud, because once something is forbidden by decree, it stays forbidden until the prohibition is released.
Bereshis 8:18–19

וַיֵּ֖צֵא־נֹ֑חַ וּבָנָ֛יו וְאִשְׁתּ֥וֹ וּנְשֵֽׁי־בָנָ֖יו אִתּֽוֹ׃

Noah left the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives.

כׇּל־הַֽחַיָּ֗ה כׇּל־הָרֶ֙מֶשׂ֙ וְכׇל־הָע֔וֹף כֹּ֖ל רוֹמֵ֣שׂ עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ לְמִשְׁפְּחֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם יָצְא֖וּ מִן־הַתֵּבָֽה׃

Every beast, every land animal, and every bird—all that walk the land—left the ark by families.

Noach left the ark with his family, and every animal and bird left "by their families." Only animals that had never mated outside their own species were let into the ark. Rashi explains "by their families" to mean that on the way out, the animals took it upon themselves to keep to their own kind from then on. That is why, with no one policing the wilderness, a lion still does not mate with a hyena.
Bereshis 8:20

וַיִּ֥בֶן נֹ֛חַ מִזְבֵּ֖חַ לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה וַיִּקַּ֞ח מִכֹּ֣ל ׀ הַבְּהֵמָ֣ה הַטְּהֹרָ֗ה וּמִכֹּל֙ הָע֣וֹף הַטָּה֔וֹר וַיַּ֥עַל עֹלֹ֖ת בַּמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃

Noah built an altar to God. He took a few of all the clean livestock and all the clean birds, and he sacrificed completely-burned offerings on the altar.

Noach built an altar to Hashem and offered olos (burnt offerings, burned completely on the altar) from all the kosher animals and birds. No one told him to bring offerings; he worked it out. For the non-kosher animals Hashem asked for one pair, which is all it takes to keep a species alive. So the six extra pairs of every kosher kind had to be meant for something else: an offering. The Ramban explains how the pairs arrived. "Shnayim shnayim ba'u," two by two they came (7:9): one pair of every species came on its own. The six extra pairs of each kosher kind Noach had to go and bring in himself, as Hashem had told him, "tikach lecha shiva shiva," take for yourself seven by seven (7:2). These were animals Noach himself was meant to take and do something with.
Bereshis 8:21

וַיָּ֣רַח יְהֹוָה֮ אֶת־רֵ֣יחַ הַנִּיחֹ֒חַ֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־לִבּ֗וֹ לֹֽא־אֹ֠סִ֠ף לְקַלֵּ֨ל ע֤וֹד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ בַּעֲב֣וּר הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֠י יֵ֣צֶר לֵ֧ב הָאָדָ֛ם רַ֖ע מִנְּעֻרָ֑יו וְלֹֽא־אֹסִ֥ף ע֛וֹד לְהַכּ֥וֹת אֶת־כׇּל־חַ֖י כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִֽׂיתִי׃

God smelled the appeasing fragrance, and God said to Himself, "Never again will I curse the soil because of man, for the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike down all life as I have just done.

Hashem smelled the pleasing fragrance and said to Himself: "I will never again curse the soil because of man… I will never again strike down all life as I have done." Smelling the fragrance means Hashem willingly accepted Noach's offering. Bereshis Rabbah adds that He smelled ahead to Noach's descendants who would be thrown into a furnace for Him, Avraham and Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah. They came out with no smell of fire on them, only a sweet fragrance. His promise says "never again" (lo osif) twice, and a statement said twice becomes an oath. This applies to our own speech too. If someone asks a favor and you answer "no, no," that double no counts like an oath, when you mean it as one.
Bereshis 8:22

עֹ֖ד כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ זֶ֡רַע וְ֠קָצִ֠יר וְקֹ֨ר וָחֹ֜ם וְקַ֧יִץ וָחֹ֛רֶף וְי֥וֹם וָלַ֖יְלָה לֹ֥א יִשְׁבֹּֽתוּ׃

As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night, shall never again cease [to exist]."

As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will never stop. The seasons are listed because before the flood life was too easy. The weather was always beautiful, there was no illness and no tragedy, nothing to knock people into shape, and they drifted into sin. After the flood Hashem set the world on cycles of change and hardship. Bereshis Rabbah, quoting Rabbi Acha, reads "cold and heat" as chills and fever as well. Friction makes people work harder. People say New Yorkers, who grind through brutal winters, work harder than people in Miami.
Bereshis 9:1

וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־נֹ֖חַ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֑יו וַיֹּ֧אמֶר לָהֶ֛ם פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֖וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

God blessed Noah and his children. He said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Hashem blessed Noach and his sons and told them to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. Adam had already been commanded to be fruitful and multiply, so this is not a new command. Bereshis Rabbah explains it as a blessing: that Noach and his children be fertile and grow in number.
Bereshis 9:2

וּמוֹרַאֲכֶ֤ם וְחִתְּכֶם֙ יִֽהְיֶ֔ה עַ֚ל כׇּל־חַיַּ֣ת הָאָ֔רֶץ וְעַ֖ל כׇּל־ע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם בְּכֹל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּרְמֹ֧שׂ הָֽאֲדָמָ֛ה וּֽבְכׇל־דְּגֵ֥י הַיָּ֖ם בְּיֶדְכֶ֥ם נִתָּֽנוּ׃

There shall be a fear and dread of you instilled in all the wild beasts of the earth, and all the birds of the sky, in all that will walk the land, and in all the fish of the sea. I have placed them in your hands.

Fear and dread of you will be on every wild beast, every bird, everything that walks the land and every fish of the sea; they are placed in your hands. The verse could simply have said that fear would be placed on the animals. It says "your fear and your dread" because this fear had belonged to man before, and Hashem was restoring it (Bereshis Rabbah 34:12). It is yours, and whether animals fear a person depends on whether he lives up to the level of a human being.
Bereshis 9:3–4

כׇּל־רֶ֙מֶשׂ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הוּא־חַ֔י לָכֶ֥ם יִהְיֶ֖ה לְאׇכְלָ֑ה כְּיֶ֣רֶק עֵ֔שֶׂב נָתַ֥תִּי לָכֶ֖ם אֶת־כֹּֽל׃

"Every moving thing that lives shall be to you as food. Like plant vegetation, I have [now] given you everything.

אַךְ־בָּשָׂ֕ר בְּנַפְשׁ֥וֹ דָמ֖וֹ לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽלוּ׃

But nevertheless, you may not eat flesh of a creature that is still alive.

Every living thing that moves will be food for you, just like plants, but you may not eat flesh while its life is still in it. Until now no one was allowed to slaughter an animal for food. Now Noach is permitted meat, except a piece cut from an animal while it is still alive (ever min hachai). Adam could not eat meat and Noach can, because before the flood animals had done nothing for humanity. Now every species is alive only because Noach brought it into the ark. So to speak, the animals owe us, and that gives us permission to slaughter and eat them.

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

  • Hashem never changes; whether His acts land as justice or mercy depends on who we are.
  • Animals and the world respect a person who lives on a human level: do good deeds and have pity on the poor.
  • Hardship and changing seasons are there to keep us working; too easy a life is what led the generation of the flood astray.
  • When destruction is loose in the world, stay home and hunker down, as Noach did in the ark.
  • Be careful with words: saying "no, no" and meaning it counts like an oath.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

How the waters drained away

  • The wind Hashem sent seems to have blown straight down, through the water to the ground, drying up the water that had fallen from the sky.
  • At the same time, the floodgates of heaven and the wellsprings of the deep went back to their places.
  • The water level fell between 4¾ and 5¾ inches a day, which is a quarter of an amah.
  • The ark was thirty amos high and close to the size of a cruise ship. By plain physics it should have sat deeper than eleven amos, and the Ramban says a miracle kept it from sinking further.

What it means that Hashem "remembered" Noach

  • Nothing is ever forgotten before Hashem. "Remembering" means bringing a particular merit forward and acting because of it, the way we ask Him to remember Akeidas Yitzchak, Avraham's binding of Yitzchak on the altar.
  • Noach's merit was his tireless work caring for the animals. Because of it, the flood stopped and the waters sank back into the ground.
  • The verse adds that Hashem remembered the animals too. They never mated with other species, and in the ark males and females stayed apart, because it is not proper to be intimate while the world is suffering.

Why the names of justice and mercy seem switched

  • Hashem's names stand for His attributes: Elokim for justice, and the four-letter name (Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh) for mercy.
  • Oddly, the decree "I will wipe out man" (Bereshis 6:7) uses the name of mercy, while "Elokim remembered Noach" uses the name of justice.
  • This teaches that for a righteous person even justice is mercy, and for a wicked person even mercy is justice (Bereshis Rabbah 33:3, brought by Rashi on 8:1).
  • Hashem Himself never changes. What changes is how we receive what He does: the same rain waters one man's field and floods another's.

The three who broke the rule in the ark

  • Everyone in the ark was supposed to stay apart, as the separate listing of men and women showed. Three did not: Cham, the dog and the raven (Talmud Sanhedrin 108b).
  • Cham's reason, according to some (the Maharsha): before the flood, Og, one of the giants, had made Cham's wife pregnant. Cham was with her in the ark so the family would think the child was his. That child was Sichon. Sichon and Og are the two giant kings Moshe defeats just before Israel enters the land.
  • Each one was punished. Cham was struck in his skin, which turned dark, and his descendants through Kush inherited it. The dog stays stuck to its mate after mating. The raven mates by passing saliva into the female's mouth.
  • Ignoring Hashem leaves you looking foolish, like a dog stuck in place.

The raven's complaint, and why it was let back in

  • The raven was insulted to be sent into a chaotic, dangerous world. It said to Noach, "Your Master hates me, and you hate me too" (Talmud Sanhedrin 108b).
  • Its argument: kosher birds came in seven pairs and unclean birds in a single pair, so if the raven died the whole species would be gone.
  • Noach answered that kosher birds can be eaten and offered to Hashem, while the raven is good for nothing and had mated in the ark besides. He did not care if the mission was dangerous.
  • The raven never left the area. It found a human corpse, ate it (Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer) and came back, and Noach refused to let it in.
  • Hashem told him to take it back, because ravens would one day bring Eliyahu bread and meat from King Yehoshafat's table while he hid by Nachal Keris after rebuking Achav (Melachim I 17:6).

Why the flood lasted one full solar year

  • The flood judged the world with fire and water: the springs from below were boiling and the rain was ice cold. The Zohar says this is the punishment of Gehinnom.
  • In today's calendar: rain fell from mid-afternoon on October 27 until December 8, which is 40 days. The waters kept surging until May 6, 150 more days, for 190 in total. They went down from May 7 to July 5, another 60 days, for 250 in total.
  • After a forty-day wait, the raven went out on the 10th of Elul (August 13), followed by the dove three times, a week apart. The hatch was opened on Rosh Hashanah (September 2), and the earth was fully dry on October 27: exactly 365 days.
  • The Jewish calendar follows the moon, and a lunar year is 354 days. The flood ran a full 365 because the generation was proud. They believed they could control the sun and protect themselves from any disaster, so their punishment lasted a full year of the sun.

Where the bodies went, and the springs that were left open

  • Rashi explains the name Shinar (Bavel, today's Iraq) as coming from ninar, "shaken": the bodies of those killed in the flood were shaken loose and swept down there.
  • The Talmud (Shabbos 113b) says that whoever eats the soil of Bavel is eating his own ancestors, because that dirt is made of the flood's dead.
  • Other opinions say the bodies dissolved completely in the hot water (Ramban on 7:23), or that some lay on the mountains, like the corpse the raven ate. These are different views and do not have to agree.
  • When the flood began, the Torah says "all the wellsprings of the great deep" burst open. When it ended, it says only "the wellsprings of the deep" were sealed, without "all." From that missing word we learn that some were left open. Those are today's hot springs, from Yellowstone to Chamei Teveria in Tiberias.
  • The Zohar tells that Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Yossi, travelling through the Mountains of Darkness, saw marks the flood had left on the ground. Hashem keeps such marks so that the good of the righteous is remembered and the evil of the wicked is not forgotten.

Why the earth itself was punished, and with boiling water

  • The Zohar says most sins harm only the sinner, but wasting seed on the ground damages the earth too. That sin was done openly before the flood, so the earth was flooded with water poured over it, measure for measure.
  • Desire can come from fire: impulsive and demanding, "I need that." The generation's passion burned like that, so the waters that punished them boiled. "With boiling they sinned, and with boiling they were punished" (Talmud Sanhedrin 108b).

Why innocent people and children died too

  • Before the Torah was given, Hashem did not punish anyone under 100 in this world. Noach's sons were under 100 at the Flood: Noach had no children until he was 500, so that the eldest wouldn't reach the punishable age before the Flood (Rashi on 5:32).
  • The Zohar says Hashem usually punishes only the wicked, with one exception. Sexual immorality is so disgusting to Him that it brings destruction like a plague, taking good and bad together.
  • Today, children (boys under 13, girls under 12) can be punished for their parents' sins when they follow their parents' ways. Back then, many people under 100 had learned their parents' immoral ways as well.

Why Noach needed an ark at all

  • Hashem could have saved Noach in many ways, for example by putting him in Eretz Yisrael, which was not flooded.
  • Building the ark for 120 years was a warning everyone could see, meant to move his generation to repent. No one took the lesson.
  • The Zohar teaches that when death is loose in the world, the forces of destruction do not tell the guilty from the innocent, but they cannot harm someone who does not show his face. So Noach was shut inside. The lesson for any plague, Corona included, is to stay home.
  • The Alshich notes that Hashem said "make yourself an ark." Building it and a full year of caring for the animals brought atonement for all of Noach's sins.

Waiting for Hashem's word to leave

  • When the earth dried, Noach's sons wanted to walk out. Noach told them that just as they had gone in with Hashem's permission, they would leave only with it (Bereshis Rabbah 34:4). Hashem told him he had decreed that they stay in the ark until twelve full months had passed (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 11).
  • "Swarm on the land" means on the land and not in the ark: do not start being fruitful until you are off the ark.
  • With one door and so many creatures, the ark could not be emptied in a day or two. All that time, the males and females of every species kept apart until they were on land.

A forbidden thing stays forbidden until it's released

  • Suppose a person resolves not to drink wine until next year because it's so expensive. Unless the vow is annulled, he may not drink wine that year, even if the price goes down (Beitzah 5a: what was forbidden by a count needs another count to permit it).
  • The same is true in all similar cases: something specifically forbidden stays forbidden even after the reason is gone. That's why Noach's family needed Hashem's explicit permission to come together again.

Written "take them out," read "let them come out"

  • In 8:17 the word is written הוצא, hotzei, "take them out," but it is read היצא, haytzei, "let them come out."
  • Rashi explains that the word carries both messages. Noach should tell each animal to leave with its mate, but if one refuses, he must take it out himself.

Why Noach still kept apart from his wife

  • Even after Hashem gave permission, verse 18 lists the men and the women separately again.
  • Noach did not want to have children. He thought they might turn out bad and be wiped out by another flood, so why invest in them?
  • That is why Hashem promises never to bring another flood. Once Noach heard it, he agreed to go back to his wife and have children.

The altar on Har HaMoriah, and who offered on it

  • Adam had built an altar, and Kayin and Hevel brought their offerings on it. It stood on Har HaMoriah, where the altar of the Beis HaMikdash would later stand.
  • The verse says Noach "built" an altar even though one was already there. After 1657 years, and with Eretz Yisrael scorched by heat during the flood, Adam's altar was damaged, and Noach restored it.
  • Vayiven, "he built," also echoes havanah, understanding: Noach understood that an altar was needed, from the extra pairs of kosher animals.
  • Noach could not offer himself. A lion had bitten his foot when he brought its food late, and a person with a bodily blemish may not bring offerings. The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah) says his son Shem offered in his place.

Forty days of rain every year until the Temple

  • From the flood until the first Beis HaMikdash, it rained nonstop every year for forty days, the length of the flood's rain, starting from the 17th of Cheshvan (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 11).
  • This stopped when Shlomo completed the Temple, in the month of Bul, which is Cheshvan. He prayed, and the yearly rains stopped. The Tanchuma reads Bul as coming from mabul, flood. The Chida (Chomat Anach) adds that בול is מבול without the מ, whose value is 40: the forty days were taken away.
  • Even after promising never to destroy the world again, Hashem reminded the world every year of what He had done.

How long the oath lasts

  • "As long as the earth lasts" sets a limit: the earth will not last forever.
  • Bereshis Rabbah says that at the end of days Hashem will take apart this world and renew it. The oath binds only while heaven and earth exist.

The six seasons

  • The verse names six seasons of about two months each: zera (seedtime), choref (winter), kor (cold), katzir (harvest), kayitz (summer) and chom (heat) (Talmud Bava Metzia 106b).
  • The cycle starts with seedtime on the 15th of Tishrei and runs around the year back to it, with winter in the heart of Kislev to Shevat.
  • Changing weather is not good for a person's health, and that too is something new after the flood.

Why animals fear some people and attack others

  • Adam controlled every creature. After his sin the animals rebelled and would no longer obey him.
  • As humanity sank further, oxen gored and kicked the farmers who tried to plow with them. When Noach was born this stopped, a step back up.
  • Just before the flood, animals attacked the people trying to reach the ark, because humanity had sunk so low. After the flood, Hashem returns the animals' fear of man.
  • When a lion does kill a person, it is not the lion that kills but the sin. The Gemara (Shabbos 151b) says a lion runs from two men. "Men" means people who act like humans; people who act like animals get attacked like animals.
  • The Zohar says that someone who does good deeds and has pity on the poor never loses his human image, and no animal can come near him or harm him.

Only while he's alive

  • The Hebrew word for "dread" in 9:2, chitah, is related to chayah, "live". A person's power to make animals fear him depends on his being alive.
  • So as long as a person is alive, even a newborn infant, the animals are wary of him. Once he dies, even the greatest giant doesn't frighten them: the Gemara says a one-day-old baby needn't be guarded from mice, but Og, king of Bashan, once dead, does (Shabbos 151b; Rashi on 9:2).

Rule or descend

  • Hashem told Adam "u'redu", "dominate" the fish, the birds and the animals (1:28). The word can come from "rule" or from "descend": if you act properly you will rule them; if not, you will sink below them (Rashi on 1:26). The generation before the Flood was very wicked, so it was brought very low.
  • Although after the Flood the animals feared man again, full dominion over them did not return until King Shlomo, who found ways with his wisdom to control every creature, and everyone learned from him (Bereshis Rabbah 34:12; Melachim I 5:13).

Why the ban on a living animal's limb is repeated

  • Adam had already been commanded not to eat a limb taken from a living animal.
  • It is repeated for Noach because, once meat was permitted, people might have thought the old prohibition was cancelled. Hashem makes clear it still stands.
Review questions
  1. How do we know that the ark sat eleven amos deep in the water?
  2. Why does "Hashem remembered Noach" use the name of justice, and what does that teach?
  3. If the olive leaf came from Eretz Yisrael, which never flooded, how did it show Noach that the flood was over?
  4. What do the written hotzei and the read haytzei in 8:17 each tell Noach to do?
  5. How did Noach know that the extra kosher animals were meant to be offerings?
  6. Why was Noach allowed to eat meat when Adam was not?
Sources
  • Bereshis Rabbah 33:3, 33:7, 34:4, 34:6, 34:9, 34:11, 34:12 — justice and mercy; the ark sitting eleven amos deep; leaving only with permission; Noach not wanting children; the altar and the furnace fragrance; the world's renewal at the end of days and Rabbi Acha on the seasons; 'be fruitful' as a blessing
  • Rashi on 8:1, 8:17, 8:19 and 11:2 — the animals' merit; the written hotzei and read haytzei; animals leaving 'by families'; Shinar as 'shaken'
  • Ramban on 7:8 and 7:23 — how Noach knew to bring offerings; the bodies dissolving
  • Ramban and Yefeh To'ar (as the Me'am Loez cites them, p. 362) — the miracle that kept the ark from sinking
  • Zohar 1:62, 1:63, 1:66 — wasting seed and the earth; Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Yossi on the flood's marks; fire and water as Gehinnom
  • Zohar — immorality bringing indiscriminate destruction; hiding from destructive forces; good deeds preserving the human image
  • Talmud Sanhedrin 108b — the three who mated in the ark; the raven's complaint; the dove's olive-leaf message; boiling for boiling
  • Maharsha — Og, Cham's wife and Sichon
  • Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer 23 — the raven eating a corpse and Noach's answer to it
  • Melachim I 17:3–6 — ravens feeding Eliyahu at Nachal Keris
  • Zevach HaShelamim (Rabbi Moshe Galanti) — how the olive leaf told Noach the flood was over
  • Talmud Shabbos 113b — the soil of Bavel made of the flood's dead
  • Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 11 — twelve full months in the ark; forty days of rain every year until the Temple
  • Alshich — building the ark and caring for the animals atoned for Noach
  • Vayikra Rabbah 20:1 — Shem offering in place of the maimed Noach
  • Talmud Shevuos 36a — 'no, no' as an oath
  • Talmud Bava Metzia 106b — the six seasons
  • Talmud Shabbos 151b — a lion does not attack two men
  • The Living Torah (Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan) — the English translation read
  • Chomat Anach (the Chida) on Melachim I 6:38 — Bul as mabul without the mem (40)