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(ו) וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם יהוה כִּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃(ז) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יהוה אֶמְחֶ֨ה אֶת־הָאָדָ֤ם אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֙אתִי֙ מֵעַל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה מֵֽאָדָם֙ עַד־בְּהֵמָ֔ה עַד־רֶ֖מֶשׂ וְעַד־ע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם כִּ֥י נִחַ֖מְתִּי כִּ֥י עֲשִׂיתִֽם׃
(6) And יהוה regretted having made humankind on earth. With a sorrowful heart,(7) יהוה said, “I will blot out from the earth humankind whom I created—humans together with beasts, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I regret that I made them.”
Rabbi Yehoshua asked "What did you do [when your son was born]?" He said "I was happy and made everyone happy". Rabbi Yehoshua said "But didn't you know that your son will die in the end?" He said "At the time of joy I am joyous; at the time of mourning I am mournful". Rabbi Yehoshua said "So too is the work [of creation] before the Holy One blessed is He." As Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says "The Holy One blessed is He mourned over the world for seven days before the Flood came". What is the reason [for comparing sadness to mourning]? It says "and He was sad to His heart" and there is no sadness without mourning, as it says "[The king] was sad about his son" (I Shmuel 19:3).
(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׃
(9) This is the line 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 yourself an ark of gopher wood; make it an ark with compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
Why did God command Noah to build an ark? Surely God could have saved Noah and his family by supernatural intervention. Perhaps God hoped that the project would serve as a warning, moving onlookers to contemplate the threat of destruction and mend their ways. Or perhaps God wanted Noah to participate in some way in his own salvation, as the Israelites would - many centuries later - at the time of the Exodus.
With regard to the verse: “These are the generations of Noah; Noah was a righteous man, and wholehearted in his generations” (Genesis 6:9), Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Relative to the other people of his generation he was righteous and wholehearted, but not relative to those of other generations. And Reish Lakish says: In his generation he was righteous and wholehearted despite being surrounded by bad influences; all the more so would he have been considered righteous and wholehearted in other generations.
(ה) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אֵין בּוּר יְרֵא חֵטְא, וְלֹא עַם הָאָרֶץ חָסִיד, וְלֹא הַבַּיְשָׁן לָמֵד, וְלֹא הַקַּפְּדָן מְלַמֵּד, וְלֹא כָל הַמַּרְבֶּה בִסְחוֹרָה מַחְכִּים. וּבְמָקוֹם שֶׁאֵין אֲנָשִׁים, הִשְׁתַּדֵּל לִהְיוֹת אִישׁ:
(5) He used to say: A brute is not sin-fearing, nor is an ignorant person pious; nor can a timid person learn, nor can an impatient person teach; nor will someone who engages too much in business become wise. In a place where there are no humans, strive to be a human.
Noah, according to the midrash, brought order to the world with his very birth. His presence in the world changed the ways of nature from a chaotic hodgepodge of planted seeds sprouting randomly as other grains, animals of all species mating with each other, and tides fluctuating wildly, to the laws of nature we see today. This change reflects a line well cited throughout Jewish literature: Tzadik y’sod olam (צַדִּיק יְסוֹד עוֹלָם), “The tzadik is the foundation of the universe” (Proverbs 10:25). These midrashim point to tzedek as an inherent quality of Noah’s very existence. By his mere birth, the natural order became clearer—tzedek was established throughout the fabric of Creation.
(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׃
(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.
A corrupt, lawless society brings destruction on all of its citizens, innocent and guilty alike, and on the environment around it.
This is the first use in the Bible of the Hebrew term b'rit (covenant), one of the core concepts of biblical theology regarding the relationship between God and mortals.
...the b’rith is everlasting, the word being derived from. In the beginning G-d ‘bara’ (created). Thus brithi (My covenant) is similar to b’riyothi (My creation), and the word is alike in construct form because it is adjoined to the times there were before us. He thus commanded that the b’rith exist and be with the righteous one [Noah]. In a similar sense are the verses: As for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you;My covenant was with him.
The great emphasis on Noah's difference from his contemporaries serves an obvious moral purpose. It justifies his exemption from the universal disaster, and the choice of him to found a new race of Adam. In a creative project that has proved a total failure...there is yet one detail that can be salvaged and can provide a basis for a reworking of the idea. God's act in destroying and saving is seen to be ethically coherent: there is an unarguable logic to the ruthlessness of the artist who shreds all unsuccessful drafts and retains only the one that approximates his original intent.
(ו) וְנֹ֕חַ בֶּן־שֵׁ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וְהַמַּבּ֣וּל הָיָ֔ה מַ֖יִם עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
(6) Noah was six hundred years old when the Flood came, waters upon the earth.
(יא) בִּשְׁנַ֨ת שֵׁשׁ־מֵא֤וֹת שָׁנָה֙ לְחַיֵּי־נֹ֔חַ בַּחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ הַשֵּׁנִ֔י בְּשִׁבְעָֽה־עָשָׂ֥ר י֖וֹם לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֗ה נִבְקְעוּ֙ כׇּֽל־מַעְיְנֹת֙ תְּה֣וֹם רַבָּ֔ה וַאֲרֻבֹּ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם נִפְתָּֽחוּ׃(יב) וַֽיְהִ֥י הַגֶּ֖שֶׁם עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ אַרְבָּעִ֣ים י֔וֹם וְאַרְבָּעִ֖ים לָֽיְלָה׃
(11) 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 burst apart,
And the floodgates of the sky broke open.(12) (The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.)
When he caused it to descend He caused it to descend with mercy, so that in the event of their repenting, the rain would be one of blessing. When they did not repent, it turned into a deluge.
The world is being returned to the condition that preceded creation (1:2)
(א)ואד יעלה. לְעִנְיַן בְּרִיאָתוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם, הֶעֱלָה הַתְּהוֹם וְהִשְׁקָה עֲנָנִים לִשְׁרוֹת הֶעָפָר וְנִבְרָא אָדָם, כְּגַבָּל זֶה, שֶׁנּוֹתֵן מַיִם וְאַחַ"כַּ לָשׁ אֶת הָעִסָּה, אַף כָּאן, וְהִשְׁקָה, וְאַחַ"כַּ וַיִּיצֶר:
(1) ואד יעלה AND A MIST WENT UP — This has reference to the creation of Adam: viz., He caused the deep to rise and filled the clouds with water to moisten the dust, and man was created. It is like a kneader of bread who first pours in water and afterwards kneads the dough — similarly here: He first watered the ground and afterwards He formed man (Genesis Rabbah 14:1).
(טו) וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ אֶל־נֹ֖חַ אֶל־הַתֵּבָ֑ה שְׁנַ֤יִם שְׁנַ֙יִם֙ מִכׇּל־הַבָּשָׂ֔ר אֲשֶׁר־בּ֖וֹ ר֥וּחַ חַיִּֽים׃(טז) וְהַבָּאִ֗ים זָכָ֨ר וּנְקֵבָ֤ה מִכׇּל־בָּשָׂר֙ בָּ֔אוּ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה אֹת֖וֹ אֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיִּסְגֹּ֥ר יהוה בַּֽעֲדֽוֹ׃
(15) They came to Noah into the ark, two each of all flesh in which there was breath of life.(16) Thus they that entered comprised male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him. And יהוה shut him in.
Over twelve months, the ark becomes a crucible in which a new type of sensibility is nurtured. It is a closed interior, cut off from the raging waters outside. Entering this interior is not simple...Indeed, the narrative emphasizes, after the several variations of the clause, 'Noah came into the ark,' 'And God shut him in' (7:16). An ambiguous slam of the door, protecting, imprisoning...The ark is to be a laboratory of kindness, of attentiveness to the needs and the enjoyment...that are the 'contents of life.'
(6) ... And one who acquires souls is wise”—this is Noach, who acquired souls, and was nourishing them and feeding them . . . The twelve months that Noach did in the ark, he did not taste the taste of sleep, not in the day and not in the night, for he was busy feeding the souls that were with him, so “one who acquires souls”, this is Noach.
Go forth from the ark (Gen. 8:16). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to Thy name; the righteous shall crown themselves because of me; for Thou wilt deal bountifully with me (Ps. 142:8). Bring my soul out of prison refers to Noah, who was imprisoned in the ark. R. Levi said: Neither Noah nor his sons were able to sleep during the entire twelve months (in the ark) because they were obliged to feed the animals, the beasts, and the birds. R. Akiba stated that they even brought into the ark tree branches for the elephants and glass beads for the ostriches. Some of the animals had to be fed at the second hour in the night and others at the third hour of the night. (2) Further proof that they did not sleep is presented to us by R. Yohanan. He tells us in the name of R. Eliezer the son of R. Yosé the Galilean that because Noah once delayed feeding a lion, the lion bit him so severely that he left the ark crippled, as it is said: And only Noah was left (Gen. 7:23). The word ah (“only,” also “to be afflicted”) indicates that his body was no longer whole. He became, thereby, unfit to bring sacrifices to the altar, and his son Shem had to do it in his stead. Concerning him it is said: Behold, the righteous shall be made whole in the earth (Prov. 11:31).
(א)וַיִּזְכֹּ֤ר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־נֹ֔חַ וְאֵ֤ת כׇּל־הַֽחַיָּה֙ וְאֶת־כׇּל־הַבְּהֵמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִתּ֖וֹ בַּתֵּבָ֑ה וַיַּעֲבֵ֨ר אֱלֹהִ֥ים ר֙וּחַ֙ עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וַיָּשֹׁ֖כּוּ הַמָּֽיִם׃(ב) וַיִּסָּֽכְרוּ֙ מַעְיְנֹ֣ת תְּה֔וֹם וַֽאֲרֻבֹּ֖ת הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וַיִּכָּלֵ֥א הַגֶּ֖שֶׁם מִן־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃(ג) וַיָּשֻׁ֧בוּ הַמַּ֛יִם מֵעַ֥ל הָאָ֖רֶץ הָל֣וֹךְ וָשׁ֑וֹב וַיַּחְסְר֣וּ הַמַּ֔יִם מִקְצֵ֕ה חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וּמְאַ֖ת יֽוֹם׃
(1)God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and God caused a wind to blow across the earth, and the waters subsided.(2) The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were stopped up, and the rain from the sky was held back;(3) the waters then receded steadily from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days the waters diminished,
What is it then that God 'remembered'? According to the midrash, God didn't remember Noah (the person) or even the living things (the animals). God remembered ethical action: 'what did God remember in Noah's favor? That he provided for the animals the whole 12 months in the Ark...'God remembered Noah' and the spirit of justice approved it.
The upper waters rushed through the space left when God removed two stars out of the constellation Pleiades. Afterward, to put a stop to the flood, God had to transfer two stars from the constellation of the Bear to the constellation of the Pleiades. That is why the Bear runs after the Pleiades. She wants her two children back, but they will be restored to her only in the future world.
(ו) וַיְהִ֕י מִקֵּ֖ץ אַרְבָּעִ֣ים י֑וֹם וַיִּפְתַּ֣ח נֹ֔חַ אֶת־חַלּ֥וֹן הַתֵּבָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃(ז) וַיְשַׁלַּ֖ח אֶת־הָֽעֹרֵ֑ב וַיֵּצֵ֤א יָצוֹא֙ וָשׁ֔וֹב עַד־יְבֹ֥שֶׁת הַמַּ֖יִם מֵעַ֥ל הָאָֽרֶץ׃(ח) וַיְשַׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֖ה מֵאִתּ֑וֹ לִרְאוֹת֙ הֲקַ֣לּוּ הַמַּ֔יִם מֵעַ֖ל פְּנֵ֥י הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃(ט) וְלֹֽא־מָצְאָה֩ הַיּוֹנָ֨ה מָנ֜וֹחַ לְכַף־רַגְלָ֗הּ וַתָּ֤שׇׁב אֵלָיו֙ אֶל־הַתֵּבָ֔ה כִּי־מַ֖יִם עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כׇל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח יָדוֹ֙ וַיִּקָּחֶ֔הָ וַיָּבֵ֥א אֹתָ֛הּ אֵלָ֖יו אֶל־הַתֵּבָֽה׃(י) וַיָּ֣חֶל ע֔וֹד שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים אֲחֵרִ֑ים וַיֹּ֛סֶף שַׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֖ה מִן־הַתֵּבָֽה׃(יא) וַתָּבֹ֨א אֵלָ֤יו הַיּוֹנָה֙ לְעֵ֣ת עֶ֔רֶב וְהִנֵּ֥ה עֲלֵה־זַ֖יִת טָרָ֣ף בְּפִ֑יהָ וַיֵּ֣דַע נֹ֔חַ כִּי־קַ֥לּוּ הַמַּ֖יִם מֵעַ֥ל הָאָֽרֶץ׃(יב) וַיִּיָּ֣חֶל ע֔וֹד שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים אֲחֵרִ֑ים וַיְשַׁלַּח֙ אֶת־הַיּוֹנָ֔ה וְלֹֽא־יָסְפָ֥ה שׁוּב־אֵלָ֖יו עֽוֹד׃
(6) At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made(7) and sent out the raven; it went to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.(8) Then he sent out the dove to see whether the waters had decreased from the surface of the ground.(9) But the dove could not find a resting place for its foot, and returned to him to the ark, for there was water over all the earth. So putting out his hand, he took it into the ark with him.(10) He waited another seven days, and again sent out the dove from the ark.(11) The dove came back to him toward evening, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the waters had decreased on the earth.(12) He waited still another seven days and sent the dove forth; and it did not return to him any more.
(טו) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־נֹ֥חַ לֵאמֹֽר׃(טז) צֵ֖א מִן־הַתֵּבָ֑ה אַתָּ֕ה וְאִשְׁתְּךָ֛ וּבָנֶ֥יךָ וּנְשֵֽׁי־בָנֶ֖יךָ אִתָּֽךְ׃(יז) כׇּל־הַחַיָּ֨ה אֲשֶֽׁר־אִתְּךָ֜ מִכׇּל־בָּשָׂ֗ר בָּע֧וֹף וּבַבְּהֵמָ֛ה וּבְכׇל־הָרֶ֛מֶשׂ הָרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ (הוצא)[הַיְצֵ֣א] אִתָּ֑ךְ וְשָֽׁרְצ֣וּ בָאָ֔רֶץ וּפָר֥וּ וְרָב֖וּ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃(יח) וַיֵּ֖צֵא־נֹ֑חַ וּבָנָ֛יו וְאִשְׁתּ֥וֹ וּנְשֵֽׁי־בָנָ֖יו אִתּֽוֹ׃(יט) כׇּל־הַֽחַיָּ֗ה כׇּל־הָרֶ֙מֶשׂ֙ וְכׇל־הָע֔וֹף כֹּ֖ל רוֹמֵ֣שׂ עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ לְמִשְׁפְּחֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם יָצְא֖וּ מִן־הַתֵּבָֽה׃(כ) וַיִּ֥בֶן נֹ֛חַ מִזְבֵּ֖חַ לַֽיהוה וַיִּקַּ֞ח מִכֹּ֣ל ׀ הַבְּהֵמָ֣ה הַטְּהֹרָ֗ה וּמִכֹּל֙ הָע֣וֹף הַטָּה֔וֹר וַיַּ֥עַל עֹלֹ֖ת בַּמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃(כא) וַיָּ֣רַח יהוה אֶת־רֵ֣יחַ הַנִּיחֹ֒חַ֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יהוה אֶל־לִבּ֗וֹ לֹֽא־אֹ֠סִ֠ף לְקַלֵּ֨ל ע֤וֹד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ בַּעֲב֣וּר הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֠י יֵ֣צֶר לֵ֧ב הָאָדָ֛ם רַ֖ע מִנְּעֻרָ֑יו וְלֹֽא־אֹסִ֥ף ע֛וֹד לְהַכּ֥וֹת אֶת־כׇּל־חַ֖י כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִֽׂיתִי׃
(15) God spoke to Noah, saying,(16) “Come out of the ark, together with your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives.(17) Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds, animals, and everything that creeps on earth; and let them swarm on the earth and be fertile and increase on earth.”(18) So Noah came out, together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives.(19) Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that stirs on earth came out of the ark by families.(20) Then Noah built an altar to יהוה and, taking of every pure animal and of every pure bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.(21) יהוה smelled the pleasing odor, and יהוה resolved: “Never again will I doom the earth because of humankind, since the devisings of the human mind are evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done.
But he [Noach] did not accept the order to go out, saying, ‘Am I to go out and be fruitful and multiply for a curse?’ Until the Holy One, blessed be He, swore to him that He would not bring another flood upon the world, as it says, 'For this is the waters of Noach to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noach should no more go over the earth (Isa. 54:9)'
If we are in any doubt about who Noah is, we have only to consider the central fact of his silence. From the beginning to the end of the Flood narrative, Noah says not a word...the impact of Noah's silent acquiescence in the destruction of the world is devastating... Within the intimate but teeming space of the ark, Noah becomes, in the midrashic view, a new person - effectively, and retroactively, a person whom the Torah can describe as a tzaddik, a righteous man...The midrash treats Noah as one among five cases of people who are described as 'seeing a new world,' on the one hand, and 'feeding and sustaining,' on the other. To see a new world, in the case of Joseph, or Moses, or Job, or Mordecai, is to be understood metaphorically; these men underwent radical changes of fortune, so that their entire perspective on the world was transformed. In the case of Noah, of course, quite literally, the world itself was transformed around him.
Why are burnt offerings, specifically, the instinctive response of Noah?...Would a thanks-offering (shelamim) not have been more plausible? One answer is suggested by Radal, quoting the Zohar. Noah offers burnt offerings (which are considered atonement for wayward motions of the heart) because of his apprehension during his time in the ark, that he would be left in the lurch, that he had, in a sense, exhausted all his credit with God in being saved from the Flood...What Noah experiences, when he is released, is the subtle gratitude of one who now realizes the implications of where he was and where he is. The burnt offering articulates the evolution of consciousness that is now part of the human repertoire. The history of Noah is, then, the history of man's first exercise in self-construction...he sees a new world, but he remembers the old world, he has a sense of choices that have gone to the making of his evolving identity.
(ח) ר' שמעון אומר, באצבע הראה הב"ה לאברהם אבינו המזבח ואמר לו זה הוא המזבח והוא היה המזבח שהקריבו קין והבל והוא המזבח שהקריבו נח ובניו שנ' ויבן שם אברהם מזבח אין כתיב כאן אלא ויבן שם אברהם את המזבח הוא המזבח שהקריבו בו הראשונים.
(8) Rabbi Simeon said: The Holy One, blessed be He, pointed out the altar with a finger to Abraham our father, and said to him: This is the altar. That was the altar whereon Cain and Abel sacrificed; it was the same altar whereon Noah and his sons sacrificed, as it is said, "And Abraham built the altar there" (Gen. 22:9). "And Abraham built an altar there" is not written here, but "And Abraham built the altar there." That was the altar whereon the first ones (of old) had sacrificed.
The sacrifice was not offered by Noah with his own hands; the priestly services connected with it were performed by his son Shem. There was a reason for this. One day in the ark Noah forgot to give his ration to the lion, and the hungry beast struck him so violent a blow with his paw that he was lame forever after, and, having a bodily defect, he was not permitted to do the offices of a priest.
(ו) שֹׁפֵךְ֙ דַּ֣ם הָֽאָדָ֔ם בָּֽאָדָ֖ם דָּמ֣וֹ יִשָּׁפֵ֑ךְ כִּ֚י בְּצֶ֣לֶם אֱלֹהִ֔ים עָשָׂ֖ה אֶת־הָאָדָֽם׃
(6) Whoever sheds human blood,
By human [hands] shall that one’s blood be shed;
For in the image of God
Was humankind made.
Adam, created by the hand of god, is, in some sense, created also in the image of God; Noach, who has witness the collapse of that creation, has become conscous that he is created in God's image. Just when flesh and blood have become valueless, as apocalypse has ruined the beauty and significance of the human face, God for the first time tells a human being of the divinity marking that face. God's message challenges Noach's imagination with a counterintuitive sense of value....at this moment, he knows, as no one has before him, that he is made in the divine image. Heir to the stumbling generations, he becomes conscious of a mystery within himself. Uncannily, he becomes conscious of being beloved, and commits himself to releasing the secret meanings of his state.
(ח) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־נֹ֔חַ וְאֶל־בָּנָ֥יו אִתּ֖וֹ לֵאמֹֽר׃(ט) וַאֲנִ֕י הִנְנִ֥י מֵקִ֛ים אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י אִתְּכֶ֑ם וְאֶֽת־זַרְעֲכֶ֖ם אַֽחֲרֵיכֶֽם׃(י) וְאֵ֨ת כׇּל־נֶ֤פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֔ם בָּע֧וֹף בַּבְּהֵמָ֛ה וּֽבְכׇל־חַיַּ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ אִתְּכֶ֑ם מִכֹּל֙ יֹצְאֵ֣י הַתֵּבָ֔ה לְכֹ֖ל חַיַּ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃(יא) וַהֲקִמֹתִ֤י אֶת־בְּרִיתִי֙ אִתְּכֶ֔ם וְלֹֽא־יִכָּרֵ֧ת כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֛ר ע֖וֹד מִמֵּ֣י הַמַּבּ֑וּל וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֥ה ע֛וֹד מַבּ֖וּל לְשַׁחֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃(יב) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים זֹ֤את אֽוֹת־הַבְּרִית֙ אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֣י נֹתֵ֗ן בֵּינִי֙ וּבֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם וּבֵ֛ין כׇּל־נֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֑ם לְדֹרֹ֖ת עוֹלָֽם׃(יג) אֶת־קַשְׁתִּ֕י נָתַ֖תִּי בֶּֽעָנָ֑ן וְהָֽיְתָה֙ לְא֣וֹת בְּרִ֔ית בֵּינִ֖י וּבֵ֥ין הָאָֽרֶץ׃(יד) וְהָיָ֕ה בְּעַֽנְנִ֥י עָנָ֖ן עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְנִרְאֲתָ֥ה הַקֶּ֖שֶׁת בֶּעָנָֽן׃(טו) וְזָכַרְתִּ֣י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֗י אֲשֶׁ֤ר בֵּינִי֙ וּבֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם וּבֵ֛ין כׇּל־נֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּ֖ה בְּכׇל־בָּשָׂ֑ר וְלֹֽא־יִֽהְיֶ֨ה ע֤וֹד הַמַּ֙יִם֙ לְמַבּ֔וּל לְשַׁחֵ֖ת כׇּל־בָּשָֽׂר׃(טז) וְהָיְתָ֥ה הַקֶּ֖שֶׁת בֶּֽעָנָ֑ן וּרְאִיתִ֗יהָ לִזְכֹּר֙ בְּרִ֣ית עוֹלָ֔ם בֵּ֣ין אֱלֹהִ֔ים וּבֵין֙ כׇּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֔ה בְּכׇל־בָּשָׂ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃(יז) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־נֹ֑חַ זֹ֤את אֽוֹת־הַבְּרִית֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֲקִמֹ֔תִי בֵּינִ֕י וּבֵ֥ין כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ {פ}
(8) And God said to Noah and to his sons with him,(9) “I now establish My covenant with you and your offspring to come,(10) and with every living thing that is with you—birds, cattle, and every wild beast as well—all that have come out of the ark, every living thing on earth.(11) I will maintain My covenant with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”(12) God further said, “This is the sign that I set for the covenant between Me and you, and every living creature with you, for all ages to come.(13) I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.(14) When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds,(15) I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature among all flesh, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.(16) When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures, all flesh that is on earth.(17) That,” God said to Noah, “shall be the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and all flesh that is on earth.”
(כ) וַיָּ֥חֶל נֹ֖חַ אִ֣ישׁ הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וַיִּטַּ֖ע כָּֽרֶם׃(כא) וַיֵּ֥שְׁתְּ מִן־הַיַּ֖יִן וַיִּשְׁכָּ֑ר וַיִּתְגַּ֖ל בְּת֥וֹךְ אׇהֳלֹֽה׃(כב) וַיַּ֗רְא חָ֚ם אֲבִ֣י כְנַ֔עַן אֵ֖ת עֶרְוַ֣ת אָבִ֑יו וַיַּגֵּ֥ד לִשְׁנֵֽי־אֶחָ֖יו בַּחֽוּץ׃
(20) Noah, the tiller of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard.(21) He drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent.(22) Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside.
The vine branches that Rashi (when he went into the ark, Noah brought with him vine branches and fig shoots) says he brought onto the ark were one of the kinds of food he prepared; elephants eat them. He 'began' (וַיָּ֥חֶל)with something he should not have, which led to further things that should. not have been done. A small error at the beginning can eventually cause great harm.
He had good reason to never want to see water again, let alone to drink it.
Overwhelmed by the task of rebuilding a destroyed world, finding himself virtually alone and friendless in a nearly empty world, or perhaps burdened by a sense of guilt at having survived when so many others perished, Noah turns to drink.
Was the first to plant a vineyard. Previously only individual vines had been planted. He was the first to plant many vines together, row after row. Wanting wine, he did not plant a vine as one plants other trees, but went ahead and made a vineyard.
And so the Rabbis have said in Bereshith Rabbah: “A man of the ground [is so called just] as the castle guard is called by the name of the castle.” And the Rabbis also said that Noah had a passion for agriculture. Thus [the word ish is here used to signify] a relationship. The meaning of the word vayachel (and he began) is that he commenced the planting of vineyards. The preceding men had planted single vines, but Noah began to plant many rows of vines, which together comprise a vineyard. On account of his desire for wine, he did not plant the vine singly as other trees; rather, he made a vineyard.
1)And Noah, the husbandman, began and planted a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). Noah degraded himself when he began to till the soil. R. Judah the son of R. Shalum said: At first Noah was called a righteous and perfect man, but now he is described as a man of the earth. And he planted a vineyard; that is, after he planted the vineyard he was called a husbandman. (2) Three men toiled upon the earth and degraded themselves thereby. They were: Cain, Noah, and Uzziah. It is written of Cain: He was a tiller of the ground (ibid. 4:2), and that is followed by the verse: You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth (ibid., v. 12). Noah, as it is written: And Noah, the husbandman, began, and planted a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). And soon thereafter he disgraced himself: He drank of the wine (ibid., v. 21). Our sages held that on the very day he planted the vineyard, it bore its fruit, he harvested it, pressed it, drank the wine, became intoxicated, and exposed his private parts. (3) Our teachers of blessed memory stated: While Noah was planting the vineyard, Satan appeared before him and asked: “What are you planting?” He answered: “A vineyard.” “What is it?” inquired Satan. “Its fruits are sweet, whether moist or dry,” he answered, “and from them one produces a wine that causes the heart of man to rejoice, as it is written: And wine doth make glad the heart of man (Ps. 104:15).” Satan suggested: “Come, let us be partners in this vineyard.” And Noah replied: “Certainly.” (4) What did Satan do? First, he obtained a lamb and slaughtered it beneath the vineyard. Then, he took a lion and slaughtered it there, and after that he obtained a pig and an ape and slaughtered them in the same place. Their blood seeped into the earth, watering the vineyard. He did this to demonstrate to Noah that before drinking wine man is as innocent as a sheep: Like a sheep that before her shearers is dumb (Isa. 53:7). But after he drinks a moderate amount of wine he believes himself to be as strong as a lion, boasting that no one in all the world is his equal. When he drinks more than he should, he behaves like a pig, wallowing about in urine and performing other base acts. After he becomes completely intoxicated, he behaves like an ape, dancing about, laughing hysterically, prattling foolishly, and is completely unaware of what he is doing. All this happened to the righteous Noah.
Significantly, his first planing in the new, death-razed world is a vineyard. That is, he has prepared ahead of time a form of anesthetic to dull the terror of being alive...For Noach, the anesthetic is necessary because of the cumulative despair of the disenchanted world. Haunted by a double loss, he takes refuge in a fragile euphoria. Clinging still to the gates of Eden, with some consciousness of his inevitable despair, he prepares the vine shoots ahead of the Flood; they will ease his passage into the new world. Where to these vine shoots come from? - 'They were banished from Eden.' A vestige of Eden, they promise primal bliss...the condition that Kristeva calls 'despondent intoxication' well describes him...Noach drinks, becomes drunk, and (literally) unspeakable things happen to him...Intoxication blinds one to limits, distances, gaps; but it is precisely these painful experiences that generate self-awareness, desire, and language...real power is developed in the conscious struggle to overcome the void...The 'illusion of real creation' is the barren gift of alcohol to those whose minds cannot bear the void. Noach prepares his vine shoots for the day after the Flood...Drunk, he is 'interplanetary,' or, as the Talmud puts it, 'he looks down on the whole world as a plain.' Sublimely isolated from any actual dialogue...whose resistance might lead him to knowledge, he ultimately lacks a God - the God who is acessible to those who acknowledge their lack....[Noach], in his 'despondent indoxication,' is a 'radical, sullen, atheist.'
(א) וַיְהִ֥י כׇל־הָאָ֖רֶץ שָׂפָ֣ה אֶחָ֑ת וּדְבָרִ֖ים אֲחָדִֽים׃ (ב) וַיְהִ֖י בְּנׇסְעָ֣ם מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַֽיִּמְצְא֥וּ בִקְעָ֛ה בְּאֶ֥רֶץ שִׁנְעָ֖ר וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ שָֽׁם׃ (ג) וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֗הוּ הָ֚בָה נִלְבְּנָ֣ה לְבֵנִ֔ים וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה וַתְּהִ֨י לָהֶ֤ם הַלְּבֵנָה֙ לְאָ֔בֶן וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ר הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לַחֹֽמֶר׃ (ד) וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ הָ֣בָה ׀ נִבְנֶה־לָּ֣נוּ עִ֗יר וּמִגְדָּל֙ וְרֹאשׁ֣וֹ בַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנַֽעֲשֶׂה־לָּ֖נוּ שֵׁ֑ם פֶּן־נָפ֖וּץ עַל־פְּנֵ֥י כׇל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ה) וַיֵּ֣רֶד יְהֹוָ֔ה לִרְאֹ֥ת אֶת־הָעִ֖יר וְאֶת־הַמִּגְדָּ֑ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּנ֖וּ בְּנֵ֥י הָאָדָֽם׃ (ו) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֗ה הֵ֣ן עַ֤ם אֶחָד֙ וְשָׂפָ֤ה אַחַת֙ לְכֻלָּ֔ם וְזֶ֖ה הַחִלָּ֣ם לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת וְעַתָּה֙ לֹֽא־יִבָּצֵ֣ר מֵהֶ֔ם כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָזְמ֖וּ לַֽעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ (ז) הָ֚בָה נֵֽרְדָ֔ה וְנָבְלָ֥ה שָׁ֖ם שְׂפָתָ֑ם אֲשֶׁר֙ לֹ֣א יִשְׁמְע֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ שְׂפַ֥ת רֵעֵֽהוּ׃ (ח) וַיָּ֨פֶץ יְהֹוָ֥ה אֹתָ֛ם מִשָּׁ֖ם עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כׇל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַֽיַּחְדְּל֖וּ לִבְנֹ֥ת הָעִֽיר׃ (ט) עַל־כֵּ֞ן קָרָ֤א שְׁמָהּ֙ בָּבֶ֔ל כִּי־שָׁ֛ם בָּלַ֥ל יְהֹוָ֖ה שְׂפַ֣ת כׇּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וּמִשָּׁם֙ הֱפִיצָ֣ם יְהֹוָ֔ה עַל־פְּנֵ֖י כׇּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ {פ}
(1) Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words. (2) And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. (3) They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them hard.”—Brick served them as stone, and bitumen served them as mortar.— (4) And they said, “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered all over the world.” (5) GOD came down to look at the city and tower that the mortals had built, (6) and GOD said, “If, as one people with one language for all, this is how they have begun to act, then nothing that they may propose to do will be out of their reach. (7) Let us, then, go down and confound their speech there, so that they shall not understand one another’s speech.” (8) Thus GOD scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. (9) That is why it was called Babel, because there GOD confounded the speech of the whole earth; and from there GOD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
(לא) אֵ֣לֶּה בְנֵי־שֵׁ֔ם לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם לִלְשֹׁנֹתָ֑ם בְּאַרְצֹתָ֖ם לְגוֹיֵהֶֽם׃ (לב) אֵ֣לֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹ֧ת בְּנֵי־נֹ֛חַ לְתוֹלְדֹתָ֖ם בְּגוֹיֵהֶ֑ם וּמֵאֵ֜לֶּה נִפְרְד֧וּ הַגּוֹיִ֛ם בָּאָ֖רֶץ אַחַ֥ר הַמַּבּֽוּל׃ {פ}
(31) These are the descendants of Shem according to their clans and languages, by their lands, according to their nations. (32) These are the groupings of Noah’s descendants, according to their origins, by their nations; and from these the nations branched out over the earth after the Flood.
(י) אֵ֚לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֣ת שֵׁ֔ם שֵׁ֚ם בֶּן־מְאַ֣ת שָׁנָ֔ה וַיּ֖וֹלֶד אֶת־אַרְפַּכְשָׁ֑ד שְׁנָתַ֖יִם אַחַ֥ר הַמַּבּֽוּל׃ (יא) וַֽיְחִי־שֵׁ֗ם אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־אַרְפַּכְשָׁ֔ד חֲמֵ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃ {ס}
(10) This is the line of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he begot Arpachshad, two years after the Flood. (11) After the birth of Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and begot sons and daughters.
11:4. we’ll make ourselves a name. The story of the tower of Babylon has its ambiguity at its center. It tells of an attempt by humanity to build a tower whose top is in the sky, but it never tells what they will do when they finish the tower, what is meant by “make ourselves a name,” or why they fear being scattered if they do not have this tower. When YHWH sees the tower He is described as concerned that “now nothing that they’ll scheme to do will be precluded from them.” Their actions appear to be an act of rebellion of some sort, and in this sense the episode fits with those of Adam and Eve, Cain, and the flood, i.e., that humans as a species are continuously in conflict with the initial “good” state of creation.
(ו) רַבִּי פִּנְחָס אוֹמֵר: לֹא הָיוּ שָׁם אֲבָנִים לִבְנוֹת אֶת הָעִיר וְאֶת הַמִּגְדָּל. מָה הָיוּ עוֹשִׂין? הָיוּ מְלַבְּנִים לְבֵנִים וְשׂוֹרְפִין אוֹתָן כְּיוֹצֵר חֶרֶשׂ, עַד שֶׁבָּנוּ אוֹתוֹ גָּבוֹהַּ שִׁבְעִים מִיל. וּמַעֲלוֹת הָיוּ לוֹ מִמִּזְרָחוֹ וּמִמַּעֲרָבוֹ. אֵלּוּ שֶׁהָיוּ מַעֲלִין אֶת הַלְּבֵנִים הָיוּ עוֹלִים מִמִּזְרָחוֹ, וְאֵלּוּ שֶׁהָיוּ יוֹרְדִין הָיוּ יוֹרְדִין מִמַּעֲרָבוֹ. וְאִם נָפַל אָדָם וָמֵת, לֹא שָׂמוּ אֶת לִבָּם עָלָיו. וְאִם נָפְלָה לְבֵנָה אַחַת, הָיוּ יוֹשְׁבִין וּבוֹכִין וְאוֹמְרִין: ״אוֹי לָנוּ! אֵימָתַי תַּעֲלֶה אַחֶרֶת תַּחְתֶּיהָ?״
(6) Rabbi Phineas said: There were no stones there where-with to build the city and the tower. What did they do? They baked bricks and burnt them like a builder (would do), until they built it seven mils high, and it had ascents on its east and west. (The labourers) who took up the bricks went up on the eastern (ascent), and those who descended went down on the western (descent). If a man fell and died they paid no heed to him, but if a brick fell they || sat down and wept, and said: Woe is us ! when will another one come in its stead?
God does not destroy the builders of the Tower. In an interesting analogy to the Expulsion from Eden, and the curse of Kayin, who is condemned to wander the earth, God scatters humanity across the globe and “confounds their language.” There are two reasons for the Eternal’s decision. First, God makes good on the promise not to bring another flood and destroy all that lives upon the earth. Second, as Rashi observes, the generation of the Tower were living in harmony with one another, working in concert on a project in which all shared, a distinct contrast to the men and women whose violence and lawlessness were a stench in God’s nostrils. Still, God has offered a Covenant to all of humanity twice and each time the result has been failure.
“Be fertile and increase, and fill the earth” (9:1). If a key part of God’s primordial blessing and charge to humanity is that we spread out and fill the earth, how can God’s scattering humanity be a punishment? It isn’t, exactly. God’s foundational blessing, coupled with God’s interruption of the builders’ plans, may offer us a first glimpse of what’s wrong with their behavior. God had made it clear that the divine vision is for humanity to spread out and fill the earth, yet the builders want to stay put, to congregate in one place. In fact their resistance to God’s blessing is clear: They explicitly declare their intention to build their city, and the tower within it, out of fear “lest we be scattered all over the world” (Gen. 11:4). What they most fear is what God most wants. God’s “punishment,” then, may not ultimately be a punishment at all, but a reaffirmation of the initial divine blessing in the face of human refusal and obstruction.
“God was not distressed by what they said, but by the fact that their words [and by implication, their thoughts] were all the same” (Ha’amek Davar to Gen. 11:1). God finds this unanimity alarming, because total uniformity is necessarily a sign of totalitarian control—after all, absolute consensus does not happen naturally on any matter, let alone on every matter.
the multiplicity and variegation reported in chapter 10 shed crucial light on chapter 11: Our story is not about the loss of some primordial human unity lost in the mists of time, but on the contrary, about an active attempt to undo a divine plan for diversity that has already begun to come to fruition.
And speaking of the flood, the most obvious reason for a tall tower might just be that it was a good way to get above water level, should God ever decide to flood the world again. This is what the ancient historian Josephus says – that people at the time were generally: …greatly afraid of the lower grounds on account of the flood, and so were very loath to come down from the higher places… (Antiquities 1:4:1)
(ז) וַיְהִי בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם (בראשית יא, ב), נָסְעוּ מִן מַדִּינְחָא לְמֵיזַל לְמַדִּינְחָא, אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בְּרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן הֵסִיעוּ עַצְמָן מִקַּדְמוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, אָמְרוּ אִי אֶפְשֵׁינוּ לֹא בוֹ וְלֹא בֶּאֱלָהוּתוֹ. (בראשית יא, ב): וַיִּמְצְאוּ בִקְעָה, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר הִתְכַּנְסוּ כָּל אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם לִרְאוֹת אֵי זֶה בִּקְעָה מַחֲזֶקֶת לָהֶם, וּבַסּוֹף מָצָאוּ. וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אָמַר וַיִּמְצְאוּ (משלי ג, לד): אִם לַלֵּצִים הוּא יָלִיץ. (בראשית יא, ב): וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם, אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק כָּל מָקוֹם שֶׁאַתָּה מוֹצֵא יְשִׁיבָה הַשָּׂטָן קוֹפֵץ. אָמַר רַבִּי חֶלְבּוֹ בְּכָל מָקוֹם שֶׁאַתָּה מוֹצֵא נַחַת רוּחַ הַשָּׂטָן מְקַטְרֵג. אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי בְּכָל מָקוֹם שֶׁאַתָּה מוֹצֵא אֲכִילָה וּשְׁתִיָּה הַשָּׂטָן מְקַטְרֵג.
(7)“It was as they traveled from the east, and they found a valley in the land of Shinar and they settled there” (Genesis 11:2).
“It was as they traveled from the east [mikedem]” – did they travel from the east to go to the east? Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon said: They transported themselves away from the ancient One [mikadmono] of the world. They said: ‘We want neither Him nor His divinity.’
“They found a valley” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: All the nations of the world assembled to determine which valley could contain all of them, and ultimately, they found one [in Shinar]. Rabbi Neḥemya said : “They found” – “if it is to scoffers, he will scoff” (Proverbs 3:34).
“And they settled there” – Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Wherever you find settlement, Satan leaps. Rabbi Ḥelbo said: Wherever you find tranquility, Satan comes to act as accuser. Rabbi Levi said: Wherever you find [excessive] eating and drinking, Satan comes to act as accuser.
לא ישמעו. זֶה שׁוֹאֵל לְבֵנָה וְזֶה מֵבִיא טִיט, וְזֶה עוֹמֵד עָלָיו וּפוֹצֵעַ אֶת מֹחוֹ:
ולא ישמעו — THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND — One asks for a brick and the other brings him lime: the former therefore attacks him and splits open his brains.
ומשם הפיצם. לִמֵּד שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא; וְכִי אֵיזוֹ קָשָׁה, שֶׁל דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל אוֹ שֶׁל דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה? אֵלּוּ לֹא פָשְׁטוּ יָד בָּעִקָּר וְאֵלּוּ פָשְׁטוּ יָד בָּעִקָּר לְהִלָּחֵם בּוֹ, וְאֵלּוּ נִשְׁטְפוּ וְאֵלּוּ לֹא נֶאֱבְדוּ מִן הָעוֹלָם? אֶלָּא שֶׁדּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל הָיוּ גַּזְלָנִים וְהָיְתָה מְרִיבָה בֵינֵיהֶם, לְכָךְ נֶאֱבְדוּ; וְאֵלּוּ הָיוּ נוֹהֲגִים אַהֲבָה וְרֵעוּת בֵּינֵיהֶם, שֶׁנֶּ' שָׂפָה אֶחָת וּדְבָרִים אֲחָדִים, לָמַדְתָּ שֶׁשָּׂנְאוּי הַמַּחֲלֹקֶת וְגָדוֹל הַשָּׁלֹום:
ומשם הפיצם AND FROM THENCE DID THE LORD SCATTER THEM —This teaches that they have no portion in the world to come (Sanhedrin 107b). Which sin was greater: that of the generation of the Flood or that of the generation of the Dispersion? The former did not stretch forth their hands against God; the latter did stretch forth their hands against God to war against him (surely, then, the sin of the generation of the Dispersion was greater) and yet the former (the generation of the Flood) were drowned and these did not perish from the world! But the reason is that the generation of the Flood were violent robbers and there was strife among them, and therefore they were destroyed; but these conducted themselves in love and friendship, as it is said, “They were one people and had one language”. — You may learn from this how hateful to God is strife and how great is peace (Genesis Rabbah 38:6).
The Midrash that Rashi has borrowed from adds another detail. In this fuller account, the people said: "Let us make ourselves a tower, and we shall place an idol at the top of it, and we shall put a sword in its hand, such that it will appear to be waging war against Him." (Bereishit Rabbah 38:7) The tower is literally piercing the heavens with idolatry, as a direct, violent challenge to God’s authority as the only deity. We will send another god, they said, to kill God. Or, as yet another Midrash has it, they were willing to do the job themselves: "Let us ascend to the sky, and we will strike God with hatchets." (Tanchuma, Noach 18) Imagine, a pack of wild, desert warriors, clambering up the tower, axes in hand, ready to literally murder God. The image is somehow both ludicrous and terrifying, all at once.
But the Ibn Ezra calls out another familiar figure there in Babel, and this one comes as a real shock: "Abraham was one of the builders of the tower..." (commentary on Gen.11:1) Abraham?! The founder of our faith? The one who walked before God? In next week’s parsha, we will begin the story of this man who would become known as the model of perfect faith, the father of nations of believers. Could it be that just a few years earlier, he was part of the greatest revolt against God in human history? ...One of the great questions in Torah commentary is, “Where did Abraham come from?” Why did God choose him? What was his origin story? And there are tons of great answers. The most famous midrash of all tells us that even as a boy, he was destroying idols and preaching the faith. ...what if Abraham’s origin story was not one of faith, but of doubt? What if Abraham came to be this great servant of God only after years of rejecting God, mocking God, fighting God? What if Abraham was, like everyone around him, once a heretic? If that were so, it would make some sense of the Tower of Babel’s placement in the narrative, lodged in between the story of the flood and our introduction to Abraham. This was a period of transition. It was a time when people were either scared of God, or oblivious to God, or even angry with God. And Abraham was no exception. He lived through this phase of human development, and even participated in it, but eventually grew out of it and led humanity toward a new kind of faith – a wiser, more mature faith... Would that make Abraham a lesser hero? Would it tarnish his reputation as the founder of Western religion? I don’t think so. In some ways, I think it would make him even greater. Because it would mean that he knew what it was like to rage against God, to curse God, to question God’s existence or God’s righteousness. He felt that kind of doubt that so many of us feel at some point in our lives, and yet – he struggled with it, he worked through it, and he came out on the other side with faith – a faith made stronger by the long and difficult journey. Sometimes it is only by going to war that one can find peace.
The city is the ultimate expression of human presumption. Babel was the city, and to the anti-urban tradition of the Bible, its downfall appeared as a proper divine judgment. Babel referred of course to Babylon, but it also symbolized all empire building, corruption, arrogance, craving to erect monuments, desire for fame; it meant a turning away from what were considered the primary human occupations —agriculture and the tending of flocks. Farmers and nomads "fill the earth," that is, they live close to it and its creatures; city-dwellers flee from the earth. Babel was an alienation of humanity from the simple life...
The post-Flood generation, the builders of the Tower of Babel, have as their motto, “Me and not You.” They set up safe houses of human solidarity, which are mere oases in the treacherous and indescribable world. It is, when all is said, a pathetic avoidance. What neither [the Flood nor post-Flood] generation can encompass is a world with God at its center, so that one may dare to imagine a multiplicity of selves, of worlds, existing together, even interacting with one another in modes that build and do not destroy.
