ב״ה

 

WHO WAS NOAH?

 

By Miriam Ben-Yaacov

 

 

Generations of Adam

 

After the death of Abel.  Adam had another son—Seth.  The family of Mankind then descended in two lines—Cain and Seth.  Cain’s line followed their father’s bitter rejection of Gd, understanding Him as the harsh Judge.  With this perception, they strove to become more and more independent of Him, relying only on their own efforts to survive in the world, thus taking them further and further from the very source of their souls.  Seth was a godly man, fathering a godly line.  However, as his line intermarried with Cain’s, they, too, turned from the pure understanding of the Creator that their father had bequeathed to them.  In the very lush state of the world, in which life was long and pleasurable, it was easy to erroneously think they did not need Gd.   

 

Those first souls to inhabit the pre-Flood world were builders of cities and inventors.  They were the brilliant minds of the Plato’s Atlantis, the story of antediluvian society conveyed to him by an Egyptian priest.  This story has caused people through the centuries to wonder in awe, longing for that idyllic world.  Yet this society used its brilliance to rebel against the Creator in every way.  I remember as a child seeing some film about Atlantis, in which there were human-animal hybrids, used for gladiator sport.  I went to bed so shaken with fear that that is the only reason I remember it.  Thinking about that now, I realize that at least part of that fear was my own soul speaking against the horror of such experimentation.  The Midrash speaks of this very type of inbreeding of animals that corrupted them with the evil imaginations of Man in the pre-Flood era. 

 

In the midst of that corrupt society, dominated by Cain’s family’s efforts to blot out godliness, there were righteous individuals who carried forward the devotion of their fathers.  The ten generations from Adam to Noah were:

 

1.      Adam

2.      Seth

3.      Enosh

4.      Kenan

5.      Mahalalel

6.      Jared

7.      Enoch

8.      Methuselah

9.      Lamech

10.  Noah   

 

Merciful judgment

 

And YKVK said:  “I will blot out man from the face of the ground, from man to beast; to the creeping things, the birds of the sky, for I have been caused to alter My decision that I have made them.” —Genesis 6:7

 

The same mercy that caused Hashem to create the world caused Him to decide to destroy it through the Flood.  As Elokim tells how He will destroy all flesh on earth (6:17), the word used, “yigvah,” means “shall turn numb.”  Whenever the courts of Israel would pass a death sentence, the criminal would first be anesthetized, for torture was not to be a part of the verdict.  In the decree of the Flood He acted as He would expect the courts on earth to act—not in vengeance, but in righteous judgment.   

 

Noah found favor in Hashem’s eyes

 

The Midrash says among the seven things created before the Creation of the universe, was the name of Mashiach.  Adam had been promised that a child would be born who would bring the potential of redemption.  Noah was born circumcised, and his true name, “Menachem,” is a name of Mashiach.   Noah, therefore, carried the hope of the generation that is a spark of Mashiach.  His righteous grandfather, Methuselah, realized that this had to be kept secret in order to protect him from the forces of black magic, for he understood that this generation was so evil they did not want it, and, in fact, would seek to destroy it.  Had the generation chosen to repent, Noah’s birth heralded the pivotal point in time in which they could have repaired the rift with the Creator, and gone back to Eden, as it were. Failing that, however, through Noah Hashem planned to preserve Mankind and Creation itself. 

 

The Ark

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood, make the ark (to consist) of enclosures for animals and cover it inside and out with pitch.—Genesis 6:14

The Hebrew word used for “ark” is “tevah.”  This word is used again for the papyrus basket—also waterproofed with pitch—used to save Moses in the Nile when the Pharaoh decreed death for all the Hebrew baby boys.  Moses, too, was recognized from birth as a child of promise, and the Midrash says, was born circumcised.  Both were confirmed as the redeemer by the oldest member of the family—Noah by Methuselah and Moses by Serach bat Asher.  Both were saved through, and came forth from, the waters meant for destruction.  Both had 40-day periods of seclusion, reminiscent of 40-weeks of gestation, bringing forth something new. 

 

Noah’s ark also paralleled the Ark of the Covenant in holiness.  It was built to exact specifications.  It carried the hope for the future of Mankind and was a physical vessel of the covenant with Hashem.    

 

Re-creation of the earth

 

When the Flood came, the earth was again plunged into darkness, and the waters covered the face of the earth.  Just the spirit of Elokim had hovered over the deep, the Ark floated on the waters.  Noah was the new Adam and his family the new first family, beginning the history of Mankind anew. 

 

Like Adam, Noah had a special relationship with the animals.  One pair of each of the unclean and seven pairs of the clean were aboard the Ark.  Before the Flood, Mankind did not eat meat.  The clean animals were those known to be fit for sacrifice, which would later be the only ones permitted to Israel for food.  The animals had been corrupted by Mankind, so only those that were pure to their species were allowed on the Ark.  The animals were judged along with Man.  It brings to mind the story of Jonah, which the king of Ninevah decrees that even the animals be dressed in sackcloth for repentance.  Later, when Elokim gave the law against murder, He first addressed the animals (9:5).  For both Man and beast, the killing of man is forbidden and requires capital punishment.  Noah was to rectify the dominion of the earth given to Adam.  This began with his diligent care for the animals on the Ark.

 

Noah’s sons

 

Noah’s sons, Japheth, Shem, and Ham were the fathers of the seventy root nations of the world.  Even in their names there is a hint as to the basic characteristics of the nations and the areas of challenge.  Japheth comes from “yaffa,” meaning “beautiful.”  His was the challenge of the emotional.  Shem literally means “name.”  His was the challenge of the spiritual, like Adam, demonstrated through defining things by their proper names.  Ham means “hot.”  His was the challenge of the physical passions. 

 

After coming out of the Ark, Elokim said to them:  “…be fruitful and multiply, diversify upon the earth and multiply upon it” (9:7).  Not only were they to multiply, but He blessed the diversity that would define the nations, as well.  This idea is furthered in the symbolism of the sign of the covenant to never again destroy the earth through water.  Although seen as the spectrum of seven colors, the rainbow is still one ray of white light.   There is underlying unity made stronger through harmonious diversity.

 

The sacrifice of Noah

 

And Noah built an altar to YKVK and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered an ascent offering upon the altar.—Genesis 8:20

 

Noah built an altar from rocks, symbolizing a rising up from the earth.  Then he took of every clean animal and bird for the offering in order to symbolically cover every aspect of Man—an ascent offering, total surrender to the Will of the Creator.  This was the only time such an offering was every made on behalf of all Mankind, and it was done by Noah.  As in every other reference to sacrifice, here, too, the Name YKVK is used.  Many times, people mistakenly consider sacrifice akin to paganism and demanded by a vindictive god.  More than any other reference to sacrifice in Torah, Noah’s conveys the essence of renewal of relationship made to a loving, merciful Gd—known as YKVK.

 

Noah the prophet

 

 After the incident of Ham’s dishonoring his father, Noah uttered the prophecy of Genesis 9:25-27.  In a very short speech, he looked forward to the very end of time.  He saw the fate of the nations that his sons would father.  The curse of Canaan would set the stage for the blessing of Israel given to Abraham between the pieces.  Noah saw the war of Gog and Magog and the final Redemption.  Very subtle, very brief, this passage summarizes what the prophets through the ages would describe in varied detail.

 

Abraham and Noah

 

Some critics of Noah have said that he was righteous in his generation, but if he had lived in another, such as Abraham’s, he would not have been considered righteous.  This is an erroneous statement, because he DID live in Abraham’s generation.  In fact, Abraham was 58 years old when Noah died.  Interestingly, the numeric value of Noah’s name is 58—nun (50), chet (8).  Through this, we can see a continuation from Noah to Abraham. 

 

The Midrash says there was a prophecy in the days of Nimrod that a child would be born in his kingdom who would destroy his rule.  He ordered the death of all baby boys.  Terah, who was a minister in his court, was exempt from the rule.  However, after the boys were killed, the seers still saw the danger and came to realize it was the newborn son of Terah.  Abram (Abraham) was sent away to hide in a cave.  There, we are told, he came to question the idolatrous traditions of his father and found belief in the One Gd.  Sefer HaYeshar (The Book of Jasher) says Abram was tutored in the house of Noah for thirty-nine years.  Rather than coming to “enlightenment” on his own, isolated in a cave, he reaped the benefit of the heritage of the belief of his righteous fathers, all the way back to Adam.  This handing down of tradition is the same way we received Torah from the hand of Hashem—to Moses, to Joshua, to the elders, to the Great Assembly.  It is the line of authority from Heaven through first-hand witnesses of the Truth.  This was the Noahide heritage of Abraham that he taught to all those around him and that ultimately founded the Nation of Israel. 

 

And he (Noah) said:  “Blessed be YKVK, Elohai (the Gd of) Shem…” –Genesis 9:26

 

Like the forefathers, Shem, was to establish and carry forward a special spiritual legacy.  The Midrash refers to the first academy of holy learning as that of Shem and Eber, his great-grandson.  We are told that all the patriarchs spent time learning there.  Shem is later also called by another name—Melchizedek, priest of the Most High Gd—to whom Abraham gave a tithe. We are very familiar with Hashem being called “Gd of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” but Noah invoked His Name in connection with his son, Shem.  This is the first time in the Torah that His Name is used in such connection with that of an individual.  During Noah’s 950 years, he came to understand relationship with Hashem in an extraordinarily deep way, and he was able to pass this down as a legacy to his children—Bnai Noah.

 

 

May Hashem's Name be praised in all the earth!

Miriam

www.noahidenations.com