Hebraic Studies - Parashat Noach
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Y-H-V-H, which we usually pronounce as “Adonai” or “HaShem”.
*“This is My Name forever,
and this is My memorial to all generations.”
Shemot - Exodus 3:15.
Although some minor alterations have been made relating to names and attributes having been corrected.
Please Note: Verse numbers may at times vary in non Jewish Bibles.
Bereshit
- Genesis 6:9 to 11:32
With Rabbi Reuven
Ben-Avraham.
“Noach - Noah found grace in the eyes of
… Noach was in his generations a man
righteous and whole-hearted; Noach walked with Elohim … Make thee an Ark
of gopher wood; with rooms shalt thou make the Ark, and shalt pitch it within
and without with pitch” Bereshit - Genesis 6:8-9 & 14 (JPS version of the Torah with some
alterations with correct names provided, etc).
As we read in the Torah we find that Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name,
commanded Noach - Noah to build a 
- “Tevah” – the
“Thus did Noach; according to all that Elohim commanded him, so did he” Bereshit - Genesis 6:22 (JPS).
Of course this verse refers to the fact that
Noach followed ’s instructions regarding the
building of the –
“Tevah” exactly. The question is why does the Torah need to tell us
that Noach did exactly as commanded him? Why would we
think otherwise considering the Torah had already stated that Noach was devout
and perfect in all of his generations?
The specifications of Noach’s
Note: I will return to the animals a little later as there were specific details given, and they were very important!
It would seem that it is impossibility for
this limited structure to accommodate this endless number of creatures. The
building of the immediately began building the
“Thus did Noach; according to all that Elohim commanded him, so did he” Bereshit - Genesis 6:22 (JPS).
It is believed that Noach built the
On a human level, one is able to understand
the Splitting of the Sea because it is simply a question of parting the waters
(which is not beyond ’s ability); however, putting
thousands of gallons of water into a three-ounce cup is beyond the human
capacity to comprehend. One of the miracles which took place in the Beis HaMikdash (The Temple) was that although on Yom Kippur
all those who were present in the Sanctuary stood pressed together - when they
heard the pronouncement of the Name of by the High Priest, all those present
prostrated themselves to their full length without any difficulty. The Beis HaMikdash in the physical context had a specific
dimension; however, vis-à-vis its functionality it had an unlimited capacity.
We are limited to the physical realm and
cannot comprehend anything beyond that. Noach was able to negate his
understanding to such a degree that he was able to follow the Dictate of regardless of his inability to comprehend the
impossible. This aspect of Noach’s greatness is being communicated to us
by the verse, “Thus did Noach; according to all that Elohim commanded
him, so did he.”
If says that events will unfold
in a certain manner then we accept them as fact. For example, at the end of
time the Jewish people will be confronted by all the nations of the world at
the time of the Armageddon and ultimately we will defeat them. How is it
possible that relatively speaking a handful of people are able to defeat an
unlimited enemy? The answer is that if this is what has communicated to us through the Prophets
then it will take place in its proper time. This is something that goes
unquestioned. This is the perspective that a Jew must have. Noach is building
the to accommodate a huge number of animals.
The Tzaddik:
“These are the offspring of Noach…” Then, the Torah digresses by saying, “Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations; Noach walked with Elohim.” The Torah identifies Noach as what we call a tzaddik so that the world can appreciate him as the role model of devoutness since that is his purpose in existence.
The Torah mentioned the righteousness of Noach in the context of fathering his children so that we can understand why they merited surviving the Great Flood. The offspring survived only in the merit of their father. The offspring of Noach were considered “minors” because they were less than one hundred years old at the time of the Great Flood; indeed, before the Flood anyone less than one hundred years old was actually considered to be a minor.
As I said earlier, when we mention a tzaddik one should acknowledge his worthiness. If the Torah wanted to highlight this special dimension of Noach, then why not simply start the Portion with, “Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations; Noach walked with Elohim” and then discuss the offspring of Noach? Why interrupt one statement with the other? Evidently, there must be a connection between the importance of the “offspring” of Noach and his classification as a tzaddik.
All of the families that descended from Adam perished in the Great Flood except for Noach and his family. Therefore, in essence Noach is the father of all mankind and is the antecedent of all humanity; all the characteristics that he possessed were inherited by his descendants. Every human being, both Jew and non-Jew have relevance to the potential of Noach. At this point, it is important to acknowledge Noach as the tzaddik because it informs us about the characteristics which mankind inherited from him and therefore we all have the chance to be a tzaddik.
The potential of every non-Jew is demonstrated by the righteousness of Noach. The potential of every Jew is even greater because he also has relevance to the spiritual characteristics and accomplishments of the Patriarchs – Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov from whom every Jew descends.
Noach’s Level of Faith
After the 120-year project of building the
“And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood” Bereshit - Genesis 7:7 (JPS).
Over the course during the long period whilst
Noach was building the - “Tevah” – the
Then just prior to the Flood all of the
species of animals, and all living creatures, began to flock to the
“Tevah” – the
Noach understood that the end was now at hand
as the Floodwaters began to rise. It was his choice to process that final
experience in its proper context and enter into the - “Tevah”. Unlike those who
were obstinate and refused to acknowledge the Hand of .
We may experience difficult times in our
lives, which could in fact be the basis for a turning point to do teshuvah.
Often when a person is subjected to hardship, he or she turns to Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, and
mends their ways. However, this is not necessarily the case. Many people do not
recognize their shortcomings nor do teshuvah even if they have suffering in
their lives. However, even if a person is forced into doing teshuvah because of
their hardships, that teshuvah still has value. The reason for this is that
although it is done under duress, nevertheless it is attributed to his
acknowledgement and understanding that difficulties emanate from their
spiritual failings. This is why the Torah goes out of its way to tell us;
“And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood” Bereshit - Genesis 7:7 (JPS).
It indicates that values when we do the right thing despite the
fact that it is done under duress. The Kindness of is like a parent to a child. The moment the
child makes a move to correct their ways, (despite the parent’s
involvement behind the scenes), the parent will value the child’s
teshuvah and accept him immediately.
Elohim is no ordinary parent, after creating the earth and all the beings within it and seeing what a mess we humans can make of it, He makes an amazing and brilliant parental (metaphorical) statement based on the great flood!:
“I will clean up your mess just once. Creation is a miracle and a gift to you. Whether you make the best or the worst of it, the consequences and responsibility are yours.”
A little later, towards the bottom of this
page there are eleven wonderful steps of teaching that are directly related
directly to Noach’s
Returning to the Animals entering the Ark
However, I would now like to add another
element which is found in this remarkable story when Elohim commanded Noach
regarding the loading of the “Tevah” – the “
Most of us as Yidden tend to believe that all
the Torah Mitzvot - Laws were given at
You may ask me, “But rabbi, how can you
possibly prove that?” Actually that is rather simple, I can do that from
this very scene when 
Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, speaks
to Noach, and He clearly reveals what I am saying here!
Let us now look at Bereshit - Genesis chapter 7, verses 1 & 2, where
Elohim, blessed be He, said:
1 “And said unto Noach: ‘Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous
before Me in this generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, each with his mate; and of the beasts that are not clean two and two, each with his mate” (JPS).
Thus the question is simple, how could Noach have known that there were clean and unclean beasts if the “kosher laws was only handed out so much later at Mt Sinai? It is rather simple this truth had been revealed very much earlier, even though no one ate meat until after the flood, as is stated in Bereshit - Genesis chapter 9.
“And Elohim blessed Noach and his sons, and said unto them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all wherewith the ground teemeth and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be for food for you; as the green herb have I given you all” Bereshit - Genesis 9: 1-3 (JPS).
Like the Shabbat, this Law was given after the
creation, and was upheld by mankind, and even before they arrived at
Eleven steps of teaching found in
Noah’s Ark
The COVID-19 pandemic with its variant’s
and severe weather conditions are now to be found all over the globe, etc, and
it is making life so much harder for many, yet it gives us all an opportunity
to do a mitzvah to someone who needs our help! Countries world-wide are
thankfully assisting the
Sadly, since the story of Noach, we have known that the world will always be a lawless place, and we do know that we live in one boat, but if we are faithful children of our beloved Elohim, blessed be He, we will always be fine!
Always remember our motto seen on the logo at
the top of this page: “The
More Torah, the More Life”, for Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, is the
one who gave us our Life!”
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