Hava Nedeber Ivrit: The Flood And The Covenant
By NIRA LEV
Seepur Noach and Ha'mabul,
like most of the seepurim in Sefer
Bereshit, expresses some of the
most profound teachings of the
Tanach, and communications
universal moral truths. Seepurim at
mabul were very widespread
ba'olam ha'atik but seepur
ha'mabul in the Torah and the
meser it conveys is unlike any other
account and it is distinct in the
emet nitzchit that it proclaims.
Sefer Bereshit tells how
HaShem decided to wipe out
mankind because ha'aretz "mal'ah
chamas," and "kol basar" was
corrupt. However, adam tzadik
named Noach was to be saved from
the mabul. Noach was instructed to
build a tevah, to provision it and
take aboard his mishpacha together
with zachar and nekevah
representatives of "kol ha'chay."
When all was done, "mey
ha'mabul" came "al ha'aaretz"
and all earthly existence was blotted
out. Then the mabul stopped and
when Noach finally disembarked he
promptly built a mizbe'ach and
offered korbanot to Ha'Shem.
Ha'Shem, in turn, karat brit
with Noach, pledged never again
tot visit a mabul upon mankind and
set up the keshet be'anan as an
everlasting semel of his brit.
Despite the numerous
similarities between seepur
ha'mabul in the Torah and the
Mesopotamian traditions, the
mashma'ut and the meser of the
biblical version can be evaluated by
examining the niggudim between
seepur ha'mabul as we know it and
all other seepurim.
Seepur ha'mabul ba'torah is
the only one where hashkafat
ha'olam is thoroughly monotheistic.
Ha'olam corrupted itself before
Ha'Shem, and He decided to
punish man. Noach was saved
because he was "eesh tzadik
tamim" who "walked" with
Ha'Shem. Noach does not
demonstrate any yozma and he
clearly follows the hora'ot Ha'Shem
gives him.
Highly significant is the fact that
the vessel that saved Noach is a
tevah, not an oniyah or seerah.
The Hebrew word tevah used to
describe this.vessel occurs
elsewhere in the Tanach in this
sense only in connection with the
salvation of Moshe ha'tinok who
was put in a tevah to save him from
drowning. The building of a tevah
rather than an oniyah is intended in
both cases to attribute the hatzalah
of the geebor solely to Ha'Shem,
and not to human skill.
Seepur ha'mabul has an
unambiguous meser moosari,
unlike any other mabul account.
The seebah for the mabul is the
sh'cheetut of the people and
Noach was saved because he was
a tzadik tamim. Ha'Shem cares
about the olam He created and, like
in the seepur about Sdom and
Amorah, here too we see that this
olam is governed by chok and
moosar. There is sachar and there
is onesh, and there is ach'rayut
ishit. Seepur ha'mabul ends with
an important meser to mankind: the
brit between Ha'Shem and
ha'adam. We see here matchalah
chadasha for bney- ha'adam.
Noach is blessed like Adam
ha'rishon. The brit is for kol
ha'enoshut and the keshet
be'anan becomes its symbolic
guarantee.
Meelon (Dictionary)
seepur
ha'mabul
seepurim
story
the flood
stories
Sefer Bereshit
Genesis
Ha'tanach
the Bible
al
about
ba'olam
in the world
olam
world
atik
ancient
meser
message
emet nitzchit
eternal truth
ha'aretz
the earth
"mal-ah chamas" ...was filled with
evil, injustice
"kol basar"
all flesh
adam
a man
tzadik
righteous
tevah .... an ark, a chest-like vessel
zachar
male
nekevah
female
"kol ha'chay" ...all living creatures
"mey ha'mabul"
the water
of the flood
"al ha'aretz"
on the land
mizbe'ach
an alter
korbanot
• sacrifice
keshet
a rainbow
anan
a cloud
be'anan
in the cloud
semel
a symbol
brit
covenant
mashma'ut
meaning
niggudim
contrasts
niggud
contrast
ha'shkafat ha'olam ...the world view
yozma
initiative
hora'ot
instructions
oniyah
a ship
seerah
a boat
tinok
baby
ha'tinok
the baby
hatzalah
saving, deliverance
geebor
hero
moosari
moral
seebah
reason
sh'cheetut
corruption
Sdom and Amorah
Sodom
and Gomorrah
chok
law
moosar
morality
sachar
reward
onesh
punishment
ach'rayut ishit
personal
responsibility
hatchalah
beginning
chadash
new
bney-ha'adam
human beings,
mankind
kol ha'enoshut
all mankind
A Noah Poem
Puzzle By Judy Silberg Loebl
Unscramble the animals listed below. Place the letters with the corresponding
numbers inside the ark. If you correctly place all the letters into the ark
you will find a poem about Noah. Some letters are given to help you get started.
D
GDO
RFOG
122
25
107
SEVLOW
18 5
RAGFEFI
47 98
55 120 16 65 113 74
ACT
88
15
58
73
91
2
BAEZR
NHE
69 17 110
27
TOGA
24
52
119
7
23 71 105 1
SREGIT
54
87 118
90
KNUKS•
45 59 86 10
PPPTASUMHOIO
40 114 100
99 41 84 42 104
89 75 12 63 121 33
BLAM
3
96
30
48
Answers On Page L-7
ROSHE
116
38
78
95
61
ABBIRT
92
101
13
60
8
26
wco
37
51
102
20
46
XFO
EACLM
81
43
82
28
36
H
YTRUKE
9
108
67
77
1
49
D
2
3
4
D
5
6
7
0
8
9
T
KAY
13 14 15 16
53 31
17
A
18 19 20 21
I
26 27 28
29
10 11 12
N
22
0
23
83 68
0
25
W
30 31 32 33
N
34 35 36
MKEOYN
39 11 29
24
37 38 39 40
I
41
42 43
44 45
0!!!
46 47
48 49
50
51
52 53
54 55
AEEHLNPT
72 32 66
76 21 97 56
H
56
A
57
A
58 59
60 61 62
ONLI
W D
63 64
I
111 106 4 109
73 74
75 76 77
0
TRALLOIAG
94 19 103 34
91
92 93
80
96
79 117 85 70
I
108 109 110
SLETTUR
T
111
81
82 83
ND
95
I
84 85 86
RN
87
116
D
98 99
117
W
88
89
T
100
101 102 103 104 105
I
114 115
D
72
T
97
A
112 113
69 70 71
A
78 79
YDY
94
65 66 67 68
118 119 120 121
90
N
106
(5
107
N 1)
122
93 14 44 50 35 64 6
NECKICH
62 112 22
115 57 80
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
L-3