ויזכור אלקים את נח, “G-d remembered Noach;” G-d remembered that for a full year Noach had fed the entire animal kingdom that was with him in the ark, playing “waiter” for them.

וישכו המים, “the waters subsided.” The wording proves that the waters were almost boiling hot. [Subsiding, meaning that they had bubbled previously. Ed.] The expression שככ is used also for King Ahasverus’ angers subsiding in Esther 7,10. Compare Sanhedrin 108 on that verse.

ויסכרו מעינות תהום רבה, “The subterranean sluices of the earth were shut down;” Rashi points out that the absence here of the word: כל, “all,” i.e. all these sluices, is proof that some of these springs were left open for healing purposes so that man could enjoy them in the future. [Spas such as Marienbad, Karlsbad, Leukerbad, etc. Ed.] The hot springs of Tiberias are quoted by Rashi as an example. If you were to ask that according to the opinion quoted in the Midrash that the deluge did not affect the land of Israel, whence did the hot springs in Tiberias originate? 1) There are similar hot mineral springs all over the world, Tiberias just happens to be the only such in the Holy Land. 2) When the Torah first wrote about these springs having been opened at the time of the deluge, (7,11) when the Torah there spoke about “all the springs,” it clearly included the hot springs of Tiberias, although rain may not have fallen in the Holy Land during that period. When the springs closed, the ones in Tiberias were one of the several that remained open.

ויסכרו מעיינות תהום, this is not really the logical place where we would have expected to find this verse. Rather, we would have expected it after 7,17, before continuing with that the waters continued to rise further. The reason it was inserted here is that the Torah wished to mention together all the causes that contributed to the termination of the deluge.

ויחסרו המים, “the waters diminished;” according to Rashi, this process began 150 days after the outbreak of the deluge, on the first day of the month of Sivan. Rashi arrives at this calculation from the Torah’s report that the deluge (rains) began on the 17th day of the second month (Cheshvan) the rains which lasted for 40 days having stopped falling on the 27th day of Kislev. It is reasonable to assume that according to Rashi’s calculation no rain fell on the 28th of Kislev, so that day was already one of the 150 days during which the water level on the earth kept rising without additional rainfall. On the other hand, when the Torah had written in verse 12 of chapter 7 that the rainfall persisted for 40 days, the impression given is that the twenty eighth day of Kislev was still a rainy day, as Rashi specifically states that the first day mentioned in the Torah did not count, as the rain had started during the daylight hours, i.e. long after the day had already commenced. The Torah describes the sky as breaking open during the daylight hours. According to this calculation the rains would only have stopped during the 28th of Kislev. We are forced therefore to understand Rashi’s words as follows: “the first day of rainfall mentioned is the Torah is not to be considered as a “day” in the same sense as all the other days, seeing that all the other “days” mentioned included the preceding night; this day did not include the preceding night.”When you follow this approach you can understand Rashi’s saying that the 17th of Cheshvan was the first day on which rain fell and continued falling for 40 days. There were 12 days left in that month, followed by 27 days in the month of Kislev, all of which included the preceding nights until daybreak on the 28th day of Kislev. This tallies with what the Torah wrote: “The rain (came down) onto the earth for 40 days and forty nights.” (7,12) When the Torah referred to 150 days, these days do not need to include the preceding nights, as the Torah itself states: “it was at the end of 150 days.”(8,3). In other words: from daybreak on the 28th of Kislev until nightfall on the first day of Sivan. If you wish to count the 150 days as whole days including the preceding nights, you would have to count from the morning of the 28th of Kislev until the morning until the morning of the first day of Sivan, giving you a total of 150 days and 150 nights. Even if you were to deduct the night of the 28th of Kislev according to Rashiג something irrelevant to the descent of rain for 40 days, the first of Sivan as the seventh month the first of Sivan, as stated in the Torah, would still be the beginning of the seventh month after the beginning of the deluge. [The significance of the number “seven” as a number signaling beneficial developments is most important in Judaism, Ed.] The reason why the manner in which the Torah reported these details is significant is because if we were to start the count of the deluge (40 days of rainfall) from Cheshvan, the ark would not have come to rest on Mount Arrarat on the seventeenth of the seventh month (Sivan) from the daylight period of the seventeenth, but on the eighteenth. Our author demonstrates how this would have contradicted other dates mentioned later in the account of the gradual abating of the waters. The most important date mentioned is that on which the ark came to rest on solid ground, the first day of the first month of the 601st year of Noach’s life, i.e. on New Year’s day according to the Jewish calendar. It signaled a new and more propitious beginning in the history of mankind. On that day the waters had dried from the surface of the earth. [as distinct from “dry” as opposed to “muddy.” Ed.]

.בחודש השביעי, “in the seventh month.” The “seventh” month mentioned here is the month of Sivan starting with Kislev, the month during which the rains had ceased. On the tenth of the first month (verse 5) the first mountain tops became visible to Noach. This was the month of Av in our calendar, which is the tenth month of the year starting with Cheshvan the month during which the rain started falling. This is how Rashi understands the text of the Torah. If you were to argue that the year of the deluge could have been a year which had 13 months, something easily computed, the whole calculation is erroneous. From the data in the Torah, 1656 years had elapsed since the creation of Adam. We observe a cycle of 19 years during which 7 years are leap years, i.e. years of 13 months. A calculation would reveal that the year of the deluge would have been the third leap year during such a cycle. The result would be that the month of Sivan would not be the seventh but the eighth month of that particular year. According to this calculation the deluge would have commenced instead of in the 1656th year, in the year following. A different interpretation of the data provided by the Torah: The calculation of the year of the deluge is based on the year of tohu, the period preceding the creation of Adam. If so the year of the deluge was not a leap year. A third possible approach to the data provided by the Torah on the timing of the deluge: the year of the deluge was not included in calendar calculations of world history, according to Rabbi Yochanan in Bereshit Rabbah 33,3, as the planets in heaven did not describe their regular orbits during that period. Rabbi Yonathan responded to that statement by Rabbi Yochanan, that while the planets did not perform their function during that year, this does not mean that the year is to be considered as not having occurred.

ותנח התבה בחדש השביעי בשבעה עשר יום, “the ark came to rest on the seventeenth day of the seventh month.” According to Rashi, we learn from this verse that the ark was deep in the water to a depth of 11 cubits. If you were to counter that the Torah reported that the tops of the mountains had become visible on the first day of Av, and that by the first day of Tishrey nature had resumed to function as usual, as we know from verse 13, this would suggest that during the preceding 60 days the water level had dropped precipitously, and there are certainly many mountains that are higher than 15 cubits, so that the water level must have receded by a whole cubit every four days, how could the ark still have been in eleven cubits of water?We would have to answer that the (air surrounding mountains is measured by different yardsticks than the earth upon which they rise, so that all of the mountains and the waters surrounding them receded totally during those 60 days. The waters in the airspace above the level of the mountains receded at a different rate of speed. Once the waters had dropped below the mountainous regions, they retreated at the rate of one cubit per day. The proof that this interpretation is true is the fact that we do not encounter the expression חסרון, diminution, reduction, when the Torah speaks of the mountain tops having become visible again. This teaches that a minor abatement of the waters was not deemed worthy of comment. Rashi also comments: “if you were to interpret the word שביעי, “seventh month,” as referring to the month of Sivan, as referring to the period during which the waters abated, how could you understand the line: “the ark came to rest in the seventh month of the cumulative abatement of the waters as occurring on the seventeenth of the month?” At that time the waters had not yet even stopped increasing in their inundation of the surface of the earth? We had already proved that the waters inundated progressively more parts of the earth commencing with the cessation of the rain for 150 days! This day only concluded on the first day of Sivan! This was the day when the deluge reached its crest! Every day thereafter was part of the recovery from the deluge. According to Rashi, the relevant dates of the story of the deluge are as follows: “in the second month of the year. i.e. the month of Cheshvan, which according to the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 12 is the second month of the year, the deluge commenced. According to the compilation of a well known historical text relied upon by our sages, known as seder olam, the sages accepted the view of Rabbi Eliezer concerning the Torah report of the deluge, whereas they accepted the view expressed by Rabbi Joshua, concerning the calculations of the seasons of the year. According to this view both the rains and the opening of subterranean wells commenced on the 17th day of the month of Cheshvan, on the morning of that day. Both events continued until the morning of the 28th day of Kislev. At that point both rain and waters from subterranean parts of the globe ceased, but the inundation was felt as increasing until the ark‘s bottom was 15 cubits above the top of the highest mountain. As a result the ark kept on moving. The process of waters rising continued from the morning of the 28th of Kislev until sundown on the first day of Sivan. This was followed immediately by the verse: ויזכור אלוקים את נח, that G-d remembered Noach, etc. (8,1) revealing that as from that day on the waters receded at the end of 150 days. (verse 3) The ark running aground occurred 7 days later on the 17th day of the seventh month, i.e. the 17th of Sivan.(verse 3). It was the seventh month after the rains had commenced to fall. The waters kept receding after the rains had ceased (verse 5) from the first of Sivan until the month of Av, the tenth month after the rains had commenced descending on the earth. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the highest mountains became visible. 40 days later on the tenth day of Ellul, Noach opened the window of the ark and sent out the raven. The raven not having returned, Noach sent out the pigeon after having waited for seven days. (according to Rashi). The pigeon returned to the ark not having found a foothold outside of it. Noach waited another seven days before sending out the pigeon again. This time the pigeon returned on the evening of the same day carrying part of an olive leaf in its beak. Some commentators believe that this leaf came from Mount Olives in the land of Israel. (Rabbi Levi in Bereshit Rabbah 33,6 according to the view that the rains did not flood the soil of the Land of Israel) The Scriptural basis for this view is found in Ezekiel 22,24: לא גושמה ביום זעם, “which was not rained upon on the day of anger.” Noach then waited for another seven days before dispatching a pigeon a third time. That time the pigeon did not return to the ark. Immediately after this, the Torah reports, (8,13) that the waters on earth had dried as of the first day of the month of Tishrey in the 601st year of Noach’s life. Finally, on the 27th day of Cheshvan, (57 days later) the soil was dry enough for man and beast to walk on without sinking into mud. Some commentators wonder what forced Rashi to state that the words: “it was at the end of forty days,” in 8,6 refer to 40 days after the tops of the mountains had become visible. If correct, why would the pigeon not have found a foothold on earth then? After all, 47 days had elapsed since that time before Noach sent out the pigeon. Some commentators dismiss this argument saying that since no actual land surfaces were visible, the pigeon did not find a suitable place to rest. We may assume that Rashi accepted the report of the Torah as following events chronologically so that the date on which the pigeon finally decided to remain outside the ark was on the first of Tishrey when the surface of the earth appeared dry, [capable of supporting the weight of a little bird. Ed.] Some commentators begin the count of 150 days from the first day the rains had commenced, i.e. from the 17th day of Cheshvan. Those days accordingly would include the 40 days of incessant rainfall. They consider the seventh month, Iyar as already a month during which the waters receded, just as we consider the tenth month as the month during which the waters receded. Their interpretation of the Torah’s report, commencing with 8,18: “the waters grew more powerful,” is thus: starting with the 17th of Cheshvan the water level on earth kept rising for a continuous 150 days culminating on the 20th day of Nissan. On that day the tide was turned and the waters began to recede. The ark came to rest on Mount Arrarat in the month of Iyar, i.e. the seventh month during which the waters were receding, on the 17th of that month. The waters continued to recede until the tenth month continuously, and during the tenth month of their retreat on the on the first of that month the tops of the tallest mountains became visible. The 15 cubits of water which had covered the tallest mountains for 95 days, between the 20th of Nissan until the 1st day of Av, had retreated at the rate of 1 cubit every 6 and a half days between the 20th of Nissan and the 16th day of Iyar, whereas the 11 cubits of the ark which were beneath the water level, retreated during the 7 days between the 17th of Iyar and the 1st day of Av, at the rate of one cubit every 6 and a half days. Some commentators explain the conclusion of this section in accordance with what we have learned in Seder Olam, which addresses the meaning of the paragraph commencing with: “it was at the end of 40 days (8,6)” as referring to 40 days which commenced with the first day in Sivan and concluded on the 10th day of Tammuz. According to that calculation, Noach immediately opened the window of the ark on that day and dispatched the raven. He then waited for seven days before dispatching the pigeon. He waited another seven days before dispatching the pigeon again. The reason why the pigeon on that occasion did not return was that it had found room on a top of a mountain that had been revealed in the meantime. The day under discussion was the first day of the month of Av, as already mentioned, seeing that the Torah had written that the tops of the mountains became visible on the first of the tenth month (8,5). Av is the tenth month of the year if the month during which the deluge started is considered as the “first month.” According to this method of counting, any part of a month is considered as if it were a full month. On the other hand, the month of Elul is never considered as the tenth month following Kislev during which the rains ceased, for if so, why when Noach dispatched a bird a third time would the pigeon not have returned to the ark seeing that according the calculation the tops of the mountains had not yet reappeared until the first of the month of Elul?Do not query the verse commencing with the words: והמים הלוך וחסור, “and the waters continued to diminish,” (8,5) by asking by what yardstick Noach decided on when to dispatch another bird, this is no problem for once the process of waters receding had commenced until the ark had come to rest on Mount Arrarat, Noach could confidently expect that with the passage of another week the chances of land appearing had increased. Between the first day of Av and the until the first day of Tishrey all the waters remaining from the deluge had been absorbed by the earth, and by the 27th of the month of Cheshvan the earth had become dry enough to walk on and to build on.

וישלח את העורב, “he dispatched the raven;” the reason Noach chose one of the impure birds for this mission, [although he could have chosen a pigeon of which he had seven pairs, Ed.] was that since that bird feeds on carcasses, the chances that it would find something to eat were far greater than if he had sent a pigeon which is more circumspect in what it chooses as its food. Do not question how Noach could have dispatched any creature from the ark seeing that at that time it was totally dark outside? While it is true that there was no sunshine or moonlight, and the light of the stars is insufficient to know thereby whether it is day or night, there was some light, as we know from when the Torah wrote in verse 5 that the mountain tops had become visible at the beginning of the tenth month. Furthermore, there is an opinion cited in Bereshit Rabbah 33,5, according to which light of sun and moon was usable, but was not usable by Noach for astronomical calculations. Unless this was so, how would Noach have been able to tell day from night?

ויצא יצוא ושוב, “it kept going back and forth;” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish in Sanhedrin 108 claims that the raven accused Noach with an ironclad argument of hating it, else he would have used a bird of which there were seven species rather than endanger the species of the raven of which he had only a single pair. As a result, the raven did not fly far away from the ark to ensure it would find its way back, and could protect its mate if need be.

וישלח, “he sent it off on a one way trip;” the dot in the letter ל is the proof that this is the correct interpretation. When someone is dispatched in order to report back, that letter never appears with such a dot.

וידע נח כי קלו המים, “then Noach knew that the waters had subsided substantially. The fact that the pigeon stayed out all day long convinced Noach that there was what to look at other than mere water. According to the view that the deluge did not affect the land of Israel (Zevachim 113) how could Noach have known from the torn olive leaf that the waters had indeed subsided so much? He could have deduced that this leaf had originated in the Holy Land, or it had been picked up floating on the surface of the waters? The word חטף used by the Torah here, always is used in connection with something that has been plucked from a tree. If it had been picked up floating, it would have been a whole leaf, and would not have shown signs of having been picked from its branch. The translation by Yonathan ben Uzziel is further proof of this. He translates: נחית, i.e. plucked by mouth or beak. [The Hebrew equivalent of when Yaakov mourned his son Joseph as having been torn to shreds by a wild beast, טרף טרף יוסף, Genesis 37,33.]

ויהי באחת ושש מאות שנה בראשון באחד לחודש. It was inthe 601st year (of Noach’s life) on the first day of the first month; even a single day of a new year is referred to as the year just commencing.” (Compare Talmud Rosh Hashanah 10) A different explanation of the significance of this statement: in the 600th year of Noach’s life in the month of Iyar on the 17th of the month the deluge had commenced, and the rain lasted for 40 days and 40 nights, so that the rains ceased by the 28th day of Sivan. According to this interpretation the first month of the year is the month of Nissan. All the other months follow the same patterns according to the solar calendar. Each month is considered as having thirty days.

וידבר אלוקים אל נח לאמור, “G-d spoke to Noach for him to tell the members of his family;” this apparently repetitive statement is customary in the Torah; compare Exodus 6,10, or even more definitively, Leviticus 11,1;

צא מן התיבה אתה ואשתך, “leave the ark, you and your wife, etc;” when you check the text you will find that Noach did not follow G-d’s instructions precisely, as in verse 18 the Torah reports that Noach did not leave the ark at the same time as his wife, but he left in the company of his sons. According to an argument between Rabbi Nechemyah and Rabbi Yehudah, according to one Noach was punished for not taking advantage of living with his wife again immediately and siring more children by being debased and castrated in his wife’s tent. (Bereshit Rabbah 35,1) The other Rabbi disagrees, claiming that he was rewarded, seeing that he proved more chaste than even commanded, by not immediately indulging in sex with his wife so that G-d spoke to both him and his children in 9,1.

הוצא אתך, this word is to be read as if it had been spelled: “היצא!” “Take out!”

ויצא נח ובניו, “Noach and his sons left the ark, etc.” Some commentators claim that although marital relations between the sexes had been permitted again, the manner in which the Torah writes the males exiting from the ark as if in a group is revealing. On the other hand, the Talmud in Sanhedrin 108 states that there were three creatures which violated the prohibition of sexual relations during their stay in the ark: the dog, the raven and Noach’s son Cham. All of them were punished for their misconduct. The dog is tied by a chain or leash to its owner. The raven is forced to spit after indulging in mating, and Cham’s skin, or that of his offspring, turned black.

ויעל עולות, “he offered burnt offerings.” He acted similar to the sailors in the story of Jonah, who after having been saved from a great storm and returned to dry land, immediately offered offerings to G-d for their deliverance. (Jonah 2,16). We learn from here that anyone who has been miraculously saved from dangers beyond his control is expected to offer tangible thanksgiving offerings.

במזבח, “on the altar.” This is a reference to the altar on which Kayin and Hevel had presented their respective offerings.

ויאמר ה' אל לבו, “the Lord said to Himself, etc.,” Prior to the deluge (Genesis 6,6) the Lord had seen fit to feel saddened in His heart; now He felt greatly encouraged about the human species He had created.[Noach could have drawn comparisons between the chaos he faced in spite of having lived a blameless life for 600 years, with the Gan Eden into which Adam had been placed without his having done anything to merit this. Instead, he was grateful. Ed.] לא אוסיף, “I will not continue, etc;” according to the plain meaning of the text, i.e. the additional, apparently superfluous word: עוד, again, further, the first word refers to the earth, whereas the second word refers to the living creatures on it. If we needed proof of this, it can be found in Genesis 9,12).

כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו, “because the tendencies of man’s heart are evil from his youth already.” Man’s immaturity in his younger years is the reason for these evil inclinations. G-d therefore had decided not to visit punishments on man promptly as a result this consideration as He used to do.

עוד כל ימי הארץ, “as long as earth exists, etc;” our author understands these words as parallel to Isaiah 51,6: כי שמים כעשן נמלחו והארץ כבגד תבלה, “for the heavens should melt way like smoke and the earth wear out like a garment.” In other words, the covenant now concluded with mankind is not eternal, but subject to the same conditions as the duration of the material universe as we know it.

Rashi understands the whole verse as describing the seasons of the year which will repeat regularly, [limited, of course to our northern hemisphere. Ed.] two months for each season, but they do not coincide with the beginning of the lunar months but run from the middle of the month approximately. This subject is dwelt on in Baba Metzia, 106. If you were to counter that in the Talmud Baba Metzia the Talmud does not appear to match what is written here, as the year is described as the seasons being described as contrasting each other, i.e. cold season versus hot season, etc; it is possible that the version of Rashi that we have is faulty.