BS”D Parallel between the Creation Bereishis and the ‘renewed
creation’ in Parasha Noach
A friend of mine asked me why I thought G-d used water
to destroy the generation of the flood?! My immediate thought was water
purifies that which is impure. The world was in really bad shape, evil
abounded, in Bereishis G-d had given man the power to dominate all living
creatures, and in so doing he became the ultimate leader, you know what they
say when the leaders are corrupt all and sundry follow. The fish were saved as they lived in the
depths below they were not part of the corruption they were protected in the
waters, not exposed to the corruption of Man in the way all land bound
creatures were. That is why it is
actually very important to surround your selves around good people and to live
in a good environment to the best of one’s ability.
When a baby is born it develops within a body
of water (40 weeks – 40 is always a time period of development in Torah terms)
so it is, I think that the rebirth should had to on a mystical level be carried
out via the flood water as it is and was through water that cleansing will
occur, it is the means that allows for and represents rebirth.
My sons teacher Rabbi Ehrman taught him, there is an opinion, although Noah was completely righteous he did not pray for the evil people around him to repent. The Torah tells us of Abraham who tries to save Sedom and Omora and it tells us how Moshe had prayed to save Bnei Yisrael after the sin of the calf when Hashem threatened to destroy us. Yet it is silent on Noah praying for the evildoers to abandon their ways. This opinion says the Ark forced Noah to care for all the animals for over a year, animals could not repay the good Noah had done - this was a tikkun (a way of fixing his soul) to Noah a lesson in caring.
My sons teacher Rabbi Ehrman taught him, there is an opinion, although Noah was completely righteous he did not pray for the evil people around him to repent. The Torah tells us of Abraham who tries to save Sedom and Omora and it tells us how Moshe had prayed to save Bnei Yisrael after the sin of the calf when Hashem threatened to destroy us. Yet it is silent on Noah praying for the evildoers to abandon their ways. This opinion says the Ark forced Noah to care for all the animals for over a year, animals could not repay the good Noah had done - this was a tikkun (a way of fixing his soul) to Noah a lesson in caring.
I found a great piece of Torah analysis on Torah.org a
piece by Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom where he gives a very deep insight into how
the Flood ran in a parallel way to the actual creation of the world as
described in Parasha Bereishis, it highlights a number of very interesting
insights into patterns and interprets what it feels the message is. I am not going to spoil the message in its
entirety for you, but will highlight some very interesting patterns and
insights mentioned in the article, this should create enough interest for you
all to look up and click on the link to get the suggested deeper message, what
I loved about his words some included below is these hints are all sourced in the
wonderfully coded scripture for the Torah scholars’ pleasure – how kind is our
creator, how special and holy is our Torah with thousands upon thousands layers
of hidden divine messages. For a link to the actual article click on the below
url, the article itself is lengthy and has been placed in a section for advanced
Torah, but I really loved it so go ahead and try it out yourself, I have
extracted directly from the article and publish the below with the websites and
authors permission and blessing and I thank him dearly for it – amazing insight!
:
Quote by Author:
For as the new heavens and the
new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says Hashem, so shall
your seed and your name remain. (Yeshaya 66:22)
He goes on to cite the following parallels between the two Parashot from
within Genesis – The creation of the
World and the Rebirth of the World after the generation of the Flood:
Bereishis
at Creation
|
Noach -
the Flood
|
|
Day 1
|
"...and
a wind from G-d moved upon the face of the waters" (1:2)
|
"G-d
made a wind to pass over the earth" (8:1)
|
Day 2
|
'Let
there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters
from the waters' " (1:6)
|
"The
fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the
rain from heaven was restrained" (8:2)
|
Day 3
|
"
'...let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, and
let the dry land appear...' " (1:9)
***********************************
'Let
the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree yielding
fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth...' " (1:11)
|
"...in
the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the
mountains seen." (8:5)
******************************************
"And
the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive
leaf plucked off; so Noach knew that the waters were abated from off the
earth." (8:11)
|
Day 4
|
'Let
there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the
night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and
years...' " (1:14)
|
'While
the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and
winter, and day and night shall not cease.' " (8:22) - [note also that in 8:12, the
dove comes to Noach "in the evening", the first mention of any
distinct time of day after the flood; evidently, night and day were blurred
during the entire cataclysm]
|
Day 5
|
Let the
waters be filled with many kinds of living creatures, and birds that may fly
above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.' " (1:20)
|
"And
he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which did not return
back to him any more" (8:12 - i.e. the dove returned to its earlier
station as a "bird that flies above the earth"
|
Day 6
|
'Let
the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures, cattle, and creeping
things, and beasts of the earth after their kind; and it was so...let us make
man in our image, after our likeness...'...and G-d blessed them, and G-d said
to them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it;
and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air,
and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.' " (1:24,26,28)
"And
G-d saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there
was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." (1:31)
|
'Go out
from the ark, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with
you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you, of all flesh,
both of bird, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creeps upon the
earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and
multiply upon the earth.' " (8:16-17)
And the
L-rd smelled the pleasing odour; and the L-rd 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
|
:
To quote from the article Rabbi Etshalom points out the order of Divine blessing has changed::
To quote from the article Rabbi Etshalom points out the order of Divine blessing has changed::
“In the first narrative, the Divine affirmation of Creation comes after His blessing to Mankind (1:28); after the flood, G-d takes pleasure [After Noah’s offering to G-d] and then "removes the curse" from the earth - and only after that blesses Mankind: "And G-d 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).
… 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" G-d's favor and blessing.”
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 G-d. 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 G-d. 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 G-d.
This offering motivated G-d's blessing for Noach, his descendants and his new world:
"And Hashem smelled the pleasing odour; 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 G-d, there is now room for a covenant - which "obligates" G-d to maintain the world, its seasons and its inhabitants.
THE ARTICLE FURTHER POINTS OUT ON THE ORDER OF THE FLOOD
– Also runs in an interesting pattern and the days, we see within it a
process of going into and then a similar pattern of coming out the other side
of:
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 anymore. 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 G-d 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)
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 anymore. 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 G-d 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)
(I am interrupting the article extract to give you another interesting piece
of analysis brought down by Rashi ZTL, we see when Noah is instructed to enter
the Ark he is told to enter Him his son’s and their wives (Men separate from
the Women) later when leaving the ark Noah is told to leave: himself with his
wife, Rashi learns a hint that during the
destruction inter marital relations where forbidden thus the instruction for the
men to enter separately from the women only once the world had been cleansed was
Noah permitted to be with his wife and to be blessed to be fruitful and
multiply. It would not be appropriate to have relations when all around outside was being destroyed.
Back to extract from the article by Rabbi Etshalom
"...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 G-d,
suddenly becomes an active participant in his own rescue, opening the cover of
the Ark.
He cites the following marvellous insight
“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. G-d 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 G-d. Indeed, there is
very little (aside from naming animals and starting the next generation) that
Adam "does" which is productive. Adam is presented in the Torah
chiefly as the passive recipient of Divine favor.
I loved the piece, please read the original article it brings a
lot more than I have summarised and extracted, it speaks of the importance of the
sacrifice and offerings brought down by Noah, and how this parallels new
libations and offerings added after the Sin of the golden calf to allow
redemption, and the importance of man’s duty in fulfilling the covenant in
partnership with G-d. An insight for mankind that post the flood we are saved through
service to our creator, giving back for the wrongs we do, being a rectifier of all that is wrong and unholy, as a
result of this we are forgiven to some degree, through this
is the blessing that our holy actions as Man ensure that we will never again be destroyed in
our entirety – but we have a job to do mankind through Noah entered a covenant
with the Cause of all Causes G-d almighty – a call to action!
Last Tid bit
Our one Rabbi, Rabbi Taback spoke this Shabbos on the symbolic relationship between the Ark
levels,
There is a parallel between the Ark itself to the human
body and soul
The top level - housed the human beings (the ability to
choose good over Evil // the human mind) the brain or Neshama; like a candle
flame that represents the spiritual and creative ability that enables human
service of the Almighty blessed is he.
In the middle - the animals (the physical part of the
body the drives for survival // the human torso and liver) Nefesh like a candle
wick that draws the oil up. This represents the survival aspect of the world,
getting by as animals do.
Lower level - the refuse and excrement ( The lowest and
most base of the human // lower organs) Ruach like the vessel base that
contains the oil (when the animal dominates and baseness reigns the physical is
destroyed this is why before the flood all the creatures subject to the base
choices of man had to also be destroyed and renewed by Water which is purity similar
to how a Mikvah purifies.
Lastly I would like to also say Baruch Dayan Emet and wish
the mourners of the Late Rav Ovadia Yosef Zecher Tzaddik Livrokcha comfort
among the mourners of Jerusalem we have lost a great and learned leader and
Torah Giant, amazing over 800 000 Jews flocked to Jerusalem to his funeral
to pay honour and respect to one of the greatest leaders and scholars of Torah of
the generation may his dear soul rest in peace! Kol Ha Kavod Klal Yisrael!
Shavuah Tov have a great week, G-d Bless
Michael.
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