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