ויזכר אלוקים את נח, “G-d remembered Noach, etc.” It would have been more appropriate for the Torah to write that “G-d remembered Noach and his sons, etc.” After all, we know that they too were beneficiaries of His presence since the Torah wrote in 9,8 “G-d spoke to Noach and to his sons, etc.” Why then did the Torah here mention only Noach as the one to whom G-d spoke? It is possible to understand the word את in front of the word נח as a reference to his sons. This would certainly not be the first time that the word את is used as a רבוי, a word which alludes to something additional which the Torah had not spelled out in detail. Seeing that Noach’s sons were extensions of his own self, the Torah did not see fit to mention them separately at this stage. We find a similar occurrence in Exodus 1,1 where the Torah mentions את יעקב, and Shemot Rabbah interprets the word את as a reference to all the people who descended to Egypt because they were “extensions” of Yaakov. This meant that sons and wives were automatically included in the people whose fate G-d had “remembered.” As to the fact that the Torah specifically refers to the animals and all other creatures in the Ark with Noach, something which at first glance makes it appear as if their fates were of greater concern to G-d than that of Noach’s wife, his sons and their wives, this is not so. We distinguish between השגחה כללית, and השגחה פרטית, G-d’s general overall concern and supervision of their fate, and G-d’s specific individual supervision of someone’s fate. Whereas the animals, etc., qualified for G-d’s general concern, Noach and his family qualified for G-d’s specific concern. Hence the word את is an indication that G-d’s specific concern extended also to the members of Noach’s family. Alternatively, the reason Torah chose to mention G-d’s concern for the domestic beasts and the free-roaming animals was to draw our attention to the fact that He displayed no such concern for the birds; hence the birds are not mentioned in this verse. The reason may have been that seeing that the mammals were all created on the sixth day of creation, i.e. the same day as man, they shared special consideration by G-d with man; the birds which had been created already on the fifth day did not enjoy this distinction. This may also be reflected in the wording אשר אתו בתיבה “who were with him in the Ark.” The Torah wanted to stress that there was something that man and the other mammals shared to the exclusion of other phenomena on earth, namely G-d’s especial concern for their fates. It is noteworthy that the same word את occurs in the narrative of the Torah when it describes both man’s and the mammal’s creation on the sixth day. Please compare Genesis 1,24-25. The words אשר אתו in our verse here may be an allusion to that verse in 1,24.

ותנח התבה בחדש השביעי בשבעה עשר יום לחודש על הרי אררט, “The Ark came to rest on the mountain range of Arrarat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month.” The day on which the Ark “landed” on that mountain range was the seventeenth day of the month of Nissan. [This is based on the view of Nachmanides that whenever the Torah here speaks of the seventh or the tenth month, this is calculated from the day the universe was created and not from the date the deluge began.] When the Torah wrote that the waters kept increasing for one hundred and fifty days (7,24), this describes a process which had commenced on the seventeenth day of Marcheshvan , i.e. the day on which the deluge began. It refers back to where the Torah reported (7,11) that in the sixth hundredth year of Noach’s life on the seventeenth of the second month, the fountains of the deep broke open, etc.” You will note that there are 150 days between the seventeenth of Marcheshvan and the seventeenth of Nissan.

According to Nachmanides the timetable of the deluge ran as follows: Rain descended on earth for forty days continuously from the date the fountains of the deep broke open. During those forty days the waters on earth rose to a level of fifteen cubits above the highest peaks. At the end of the forty days the rain stopped but the fountains of the deep remained open and the “windows” of the heavens also remained open so that the atmosphere was extremely moist. The entire globe was full of water none of which dried off during that period. This condition continued until the end of 150 days after the rain had started falling. At that point G-d made a strong wind blow in the atmosphere and on earth and the fountains of the deep closed. The waters which had flooded earth from below returned to the interior of the earth where they had been before the deluge started. At that point the “windows” of the heavens were closed also and the air of the atmosphere began to dry up. As a result, the level of water on earth became drastically reduced so that the Ark which had previously been about two or three cubits deep in water managed to “land” on the mountain range of Ararat. Some 73 days later the tops of the mountains became visible on the first day of the tenth month, i.e. on the first of the month of Tamuz. Another forty days later, on the tenth of the month of Av, the dove left the Ark for good. Another thirty days later Noach removed the cover of the ark.

וישלח את העורב, “he sent out the raven, etc.” Our sages in Sanhedrin 108 claim that the raven had an incontrovertible argument against Noach, claiming that both G-d and Noach hated it. G-d hated the impure creatures, seeing that He had commanded Noach to save only a single pair of each. Noach hated the raven seeing that he was prepared to endanger its survival as a species by sending it on a dangerous mission when he could have sent out a dove or another pure bird of which there were seven pairs. It therefore taunted Noach by accusing him of having sexual designs on its mate. Noach retorted by telling the raven that it was being deliberately vicious seeing it was well aware that he had refrained from indulging in sexual relations in the Ark even with his own wife, someone with whom he was permitted to have relations. Why then would the raven suspect him of having designs on a species which was forbidden to him, i.e the raven’s mate? The raven was not willing to accept Noach’s argument. As a result, Noach told the raven that it would neither be fit to eat nor to be offered as a sacrifice to G-d. At that point G-d intervened and told Noach to take the raven back into the Ark at least until the waters on the earth had dried off. G-d explained that in the future a certain righteous individual (the prophet Elijah) would dry out the world (decree drought) and at that time G-d would need the raven who would carry food to Elijah who would be in hiding at that time. (compare Kings I 17,8). The word יבשת, “dry land,” is closely related to the word תשבי, a favourite description of the prophet Elijah whose home town appears to have been Tishbi or something similar.

וישלח היונה מאתו, “he sent out the dove away from him.” When the Torah describes Noach as sending out the raven the word מאתו, “away from being with him,” was missing. This teaches that the habitat of the pure birds is close to the righteous people.

והנה עלה זית טרף בפיה, “and here it had torn off an olive leaf with its beak.” Seeing that destruction had been decreed on man and beast there was no need for the Torah to have reported that the trees too had been doomed by the deluge. In fact, the destruction of vegetation on earth had been so thorough that our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 28,3 claim that even the lower millstones had been thoroughly destroyed. This may be based on Job 14,19 אבנים שחקו מים, “the waters wear away even stones.” There was no need for the Torah to add that the leaf which the dove carried in its beak must have been one that had withered already a long time previously. The question is: where did the dove find even such a leaf? The Midrash offers several explanations. Rabbi Levi claims that the leaf came from Mount Olives (Jerusalem), seeing the deluge had not touched the Holy Land. He claims that G-d had said to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 22, 24) בן אדם אמר לה את ארץ לא מטהרה היא לא גשמה ביום זעם, “Ben Adam, say to her: “You are a land that has not been cleansed; she had not been rained upon on the day of fury.” The words לא מטהרה refer to the fountains of the deep beneath the Holy Land not having opened at the time of the deluge, whereas the words ולא גושמה mean that no destructive rain fell on the Holy Land during the period of the deluge. Nonetheless, it is fair to assume that the waters of the deluge which had flooded neighbouring countries also spilled over into the Holy Land. After all, the Torah testifies that the waters of the deluge “covered all the high mountains beneath the whole sky (7,19).” Seeing that no rain had fallen on the Holy Land which would have uprooted and broken the trees in that land, the waters which spilled over into that land did not have such a destructive effect. It is quite plausible therefore that the dove took the leaf from Mount Olives. This explains what is meant when the Torah wrote ((8,11) וידע נח כי קלו המים מעל הארץ, “Noach realised that the waters had subsided from upon the earth.”

Another view expressed in Bereshit Rabbah 33,6 is that the dove brought this olive leaf from Gan Eden. This appears very puzzling. If that were true whence did Noach know that the waters on the surface of the earth had subsided? After all, the waters of the deluge had most certainly not penetrated into Gan Eden! Nachmanides addressed this problem and wrote that possibly the gates of Gan Eden were locked so that the waters could not enter there, and as soon as the waters on earth subsided the gates to Gan Eden reopened.

The word טרף, “it had torn (it)” in our verse is puzzling. We would have expected the Torah to describe what happened to the leaf, i.e. the feminine form טרפה seeing that the bird יונה always appears in the feminine form. The answer is that it is not a form of a verb but an adjective and the word טרף has to be understood as if the Torah had written טרוף, “torn off.” This is the reason for the vowel kametz under the letter ר in the word טרף, when actually we would have expected to find the vowel patach. The Torah could have merely written והנה עלה טרף בפיה, “and here a torn leaf was in its beak.” This alone would have provided Noach with the information that the waters on earth had subsided. The addition of the word זית, i.e. that this leaf had been torn from an olive tree, caused our sages to derive the lesson that it is better to subsist on one’s own efforts (relying directly on G-d’s bounty), even if one has to eat something bitter such as olive leaves, than to be fed delicious morsels by one’s (human) host in the Ark, i.e. by Noach (compare Rashi on our verse).

Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 33,6 comment further in the name of Rabbi Avuhu: “if the dove entered Gan Eden and brought a leaf from there why did it not at least bring a leaf from a cinnamon tree or something sweet ?” It wanted to hint to Noach “better something bitter which originates in Gan Eden than something sweet which originates from you.” According to these homiletical comments by the Midrash, the word טרף, must have a connotation of “food.” We do indeed find this meaning for the word טרף in Proverbs 30,8 where Solomon, having spurned riches turns to G-d and exclaims: הטריפני לחם חקי, “feed me with the bread allotted to me.” All creatures may draw some logical conclusions from this paragraph. If even birds prefer freedom and a relatively difficult mode of subsistence, how much more so must we human beings who have been equipped with a brain and the power to reason adopt such an attitude in life! Would that intelligent people were aware of the demeaning aspect of relying on fellow human beings for their subsistence.

בשבעה ועשרים יום לחודש “on the twenty-seventh day of that month.” This was the month of Marcheshvan. Earlier the Torah had spoken of “on the seventeenth of the month the fountains of the “deep” broke open (7,11),” whereas now the Torah says that on the twenty-seventh day of that month the earth had dried out completely. This teaches that the deluge lasted exactly one full solar year (365 days). We know that ordinarily the solar year is 11 days longer than the lunar year, i.e. 12 months. This is why our sages in Ediyot 2,10 stated that the period during which the people of that generation were judged lasted for 12 months. (According to Rabbi Shlomoh ben Aderet we have to add the eleven days of the difference between the solar and the lunar year so as to avoid the Mishnah in Ediyot being in conflict with the Torah). We are also told in that same Mishnah that the judgment of the Egyptians in Egypt (the ten plagues) lasted 12 months and that Job’s afflictions lasted for 12 months. Also the judgment of the wicked in Gehinom lasts for 12 months. Finally, the Mishnah states that the judgment experienced by the nations taking part in the final assault on the Jewish people under the kingdoms of Gog and Magog will last for 12 months.

יבשה הארץ, “the earth had dried up.” Although the earth had completely dried up Noach did not leave the Ark until G-d had given him express permission to do so and had commanded him: “leave the Ark, etc.” (8,16). Seeing that he had only entered the Ark at the direct command of G-d he did not want to leave it until G-d commanded him to do so.

Basing themselves on Noach’s example the sages in Tanchuma Noach 7 concluded that Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah did not want to leave the furnace of Nevuchadnezzar (Daniel 3,26) until bidden to do so [the wording is that Nevuchadnezzar said to them; “step out and come here!” They had not wanted to come out until bidden to do so although the bottom of the furnace had risen miraculously to be level with the ground around them and this would have been a clear indication that their ordeal was over.]

צא מן התבה, אתה ואשתך ובניך, “Leave the Ark, you and your wife, your sons and the wives of your sons.” This was a sign that permission had been granted to once again conduct regular married life with one’s spouse, something which had been forbidden while they were inside the Ark. We know this as at the time Noach and his family entered the Ark the Torah prescribed the sequence “you and your sons, your wife and the wives of your sons” (6,18). At this point the sequence mentioned by the Torah is: “you and your wife, your sons and the wives of your sons.” Clearly, the difference points to separation of the sexes while they were inside the Ark.

Talmud Sanhedrin 108 states that only three creatures engaged in sex inside the Ark; they were the raven, the dog, and Cham. All three of them were punished. The raven was condemned to ejaculate its semen via its beak, the dog is kept on a leash; Cham was punished by becoming black-skinned.

ויבן נח מזבח לה’, “Noach built an altar for the Lord, etc.” Noach’s thinking when offering sacrifices was in an ascending manner. First, he built an altar on earth, addressing himself to G-d as the attribute of Mercy, hence the word לה’. From this attribute of Mercy, he proceeded to ויעל עלת, “he raised total-offerings on top of that altar.” Although the word עולות for total-offerings is read as a plural, it is spelled without the letters ו, i.e. as if it were a singular. This indicated his intent to elevate himself spiritually by means of the sacrifices. The animal was to take his place symbolically when the smoke of its flesh rose heavenwards. Isaiah 60,7 where the prophet, quoting G-d, exclaims יעלו על רצון מזבחי ובית תפארתי אפאר, “they will ascend on high achieving goodwill associated with My altar and I will glorify even further My glorious House,” is similar. [We would have expected the prophet to write יעלו לרצון על מזבחי, “they will ascend on My altar to achieve goodwill, etc.” The change in the wording indicates that the person offering the sacrifice wanted to achieve a spiritual union with Him [Who is “above,” Ed.]. We find such a concept even with Manoach in Judges. He had not even bothered to build an altar [it was forbidden at that time to build private altars, Ed.], but the prophet described the ascent of his sacrifice from a spiritual point located as higher than the altar i.e. מעל המזבח, “from above the altar” (Judges 13,20). Subsequently, that same sacrifice is described as reaching heaven. At that point the angel is depicted as “taking a ride in the flame and ascending” (to heaven? also). The word להב in Judges may be understood as connected to לב, heart. In other words, the heart was the medium which enabled the sacrifice and what it stood for to reach heaven. This explains G-d’s reaction which is described here in the words וירח את ריח הניחח, “G-d’s bounty which originates in the celestial regions was drawn “downwards”. At that point G-d said אל לבו, to the attribute of Justice, “I will not continue ever to allow My attribute of Justice to curse the earth because of man, i.e. “because I have discovered something positive in man.”

מנעוריו, “from the time he is youthful.” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 34,10 say that the meaning of this expression is that the word מנעוריו , refers to “the moment the baby is born.” It accompanies man from the time he is born and that this is why he does not have to observe the Torah’s commandments until he attains the age of puberty (13) as only then does the יצר הטוב, the urge to be good, become part of him. (based on Kohelet Rabbah 9,22 and on Kohelet 4,14 כי מבית הסורים יצא למלך, “for from the time he is a prisoner he (the evil urge) rules.”) The evil urge had considered itself imprisoned in the fetus which is inside the mother’s womb and it wants to “celebrate its freedom” as soon as the baby is born. Seeing that the word הסורים is spelled defective with the letter א missing, this is an allusion to the evil urge which ignores the א, the One and Only G-d and His wishes. Alternatively, the defective spelling makes the word the equivalent of the aramaic סרי, meaning ויבאש, “it became foul.”

עוד כל ימי הארץ , “Furthermore, as long as the earth will continue to exist, etc.” The wording of this verse [Rabbi Chavell sees in the word כל an allusion to כלה, “something finite”] indicates that there will come a time when the earth will no longer exist. Even though the word עוד is spelled defective without the letter ו, and this would allude to the very reverse, i.e. the infinite existence of earth based on the word עד being similar to ועד, “forever,” we must give precedence to the reading of the word over its spelling. זרע וקציר, “seedtime and harvest;” the ones (being seeded) are going to be born, whereas the others are going to die (harvested). The verse goes on to explain the cause of such birth and death respectively, i.e. קר וחם, “cold and heat.” Basically, this verse intends to acquaint us with six regular phenomena which will recur at regular intervals as do day and night.