The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

Some stories are so familiar that we can recite them with our eyes closed. Last week (Bereshit) was like that. So is this week. And this trend will likely continue as we read Genesis (and some of Exodus). You knew which story I was referencing with my post title, nu? Good, so why don’t you tell it to me? Just don’t let it rain this weekend!!!!! This week, though, those wise sages who divided the Torah into portions gave us a huge hint with the first word of this one: Noach. Sometimes it’s nice to sit back, relax, and be enveloped in the warm embrace of what we know and love, right?

Oy, but Noach is such a strange story! It reminds me of how sensitized I have become to hearing it multiple times – so I’m going to give you a few verses to think about:

“Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with G!d.”
“G!d 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.'”
“Then the L!rd said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark, with all your household, for you alone have I found righteous before me in this generation.'”
“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day
All the fountains of the great deep broke apart,
And the floodgates of the sky broke open.”
“Then Noah built an altar to the L!rd and, taking of every clean animal and of every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. The L!rd smelled the pleasing odor, and the L!rd said to himself: ‘Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings of man’s mind are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done.'”
“Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these. You must not, however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it. But for your own life-blood I will require a reckoning: I will require it of every beast; of man, too, I will require a reckoning for human life, of every man for that of his fellow man.”

The story of Noach is fraught with messages greater than the story we repeat – sometimes these themes remain unquestioned. What did it mean at the time when G!d said everyone else was evil for Noach to be considered righteous and blameless? Did this automatically include his household? Why was G!d’s solution to kill the rest of mankind – especially when he later demands a reckoning for all life, including humans? What are the fountains of the great deep and the floodgates of the sky? Do these have significance for the destruction of the earth in the language used? Why did the offerings cause G!d to determine that he never wanted to destroy all mankind again, even though he points out their inclination toward evil? Why are “clean” animals and birds mentioned if Noach and his family – the only humans left on the earth, we are told – are able to eat any animal and grass they please? Does this have importance for future dietary laws, or does clean here mean something else? [One rabbinic view is that all nations (not the Jews, who are addressed later through the Mosaic covenant) – not destined for the World to Come – are allowed to eat whatever food they please.]

Once again, I’m going to leave my questions unanswered – and hopefully these will lead to more. Comfortable stories often lead a reader to assume that more information has been given than was actually presented through the text. He or she may be surprised to find out what is not made explicit, or even truly implicit. However, as with other passages of scripture, the parsha this week is replete in genealogy. These lists, often skipped in favor of more salacious stories, often hold the key of knowledge to upcoming scandals and explanations for later inquiries. Just check out the list of Ham’s (remember the curse he incurred after laughing at his father’s drunken impropriety?): Cush, Mitzraim, Put and Canaan. What curses would they later incur? Check out the future generations of these descendants, and the stories begin to line up with the peoples we have come to see as “enemies” in scripture.

The haftarah for this week, from Isaiah 54, calls us back to remembrance of Noach and his place in the story of scripture:
“The L!rd has called you back
As a wife forlorn and forsaken.
Can one cast off the wife of his youth?
– said your G!d.
For a little while I forsook you,
But with vast love I will bring you back.
In slight anger, for a moment,
I hid my face from you;
But with kindness everlasting
I will take you back in love
– said the L!rd your Redeemer.
For this to me is like the waters of Noah:
As I swore that the waters of Noah
Nevermore would flood the earth,
So I swear that I will not
Be angry with you or rebuke you.
For the mountains may move
And the hills be shaken,
But my loyalty shall never move from you,
Nor my covenant of friendship be shaken
– said the L!rd, who takes you back in love.”