(ט) אֵ֚לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֣ת נֹ֔חַ נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים הִֽתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹֽחַ׃ (י) וַיּ֥וֹלֶד נֹ֖חַ שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה בָנִ֑ים אֶת־שֵׁ֖ם אֶת־חָ֥ם וְאֶת־יָֽפֶת׃ (יא) וַתִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס׃ (יב) וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְהִנֵּ֣ה נִשְׁחָ֑תָה כִּֽי־הִשְׁחִ֧ית כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֛ר אֶת־דַּרְכּ֖וֹ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ {ס} (יג) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֜ים לְנֹ֗חַ קֵ֤ץ כׇּל־בָּשָׂר֙ בָּ֣א לְפָנַ֔י כִּֽי־מָלְאָ֥ה הָאָ֛רֶץ חָמָ֖ס מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם וְהִנְנִ֥י מַשְׁחִיתָ֖ם אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (יד) עֲשֵׂ֤ה לְךָ֙ תֵּבַ֣ת עֲצֵי־גֹ֔פֶר קִנִּ֖ים תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֣ה אֶת־הַתֵּבָ֑ה וְכָֽפַרְתָּ֥ אֹתָ֛הּ מִבַּ֥יִת וּמִח֖וּץ בַּכֹּֽפֶר׃ (טו) וְזֶ֕ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֖ה אֹתָ֑הּ שְׁלֹ֧שׁ מֵא֣וֹת אַמָּ֗ה אֹ֚רֶךְ הַתֵּבָ֔ה חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים אַמָּה֙ רׇחְבָּ֔הּ וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים אַמָּ֖ה קוֹמָתָֽהּ׃ (טז) צֹ֣הַר ׀ תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֣ה לַתֵּבָ֗ה וְאֶל־אַמָּה֙ תְּכַלֶּ֣נָּה מִלְמַ֔עְלָה וּפֶ֥תַח הַתֵּבָ֖ה בְּצִדָּ֣הּ תָּשִׂ֑ים תַּחְתִּיִּ֛ם שְׁנִיִּ֥ם וּשְׁלִשִׁ֖ים תַּֽעֲשֶֽׂהָ׃ (יז) וַאֲנִ֗י הִנְנִי֩ מֵבִ֨יא אֶת־הַמַּבּ֥וּל מַ֙יִם֙ עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ לְשַׁחֵ֣ת כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֗ר אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ֙ ר֣וּחַ חַיִּ֔ים מִתַּ֖חַת הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם כֹּ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־בָּאָ֖רֶץ יִגְוָֽע׃ (יח) וַהֲקִמֹתִ֥י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י אִתָּ֑ךְ וּבָאתָ֙ אֶל־הַתֵּבָ֔ה אַתָּ֕ה וּבָנֶ֛יךָ וְאִשְׁתְּךָ֥ וּנְשֵֽׁי־בָנֶ֖יךָ אִתָּֽךְ׃ (יט) וּמִכׇּל־הָ֠חַ֠י מִֽכׇּל־בָּשָׂ֞ר שְׁנַ֧יִם מִכֹּ֛ל תָּבִ֥יא אֶל־הַתֵּבָ֖ה לְהַחֲיֹ֣ת אִתָּ֑ךְ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה יִֽהְיֽוּ׃ (כ) מֵהָע֣וֹף לְמִינֵ֗הוּ וּמִן־הַבְּהֵמָה֙ לְמִינָ֔הּ מִכֹּ֛ל רֶ֥מֶשׂ הָֽאֲדָמָ֖ה לְמִינֵ֑הוּ שְׁנַ֧יִם מִכֹּ֛ל יָבֹ֥אוּ אֵלֶ֖יךָ לְהַֽחֲיֽוֹת׃ (כא) וְאַתָּ֣ה קַח־לְךָ֗ מִכׇּל־מַֽאֲכָל֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֵֽאָכֵ֔ל וְאָסַפְתָּ֖ אֵלֶ֑יךָ וְהָיָ֥ה לְךָ֛ וְלָהֶ֖ם לְאׇכְלָֽה׃ (כב) וַיַּ֖עַשׂ נֹ֑חַ כְּ֠כֹ֠ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֥ה אֹת֛וֹ אֱלֹהִ֖ים כֵּ֥ן עָשָֽׂה׃
(9) These are the generations of Noah.—Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God.— (10) Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (11) The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness. (12) When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth, (13) God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the earth. (14) Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make it an ark with compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch. (15) This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. (16) Make an opening for daylight in the ark, and terminate it within a cubit of the top. Put the entrance to the ark in its side; make it with bottom, second, and third decks. (17) “For My part, I am about to bring the Flood—waters upon the earth—to destroy all flesh under the sky in which there is breath of life; everything on earth shall perish. (18) But I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark, with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. (19) And of all that lives, of all flesh, you shall take two of each into the ark to keep alive with you; they shall be male and female. (20) From birds of every kind, cattle of every kind, every kind of creeping thing on earth, two of each shall come to you to stay alive. (21) For your part, take of everything that is eaten and store it away, to serve as food for you and for them.” (22) Noah did so; just as God commanded him, so he did.
~ What is odd about verse 9? What do we usually expect after the word "generations"?
~ What are Noach's thoughts? Do we know?
~ How does the ark look like? Based on the text alone, make your own picture.
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Beatus Apocalypse (Beatu's commentary on the apocalypse), 776-786 CE
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~ NOAH'S ARK. Dove returning to the Ark; English Psalter illumination, c1215.
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~ French Miscellany, 1277, British Library
https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_11639
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Detail, Noah Scenes, 1250, illumination from the Morgan Library Biblical Picture Book
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La Somme le Roi (A Survey for a King) was written for the children of Philip III of France (r. 1270 –1285) by by their tutor, Friar Laurent d'Orleans.
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~ The Ark of Noah Drifting on the Water’, Petrus Comestors, 1372
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~ Noah's Ark, Nuremberg Bible, Biblia Sacra Germanica, 1483
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~ Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907) Date: 1868–78
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~ Dutch TV and theatre producer Aad Peters has this ark which goes through Europe
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Ark Encounter theme park, Kentucky
~ What do you think of this desire of bringing the ark back?
~ How does Rashi explain the strangeness of the wording of verse 9?
~ What is Rashi hinting at?
~ What kind of righteous is Noach, in your opinion?
~ Is it harder to be righteous when everyone around you is doing wrong? What is righteousness in this case?
~ How does Rashi understand the strangely self-reflective verb? Notice what the text says regarding Avraham. How do you understand it?
~ Is it fair to compare Noach to Avraham?
~ How does Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev understand the self-reflective verb?
~ What is the difference between Avraham and Yitzchak, on one side, and Noach, on the other?
(1) עשה לך תבת MAKE AN ARK FOR YOU — There are numerous ways by which God could have saved Noah; why, then, did he burden him with this construction of the Ark? So that the men of the generation of the Flood might see him employed on it for 120 years and might ask him, “What do you need this for”? and so that he might answer them, “The Holy One, blessed be He, is about to bring a flood upon the world” — perhaps they might repent (Sanhedrin 108b).
~ What is the question that Rashi invites us to have, and what is the answer he gives?
~ Was it just rain, according to Rashi?
~ What does the inside of the ark begin to look like?
~ What does the word "kofer" mean for Rashi? What other famous person is connected with Noach by this word?
~ Why is this being daubed inside and outside?
~ What is the difference between the two possibilities, for your own drawing of the ark?
~ Here comes a slanted roof.
Or it's possible to say: "E"T God walked himself Noach" that the Blessed Creator clothes Godself, as it were, with letters. And this is E"T (Alef-Tav) that is, the 22 letters from Alef to Tav. So read: God walked, that is to say, Noach enabled God to walk. That is, God walked from alef to tav through the letters, and how brought this about? Noach.
~ What does the Kedushat Levi do with the apparently unnecessary word ET?r?
~ How do these two possibilities for the word tzohar challenge each other?
צהר תעשה לתבה וגו'. האיר אדוני אבי זקיני [הבעל שם טוב] נ"ע, תבה מרומז על מלה, שהוא נקרא תיבה, וזהו מה שאמר צוהר תעשה לתבה, ואמר הוא ז"ל שתראה להאיר התבה היוצא מפיך וכו', תחתים שנים ושלישים תעשה, יש לומר כאן מדומז מה ששמעתי מן אא"ז נ"ע כי בכל דיבור ודיבור יש עולמות נשמות ואלהות, וזהו שמרמז כאן אצל התבה, ותיבה הוא פירוש דיבור וזהו תחתיים היינו עולמות שהוא מדרגה תחתונה, שניים הוא לשון משנה אותיות נשמה, והיינו נשמות, ושלישים היינו אלהות, על שם הכתוב (בפ' בשלח) ושלישים על כלו, שהוא על ידי שהוא מושל ומנהיג את הכל, וכל אלה, תעשה, היינו התבה והדיבור שתוציא מפיך יהיה בכוונה זו, ובמאמונה שלימה, שיש בכל דיבור תחתיים שניים ושלישים, והם עולמות ונשמות ואלהות כנ"ל, והבן:
(דגל מחנה אפרים נח, ובפ' שלח).
"Make an opening (tzohar) in the ark (teivah)" (Genesis 6:16) - My father, the Baal Shem Tov, may he rest in Eden, illuminated this passage. He said that teivah actually means 'word', and the meaning of making an opening for the word is that one should be careful to bring light into the words that come from your lips. The verse continues: "Make bottom and second and third floors." This seems to be what my father related to me, saying that in every word are worlds, souls, and divinities. This is what is meant by teivah, speech, which also has at its most basic level worlds. The second level is also known as mishneh, secondary, which has the same letters as neshamah, soul - this is the level of souls. And the third level (shelishim) is divinities, which is hinted at in the verse (Exodus 14:7), "Officers (shalishim) [ruling] over all of them," like the Divine who rules over all things. All of these levels you should "Make" - the speech and the word coming out of your mouth should have this intention and be in complete faithfulness, knowing that in each act of speech there are bottom and second and third levels, the worlds, souls and divinities - Be attentive to this!
~ The ark becomes the word spoken, in this case, in prayer. How can this change the way one approaches prayer?
~ How does this understanding impact words we speak? What is hidden behind each encounter?
(תולדות יצחק פ' נח)
~ How does the Baal Shem Tov understand the messages of the ark?
“God said to Noach: ‘Make for yourself a teivah (an ark/a word)…. Make a light for the ark/word’” (Genesis 6:14-17). This is the explanation of, “Make a light for the ark.” Rashi explains: “some say a window, and some say a precious jewel.” The difference between a window and a precious jewel is that a window has no light of its own. It is simply [a medium] for the light to enter through. But when there is no light, the window does not give light. With a precious jewel, however, even when there is no outside light the jewel shines of itself. So, too, there are people whose words are [like] a window, incapable of giving them light on their own. This is [what Rashi means by] “some say.” Their “saying” becomes a window. And there are some whose “saying” becomes a precious jewel and [their words] radiate.
~ When do words become windows, and when do they become jewels?
וזהו הרמז בפסוק ונתנו איש כופר נפשו לה', כופר לשון דביקות מלשון (בראשית ו, ד) וכפרת אותו מבית ומחוץ בכופר אימתי הוא דבוק בה' בפקוד אותם, כשיודע האדם החסרון שלו אז הוא דבוק בה':
... And this is the hint in our verse "Every person will give kofer nafsho, a ransom for one's soul" (Exodus 30:12)
The word כופר kofer in our verse, translated as “ransom,” also appears in different meanings, one that is familiar being in Genesis 6:14: וכפרת אותו מבית ומחוץ בכופר; “smear it from the inside and the outside with כופר, kofer, awareness which is clinging to God, when God counts them, that is, when a person knows her shortcomings then she can actually cling to God.
If kofer means awareness, what does this mean in our dealings with people, and our words to them?
Genesis 6,14. “you are to construct compartments in the ark.” The word קנים kanim is the plural mode of the word קן, ken, “nest,” as in “bird’s nest.” The word תיבה does not only mean “ark,” but also means: “word.” That is to say that you need to be aware and connected inside the ark, that is, speech, when you speak in service to the Holy One, in Torah and prayer.
~ By calling our attention to the word nest, inside the word for "compartment", what does the Kedushat Levi do to the act of prayer?
Prayer asks that the neshama fulfill her role. When days and years pass without properly aligned prayer, battering-stones accumulate around the heart, through which we feel an inner spiritual lethargy. And when the good spirit returns, and the gift of prayer is given from above, we move forward with each prayer, removing the obstacles, and the many blockages which have gathered in the flowing river of the highest soul of life begin to clear. And with that neshama elevation gained through each prayer, relative to the value of its time, come known achievements as cures for the deficiencies of the past. Indeed, the lack is not filled all at once, but rather step by step, and the brilliance of prayer progressively reveals its lights.
~ What is the function of prayer, for Rav Kook?
(ליקוטים יקרים דף א', ועיין לקמן פ' ואתחנן אות כ"ב)
~ Does every word we say need to be exact?
~ How does this approach understand those who have difficulties speaking and expressing themselves?