Parshas Noach: Third Aliyah
Noah’s Ark was submerged in the water for about eleven cubits.
The waters prevailed fifteen cubits over the mountains. (My chidush: mountains usually stand for the nations. Number 15 is usually mentioned in relation to judgment. The fact that mountains were 15 cubits under water may mean that the nations were judged.)
Everything that was alive died except for the fish in the sea.
The Hebrew word Ach means “only” Noah. Noah was groaning and spitting blood because of the burden of caring for the cattle and tthe beasts. Some say when he delayed feeding the lion, it struck him. Proverbs 11:31 “Behold a righteous man is requited [for his sins] in this world” alludes to this incident.
The water prevailed upon the earth a hundren and fifty days. 150 is 15 times 10. (my chidush: 15 again usually is related to judgement. So this could mean that the Earth was under judgment tenfold.)
The Hebrew word used in “And G-d remembered” is Elokim, which represents the Divine Standard of Judstice, which was converted to the Divine Standard of Mercy through the prayer of the righteous. But the wickedness of teh wicked converts the Divine Standard of Mercy to the Divine Standard of Justice. This is why in Bereishis 6:5 it says “And the Lord saw that the evil of man was great etc. And the Lord said, ‘I will blot out, etc.’” → even thought the name Lord (yud kei vav kei) was the name of the Divine Standard of Mercy, it was converted to evil due to the wickedness of the wicked, and resulted in Judgment.
Regading Noah Hashem remembered his righteousness. Regarding the animals, Hashme remembered that they did not corrupt their way before the Flood, and that they did not copulate in the ark.
“and G-d caused a spirit to pass” = a spirit of consolation and calm passed before Him.
“and the waters subsided (vayasoku)”: Vayasoku is an expression of the calming of anger.
The springs of deep were closed, and the windows of heavens and the rain from the heavens was withheld. When the springs of deep were opened it was written (Bereishis 7:11) that “all the springs” were opened. But here “all” is not mentioned because some of them remained open, those that were necessary for the world such as the hot springs of Tiberias an the like.
“the rain from the heavens was withheld(vayikale)”
At the end of 150 days water diminished. Rashi says they commenced to diminish on first of Sivan. Because on the 27th of Kislev the rains stopped, leaving 3 days in Kislev and 29 in Teves, which is 32 days, and Shevas, Adar, Nissan, and Iyar, which makes 118 days, making a grand total of 150days.
The seventh month here means Sivan, which is the seventh counting from Kislev, during which the rains stopped.
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“In the tenth month, on the first of the month” is the month of Av, which is the tenth month counting from Marcheshvan, when the rains fell, and the water was 15 cubits higher than the mountains. The water diminished from the first of Sivan until the first of Av, 15 cubits in 60 days. This is 4 cubits a day. Therefore on the sixteenth of Sivan, they had diminished only 4 cubits and since the ark came to rest on the next day, we can learn that it was submerged 11 cubits in the waters.
“in the tenth month, … the mountain peaks appeared.”: This revers to Av, which is the tenth month from Marcheshvan, when the rain commenced. If you say it is Elul, which is the tenth month from Kislev, when the rain stopped (as in referring to the seventh month as Sivan, which is the seventh month after the cessation of the rain), it is impossible to make sense of tihs. Seventh month can only be counted from the time that the rain stopped, becuaes there did not end the forty days of rains and the one hundred fifty days when the water gained strength, until the first of Sivan.
The tenth month can only be counted from the time the rain commenced, becuase if you say that it is counted from the time when the rain stopped, which is Elul, you cannot make sense of verse 13 “In the first month on the first day of the month, the waters dried up upon the earth.” for at the end of the forty days from when the mountain peaks appeared, he sent forth the raven and he waited twenty-one days with sending the dove, totalling sixty days from the time the mountain peaks appeared until the surface of the erath dreid.
If you say that the mountain peaks appeared in Elul, it would mean that they dried up in Marcheshvan. Scripture, however calls it the first month, and that can only refer to Rishri, which is the first month from the creation of the world. According to Rabbi Joshua it is Nissan.
At the end of forty days, since the mountain peaks appeared, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made. This window was for light, and this is not the door to the ark.
“it went out, back and forth until the waters dried up off the earth”: Going and circling around the ark, but it did not go to fulfill its errand, because the raven suspected Noah concerning his mate. (Aggadah)
“until the waters dried up”: The raven was destined for another errand during the lack of rain in the time of Elijah. “and the ravens brought him bread and meat.”
“And he sent forth the dove” seven days later, for it is written “And he waited again another seven days.” This tells us that first time too he waited seven days.
“And he sent forth (vayishalach)”: and expression of sending away, in order to see if the waters had abated, for if it would find a resting place, it would not return to him.
“it had plucked (taraf) … in its mouth (befiya)”: “taraf” is in masculine but “befiya” is in feminine. It must be that the dove was a male dove. Every other dove(yonah) in the scripture is in the feminine gender.
“taraf (plucked)” is an expression of food, and “befiya (in its mouth)” is an expresion of speech. The dove said “Let my food be as bitter as an olive in the hands of the Holy One, blessed be He, and not as sweet as honey in the hands of flesh and blood.”
“in the first month”: According to Rabbi Eliezer, it is Tishri, and according to Rabbi Joshua, it is Nissan.
“dried up”: The earth became a sort of clay, for its upper surface had formed a crust.
“on the twenty-seventh”: The rains started to fall in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month. These are the eleven days by which the solar year exceeds thee lunar year, for the judgment of the Generation of the Flood was for a whole year.
