Genesis 6:9-11:32 – Numbers 28:9-15 – Isaiah 66:1-24 – Matthew 1:18-25

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Noach
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
In Summary
Looking Ahead

Questions & Commentary on Parashat Noach

1. Why did Noah find favor in the sight of God? Why was only Noah and his family spared from the flood? What does it mean to walk with God? What is the foundation a strong walk with God? What spiritual pattern of blessing found in this story?

Rabbi Jason Sobel

Upon reading the opening verses of this week's parasha, one should be struck by the fact that the story of the flood begins with an account of Noah's righteousness and not with the reason for the flood. This seems to imply that the author's primary purpose in the flood narrative is to emphasize why Noah found "grace in the sight of the Lord" and was thus subsequently singled out in his generation by God to be saved from the cataclysmic flood. 

What made Noah "righteous" was that "he walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). This stands in contrast to the people of Noah's generation who walked in the way of chamas. Noah did not conform to the wicked ways of his generation; rather he took the harder road of walking with God. What exactly does it mean to walk with God in such a way as to be considered righteous by the Lord? 

The first person described in Torah as walking with God was Enoch of whom it is written: 

Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Genesis 5:22

Commenting upon the reason for Enoch's mysterious and sudden disappearance from this world, Sefer Hilkhot writes, "I want him [Enoch] to serve me on high just as he faithfully served me in a world surrounded by people who worshipped idols." 

The Torah also pictures Abraham as a tzaddiq, a righteous individual who walked with God (Genesis 17:1). According to the Brit Chadasha, all three of these great individuals had one thing in common:

By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he rewards those who diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

Hebrews 11:5-9

The foundation of Enoch's, Noah's, and Abraham's righteousness was their unwavering faith in God and in the divine promises. The Torah makes this point clear in regard to Abraham when it states, "And he believed in the LORD, and God accounted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). Like the great men and women of faith, we must also learn to walk by faith if want to be a light in our generation. 

But faith in and of itself is not enough. It must be accompanied by faithful obedience to the Word and Will of God. Noah did not just believe that God would bring about the flood but also faithfully carried out every intricate detail concerning the building of the ark. The same was true of Abraham who was willing to obey God and offer Isaac as a sacrifice on the basis of his strong personal faith in the Lord (see above Hebrews 11:8). 

On flipside, Israel's lack of faith always led to their disobedience that in turn resulted in their exile from the Promised Land. This is lucidly illustrated in Numbers 13-14 where Israel's unbelief led to their refusal to obey God's command to take possession of the Promised Land. As a result of their unbelief, Israel was forced to wander in the desert for forty years until that entire generation died.  The only exception was Joshua and Caleb who by their faith were allowed to enter and enjoy the Land. If we cultivate a radical faith in God and the divine promises, particularly in Messiah Yeshua, it should lead to a radical obedience, that brings about blessing both in this world and in the World to Come.

2. Noach found favor in the sight of God and was thus commanded to build an tevah (ark) in order to save himself and his family from the flood (Genesis 6:13-14).  According to Rashi, the tevah took one hundred and twenty years to build.  Why did God have Noach invest so much time and energy in its construction?  What else does the meaning of the word tevah teach us?

Nick Amic

Parashat Noach is famous for its widespread appearance in children's books, however most miss the very "grown-up" insights this parasha holds. The central event is undoubtedly the story of God's judgment on the world, coupled with the preservation of humanity through Noach and his family. The means by which Noach escapes destruction is through the tevah ("ark") God commands Noach to build. Rashi, citing the Midrash, points out that this massive project took Noach approximately 120 years to complete. Rashi comments on this oddity

Many ways to bring relief and rescue are available to God; why, then, did God burden him with this construction? In order that the people of the generation of the Flood should see him occupying himself with it for one hundred twenty years and ask him, "For what do you need this?" And he would say to them, "The blessed Holy One is destined to bring a flood upon the world." Perhaps they would repent.

Still a simpler question arises: why a tevah ("ark")? The Hebrew word tevah means "container" or "box." Here is our first insight into the dual nature of God's command - "Enter into the tevah" (Genesis 7:1). Midrashically, we find this command in conjunction with the upheaval of Noach's world, as it says "And Noach . . . entered the tevah, in refuge from the waters of the flood" (Genesis 7:11).  Each day we are commanded (Matthew 6:6) to "box ourselves in" through tefilla, away from the deluge of societal cares, wants, concerns - not to mention its degradation. In this way we become "qadosh" - holy in separateness - saved from destruction.

There is a dual side to this "boxing in." Tevah also means "word" (as pointed out by the Baal Shem Tov). Words are containers: they package ideas, feelings, sentiments and convictions. Just a God commanded Noach to "box himself in," God also commanded him to "Come out of the tevah" (Genesis 8:16).  So, too we are not just commanded to "box ourselves up" in tefilla, but to then emerge with tevot (words) from amidst our salvation.

The word tevah is also used to describe the basket Miriam placed her brother Moses in (see Exodus 2:2-3). Both Moses' and Noach's tevot serve to save them from destruction. On a profound level through both Noach and Moses, we see representatives of the Nations and Israel. Noach (literally "rest," see Genesis 5:29, Rashi) is father of the 70 nations, and gives rest to the violence and destruction of his day. Moses (literally "to pull out," see Exodus 2:3) is the one who pulls the Jewish people out of spiritual and physical slavery. Uniquely, Messiah Yeshua encompasses both these aspects in that he simultaneously is salvation for both the Nations and Israel; yet also is the "word" that is "boxed" in human flesh. May we merit to see the day when universal harmony and perfection of a world "flooded" in the positive sense - a world that is "filled with the knowledge of God as the waters submerge the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).