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RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:GENESIS 6:9-11:32:PARASHA NOACH:''Rainbows All Over Your Blues''
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC
BLUFFTON, SC
PARASHA NOACH
GENESIS 6:9-11:32
(REVIEW GENESIS 5:28-6:05)
"I'll Paint Rainbows All Over Your Blues"
SYNOPTIC ABSTRACT:
Last week's parasha ended with the birth of Noah and his three sons. it
described the evil taking place on earth at that time. Our parasha
continues with the flood story, the tower of Babel story and ends with
the beginning of the story of Abraham. Before you say that you remember
it all from Sunday school, can you recall how Noah got drunk and was
sodomized by his son? Can you recount what the specific evils were taking
place on Earth at this time? If not, please read on.
In studying this week's parasha, we need to review a few verses (listed
above GENESIS 5:28-6:05) from last Shabbat. Noah was Methuselah's grandson, and his name in
Hebrew (Noach) means "rest" or "comfort." When he was five hundred years
old, he fathered three sons. They were Shem, Japeth, and Ham. It is said
that the Semites are descended from Shem. A Midrash says that Noah's wife
was Naamah, who was Tubal-Cain's sister. Naamah means "lovely" in Hebrew.
Noah was born 126 years after Adam died in the Hebrew year of 1056. These
calculations are derived by taking the dates in the Torah literally.
At the end of last week's parasha we are told that "the sons of the
rulers saw that the daughters of man were good and they took for
themselves from whomever they choose" (Gen. 6:02). Man was so wicked at
this time that "every product of the thoughts of his heart was but evil
always"(Gen. 6:05). It was not that some thoughts were bad some of the
time, but that all thoughts were bad all of the time. God actually had
second thoughts about his creating man and the world. God is said to
"reconsider" and have "heartfelt sadness"(Gen. 6:07). Luckily, Noah had
God's grace (Gen. 6:08). Then this week's parasha begins.
"Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generation"(Gen. 6:09). This
line sparked much debate among our sages. What does the Torah mean by
saying in "his" generation? Would not Noah be righteous at any time?
Some rabbis say that if Noah was righteous even during his corrupt times,
how much more righteous he would have been if he lived in more moral
times! Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1040, France) says that he was righteous compared to his wicked
contemporaries, but that compared to Abraham he would not be considered
righteous at all. The Sefer ha Pashiuyot gives an interesting idea that
holds true today. When we judge men in history, we need to view them in
the times in which they lived, and not by our own standards.
Verse 6:11 says that the world was corrupt and filled with robbery. God
was going to destroy the world for this corruption and robbery. This
seems awfully harsh, especially in today's world where corruption and
theft seems commonplace. Rashi says a better translation of corruption is
immortality and idol worship. The Midrash says that adultery, incest and
stealing were all part of man's daily schedule. Powerful men would take
any women that they chose. The Midrash also says that a major sin of this
generation was sexual relations purely for lascivious gratification.
Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 57A says that the world was immersed in
jealousy, greed, theft, violence, lying, impatience, intolerance,
deception and fraud. The worst of all the transgressions according to
both Rashi and Ibn Ezra was that people exploited each other sexually.
The Midrash Vayikra Rabba says,"Everyone and everything became amoral.
Even animals became so morally corrupt and decadent that one species
mated with another species--dogs with wolves, horses with donkeys, snakes
with birds. The generation of the Flood was finally wiped away when they
started writing songs extolling cohabitation of males with males and
males with animals." Another Midrash says that males just didn't sodomize
other males, but that they signed ketobot (marriage contracts) legalizing
these relationships. Another Midrash says, "The custom of that generation
was to take two wives: one for having children and one for pleasure. The
one for having children would sit ugly and neglected like a living widow;
the one taken for pleasure would be sterilized and would sit by him,
made up with cosmetics like a harlot."
Rabbi Chaninah, in the Jerusalem version of the Talmud, said that the men
of the Flood's generation were so evil that they would visit their
friends' homes during the day, make an inventory, mark the place, and
come back at night by burrowing tunnels to rob these houses. When rabbi
Chaninah gave a lecture on this topic in the town of Tzippori, the next
day 300 homes were burrowed into! While the town's people were so upset
that they ran this rabbi out of town, he was happy as he knew that Jewish
thieves at least studied Talmud.
What could Noah have done differently during this horrible time that the
Torah would call him righteous in "all" generation and not just in "his"?
In Tractate Sanhedrin 108A Rabbi Lakish is supportive of Noah. Rabbi
Yochanon is not. Yochanon said that Noah reacted to the immorality of
his time. He believes that Noah would not have been inspired to do more
than his every day tasks if he lived in Abraham's time. The Midrash says
that Noah "believed and did not believe" that God would bring a flood.
He believed in his mind, but not in his heart. He carried out God's
blueprint to the cubit. However, after 120 years of building the ark, he
did not physically enter it, until it actually started to flood
(Gen.7:06). Rashi says that Noah had only "modest faith." During the 120
years it took Noah to build the ark, he was not able to convince a
single person of the coming disaster. If Noah believed God's word more
than merely intellectually, perhaps he could have persuaded his neighbors
to repent. Perhaps if he had believed on a visceral level, Noah could
have made a greater impact.
The Midrash Devorim has Moses having a discussion with Noah in Heaven.
Noah boasts to Moses that he is greater than Moses because he was saved
from the generation of the flood. Moses responds, "No, you saved
yourself, but were not able to save your generation. When did I save my
generation? When God said, 'Desist from me and I will destroy
them',(Deut.9:14), I pleaded with God and was successful in saving both
myself and my generation. Therefore I am greater than you." The
Kabbalistic Zohar points out that this is why the flood is referred to
in this week's Haftorah in Isaiah 54:9 as the "waters of Noah." Noah is
to blame for not being able to save his generation. While Moses prayed
for everyone, Noah cared only for himself, his wife,and his sons. The
Zohar puns on the words with which Moses pleaded to God after the sin
of the Golden Calf. In Exodus 32:32 Moses says to God, "Now if you would
forgive their sin, and if not, erase me, I beg you." The Hebrew for
"erase me" is "m'heni" which is an anagram of "mei Noah" (waters of
Noah).
The Kabbalah also compares Noah to Abraham. Noah died when Abraham was 58
years old. Noah does not sin like the rest of his generation, but he does
not do good deeds either. The Zohar says that after the Flood, Noah
cried to God that He was not compassionate. God responds, "You are a
foolish shepherd. Now you say this? Why did you not say this at the time
I told you that I saw that you were righteous in your generation, or
afterward when I said I will bring a flood upon the people, or when I
asked you to build an ark? I constantly delayed and I said, 'When is Noah
going to ask for compassion for the world?'...And now that the world is
destroyed, you...cry?" God calls Noah a foolish shepherd who could not
save one of his flock in 120 years.
The Zohar's rebuke of Noah continues. It says that Abraham prayed for
Sodom and Gomorrah and argued in their behalf. He pleads for God not to
kill the good with the evil. Both Abraham and Moses are called "faithful
shepherds." Noah accepts God's decree. Moses and Abraham do not. Noah's
name of "comfort" means that he was comfortable and self- satisfied. He
knew that he and his immediate family would be saved. He did not
sacrifice himself to help others. If we assume that Noah's sons worked
with him to build the Ark for these 120 years, what influence did Noah
the father have on his sons? Noah had his sons when he was 500 years old.
He was 600 years old when he finished the Ark that took 120 years to
build. He had 100 years to teach his sons before the Flood. Yet, we hear
nothing of his sons helping other people either. On the other hand,
Abraham spoke of God not only to his children but to his servants and
visitors. Noah is a doomsayer, who as Bill Cosby jokes, asks folks if
they can tread water. Abraham is optimistic and does acts of chesed
(loving kindness). Abraham went out of his tent and ran to help people.
Noah stayed on the top of his hill for 120 years building a boat.
After 150 days in the boat, what does Noah do when he comes to dry land?
How does Noah cope with the destruction and his role in it? He plants a
vineyard. Noah "drank of the wine and became intoxicated...and Ham (his
son), saw his nakedness and told his two brothers outside. And Shem and
Yafet took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked
backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were
backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from
his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him"(Gen. 9:21-24).
The Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 70A says that either Ham sodomized Noah, or
he castrated him. Ham had so much rage against his father for Noah's
passivity. Remember, Noah was the only just man of the time. That means
that his sons were like the rest of the people. They were saved due to
Noah's merit. Noah failed at educating one of his own sons (Ham) in
sexual morality. Whereas in the beginning of this parasha Noah is called
righteous, after the flood he is called "debased" and a "man of the
earth"(Gen 9:20). We will learn that Moses starts out being called an
"Egyptian man" (Exodus 2:19). He ends up being called a "man of
God" (Deut. 33:1). Noah did not learn the lesson of the flood. He did not
plant an orchard to help feed the population that soon would be born. He
did not try to raise cattle. He immediately sought individual pleasure .
Noah plants a vineyard and Abraham plants an orchard (Gen.21:33).
Three hundred-forty years later, while Noah is still alive, man again
tries to rebel by building the tower of Babel. Noah and his sons are
ineffectual in teaching ethical behavior and societal responsibility.
Even Noah's sacrifice to God after the flood is not to ask God to
replenish the Earth. It is out of fear of God and for wishes that God
will continue to spare Noah's individual body. This is before God
promises never to destroy the world again, with His rainbow as a sign of
this covenant. We do not see Noah making a sacrifice of thanksgiving to
God after this promise.
The Midrash also compares Noah and Adam. Both have a problem with fruit.
Adam was responsible to care for all the trees and not to eat from the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Noah was responsible for replanting
all of that was lost in the flood. He was warned against grapes,
according to the Midrash. The Midrash says that Noah's vines produced
grapes on the same day they were planted. Both Adam and Noah thought
that they were above the effects of these fruits.
Even the raven that Noah sends out to look for dry land has suspicions
about Noah. No human or animal was allowed to have sex while on the ark,
says the Midrash. The raven circles the ark and did not complete his
mission (Gen. 8:7). Tractate Sanhedrin 108B says that the raven suspects
Noah of having "improper intentions" toward his mate. The raven feels it
has to keep an eye on Noah. Therefore he circles the ark so that Noah
will not steal Mrs. Raven. Before he goes on his mission the raven
complains that, of all the birds, why is he chosen? Noah answers, "What
does the world need you for? You are not edible nor are you fit to be
offered as a sacrifice." The Midrash is making an interesting point about
Noah. Noah has not learned anything from the flood. All life has value.
Years later it will be ravens who save the world. Elijah placed a curse
during the time of the evil King Ahab, that the whole world would dry up
in a drought. He had to hide in the wilderness. The ravens fed him and
kept him alive so that he could remove his curse and save the world
(Kings I 17:6). Without ravens the world would have had another disaster.
Ravens mate for life. The raven was concerned about his wife. As we
have learned, the men of Noah's time were not concerned about their
marital obligations (Tractate Pesachim 113B). Noah could not appreciate
the raven's "morality."
What can we learn from this parasha? We have an obligation not only to do
no harm, but also actively to do good. Building big homes with all kinds
of collections, as our arks, is fine, as long as we teach our children
proper values. We leave our arks in our gated communities and suburbs to
help those who are not as fortunate. The Torah used this portion as the
place to announce what are called the Seven Noachide laws that predate
the Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus. Unlike other religions with
dogma saying that if you do not believe in their specific way you are
"voted off the island", Judaism believes that the righteous of all
nations, regardless of their belief systems, are equally beloved by God,
GENESIS 6:9-11:32
(REVIEW GENESIS 5:28-6:05)
"I'll Paint Rainbows All Over Your Blues"
SYNOPTIC ABSTRACT:
Last week's parasha ended with the birth of Noah and his three sons. it
described the evil taking place on earth at that time. Our parasha
continues with the flood story, the tower of Babel story and ends with
the beginning of the story of Abraham. Before you say that you remember
it all from Sunday school, can you recall how Noah got drunk and was
sodomized by his son? Can you recount what the specific evils were taking
place on Earth at this time? If not, please read on.
In studying this week's parasha, we need to review a few verses (listed
above GENESIS 5:28-6:05) from last Shabbat. Noah was Methuselah's grandson, and his name in
Hebrew (Noach) means "rest" or "comfort." When he was five hundred years
old, he fathered three sons. They were Shem, Japeth, and Ham. It is said
that the Semites are descended from Shem. A Midrash says that Noah's wife
was Naamah, who was Tubal-Cain's sister. Naamah means "lovely" in Hebrew.
Noah was born 126 years after Adam died in the Hebrew year of 1056. These
calculations are derived by taking the dates in the Torah literally.
At the end of last week's parasha we are told that "the sons of the
rulers saw that the daughters of man were good and they took for
themselves from whomever they choose" (Gen. 6:02). Man was so wicked at
this time that "every product of the thoughts of his heart was but evil
always"(Gen. 6:05). It was not that some thoughts were bad some of the
time, but that all thoughts were bad all of the time. God actually had
second thoughts about his creating man and the world. God is said to
"reconsider" and have "heartfelt sadness"(Gen. 6:07). Luckily, Noah had
God's grace (Gen. 6:08). Then this week's parasha begins.
"Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generation"(Gen. 6:09). This
line sparked much debate among our sages. What does the Torah mean by
saying in "his" generation? Would not Noah be righteous at any time?
Some rabbis say that if Noah was righteous even during his corrupt times,
how much more righteous he would have been if he lived in more moral
times! Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1040, France) says that he was righteous compared to his wicked
contemporaries, but that compared to Abraham he would not be considered
righteous at all. The Sefer ha Pashiuyot gives an interesting idea that
holds true today. When we judge men in history, we need to view them in
the times in which they lived, and not by our own standards.
Verse 6:11 says that the world was corrupt and filled with robbery. God
was going to destroy the world for this corruption and robbery. This
seems awfully harsh, especially in today's world where corruption and
theft seems commonplace. Rashi says a better translation of corruption is
immortality and idol worship. The Midrash says that adultery, incest and
stealing were all part of man's daily schedule. Powerful men would take
any women that they chose. The Midrash also says that a major sin of this
generation was sexual relations purely for lascivious gratification.
Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 57A says that the world was immersed in
jealousy, greed, theft, violence, lying, impatience, intolerance,
deception and fraud. The worst of all the transgressions according to
both Rashi and Ibn Ezra was that people exploited each other sexually.
The Midrash Vayikra Rabba says,"Everyone and everything became amoral.
Even animals became so morally corrupt and decadent that one species
mated with another species--dogs with wolves, horses with donkeys, snakes
with birds. The generation of the Flood was finally wiped away when they
started writing songs extolling cohabitation of males with males and
males with animals." Another Midrash says that males just didn't sodomize
other males, but that they signed ketobot (marriage contracts) legalizing
these relationships. Another Midrash says, "The custom of that generation
was to take two wives: one for having children and one for pleasure. The
one for having children would sit ugly and neglected like a living widow;
the one taken for pleasure would be sterilized and would sit by him,
made up with cosmetics like a harlot."
Rabbi Chaninah, in the Jerusalem version of the Talmud, said that the men
of the Flood's generation were so evil that they would visit their
friends' homes during the day, make an inventory, mark the place, and
come back at night by burrowing tunnels to rob these houses. When rabbi
Chaninah gave a lecture on this topic in the town of Tzippori, the next
day 300 homes were burrowed into! While the town's people were so upset
that they ran this rabbi out of town, he was happy as he knew that Jewish
thieves at least studied Talmud.
What could Noah have done differently during this horrible time that the
Torah would call him righteous in "all" generation and not just in "his"?
In Tractate Sanhedrin 108A Rabbi Lakish is supportive of Noah. Rabbi
Yochanon is not. Yochanon said that Noah reacted to the immorality of
his time. He believes that Noah would not have been inspired to do more
than his every day tasks if he lived in Abraham's time. The Midrash says
that Noah "believed and did not believe" that God would bring a flood.
He believed in his mind, but not in his heart. He carried out God's
blueprint to the cubit. However, after 120 years of building the ark, he
did not physically enter it, until it actually started to flood
(Gen.7:06). Rashi says that Noah had only "modest faith." During the 120
years it took Noah to build the ark, he was not able to convince a
single person of the coming disaster. If Noah believed God's word more
than merely intellectually, perhaps he could have persuaded his neighbors
to repent. Perhaps if he had believed on a visceral level, Noah could
have made a greater impact.
The Midrash Devorim has Moses having a discussion with Noah in Heaven.
Noah boasts to Moses that he is greater than Moses because he was saved
from the generation of the flood. Moses responds, "No, you saved
yourself, but were not able to save your generation. When did I save my
generation? When God said, 'Desist from me and I will destroy
them',(Deut.9:14), I pleaded with God and was successful in saving both
myself and my generation. Therefore I am greater than you." The
Kabbalistic Zohar points out that this is why the flood is referred to
in this week's Haftorah in Isaiah 54:9 as the "waters of Noah." Noah is
to blame for not being able to save his generation. While Moses prayed
for everyone, Noah cared only for himself, his wife,and his sons. The
Zohar puns on the words with which Moses pleaded to God after the sin
of the Golden Calf. In Exodus 32:32 Moses says to God, "Now if you would
forgive their sin, and if not, erase me, I beg you." The Hebrew for
"erase me" is "m'heni" which is an anagram of "mei Noah" (waters of
Noah).
The Kabbalah also compares Noah to Abraham. Noah died when Abraham was 58
years old. Noah does not sin like the rest of his generation, but he does
not do good deeds either. The Zohar says that after the Flood, Noah
cried to God that He was not compassionate. God responds, "You are a
foolish shepherd. Now you say this? Why did you not say this at the time
I told you that I saw that you were righteous in your generation, or
afterward when I said I will bring a flood upon the people, or when I
asked you to build an ark? I constantly delayed and I said, 'When is Noah
going to ask for compassion for the world?'...And now that the world is
destroyed, you...cry?" God calls Noah a foolish shepherd who could not
save one of his flock in 120 years.
The Zohar's rebuke of Noah continues. It says that Abraham prayed for
Sodom and Gomorrah and argued in their behalf. He pleads for God not to
kill the good with the evil. Both Abraham and Moses are called "faithful
shepherds." Noah accepts God's decree. Moses and Abraham do not. Noah's
name of "comfort" means that he was comfortable and self- satisfied. He
knew that he and his immediate family would be saved. He did not
sacrifice himself to help others. If we assume that Noah's sons worked
with him to build the Ark for these 120 years, what influence did Noah
the father have on his sons? Noah had his sons when he was 500 years old.
He was 600 years old when he finished the Ark that took 120 years to
build. He had 100 years to teach his sons before the Flood. Yet, we hear
nothing of his sons helping other people either. On the other hand,
Abraham spoke of God not only to his children but to his servants and
visitors. Noah is a doomsayer, who as Bill Cosby jokes, asks folks if
they can tread water. Abraham is optimistic and does acts of chesed
(loving kindness). Abraham went out of his tent and ran to help people.
Noah stayed on the top of his hill for 120 years building a boat.
After 150 days in the boat, what does Noah do when he comes to dry land?
How does Noah cope with the destruction and his role in it? He plants a
vineyard. Noah "drank of the wine and became intoxicated...and Ham (his
son), saw his nakedness and told his two brothers outside. And Shem and
Yafet took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked
backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were
backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from
his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him"(Gen. 9:21-24).
The Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 70A says that either Ham sodomized Noah, or
he castrated him. Ham had so much rage against his father for Noah's
passivity. Remember, Noah was the only just man of the time. That means
that his sons were like the rest of the people. They were saved due to
Noah's merit. Noah failed at educating one of his own sons (Ham) in
sexual morality. Whereas in the beginning of this parasha Noah is called
righteous, after the flood he is called "debased" and a "man of the
earth"(Gen 9:20). We will learn that Moses starts out being called an
"Egyptian man" (Exodus 2:19). He ends up being called a "man of
God" (Deut. 33:1). Noah did not learn the lesson of the flood. He did not
plant an orchard to help feed the population that soon would be born. He
did not try to raise cattle. He immediately sought individual pleasure .
Noah plants a vineyard and Abraham plants an orchard (Gen.21:33).
Three hundred-forty years later, while Noah is still alive, man again
tries to rebel by building the tower of Babel. Noah and his sons are
ineffectual in teaching ethical behavior and societal responsibility.
Even Noah's sacrifice to God after the flood is not to ask God to
replenish the Earth. It is out of fear of God and for wishes that God
will continue to spare Noah's individual body. This is before God
promises never to destroy the world again, with His rainbow as a sign of
this covenant. We do not see Noah making a sacrifice of thanksgiving to
God after this promise.
The Midrash also compares Noah and Adam. Both have a problem with fruit.
Adam was responsible to care for all the trees and not to eat from the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Noah was responsible for replanting
all of that was lost in the flood. He was warned against grapes,
according to the Midrash. The Midrash says that Noah's vines produced
grapes on the same day they were planted. Both Adam and Noah thought
that they were above the effects of these fruits.
Even the raven that Noah sends out to look for dry land has suspicions
about Noah. No human or animal was allowed to have sex while on the ark,
says the Midrash. The raven circles the ark and did not complete his
mission (Gen. 8:7). Tractate Sanhedrin 108B says that the raven suspects
Noah of having "improper intentions" toward his mate. The raven feels it
has to keep an eye on Noah. Therefore he circles the ark so that Noah
will not steal Mrs. Raven. Before he goes on his mission the raven
complains that, of all the birds, why is he chosen? Noah answers, "What
does the world need you for? You are not edible nor are you fit to be
offered as a sacrifice." The Midrash is making an interesting point about
Noah. Noah has not learned anything from the flood. All life has value.
Years later it will be ravens who save the world. Elijah placed a curse
during the time of the evil King Ahab, that the whole world would dry up
in a drought. He had to hide in the wilderness. The ravens fed him and
kept him alive so that he could remove his curse and save the world
(Kings I 17:6). Without ravens the world would have had another disaster.
Ravens mate for life. The raven was concerned about his wife. As we
have learned, the men of Noah's time were not concerned about their
marital obligations (Tractate Pesachim 113B). Noah could not appreciate
the raven's "morality."
What can we learn from this parasha? We have an obligation not only to do
no harm, but also actively to do good. Building big homes with all kinds
of collections, as our arks, is fine, as long as we teach our children
proper values. We leave our arks in our gated communities and suburbs to
help those who are not as fortunate. The Torah used this portion as the
place to announce what are called the Seven Noachide laws that predate
the Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus. Unlike other religions with
dogma saying that if you do not believe in their specific way you are
"voted off the island", Judaism believes that the righteous of all
nations, regardless of their belief systems, are equally beloved by God,
and have an equal share in the world to come.
Anyone who follows these seven rules is defined as righteous (Gen.
9:01-07):
1. Not to eat a limb or meat that was severed from a live animal.
2. Not to curse God.
3. Not to steal or rob.
4. Not to commit adultery, incest, or rape.
5. Not to murder.
6. To have a fair justice system.
7. Not to worship idols.
As Jews, our goal is not to convert people to Judaism. Our goal is to
lead a moral life and to actively work to do good in order to make this
world a better place. We all can do better than Noah did. By actively
doing Tikun Olam (repair of the world), truly loving our fellows, we can be a "light unto the
nations."
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC
BLUFFTON, SC
ORIGINAL EDITION WRITTEN WHEN SCHOLAR- IN -RESIDENCE AT CONGREGATION TEMPLE MICKVE ISRAEL, SAVANNAH, GA
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