Noah (Genesis 6:9-11:32)
OVERVIEW
Parashat Noach is a new creation story, or a story of re-creation. It tells how, ten generations after creation, the earth had become corrupt and wicked. Therefore, the Holy One decides to destroy the earth with a flood and begin anew. Only one man, Noah, is deemed to be righteous enough to be saved. He, his family and pairs of each kind of creature are herded together in a large boat - an ark. The earth is flooded, and only those on the ark survive. After the flood, they leave the ark and begin to repopulate the earth. God then establishes a covenant, promising never to destroy the earth with a flood again. Some time later, the story is told of how the descendants of the generation of the flood decided to build a great city with a tower reaching all the way to heaven. God sees what they are doing and decided to thwart their efforts by scattering them all over the earth and causing them to speak different languages. The portion parashah concludes with the listing of the next generations from Noah to Abram (Abraham).
IN FOCUS
The Eternal smelled the pleasing odour and the Eternal said in His heart: "Never again will I curse the earth on account of humankind, since the inclinations of the human heart are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done." (Genesis 8:21)
PSHAT
After disembarking from the Ark, the first thing Noah does is build an altar and offer a burnt offering to God. The Holy One acknowledges Noah's offering and in return promises never again to destroy the earth, despite the human inclination to do evil. Rashi notes that the repetition of the promise, "Never again... nor will I ever again..." indicates that this promise is delivered as a solemn oath, a notion which is reinforced by the prophet Isaiah who states in this week's Haftarah, "For this to Me is like the waters of Noah: As I swore that the waters of Noah would nevermore flood the earth, so I swear that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you." (Isaiah 54:9). God then reinforces this oath with the covenant of the rainbow, and since that time, God has kept the promise. Humankind, on the other hand, has remained true to form, continuing to give in to the evil inclination. Immediately after the covenant, we see Noah getting drunk, Ham's sexually aberrant behaviour, and the arrogance of the builders of the Tower of Babel.
DRASH
So what is the difference between the generations before the flood, when, "The Eternal saw how great was human wickedness on earth, and how every inclination of their heart's cunning was nothing but evil all the time" (Gen. 6:5) and the generations after the flood when, "...the inclinations of the human heart are evil from his youth;" (Gen. 8:21)? Did the flood have any effect at all? Has human nature changed at all? It would seem not.
There is no change in humanity. Human beings continue as God originally created them. The DNA of Adam and Eve continues down through Noah and his wife and on into the future. What does change, however, is how God deals with humanity. After the deluge, the world is given another chance, but this time God is not taking any risks. The new world order after the flood is defined by covenant and law. God knows that human beings have an inclination to do evil, and so this time, in starting over, safeguards are put in place.
This first covenant - Brit - is made with all of humanity, referred to in the rabbinic literature as the B'nai Noach - the children of Noah, from who all humans are descended. It will be another ten generations before God makes a covenant with Abraham, renewed later at Sinai, which marks the God's specific relationship with the Jewish people. But even before covenant with Abraham, the Rabbis identified laws that were binding on all peoples. Enumerated in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 56a-b), there are seven precepts that are incumbent upon all people : they must avoid 1) idol worship, 2) incest, 3) murder, 4) blaspheming God's name, 5) theft, 6) injustice, and 7) eating flesh cut from a live animal.
Pinchas Peli (z"l) in his comments on this parashah points out that, "If God is, as He is in the Bible, the creator of all human beings, he could not have cared only for Israel and instructed them exclusively in the way of living." From this point on, with the introduction of Abraham at the end of Parashat Noach, the story becomes the story of the Jewish people. But before we were Jews, we were humans, and before the 613 mitzvot were set for the children of Israel, seven laws were established for the children of Noah. Like all the descendants of Adam, we struggle with our very human inclination to do evil. But with the establishment of God's covenant with Noah and the giving of law, we all stand equal in the eyes of our Creator.
DAVAR AHER
It is written in the Mishna: "It is well to combine the study of the Law with some worldly occupation, for the combination of the two keeps sin out of the mind. (Pirkei Avot 2:2) Work and study pursued together tend to make people forget sin, whereas idleness is the mother of all sin and an empty mind leaves room for evil thoughts to thrive. As Maimonides put it: "Evil thoughts gain the upper hand only in a heart empty of the words of Torah." The generation of the flood lived in idleness. According to the Midrash, they had no physical labour to do and they did not have Torah to occupy their minds. Hence they became corrupt and lawless. As it is written, "The Eternal saw how great was human wickedness on earth, and how every inclination of their heart's cunning was nothing but evil all the time" (Gen. 6:5). (Kametz HaMinha)
