| | Parshas Noach The New Heavens and the New Earth...
V
THE "TEIVAH" EFFECT
As several commentators have pointed out, the timing scheme in the flood narrative is arranged in a chiasmus, as follows:
A (7 days): " 'Come you and all your house into the ark; for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast you shall take to you seven pairs, the male and his female; and of beasts that are not clean one pair, the male and his female. Of birds also of the air by seven pairs, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For in another seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth.' " (7:1-4,10)
B (40 days): "And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights." (7:12)
C (150 days): "And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days." (7:24)
C' (150 days): "And the waters returned from off the earth continually; and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated." (8:3)
B' (40 days): "And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noach opened the window of the ark which he had made" (8:6)
A' (7 days): "And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which did not return back to him any more. And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth; and Noach removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the twenty seventh day of the month, was the earth dried. And God spoke to Noach, saying, 'Go out from the ark, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.' " (8:12-16)
When the Torah presents a chiastic structure, whether in narrative or legalistic text, it does so in order to highlight the "center" (see our discussion at http://www.torah.org/advanced/mikra/5757/sh/dt.57.2.04.html). What sits at the center of this "reversed chiasmus" ("reversed" because the movements described in the first set of verses - entrance into the ark and the onset of the flood - are reversed in the second)? In other words, what changed to allow Noach to come out and to allow the world to be restored?
One of the significant differences between the "old world" and the post-flood world is the introduction of a covenant - Adam had no covenantal relationship with his Creator. God blessed Man, provided him with all of his needs, commanded, chastised, punished and exiled him - but, at no point, was Adam a "covenantal partner" with God. Indeed, there is very little (aside from naming animals and siring the next generation) that Adam "does" which is productive. Adam is presented in the Torah chiefly as the passive recipient of Divine favor.
No member of humanity is any different - including Noach. (The one exception may be the offerings brought by Kayyin and Hevel). This is true only up until the time of the flood (I am following S'forno's interpretation at 6:18).. Note what has changed between the first set of verses, where Noach enters the Ark, and the second set, announcing his impending exit:
Whereas, in the first set, we are told that "...Hashem closed him in" (7:16), in the aftermath of the flood we read: "...and Noach removed the covering of the ark..." (8:13). Noach, who had entered the Ark not of his own volition (see Rashi at 7:8) and who was sealed in by God, suddenly becomes an active participant in his own rescue, opening the cover of the Ark. Note that the Hebrew word used to describe God's sealing him in - S*G*R - is a direct antonym of the word used for Noach's opening of the cover - P*T*Ch.
VI
"AND IT WAS VERY GOOD..."
At this point, it is prudent to note one more similarity between Creation (Chapter 1) and re-Creation (Chapter 8). Both narratives end with a description of God's pleasure:
Day 6: "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." (1:31)
After the Flood: "And the Lord smelled the pleasing odor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing, as I have done." (8:21)
Note, however, a significant difference between these two:
In the first narrative, the Divine affirmation of Creation comes after His blessing to Mankind (1:28); after the flood, God takes pleasure and "removes the curse" from the earth - and only after that blesses Mankind: "And God blessed Noach and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." (9:1) (note the strong similarity between this blessing and that given to Adam in 1:28).
Again, we see that it is Man's role in the creation - which comes along with the first covenant (9:9-17) - which is cause for his blessing. Unlike the first creation, where blessings were part and parcel of the Divine mandate and were, perforce, unearned by the recipient of that blessing, the antediluvian world is built on a covenanted relationship where Man "earns" God's favor and blessing.
How was that accomplished? What did Noach do - besides taking his own steps to leave the Ark - to gain Divine favor?
VII
KORBAN - THE SYMBOL OF MAN'S ROLE IN THE COVENANT
"And Noach built an altar to Hashem; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." (8:20)
Noach's response to salvation was bringing offerings to God. Although Kayyin and Hevel already offered up sacrifices, this is the first instance where an offering is presented as emblematic of a relationship that the Makriv (one bringing the offering) has with God. Noach's reaction to being saved, to weathering the ordeal of the flood and to being given a second chance was to offer up some of his bounty to God.
This offering motivated God's blessing for Noach, his descendants and his new world:
"And Hashem smelled the pleasing odor; and Hashem said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for Man's sake; for the imagination of Man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing, as I have done." (8:21)
Since Noach has assumed a measure of responsibility for his relationship with God, there is now room for a covenant - which "obligates" God to maintain the world, its seasons and its inhabitants.
VIII
BACK TO THE S'FORNO
We can now understand the S'forno's cryptic comments regarding the introduction of libations and meal-offerings as accompanying offerings. When the people sinned by constructing and worshipping the golden calf, they were blemished as a nation and sentenced to die (see Sh'mot 32:10). After Mosheh begged, negotiated and demanded God's forgiveness, it was necessary for the people to demonstrate a greater level of involvement in their own side of the covenant. A symptom of that greater involvement was the innovation of the "Second Tablets". Unlike the "First Tablets", given at the end of the first set of forty days at Sinai, this set was carved by Mosheh. The human engraving of these second tablets, so much inferior to the Divine inscription on the first set, has its own glory. Man's greater role in maintaining his own "side" of the covenant insures an adherence to that covenant commensurate to the greater investment on the part of the people.
The added offerings of N'sakhim and M'nachot, just like Noach's offering at the genesis of the new world, are a reflection of a greater level of commitment and investment in the covenant on the part of the B'nei Yisra'el.
However we understand the sin of the golden calf, it is abundantly clear that the sin of the scouts (Bamidbar 13-14) is deliberately portrayed as a "sister sin" to it. Note, for example, how Mosheh utilizes the Divine attributes of compassion - first revealed in the aftermath of the calf episode - in his plea for Divine forgiveness of the sin of the scouts (compare Sh'mot 34:6-7 with Bamidbar 14:17-18).
If the nation sinned as a whole at Sinai, worshipping the golden calf, their crime was much more personal and private when they wept "on that night" after hearing the report of the scouts. Although the nation congregated, the Torah portrays their fears and weeping as private and individualistic, in contradistinction to the communal "celebration" around the newly constructed calf.
It stands to reason that if the Torah's antidote to the communal sin of the golden calf was the addition of the N'sakhim and M'nachot to accompany communal offerings, that the appropriate response to the (mass) private sin of the scouts was to add the obligation of N'sakhim and M'nachot to private offerings.
(We will address these comments of S'forno again, taking a more detailed approach to the relationship between these particular sins and the wine and meal offerings. Look for it later in the year.)
Now that we understand the S'forno's explanation of the relationship between Korbanot and increased responsibility on the part of the Makriv, we can explain the difference between the world which Noach left when he entered the Ark and the one he rebuilt when he exited.
In the antediluvian world, Man was the beneficiary of God's bounty and blessing (which is why Mankind is introduced after the animals - he is the ultimate creature, but no more than a creature).
On the other hand, the postdiluvian world presents Mankind as invested in the survival and success of this venture. This is the essential difference, first alluded to in Noach's behavior inside the Ark. Note that when Noach opened the cover, the Torah tells us that he " looked" - Hebrew *Vayar'* - the exact word used to describe God's observations of the antediluvian world. (compare with B'resheet 1:4,12,18,21,31 and, most significantly, 6:5 and 6:12.)
IX
THE "MESSAGE"
We are now in position to properly address the second question above:
What possible import could this message contain for each - or any - of the three generations who first read Sefer B'resheet?
For the generation of slaves in Egypt: Their oppressed existence, suffering under the heel of a foreign power, will ultimate end, as did the unjust world before the flood. They must understand, however, that the "new world" awaiting them beyond the Reed Sea, will be one which obligates them to play a more active role in their covenantal relationship.
For the generation at Sinai: The "fall" in the shadow of Sinai, that terrible crime which sullied the pristine purity generated by the Revelation (see BT Shabbat 146a), impacted on the rest of their existence, as well as the rest of Jewish history (see Sh'mot 32:34). For this generation, the message of the flood and the "new world" is that they would have another chance, but that they would have to bear an increased share of the responsibility for the covenant with God (note how closely the "post-Egel" covenant is linked to scrupulous observance of God's command - cf. Sh'mot 34:10-11).
For the generation at Arvot Mo'av: The message of the flood and its aftermath would have the most significant impact. Subsequent to the many failures during their sojourn in the desert, the story promises the possibility of building a new world once they enter the Land - but concomitantly commits them to assuming a greater sense of responsibility for the success of their national endeavor, to build a "kingdom of Kohanim and a holy nation". | |
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| Mikra, Copyright © 2011 by Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom and Torah.org. The author is Educational Coordinator of the Jewish Studies Institute of the Yeshiva of Los Angeles. |
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